In 1419, the elder went for the third time to Rostov the Great, the archbishopric of which by that time was occupied by the former abbot of the Spaso-Kamenny Monastery, Dionysius the Athonite. Bishop Dionysius blessed his beloved disciple for the construction of a new monastery with an icon of the Mother of God.

The temple built in Sosnowiec was consecrated in the name of the Holy Prophet John the Baptist in 1420. Great assistance in the construction of the monastery was provided by the appanage prince Yuri Bogtyuzhsky, who bequeathed to his children to do good to this monastery. Remaining the hegumen of the Glushitsky monastery, the monk, who by that time was 60 years old, moved with several disciples to Sosnowiec, where he introduced a strict cenobitic rule. In this way he took upon himself the care of two monasteries. At that time, there were still few churches in the north of Russia, and the parish clergy, chosen from among the same woodcutters and plowmen, were not distinguished by either morality or education, so that monasteries were the only places where people could learn faith and piety, and they gathered in monasteries in large crowds, especially where they heard a spiritual and teaching elder. For this reason a multitude of not only men, but also women came to the Monk Dionysius, wishing to listen to his instructions, which was contrary to the monastic rule and dangerous for the brethren. It was a pity for the monk to deny them the right to visit the monastery as the only place accessible to them for the knowledge of the law of God, but he could not see the violation of his rule; it was difficult for his fatherly heart to deprive them of spiritual help and edification, but the salvation of the brethren was also dear, so the wise elder built a church two versts from the Pokrovsky monastery in the name of Saint Leontius, Bishop of Rostov, and at him a women's monastic monastery, which was the fourth of the monasteries founded by him.

Through the efforts of the monk two more churches were built: on the Sukhona River, consecrated in honor of the Resurrection of Christ, and on the Dvinitsa River – in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. All the monasteries and churches built by Hegumen Dionysius had icons painted by him. In addition, the Monk Dionysius was engaged in skillful wood carving, was known as a book writer, forger and manufacturer of clothes.

The people looked upon him as a pastor and teacher, sent by God to enlighten the land, and turned to him in bodily and spiritual needs as to a father, in full confidence to receive what they asked for. And not only the common people had such a high opinion of the humble Glushitsky hermit. His holy, strictly ascetic life and spiritual wisdom attracted to him a multitude of people of all ranks and ages. The more he humbled himself and concealed his asceticism, the more and more widely did his fame spread, so that even those experienced in the spiritual life came to him and remained to share with him monastic labors and to learn from his spiritually beneficial conversations. Thus, Blessed Gregory, later the ascetic and wonderworker of Pelshem, already being an archimandrite in Rostov, came to him in Sosnowiec and lived there for about five years, studying the spiritual life under the guidance and in the life of Abba Sosnovets. Here came to him from Great Ustyug the hieromonk Amphilochius, high in piety, who became the first successor of Fr. Dionysius in the hegumenship. Still farther away from Ustyug from Great Perm came to the Lavra of Dionysius the hegumen Tarasius, who voluntarily left his superiority in order to be himself under the command of the monk and to complete his holy career there. Here he shone with the holiness of his life. Macarius, a native of Rostov, whom Fr. Dionysius took him from his father's house when he was still a 12-year-old boy and brought him up under his closest supervision; later this Macarius was his second successor in the abbotship. There were also other sincere servants of God among the crowded brotherhood of Fr. Dionysius, who were attracted to the Glushitskaya hermitage by the fame of his spiritual experience. Such, for example, are St. Theodosius, whose relics rest under a bushel in the Pokrovsky Monastery, and St. Philip of Raban, who later founded his Raban Monastery on the Sukhona River.

The last years of his life the holy elder almost always spent in Sosnowiec, not forgetting the Pokrovskaya monastery. Anticipating his death, he did not weaken in his ascetic feats. From prolonged prayerful standing and vigils, his legs swelled and "beat like a pillar," and his abstinence was such that "on the very day of the radiant Resurrection of Christ I ate milk and cheese, and that I would be scarce." He often stood in the cold for a whole night in the contemplation of God before the grave he had dug for himself.

During one of his visits to the Pokrov monastery, the monk summoned to his cell his beloved disciple and companion Amphilochius and said to him: "Now I see that the time of my departure is already at the door. And you, my friend and peer, the Lord commanded you to live a long time; cover my body with earth and give my finger to the dust, and dwell in this place yourself, holding on to the spiritual life and making a memory of my humility. Do not faint, child, in sickness and sighing, expecting separation from here at every hour, and flow to the honor of the highest calling in Christ Jesus. Remember also this word of the Lord: when you have done all that is commanded you, say that you are worthless servants. For how many of you can ever pay the debt that we owe to the Lord Christ? He, the rich, became poor for our sake, that we might be enriched by His poverty, and, passionless, suffered in order to free us from passions; remembering this, captivate every thought of yours to the obedience of Christ." Amphilochius, seeing the elder always cheerful and active, did not expect to hear such a speech from him, and from how, struck by thunder, he wept over the impending separation from his teacher, and through tears said to him: "Oh, spiritual father, you yourself are going to rest, and you leave me in passions and sorrow; pray to the Lord that I also may be your companion from this life." Dionysius meekly answered him: "I have prayed much to the Lord that we may not be separated from one another, but I have learned from His goodness that it is not yet fitting for you to leave the world now, because you have not yet labored contentedly to receive the reward prepared for you. Long will you labor in this place after my repose, you have seen my labors and concerns for the chosen flock of Christ, work so as long as your life lasts, teaching and supervising and raising the verbal flock of Christ to spiritual understanding." Until the evening the elder conversed with his disciple, passing on to him his fatherly instructions and advice, and having finished the conversation, he ordered him to go to his cell.

Before his death, it was revealed to the Monk Dionysius that in three days he would depart to the Lord. Preparing to give up his spirit to God, St. Dionysius, as a compassionate father, once again summoned his disciples to his deathbed, ordered his pupil Macarius to celebrate the Divine Liturgy, so that at the very end of the day he would once again commune of the Holy Mysteries. His face shone with heavenly light. He also repeated his testament to the brethren, that his body should be buried where he himself had dug his own grave in seven years, and that both monasteries – Sosnovets and Pokrovsky – should always be under the same abbot. "If I find mercy from God, I will not leave this place, but I will pray to the Lord and His Most-Pure Mother that there may be no impoverishment here," he said in consolation to them, and, making the sign of the cross, he began to end quietly, as if sinking into sleep. The face of the dying man suddenly shone and became white as snow, the fragrance of the body filled the cell, and it seemed to Blessed Amphilochius at that time that a shining crown shone on the head of the deceased. The Monk Dionysius died on June 1, 1437; all the years of his life were 74 years and 6 months.

With due honor, with general weeping, his toiling body was placed in the coffin, and on the same day, with psalmody, accompanied by all the brethren, they took him from the Pokrov monastery to Sosnowiec. But the horse carrying the body of the saint, having gone a short distance, stopped and did not go further, in spite of any compulsions. Then St. Amphilochius gave orders to bring Dionysius' favorite horse, and although he was no better or stronger than the first, he easily carried the body to the wilderness, as if feeling that for the last time he was serving the elder who loved him. On the next day, after the performance of the Divine service, the body of the saint was buried, in accordance with the will of the monk, in a grave prepared by him for himself, four steps from the wall of the Church of the Baptist in Sosnowiec, over which a tomb was later built, decorated with gilded carvings.

In 1547 the Moscow Council, venerating the podvig of the Monk Dionysius and the miraculous healings which he manifested after his death, numbered him among the saints. The service to the monk was composed in 1548. The biography of Saint Dionysius was compiled by the Glushitsa monk Irinarch.

The Monk Dionysius, leaving the Stone Monastery without any means, established four monastic monasteries and two parish churches, and at his death he left the Glushitskaya Lavra very sufficient means for a comfortable existence.

A number of disciples and immediate successors of Fr. Dionysius was so faithful to his tradition and tried so hard to imitate him in everything, that even after his blessed death there was no change in Glushitsy in anything, as if the wilderness abba himself still continued to rule his monasteries.

Agapit of the Caves, an unmercenary physician, resting in the Far Caves

When Fr. Blessed Agapit came to him from Kiev to the cave by St. Anthony of the Caves, seeking spiritual healing from him through tonsure into the holy monastic order. Having taken monastic vows, Agapit became a zealous disciple of his venerable and God-bearing father Anthony. As that great one, hiding his holiness, healed the sick with his own food, pretending that he was giving them medicinal herbs, and the sick became healthy through his prayer, so this blessed Agapit, zealous for the holy elder, helped the sick. Agapit first asceticized in a cave near Fr. Anthony, where he studied the lofty life of the wondrous ascetic, then moved to the monastery cell and served the brethren. When one of the brethren fell ill, the blessed one left his cell and, coming to his sick brother, served him in everything, constantly praying to God for the salvation of the sick man. If the illness continued – it was pleasing to God, in order to strengthen the faith and prayer of His servant – Blessed Agapit remained with the sick man unceasingly, unceasingly praying for him, while the Lord gave health to the sick man through his prayer. Thus, following the ascetic deeds of the Monk Anthony, Agapit received from God the gift of the same grace. He began to heal all the sick with his prayer, giving a potion from his table. That is why they began to call him a doctor.

His fame spread throughout the city, and many, coming to him, received healing. At that time in the city of Kiev there was a certain Armenian doctor, a man very skilled in healing. Just by looking at the patient, he immediately recognized the day and hour of his death, and if the patient was already hopeless, then, knowing this, he did not undertake to treat him.