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The Life of Saint Stephen of Perm

St Stephen of Perm

Stephen of Perm was one of the founding fathers of Russian missions and an important ecclesiastical figure during the Mongolian period of Russian history. He followed the example of Cyril and Methodios, the patron missionaries of all Slavic peoples, by immersing himself among the Zyrian people of Perm, incarnating the gospel for them through his life, translating the Orthodox faith into the indigenous language and culture of the people, and eventually establishing a national Zyrian church. As a contemporary of Sergius Radonezh, he emerged alongside this mystical patron of Russia as a bulwark of hope in the northern regions of Russia. By the time of his death in 1396, following eighteen years of ministry throughout the region of Perm, the Zyrian people of northwest Siberia recognized Stephen as their patron, protector, intercessor, apostle and saint.

Historical Background

Stephen was born around the year 1340 in the town of Veliki Ustyug, a region between the Northern Dvina and Pechora rivers in northwest Siberia. He lived in a small Muscovite settlement surrounded by the Zyrians of Perm, a pagan people with whom Stephen had frequent contact. As a youngster, Stephen learned the language and customs of the Zyrians and wondered why their beliefs differed from those of the Russians. He also questioned why so few of his countrymen ever tried sharing the Christian faith with their neighbors. His interactions with these pagan people kindled a missionary spirit early in his life.

As the son of a priest, Stephen was quite involved in church affairs. He was a smart boy who excelled in his studies and advanced in church responsibilities, first as a reader and then as a deacon. His interest in the faith and his thirst for knowledge led him to devote much of his time to prayer and in-depth study of the Holy Scriptures. He felt a strong call to commit his life to service in the church, and by 1365, he entered the monastery of St. Gregory of Nazianzus in the town of Rostov. Stephen chose this faraway monastery because of its outstanding library. The monastery offered a wonderful opportunity for an inquisitive monk to further his knowledge through priceless books. In addition, the abbot of the monastery was a Greek bishop who possessed many unique Greek manuscripts.

Stephen took his monastic vows under this bishop, but clearly voiced his intentions of not wanting to stay in the monastery for the remainder of his life. He had a burning desire to return to Perm and proclaim the gospel among the Zyrians. He realized, though, that he had to learn more about his faith and spirituality before accepting such an ambitious challenge. Shortly after his arrival at the monastery, Stephen began learning Greek and became one of the few men in ancient Russia who could read and speak that language. With this knowledge, Stephen started studying the Holy Scriptures in its original text. He spent hours each day wrestling with parts of the text, trying to comprehend the passages and apply them to his life. His biographer, Epiphanius the Wise, noted that Stephen studied different passages until “he understood ultimately and truly” the meaning of every sentence. He then questioned the abbot, or other wise elders, night and day trying to properly understand and discover the truth of God’s word (Fedotov 1975:232).

The Scriptures played an essential role in the development of Stephen’s character and vision. Through his study he realized ever more clearly the universal love of God and the noble call to missions that is expressed throughout the Bible. The treasure that unfolded before his eyes was not the exclusive gift of the Russian people, but “the pearl of great price” which God wanted all nations to discover. This revelation made him think again of his home region and the pagan Zyrians who lived in spiritual darkness. Despite more than a decade of secluded monastic life at St. Gregory’s monastery, Stephen did not allow his love for scholarly study and sacred knowledge to supercede his missionary zeal. He reminded himself that the past years were but a preparation for the task ahead. Thus, in 1378, Stephen was ordained a priest and received the blessing from the bishop of Moscow to go to the land of Perm and begin his mission there.

Mission to Perm

During his years at the monastery, Stephen studied many sacred Greek texts and became familiar with the writings of the church. He was particularly impressed with the lives of Cyril and Methodios and their method of missions among the Slavic peoples. Stephen embraced their traditional philosophy of Orthodox

missions and implemented many of their ideas in his preparation for ministry among the Zyrians. He saw, for example, the necessity of translating the liturgical services and parts of Scripture into the native tongue. To do this, he needed to create a Zyrian alphabet. A unique feature of this work was that Stephen did not use either Slavic or Greek letters, but rather created an alphabet from a local system of ancient Zyrian ruins. With these letters in tact, he proceeded with his translations (Fedotov 1975:234).

Stephen was firmly opposed to forcing the Zyrians to adopt the Russian culture in order to convert. He wanted the natives to feel unencumbered when listening to the gospel, which could only come about by using their native tongue. Not everyone shared this philosophy. Some church officials, to the contrary, wanted him to cooperate as an agent of the State and help make his audience open to the Slavic culture. These officials believed that Stephen should use the Slavic language in his preaching; or if he was to make translations, then he should at least use Slavic letters. These misguided men believed that Stephen erred in not using one of the four traditional languages: Greek, Hebrew, Latin, or Slavic. Despite such opposition, Stephen received the blessing from the bishop of Moscow and continued his work.

Stephen began his mission by briefly returning to his hometown of Ustyug around the year 1378, before journeying northeast across the Dvina river and into the Zyrian village of Kotlas. Once among the Zyrians, he began preaching the gospel in their native tongue and introducing them to a new way of life. Stephen settled among the people and showed them Christ through his life of humility and love. His behavior perplexed the Zyrians because their usual encounter with Russians had always been negative. Greedy traders and hunters were interested only in the Zyrians furs, while Stephen cared solely for the people . His humble demeanor touched the peace-loving natives.

His humility, however, did not obscure the boldness and eloquence of his preaching. Stephen chastised the Zyrians for their rampant idolatry and tried to show them the impotence of their gods by aggressively tearing down their idols and destroying wooden shrines. One day he burned the sacred birch tree of the Zyrians, and set fire to the furs placed on the altars. Another time he torched the main sanctuary of worship and then questioned the power of their dead gods. When a large crowd of Zyrians gathered with poles and axes in opposition to Stephen’s actions, he used the opportunity to preach about the power of the one true God. As the Zyrians were a peaceful people, they never carried through on their hostile threats to the missionaries.

His power struggles came to a head one day when Stephen confronted a leading pagan magician named Pam. Stephen and the magician had previously discussed their respective faiths, but to no fruitful end. After a particularly heated discussion, the magician said to Stephen, “You have insulted our gods... Those who do this in my court deserve the sentence of death, which you soon will experience at my hand. I shall not fail to work miracles for your destruction and let loose many gods to kill you.” In response, Stephen challenged Pam to a divine trial of fire and water. He proposed that both men pass through a burning hut and then throw themselves into an opening in the ice of the Vichegda river. At first, Pam agreed, but at the time of testing he lost courage and retreated in defeat (Fedotov 1975:239).

The Zyrians accepted Stephen’s victory as a sign from God that they should all be baptized, including Pam. When the magician refused, the crowd demanded his death. Stephen showed the power of God’s mercy by rejecting this death sentence and exemplifying Christianity’s call to love: “Christ sent me not to kill, but to teach; not to torture but to preach with meekness and admonish with kindness” (Fedotov 1975:240). He did, however, exile the magician from the Christians, so that his poisonous teachings would not corrupt young believers.

Beauty and Power of the Liturgy and Church

Stephen’s method of preaching was not always so aggressive. His most successful means of converting the Zyrians came through the power of the Divine Liturgy and the majesty of various church structures. Throughout Orthodox history, the beauty of the divine services and church buildings have played an important role in the witness of the church. In the Divine Liturgy, for example, the Orthodox believe that worshippers transcend earth and join the angels and saints in the heavenly realm of God. Understanding and participating in such a glorious worship is one of the primary reasons why Orthodox missionaries have always tried to make the liturgy accessible to all people by using their indigenous language. Likewise, the service and church buildings are constructed in a manner that magnifies the splendor of God.

Stephen built the first church building in Ust-Vim, a main settlement of the Zyrians. The relatively modest chapel impressed the Zyrians. Stephen had adorned the church with beautiful icons and ornaments because he knew the power such a sight could have on the native population. He only had to recall the powerful influence that a beautiful church and liturgy had on the conversion of Prince Vladimir and the Russian people. Three and a half centuries earlier, Prince Vladimir selected Orthodox Christianity as the religion of his kingdom because of the inspiration his emissaries felt upon entering an Orthodox cathedral. Russian history relates how emissaries were sent to various countries throughout the world in order to discover the true religion. After being dissatisfied with the Moslem Bulgars, the German Christians, and the Roman church, the group journeyed to Constantinople and attended the Divine Liturgy in the church of Haghia Sophia. The men reported back to Prince Vladimir, “We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth, for surely there is no such splendor or beauty anywhere upon earth. We cannot describe it to you: only this we know, that God dwells there among men, and that their service surpasses the worship of all other places. For we cannot forget that beauty” (Ware 1963:269).

Stephen hoped to imitate such glory on a smaller scale for his Zyrian flock. And indeed, many non-baptized Zyrians came to see the new church and inquire about its purpose. The missionary noted that pagans appeared, “‘not yet for prayer, but desiring to see the beauty of the church,’ adorned ‘as a beautiful bride.’ They left with the belief that ‘Great is the God of the Christians’” (Stephens 1991:9). This means of attracting the Zyrians gave Stephen numerous opportunities to preach the gospel and bring more people to a saving knowledge of the truth.

Whenever Stephen did receive interested followers, he tried to prepare them for baptism through intensive catechism. He taught those who were able to first learn the alphabet he had invented, and then guided them in reading his translated works, including the Gospels, the Psaltar, parts of the Old Testament and various prayers. With time, many Zyrians responded to his preaching. Stephen realized that as the church grew, a bishop was needed for the neophyte body of believers. A resident hierarch could ordain some of the outstanding indigenous leaders, who in turn would help minister to the needs of the growing Christian community.

Stephen asked the Holy Synod to appoint a bishop to the region of Perm, and they agreed by consecrating Stephen the first bishop of Perm in 1383. As a hierarch, Stephen increased his ministry by ordaining his most faithful Zyrian disciples as priests, deacons, readers and chanters (Fedotov 1975:237). He also built churches, opened schools, and founded two monasteries. Overall, he helped transform Perm, and particularly the town of Ust-Vim, into a center for Christian culture.

As bishop, Stephen kept in regular contact with Moscow and Novgorod, the two main cities of Russia. He constantly sought financial and material aid for his flock, especially whenever a particular need overwhelmed the Zyrians. He also kept in close contact with the Holy Synod in Moscow, updating them on the progress of the mission. On one trip to Moscow in 1396, Stephen fell ill and did not recover. He died on April 26 and was buried in a monastery within the Kremlin. The Zyrians remembered his last words of exhortation to be: “live godly lives, read the Scriptures, and obey the Church” (Hatch 1980:24).

Conclusion

Death of St Stephen of Perm

Stephen truly radiated the characteristics of traditional Orthodox missionaries. He lived a life of self-denial and humility, offering himself completely to the natives of Perm. His ministry revealed the familiar pattern of translating the Scriptures and divine services into the vernacular language, creating and organizing indigenous leadership, and establishing a national Zyrian church. A song the Zyrians wrote upon his death best summarize the impact Stephen had on the region of Perm:

We have lost our patron and intercessor. He prayed to God for the salvation of our souls, and presented our complaints to the prince; he worked to obtain benefits for us and was concerned for our welfare; he was our zealous protector before the boyars [rulers] and the superiors; many a time did he deliver us from violence, heavy labour and the tituns' [Russian officials] bribery, alleviating our taxes. Even the Novgorod river-pirates, those robbers, heeded his instructions and did not rob us (Hatch 1980:24).

Excerpted from Luke Alexander Veronis, Missionaries, Monks, and Martyrs: Making Disciples of All Nations (Light and Life Publishing, 1994)

Works Cited

  • Fedotov, G. P. 1975 The Russian Religious Mind Vol. 2. Belmont, MA: Nordland Pub.Co.
  • Hatch, Janene Pinchot 1980 New Apostles of Christ. Syosset, NY: OCA Dept. of Rel. Ed.
  • Ware, Timothy (Kallistos) 1963 The Orthodox Church. New York: Penguin Books.