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- Life of Stephen of Perm Epiphanius the Wise
It tells here that his parents were honest people, and there was never a time when they deceived anyone. But Epiphanius was born in Veliky Ustyug. His father spent time in church and helped the priest in everything. But almost nothing is said about his mother.
Since childhood, his parents taught him a new prayer almost every day and constantly forced him to be baptized. In addition, they raised their son in such a way that he always and in everything not only obeyed them, but also always and in everything helped them. A little later he was sent to the church, where they began to teach him. The guy grasped everything perfectly and made excellent progress. But when there was time left to not only relax, but also to rest, the guy read the Holy Scripture. And a year later I began to read prayers to everyone who came to church.
Probably, in those days Veliky Ustyug was practically the richest city. And around the city there was a dense and very large forest, in which Western Permyaks and Zyryans also lived. The Zyryans tried to feed their inhabitants on their own, which is why almost every morning they went out hunting and did not return without prey. A little later, they began to supply and change goods, which were distributed to different countries and cities around the world. When Stefan began to communicate with them, he gradually began not only to understand their language, but also to speak it. That’s when he decided that he would give himself entirely to the church, and his parents were very happy with this choice.
In church he studied Greek, as well as other languages, and also wrote books that talked about the love of God.
Gradually, the Zyryans not only acquired an alphabet, but they also learned to write and even read. There were twenty-four letters in the alphabet. A little later, Stefan went to Moscow so that his candidacy would be considered at the highest level.
Now he needed to find several students, with whom he would go on a long journey around the world. When visiting each city, he said that there is only one faith in God. He also baptized many residents, and also baptized everything connected with them.
Next he had to go to the city of Ust-Gam. But the residents of the city did not greet him at all as he expected. But he managed to convince them and calm them down.
Another of his merits was the fact that with his help a huge number of monasteries and temples were built. Temples and monasteries were built in places where sacred idols had previously been located.
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Life of St. Stefan of Perm
Brief life of St. Stephen, Bishop of Great Perm
Celebration – April 26/May 9.
Saint Stephen, enlightener of Perm, apostle of the Zyryans, was born around 1340 in the family of the Ustyug cleric Simeon. Under the influence of his pious mother Mary, possessing great abilities, from a young age he showed extraordinary zeal for serving the Church: in one year he learned to read the Holy Books and helped his father in the church during Divine services, fulfilling the position of canonarch and reader.
In his youth, the saint accepted monasticism in a monastery in honor of St. Gregory the Theologian in Rostov. The monastery was famous for its rich book collection. Saint Stephen wanted to read the Holy Fathers in the original and for this he studied Greek. In his youth, helping his father in church, he often talked with the Zyryans. Now, having mastered the rich church culture, Saint Stephen was eager to convert the Zyryans to Christ.
To educate the Zyryans, he compiled the alphabet of their language and translated several church books into it. For his deeds of piety, Rostov Bishop Arseny (1374 – 1380) ordained him to the rank of hierodeacon. Having prepared himself for missionary activity, Saint Stephen appeared in Moscow (1379) to Bishop Gerasim of Kolomna, who was then managing the affairs of the metropolis, and asked him: “Bless me, Vladyka, to go to the pagan country of Perm. I want to teach the holy faith to unfaithful people. I decided to either lead them to Christ, or lay down their heads for Christ.” The bishop joyfully blessed him and ordained him to the rank of hieromonk. He provided him with antimensions, holy myrrh and liturgical books, and Grand Duke Dimitri Ioannovich gave him letters of safe conduct.
From Ustyug, Saint Stephen descended along the Northern Dvina to the confluence of the Vychegda, where the Zyryan settlements began. The preacher of the faith of Christ endured much labor, struggle, hardship and sorrow, living among the pagans who worshiped idols, “fire, water, trees, stones, and the golden woman, and the magician, and the sorcerer, and the tree.” The Zyryans were especially in awe of the so-called “weedy birch.” A birch tree, enormous in thickness and height, grew on an elevated place. The Zyryans gathered to her and sacrificed the animals they had caught. Saint Stephen set up his cell not far from the birch tree and used the meetings of superstitious pagans around the tree to teach them the holy truth. Saint Stephen then cut down and burned the birch tree to eradicate superstition. The Zyryans were going to kill him. The saint addressed them with a sermon: “Judge for yourself, 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.” On the site of the “weedy birch”, Saint Stephen built a temple in honor of Archangel Michael, the destroyer of the spirits of darkness. The baptized Zyryans themselves began to destroy what they had previously worshiped: they cut down sacred trees, crushed idols; They brought rich gifts intended for pagan altars to Saint Stephen. He ordered the Zyrian resident Matthew, who served with him, to set everything on fire and only allowed the linen to be used for wrapping the legs.
But the final turning point in the Zyryans occurred after Saint Stephen disgraced their chief priest Pama, who rebelled against the spread of the holy faith. The priest entered into an argument with Saint Stephen. “You Christians,” said Pama, “have one God, and we have many helpers both on land and on water, giving us happy fishing in the forests and supplying Moscow, the Horde and distant countries with its abundance; they tell us in sorcery secrets that are inaccessible to you.” Saint Stephen answered that there is only one True God; Omnipotence is one thing, but the powerlessness of the idol gods is obvious from experience. After much debate, the priest Pama, in order to justify his faith, volunteered to go through fire and water and demanded the same from Saint Stephen. “I do not command the elements,” Saint Stephen humbly answered, “but the Christian God is great: I am going with you.” Pama trembled and begged to be spared from certain death. “You are witnesses,” Saint Stephen said to the assembled people, “he himself demanded that the dispute about faith be resolved by fire and water, and yet he does not want to be baptized. Who should we consider Pama to be now? What to do with him?" “The deceiver must be put to death,” the people answered, “if you let Pama go, he will do dirty tricks on you.” “No,” answered the saint, “Christ did not send me to put anyone to death, but to teach. Pama does not want to accept the saving faith, let his stubbornness punish him, but not me.” Pama was kicked out.
In gratitude to the Lord for the victory over the leader of the pagans, Saint Stephen built a temple on Vishera in honor of Saint Nicholas. After this, the saint’s preaching about Christ began to become more and more successful.
In 1383, Saint Stephen was installed as Bishop of Minor Perm. As a loving father, he tirelessly cared for his flock. To confirm the faith of converts, Saint Stephen opened schools at churches where the Holy Books were studied in the Permian language. The saint looked closely at the students, took into account their abilities in order to appoint priests and deacons from them. Saint Stephen taught some students to write in Permian. The saint built churches in which he appointed priests from the Zyryans, and introduced divine services in the Zyryans language.
Saint Stephen translated into the Zyryan language the Book of Hours, the Psalter, selected readings from the Gospel and the Apostle, the Book of Paremias, the Stichirarion, the Octoechos, several festive services and the Divine Liturgy.
During crop failure, the Saint supplied the Zyryans with bread, many times delivered them from violence and bribes of the tiuns, eased their taxes, protected them from attacks by other tribes, interceding for them in Moscow. The fruit of his exploits and virtues was the conversion of the entire vast Perm land to Christianity. This great deed was accomplished by the power of faith and Christian love. The life of the saint is a victory of faith over unbelief, of love and meekness over malice and wickedness.
Touching is the “absentee meeting” of St. Stephen of Perm with St. Sergius of Radonezh, which took place in 1390 during the saint’s trip to Moscow on church affairs. Saint Stephen passionately loved the Radonezh ascetic and really wanted to see him on his way from the Perm land, but he 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 sitting 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!”
The deep spiritual connection between St. Stephen of Perm and St. Sergius of Radonezh is now evidenced by the special daily prayer to them at the fraternal meal.
In addition to establishing churches, Saint Stephen founded several monasteries for the Zyryans: Spasskaya Ulyanovsk hermitage 165 versts from Ust-Sysolsk, Stefanovskaya monastery 60 versts from Ust-Sysolsk, Ust-Vymskaya Arkhangelsk, Yarenga Arkhangelsk.
In 1395, Saint Stephen again went to Moscow on business for his flock and died here. His body was laid in the monastery of the Savior Behind the Wall (in the temple on Bor in honor of the Savior) in the Moscow Kremlin. The Zyryans bitterly mourned the death of their apostle. They strenuously begged the Moscow Prince and Metropolitan to release the body of their mentor to Perm, but Moscow did not want to part with the remains of the great saint.
The glorification of Saint Stephen began at the beginning of the 15th century. The life was written shortly after the death of the saint in 1472. The service for him was composed by Hieromonk Pachomius the Serb with Hieromonk Epiphanius the Wise, a disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh, who knew the saint well and loved to talk with him.
Source: “Tserkov.ru” (Orthodox Library)
Troparion of St. Stephen, Bishop of Great Perm
voice 4
With a divine desire, / from your youth, Stephen the Wise, you were kindled, / you took the yoke of Christ, / and people, who in ancient times were frozen with the unbelief of the heart, / having sowed the Divine seed in them, / you gave birth to the gospel spiritually. / Moreover, we honor your glorious memory, we pray to you: / pray, Whom you preached, / that He may save our souls.
Kontakion of Saint Stephen, Bishop of Great Perm
voice 8
Self-proclaimed by those who do not seek you, O saint, you have found yourself, / you have freed people from idolatry, you have brought them to the faith of Christ / and you have put to shame the sorcerer pansotnik, / in the same way you were the first bishop and teacher of Perm. / For this sake, you are your spiritual child, / as Having been delivered from idols by you, we cry out to you in gratitude:/ Rejoice, Stephen, wise teacher.
Prayer to Saint Stephen, Bishop of Great Perm.
O God-sanctified and Equal-to-the-Apostles Stephen, a new preacher of God and enlightener by baptism with the saints of Great Perm, people living in idolatry, a guide to the true Gospel light, a good shepherd and a wise teacher, a chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit, a Christ-imitator in the Heavenly Zion, a mentor and leader, an image of good behavior for all, those who wish to live piously, well-crafted of the mental ship, through the sea of this world to the heavenly haven of the floating, ruler, wondrous in all hierarchs, crowned with Divine grace, all-Russian lamp, great miracle worker and warm prayer book! To you, in the tenderness of my heart, I am a damned and sinner, I trustlessly flow and cry out, asking, humble, your help and warm intercession to the Most Good God, so that with your favorable prayers you may ask from Him humane mercy, forgiveness of many of my sins, health of soul and body with salvation, and as the Good One and the Lover of Mankind, may He be pleased to walk comfortably in this world until the end of my life, but during my separation from this life, my spirit in repentance and peace may His holy Angel graciously receive me, may He give me past the dark and evil ones and it is not forbidden for the fierce spirits of demons to pass through the air, and it is shameless to come before Him to worship, and to be honored with immortal and blessed life with all the saints forever. Amen.
Akathist to Saint Stephen of Perm
Historical messages of the reverend
Not all theologians agree with the authorship of Epiphanius regarding such messages as the doctrine of Strigolniki, the life of Tsar Dmitry, but everyone is unequivocally sure that the famous monk was written by:
- Message to friend Kirill;
- Life of Saint Stephen, Bishop of Perm;
- Life of Saint Sergius of Radonezh;
- The tale of Epiphanius Mnich about the path to the holy city of Jerusalem.
Works of Saint Epiphanius
The hagiographer dedicated his first message to his friend and mentor Stefan of Perm. The Life of St. Stephen gives an idea not only of St. Stephen, the atmosphere and morals of that time, but also of the author of the letter himself.
Troparion and kontakion written to Stephen of Perm
A troparion and kontakion were written for Stephen, which are sung during services in the church.
Troparion to Saint Stephen of Perm, tone 4:
With a divine desire, from his youth, Stephen the Wise, he was kindled, you took Christ as a yoke, and people, who had been frozen in ancient times with the unbelief of the heart, you sowed the Divine seed in them spiritually and evangelically. In the same way, we honor your glorious memory, we pray to you: pray, Whom you preached, that He may save our souls.
Kontakion to Saint Stephen of Perm, tone 6:
You have found yourself a self-proclaimed saint who did not seek you, you have freed people from idolatry, you have brought them to the faith of Christ, and you have put to shame the sorcerer pansotnik: in the same way you were the first bishop and teacher of Perm. For this reason, your spiritual children, who have been delivered from idols by you, are grateful to you with a cry: Rejoice, Stephen, wise teacher.
Stefan of Perm set up a cell for himself not far from the place of worship of the pagans
Zyryans often gathered near the birch tree and made sacrifices to it. Archimandrite Stefan set up a cell for himself not far from a birch tree and used the meetings of superstitious pagans near this tree in order to teach them the holy truth. After this, Stephen cut down and burned their so highly revered tree in order to eradicate these superstitions from them.
For this act the Zyryans wanted to kill him. But the saint addressed them with a sermon:
Stefan Permsky
bishop
“...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...”
On the site of this birch tree, St. Stephen built a temple in honor of the Archangel Michael.
Then the beginning of Christianization in these lands was laid. The Zyryans were baptized and began to destroy and chop down what they once worshiped. They chopped everything and brought it to Stefan. Stefan ordered everything to be set on fire.
At the site of the removal of the birch tree, where the pagans worshiped, St. Stephen built a temple in honor of the Archangel Michael
In 1390, a meeting took place between Stefan of Perm and Sergius of Radonezh
One day in 1390, during a trip to Moscow, a meeting took place between Stefan of Perm and Sergius of Radonezh. Stefan loved St. Sergius very much and really wanted to see him.
Meeting of Sergius of Radonezh and Stephen of Perm. Painting of the Church of Sergius of Radonezh
Also, in addition to building churches, Stephen founded several monasteries. In 1395, the saint went to Moscow on business for his flock and died there. His body was laid to rest in a monastery in the Moscow Kremlin.
Prayers were written to St. Stephen of Perm to admonish the pagans
Prayers were written to Saint Stephen of Perm for the admonition of pagans and non-believers.
First prayer to Saint Stephen of Perm for the admonition of pagans, non-believers and sectarians:
O God-sanctified and Equal-to-the-Apostles Stephen, a new preacher and enlightener of God, through the Baptism of the saints of the Great Perm people living in idolatry, to the true Gospel light, a guide, a good shepherd and a wise teacher, a chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit, a Christ-imitating mentor and leader in the heavenly Zion,
an image of good behavior for all who wish to live piously, a well-crafted mental ship, through the sea of this world to the heavenly haven of the floating one, a ruler, marvelous in the hierarchs, crowned with Divine grace, the all-Russian lamp, the great miracle worker and warm prayer book!
To you, in the tenderness of my soul and the contrition of my heart, I, a cursed and sinner (name), reliably flow before your miraculous tomb, in which your holy relics rest, I cry out, humbly asking for your help and warm intercession to the Most Good God,
Yes, with your God-pleasing prayers, ask from Him humane mercy, forgiveness of many of my sins, health of soul and body with salvation;
and, as He is Good and Lover of Mankind, may He be pleased to walk comfortably in this world until the end of my life, and during my separation from life, sow my spirit in repentance and peace by His holy Angel, mercifully receiving,
and may He grant me to pass by the dark and malicious and fierce demonic spirits in the air without restraint and to come to Him shamelessly and worship Him, and to be honored with an immortal and blessed life with all the saints forever. Amen.
Second prayer to Saint Stephen of Perm:
O Equal-to-the-Apostles Saint Stephen of Christ! We, the damned ones, reliably flow to you and before your holy image we cry out, asking for your help and intercession with God, so that with your prayers ask us, the servants of God (names), from Him mercy:
forgiveness of many of our sins, health and salvation to our souls and bodies; May the Lord be pleased with your prayers to walk comfortably in this world until the end of our life, and during our separation from life may our angels sow our spirit in repentance and peace mercifully receive,
as if from the dark and malicious and fierce spirits of demons in the air, what has passed without restraint, let us shamelessly come before Him and worship, and we will be honored with immortal and blessed life, with all the saints, forever and ever.
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Honor and legacy
The body of Saint Stephen was laid in the monastery of the Savior Behind the Wall (in the temple on Bor in honor of the Savior) in the Moscow Kremlin. The Zyryans bitterly mourned the death of their apostle. They strenuously begged the Moscow prince and metropolitan to release the body of their mentor to Perm, but Moscow did not want to part with the remains of the great saint.
Thanks to the works of the saint, Orthodoxy was firmly established in the Perm region, and educated scribes used the Stephen alphabet in the 16th centuries to write individual inscriptions and notes in the margins of books.
The glorification of Saint Stephen began at the beginning of the century. His first life was written at the end of the 14th and beginning of the century by Epiphanius the Wise, a disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh, who previously lived in the same monastery with the saint and loved to talk with him. An akathist to Saint Stephen, based on the life of Epiphanius, was compiled by Hieromonk Pachomius the Serb, who came to Rus' in the first half of the century [6]. Subsequently, the biography of the saint was enriched with details from other legends about him - for example, in the first life of Epiphanius there is no mention of the safe-conduct of Prince Dmitry, the miracles of the saint, or the incident with the “wicked birch”.
In 2021, his name was included in the list of the Cathedral of Saints of the Archangel Metropolis [7].
