Moscow, February 6, 2017
Fr. David (Reshetnyak), the Ukrainian Athonite monk whose body was found frozen after he went missing in a snowstorm, was buried on Friday, February 3 on Mt. Athos, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists.
As previously reported, Fr. David went missing on January 16 on his way to visit another monk in Karakallou Monastery. He managed to send an SMS saying he would not be able to make it to the day’s snowstorm, but he was unfortunately never heard from again. After a ten-day search his body was found frozen in the snow near Philotheou Monastery.
Fr. David was found lying on his back with his hands crossed over his chest. His body remained untampered with by the mountain’s wildlife during the long search. A note was found in his cell in which he asked to be buried on the Holy Mountain in the case of his death.
Named Dimitry in the world, he was born in the Sokal in the Lviv region of Ukraine, and spent ten years as a novice at the Pochaev Dormition Lavra before moving to Mt. Athos five years ago and taking the name David in monastic tonsure. His brother monks remember him as a good-natured monk who often sought solitude, completely immersing himself in prayer. He was also very fond of Byzantine chant.
Fr. David did was not yet forty-three years of old when he reposed in the Lord, Whom he faithfully served for fifteen years in monasticism.
May his memory be eternal!
