Life of Stephen of Perm - description and history of life, miracles, relics and days of memory of the saint

On May 9 (April 26, Old Style) the Church celebrates the memory of St. Stephen, the enlightener of Perm, the apostle of the Zyryans.

“I pray to the Holy Trinity, consubstantial, indivisible, I ask for the gift: may He send His grace to me to help me, may He give me a word firmly, wisely and extensively, may it lift up my mind, burdened with despondency and dense stupidity, may it cleanse my heart, weakened by many scabs of mental harm and bodily passions, as if I were able to write something and praise the noble Stephen, preacher of the faith, and teacher of Perm, and heir to the apostles.”

Epiphanius the Wise

Life of Saint Stephen of Perm

Stefan of Perm was a prominent educator of the 14th century, so quite a lot of information has reached us about his life. And yet the main source is the life that came out after careful preparation from the pen of Epiphanius the Wise at the end of the 14th century: “And I found this and set out his life, collecting it here and there: I heard something in oral stories; I learned something from his students regarding his teaching and bishopric; I saw something else with my own eyes, and about other things I talked with him many times and learned from him; I asked the old husbands about other things.” Historians also use the texture presented in chronicles, folklore and tales. Of particular interest is the bone carving with scenes from life on the staff of St. Stephen.

Staff of St. Stefan of Perm. Perm Museum of Local Lore

The Life of Procopius of Ustyug says that for the sake of Christ, this holy fool predicted the birth of a holy son to Stephen’s three-year-old mother: “And many people come to the feast of the cathedral and apostolic church of her venerable Dormition, but the saint sits near the church on a stone, not standing up to anyone, without worshiping. A certain woman of that city, from her youth, walked alone, a certain man named Ivan, called Sekirin, and when the blessed one saw the said wife going to the church, she quickly stood up and said: “Go well: the born should be a ruler.” The same plot in the Ustyug chronicler sounds a little different: “At some time, blessed Procopius (the Ustyug wonderworker) was walking past the cathedral church during evening singing and saw a girl named Mary, three years old, bowed to her to the ground and spoke for everyone to hear: “this girl Mary is coming as the mother of Stephen, Bishop of Perm, teacher.” And when the people heard it, they began to marvel.”

Stefan was born approximately in 1340 in Veliky Ustyug. Historians know that he was called by the nickname Snoring. His father, Simeon, served in the main temple of Ustyug - in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The saint's mother's name was Mary. From a young age, it became clear that Stefan had extraordinary abilities: in just one year he learned to read and helped his father in church during divine services as a canonarch and reader. Soon young Stefan was tonsured a monk in the Rostov Monastery of Gregory the Theologian. This monastery was also known as the "Shutter". The young man chose it because it had a rich library: “...he took monastic vows in the city of Rostov in the monastery of St. Gregory the Theologian, in the so-called Shutter, near the bishopric, because there were many books there that he needed for reading, - under Bishop Parthenia of Rostov.” His biographer says that the newly tonsured monk began to study science with all the ardor. Stephen wanted to read the Holy Fathers in the original, and for this he learned Greek. During the years when he helped his father at the church, he closely communicated with the Zyryans (as the Komi people were then called). Now, having received a sufficient level of education, Stefan with all his heart wanted to convert the pagan Zyrians to Christ: “Wanting to gain greater intelligence, he mastered Greek literacy as a form of philosophy and mastered Greek books, and read them well, and always had them with him. And he knew how to speak three languages, and also knew three letters, namely: Russian, Greek and Perm.” Stephen's greatest interest was in the study of the Holy Scriptures. Epiphanius, who was personally acquainted with Stephen, says that he was not content with “poor teaching,” but preferred to “delay” “until he fully understood the truth.” Having met his bookish husband, he became his “co-questioner and interlocutor,” spending hours on end with him, “examining those he was looking for in a quick way.” Epiphanius, writing down his memories after the death of the saint, asks him for forgiveness for “being an annoyance to him, arguing with him about some word, or about a verse, or about a line.”

Be that as it may, Stefan soon begins to implement his long-conceived plan - he begins to educate the Zyryans. To do this, he develops the Zyryan alphabet, but not on the basis of the Slavic or Greek alphabets, but on the basis of the Zyryan runes - signs for notching on wood.

ABC of Stefan of Perm

In his bold undertaking, Stephen encounters many obstacles, because “these meager minds,” as Epiphanius puts it, objected to Stephen: “Now, when the years end, in the last days, at the end of the seventh thousand, for the sake of such a short time, only for 120 years until the end of time, to invent literacy? (The end of the world was expected in 7000, that is, in 1492 A.D.). Stefan translates the Holy Scriptures and liturgical books into the Zyryan language. Later he also translated the liturgy. This work is completed by 1378-79, after which he immediately goes to Moscow to receive a blessing for a mission in Perm. In Moscow, Stefan receives the blessing of the highest hierarch of the Russian Church - locum tenens Michael (Mitya), who occupied the throne after the death of St. Alexis - and goes “like a sheep in the midst of wolves” to the wild land of the pagans, after Bishop Gerasim of Kolomna ordained him priest. So that the Moscow trail does not compromise his preaching, Stefan goes to the Zyryans alone or with just a few companions. The successes of his preaching are recorded in narratives that remarkably characterize the naive but naturally good worldview of the Zyryans. First we see Stephen in a circle of already baptized disciples. They come to him and ask different questions. However, sometimes the unbaptized also come. They stand around with “blinds”, want to kill him, or “burn the servant of God” with straw. Soon Stefan himself begins to destroy their idols and idols. When he burned down their “deliberate idol,” many pagan Zyryans came with stakes and axes. Stephen preaches to them, while at the same time preparing for inevitable death. However, no one dares to attack him. The charm of his personality captivates the local people, who are very meek by nature. And yet the missionary endured many hardships and sorrows, living among the pagans who worshiped idols: “fire, water, trees, stone and the golden woman, and the magician, and the magician, and the tree.”

The Zyryans were especially in awe of the so-called “prokuda” (according to Dahl, “prokuda” is a stupid trick, damage, harm). This gigantic birch grew on a hill. The Zyryans came to this place and sacrificed animals caught in the hunt. Saint Stephen built himself a cell near this place and every time the superstitious Zyryans came there, he preached Christ to them. Then the saint simply cut down and burned the birch tree, and the Zyryans almost killed him for this. Stephen said this to them:

“Judge for yourselves, are your gods strong when they cannot protect themselves from fire? Are they gods when they are so weak and lack not only sense, but also hearing and sight? And your deity was unable to protect itself from me, the weak one. Are not all your other gods like this? This is not the Christian God. He sees everything, knows everything and is Almighty, for he created the whole world and provides for everything. And how good He is, especially to those who know Him! I wish you well by preaching the True God to you. He will love you and do good to you when you begin to honor Him sincerely.”

In the place of the “weedy birch” the saint erected the Church of the Archangel Michael, the shamer of demons, and arranged it in such a way that the stump from it served as a throne in this church.

Stefan Permsky cuts down a foul birch tree

The Annunciation Church, located in the main Zyryansk village, also preached Christianity. Stefan decorated it “like a good bride” - all the church utensils were brought from Moscow. The unbaptized also came here. These came not to pray, but to admire “the beauty and kindness of the church building.” That church itself preached with its splendor. The Zyryans were completely delighted, just like the ambassadors of Prince Vladimir to Hagia Sophia in their time. Stefan taught all the baptized people the literacy he had created, taught them to read the Book of Hours, the Psalter and “other books.” Depending on their successes, he promoted some to priests, some to deacons, some to readers or singers: “and write, teach them Perm books, and help them himself.” Thus, the spark of Christ's faith, which flared up in the cold northern region, soon ignited a bright center of Christian culture. Thus, the scientist Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, carries his wonderful science into the impenetrable wilds of primeval dense forests.

The culmination of Stefan’s missionary exploits was a dispute with Pam the centurion, the Zyryansk ruler, whom Epiphanius calls “a famous magician, leader of the magicians, and elder of the healers.” Pam proposed to resolve the dispute about the truth of faith with two tests: Stefan and Pam should have walked together through a burning hut, and also descended into one ice hole on the Vychegda River, swam under the ice, and climbed through another. Pam, seeing his opponent’s complete readiness, shamefully refuses the tests, although he himself proposed them. The indignant Zyryans gave him to the holy bishop with the words: “Take him and execute him, because he is subject to execution and, according to our old custom, must die,” however, the wise Stefan lets Pam go, elegantly emerging from the duel imposed on him as an absolute triumphant and thus overcoming the last obstacle to the Christianization of Minor Perm. In gratitude to the Lord for the victory over the leader of the pagans, Stefan built the Church of St. Nicholas on Vishera. After this, the saint’s preaching becomes more and more successful.

Library of the Russian Faith Life of St. Stephen of Perm. Great Menaion of Cheti →

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Although his biographer does not follow the spread of the Christian faith in this northern region, we know that under Stefan the Zyryans built many churches and at least several centers of Christian colonization - monasteries: Spasskaya Ulyanovsk hermitage 165 versts from Ust-Sysolsk , Stefanovskaya - 60 versts from Ust-Sysolsk, Ust-Vymskaya Arkhangelsk, Yarengskaya Arkhangelsk.

Icons painted by Stephen's hand are also preserved. The most famous of them is the “Zyryan Trinity” with an extensive inscription in the Stefanov alphabet in the Komi language.

St. Stefan Permsky. Zyryan Trinity. 1379-1400 VGIAHMZ. Vologda ABC of the Permian language, fragment of the Zyryan Trinity icon

Monastery today

At the Stefanov Monastery there are several monasteries, farmsteads and attached chapels located in other areas of Perm or neighboring villages. The novices of the monastery, in addition to prayers, are engaged in cultural and social work: they teach at the Perm Theological Seminary and at the Department of Theology of Perm State University, speak at scientific conferences, engage in the rehabilitation of drug addicts, and provide pastoral care for military personnel.

Currently, the following operate at the Holy Trinity Monastery:

catechetical conversations for adults,
Sunday school for children,
fine arts studio for preschool children,
Orthodox library in honor of Saints Cyril and Methodius,
Orthodox video lecture,
icon painting workshop “Good”,
workshop for sewing church vestments,
Museum-school named after Empress Alexandra Feodorovna,
Orthodox children's summer camp "Candle" in the village of Krasnaya Sludka, Dobryansky district,
public organization “Orthodox Youth of the Kama Region”,
Orthodox community for the deaf and dumb in honor of the holy martyrs Vera, Nadezhda, Lyubov and their mother Sophia.

In addition, the Perm Holy Trinity Monastery has a number of annual traditional events, including the religious procession to the chapel of the Holy Blessed Prince Michael of Tver, concerts of spiritual chants, and socially significant events.

The legend about the correspondence meeting between Stefan of Perm and Sergius of Radonezh

Touching is the “absentee meeting” of Stephen of Perm with the Monk Sergius of Radonezh, which happened in 1390 during the saint’s trip to Moscow on church affairs. The saint loved the Radonezh miracle worker very much and with all his heart longed to see him on the way from the Perm land, but could not do this due to lack of time. Being 10 miles from the monastery of St. Sergius, Saint Stephen, having prayed, turned towards the monastery and said with a bow: “Peace be with you, spiritual brother!” The Monk Sergius, who was at that moment with the brethren at the meal, stood up, prayed and, bowing in the direction where the saint was passing, answered: “Rejoice, you too, shepherd of the flock of Christ, and may the peace of God be with you!”

Schedule of services at the Holy Trinity Stephen Monastery

Services in the monastery are held on a regular basis: some daily, others weekly:

Liturgy - daily: from Monday to Saturday - at 8:00, on Sunday - at 7:00 and 9:00;
baptism: children (under 14 years old) - on Saturdays and Sundays at 11:00; adults - after three public conversations (they are held on Saturdays: 11:00 - first conversation, 12:00 - second, 13:00 - third);
anointing, unction - on Tuesdays at 14:00 (before unction you must undergo the Sacrament of Repentance);
water-blessing prayers in front of the image of the “Inexhaustible Chalice” - on Saturdays at 10:00 (at them prayers are offered for the suffering and for everyone who asks for mercy from the Queen of Heaven).

Full schedule of services on the official website of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Perm

Veneration and glorification of St. Stephen of Perm

In the spring of 1396, the bishop again went to Moscow, where he fell ill and died suddenly. By order of Prince Vasily Dmitrievich, he was buried in the monastery of the Savior Behind the Wall in the Church on Bor in honor of the Savior in the Moscow Kremlin, next to the graves of members of the Moscow princely house. This speaks of special respect for the Perm saint. According to the Trinity Chronicle, Stephen of Perm was revered as a saint immediately after his death, although his official church-wide veneration began only after the Council of Makariev in 1549. In 1933, the Church of the Savior on Bor was demolished, and the relics of St. Stephen were lost.

In the second half of the 15th century, based on the “Life of Stephen of Perm,” written by Epiphanius the Wise, who personally knew the bishop, the Service to the Saint was written, authored by Pachomius Logothetes.

So, in the crucial 14th century for the Russian state, when Moscow, in the process of collecting lands, turned its attention to the North, it was Bishop Stefan of Perm who became the conductor of Russian influence in new territories.

The mission of the saint in Orthodoxy

The saint's biography indicates that he was a close friend of Sergius of Radonezh. It was with him that he shared his thoughts and innermost dreams. One of them was bringing the teachings of Christ to the Komi people.

To convey the Word of God to the pagans, the saint translated the Gospel passage by passage into the Zyryan language. However, he needed a blessing, which at first not a single hierarch wanted to give. All of them argued their refusal by the imminent end of the world, which was predicted for 1492. The only one who agreed to bless Stephen's mission was the Bishop of Kolomna.

Communicating with already converted local residents, the saint noticed that other pagans were coming to their conversations. Many of them listened with interest, reflected, and later also accepted the Christian faith. However, there were also opponents to his teachings. Stefan was attacked several times, and once they even tried to set him on fire.

The fearless monk, confident in God's intercession, continued to destroy the temples and destroy the symbols of idolatry. No matter how angry the pagans were, according to tradition they did not have the right to attack first, and therefore were soon forced to retreat. Over time, Stefan built the Church of the Annunciation in Ust-Vym.

The life of the saint gives many examples of how the saint’s faith swept away all obstacles in his path. So, one day the local sorcerer Pama came to him to convince him that many gods are better than one. Seeing the impartiality on the interlocutor's face, he demanded to undergo the test of water and fire. However, after the saint’s consent, fearing the test of faith, he left his land.

Stefan of Perm died on April 26, 1396 in Moscow, where he had returned a year earlier on church business. The saint was buried there, outside the walls of the Kremlin monastery.

The author of the first life of Stephen was his friend Epiphanius the Wise

Troparion, kontakion and canon to St. Stephen of Perm

Troparion, tone 4:

With a divine desire from his youth, Stephen the Wise, he was kindled with the yoke of Christ, and people who were frozen in ancient times with unbelief of the heart, the Divine seed was all in them, you gave birth spiritually in the Gospel. In the same way, we honor your glorious memory, we pray to you: pray, Whom you preached, that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion, tone 8:

Self-proclaimed by those who do not seek you, saint, you found people freed from idolatry, and you brought them to the faith of Christ, and you put the sorcerer Pan Centurion to shame, and you also became the first bishop and teacher of Perm. For this reason, the spiritual child, who has been delivered from idols by you, is grateful to you with a cry: Rejoice, Stephen, wise teacher.

Library of the Russian Faith Canon to St. Stephen of Perm →

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Saint Stephen of Perm. Icons

"Bogolyubskaya" with selected saints. Three-leaf folding. Left wing: Moscow Saints Alexy, Cyprian, Philip and Stephen of Perm. Istoma Savin. Icon. Moscow. End of the 16th – beginning of the 17th century.

Minea April (fragment). Rus. Beginning of the 17th century Church-Archaeological Cabinet of the Moscow Theological Academy

St. Stephen of Perm. Miniature of the Front Life of St. Sergius. End of the 16th century RSL. Moscow Stefan Permsky, with his life. Third quarter of the 17th century. Vologda State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve

St. Stephen of Perm. Fragment of the Hodegetria icon with St. icon painters in the fields. Konyushevsky A.V. Sergiev Posad. 1999

Saint Stephen of Perm. Modern icon

Architecture and decoration

The monastery building combines two architectural styles at once - Old Russian and Byzantine. It is completely different from other Perm churches and rather resembles ancient Moscow churches. The appearance of this structure is majestic and monumental. It is complemented by rich carved decorations and kokoshniks.

The interior design of the monastery is both simple and solemn at the same time. The white walls are decorated with a beautiful gilded iconostasis. In front of him are hung two banners, one with the image of the Virgin Mary, the other with the face of Jesus Christ. We can confidently say that the monastery is a real decoration of Perm.