The Abbot's Thrift and The Abbot's Antiques, Collectibles, & Fine Art are under the patronage of St. Xenia of St. Petersburg. St. Xenia was a fool for Christ who lived in late-eighteenth-century Russia. (A fool for Christ is a person who appears to the world to be mad, but is actually saintly. This is a special and severe way to rid oneself of pride and gain humility to which some saints are called. They are generally homeless and destitute, and often have the gifts of clairvoyance and prophecy.) As a young woman from the upper classes of St. Petersburg, Xenia was married to a soldier who drank heavily. One night while out on a binge, he died unexpectedly. Distraught because of the danger to his soul inherent in such a death, Xenia gave away all her possessions, including her home, and disappeared from St. Petersburg for eight years. It is supposed that she spent this time in a monastery, learning about the ascetic life. She then returned to St. Petersburg and devoted the rest of her life to praying for her husband's salvation and working to atone for his sins.

From that time on, she dressed in an old uniform coat of her husband's over a ragged skirt, answered only to her husband's name, and never again slept under a roof. By day she wandered the streets of the poorest section of St. Petersburg, saving people from disaster by clairvoyant warnings and giving away any alms she received. By night she often worked secretly on a church that was being built outside the city at the Smolensk Cemetery, carrying bricks one by one and placing them into the walls. Before she died, Xenia was given the assurance by God that she had succeeded in winning her husband's salvation.

St. Xenia lived to age 71, 45 years after her widowhood, and was buried in the Smolensk Cemetery, where a large shrine was later built over her tomb. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have come to pray in this place in St. Petersburg. Since her death, many miracles have been brought about through her intercession. Her help is especially sought by those in need of homes, godly spouses, and employment. As the mission of
The Abbot's Thrift is to help the needy in our community, it seemed appropriate to ask for her intercession in this endeavor. Her memory is celebrated on January 24 (February 6 according to the Old Calendar).