holy fool

Today [N.S. 15 August] marks the veneration of the Blessed Basil of Moscow (*1469) on the occasion of his death in 1557 and his subsequent glorification (canonisation) the following year.
An adherent of the Russian version of foolishness for Christ is known as yurodivvy (юродивый), Basil went about unclothed in all weather and weighed himself down with chains, though managing to pilfer items from the markets to aid the poor—especially championing those who were ashamed to ask for charity and shaming those who were above sharing their blessings of wealth with the less fortunate. The saint is the namesake of course of the church in Red Square associated with the Kremlin—also known as the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, commissioned by Ivan the Terrible after Basil’s rebuke to the czar that he was ignoring his spiritual duties.