41. Распространение христианства на севере; просвещение Перми святым Стефаном

Saint Stephen was born in the city of Ustyug and from childhood he was distinguished by great talents and curiosity. Not far from his homeland lived the Zyryans. Stefan saw them at a market in his hometown, and a desire was kindled in his heart to enlighten their wild country with the light of the Christian faith. To prepare for this holy feat, he entered one of the Rostov monasteries (St. Gregory the Theologian, now abolished), where there were many books. Having studied the Holy Scriptures and the Greek language so that he could speak it fluently, Stefan began to learn the language of the Zyryans, compiled the Zyryans alphabet from the letters of the Slavic and Greek alphabets, translated the necessary sacred and liturgical books into the Zyryans language, and in 1379 set off on his apostolic feat. For seventeen years, first in the rank of presbyter, then in the rank of bishop, he worked to educate the Zyryans and suffered many temptations and misfortunes. But with humility and meekness, Saint Stephen defeated his opponents and converted many Zyryans to faith. With their help, he built a church in the name of the Annunciation of the Mother of God in the most important settlement of the Zyryans - Ust-Vym (at the confluence of the Vym and Vychegda rivers) and burned the famous Zyryan idol with all the idols in it. At the same time, he taught the newly enlightened Zyryan literacy and the word of God and, depending on their success, appointed some as priests, others as deacons, and others as readers. The most powerful and dangerous enemy of Saint Stephen was a certain Pam, or Pan Sotnik, a very old man and the chief of all the Zyryansk Magi. Having a strong influence on the Zyryans, he kept many from baptism, and distracted those who were baptized from the faith. Many times Saint Stephen entered into open dispute with him, their debate lasting days and nights, but Pam remained an adamant pagan. Finally, the famous magician himself volunteered to go through fire and water together with Saint Stephen in order to test whose faith was right. He never expected that his opponent would agree to this experiment. Meanwhile, Saint Stephen immediately ordered the people to set fire to one building, which stood alone, and gave Pam his hand to go into the fire together, but he refused, despite any convictions and demands from the Zyryans. Then the Zyryans rushed at the disgraced magician and wanted to kill him. But Saint Stephen did not allow them to do this and insisted only that Pam leave the Perm borders forever. After this, a great many Zyryans turned to faith, several churches were built and monasteries were founded. The zealous shepherd also cared about the external well-being of the newly enlightened country. During the famine, he repeatedly delivered bread from Vologda to Perm and distributed it to the needy, obtained various benefits for the Zyryans from the Grand Duke, protected them from oppression by the boyars and traveled to Novgorod with a request that the Novgorod freemen not raid the defenseless areas of Perm. On one of his trips to Moscow, to meet the needs of his flock, Saint Stephen fell ill and died on April 26, 1396. His holy relics rest in Moscow, in the court church of the Savior on Bor. In the 15th century, the famous Solovetsky monastery arose in the far north of Russia. Its founders were Saints Zosima and Savvaty. The Monk Savvaty first asceticised in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, then, seeking solitude, he retired to a monastery on the island of Valaam (on Lake Ladoga). Having heard that on the White Sea there is an island called Solovetsky, uninhabited by anyone and rarely accessible even to fishermen, Savvaty retired here in order to completely avoid not only the bustle, but also the glory of the world and serve with all his soul the one God. On the way to Solovki, he met the hermit Herman, became spiritually close to him, and both ascetics set off on a small boat across the stormy sea. Protected by God, they safely landed on the shore in 1429. Having built a cell and a cross in front of it, they spent six years in complete solitude, in feats of fasting and prayer and in the fight against harsh nature. In 1436, after the death of St. Savvaty, St. Zosima arrived on Solovetsky Island. Together with Herman, he built a church and made a fence around it and the cell. Soon after this, lovers of silence began to come to them, and a monastery arose. In order to strengthen the land behind the monastery and protect the monks from insults from the wild Lapps, the Monk Zosima went to Novgorod, on which the island then depended. In Novgorod at this time, Martha the Posadnitsa had great power. The proud noblewoman at first did not accept the ascetic, then, feeling guilty towards him, she invited him to dine. She invited some Novgorod boyars to dinner. Zosima sat silently at dinner and, as usual, ate little. Looking at the boyars, he saw that six of them were sitting without heads. Tears flowed from his eyes, and he no longer touched food. He told one of his students about this vision. A few years later, these same boyars, as conspirators and troublemakers, were beheaded by order of Grand Duke John III. Martha the planter fulfilled the request of the holy ascetic and assigned the land and possessions to the monastery with a special charter. Subsequently, Saint Philip, who was its abbot before being appointed metropolitan, worked very hard for the monastery. The Solovetsky monastery still serves as a stronghold of faith and piety on the northern outskirts of Russia. Many pilgrims visit it, and, in addition to the monks living in it, thousands of Christians, especially from the common people, huddle around it as voluntary disciples and workers. Here they learn literacy and crafts, fulfill the vows given to them, and from here they receive good edification for the rest of their lives in their families and among the world. You might be interested in: