Виленское воеводство
Yuri Kolenda was born on about 1606 in the Vilnius Voivodeship. In 1624 he entered in the Order of Saint Basil the Great taking the religious name of Havryil (Gabriel). He passed his novitiate in the monastery of Byten. After the novitiate, in 1627 he was sent to study in Braniewo where he remained till 1630. He returned in Vilnius where he continued his studies, and on 28 March 1633 he was ordained a priest. He later studied in Vienna, and then at the Greek College in Rome from 1 December 1636 to 24 November 1639.