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During the Livonian wars of the 1550 and 60s the abbot Cornelius preached Orthodox Christianity to the peoples of the occupied lands and aided the suffering Esti and Livonians casualties of the war. He turned the monastery into a hospital that helped the injured and maimed. In 1560, Cornelius sent on the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God [[prosphora]] and [[holy water]] to the Russian armies besieging the city of Theilin that immediately thereafter resulted in the surrender of the city to the Russians.

[[Image:PskovCavesBloodyPath9Apr2009.JPG|right|thumb|250px|The path along which Ivan IV, the Terrible, carried the body of St. Cornelius from the monastery gate to the Domition Cathedral after he ha beheaded the abbot in a fit of rage.]]

Even in his death, the Holy Cornelius left his mark on the monastery where he had spent most of his earthly life. His martyrdom is recorded in the old manuscripts of the [[Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra|Trinity-Sergiev Lavra]], On [[February 20]], 1570, Tsar Ivan IV (the terrible), arrived at the Pskov Caves Monastery in a raging anger over a false slander. St. Cornelius met him at the monastery gates with a cross, where upon Ivan attacked the sainted abbot, beheading Cornelius with his own hands. Ivan immediately became remorseful and repented his deed. Ivan then picked up Cornelius’ body and carried it down the path from the gates to the Dormition Cathedral, making a pathway scarlet with the Saint’s blood, a pathway that became known as the ''Bloody Path''.