Thomas Ryzkov () was an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

saint from

Tobolsk Tobolsk (, ) is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. Founded in 1587, Tobolsk is the second-oldest Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains in Asian Russia, and was the historic capita ...

, Russia, born late 18th century. His story is recounted in the book ''Pascha Transforms Wolfman Tom'' published by St Anthony's Monastery.

Life

Early life

Thomas Ryzkov was imprisoned by judicial error at a young age in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

near the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

in the early 1800s. He escaped and committed multiple murders out of rage during the subsequent years near the region of

, earning him the name Wolfman Tom.

Conversion

Upon receiving a paschal egg from a child, he changed his life and repented sincerely for his sins. He was granted total

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

Tsar Nicholas I Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...

and lived the rest of his life in service to others, often exclaiming " Christ is Risen!" His name was changed from Wolfman Tom to Goodman Tom.

Beatification

During a hunting expedition, Prince Mistislav Kanev (former marshal of

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

) witnessed Saint Thomas Ryzkov's death as a solitary

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

and proclaimed that he was a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

. The prince saw angels descend from heaven to retrieve the body of the saint. Various miracles took place around the saint both during his life, during his repose, and afterwards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryzkov, Thomas 19th-century Christian saints Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church People from Tobolsk