Some people know from an early age that they want to live solely for Christ. As a young
girl from a noble Russian family, Dareia Tiapkin developed a deep love for monastic life
and spiritual struggle while living in a monastery alongside her grandmother, the nun
Porphyria. A crisis developed, however, when Dareia’s parents arranged for her to marry.
Now a teenager of fifteen, Dareia made the fateful decision to flee her family. Not wanting
to be caught and returned home, the girl cut her hair, dressed like a boy, and entered a
men’s monastery, where she became the “monk” Dositheos. From this beautifully
illustrated book, children will learn the amazing story of the girl who, with God’s grace,
lived an ascetic life and grew in holiness to become a revered starets and a great saint of
the Orthodox Church.
Dosithea of Kiev – A Girl’s Journey to Sainthood: Venerable Ascetic
