Memorial Day of St. Stephen of Perm

The Orthodox Church honors the memory of St Stephen, Bishop of Perm, on May 9 In the distant 14th century, the saint was the continuer of the apostolic educational tradition of Christians in the Russian lands, and performed many godly deeds, for which he was canonized Stefan was born in Veliky Ustyug in the family of a priest of the cathedral church and from an early age began to learn to read and write Already at a very young age, the boy fell in love with prayer, reading spiritual literature and showed great ability for learning languages The young man studied not only Latin and Greek, but also the little-known speech of the pagan Zyryan tribes living in the forests near Veliky Ustyug Having taken monastic vows, Stefan is inspired by the idea of ​​introducing the Zyryans to Christianity, for which he creates a unique Zyryan alphabet and writing system The prototype of the letters was the notches in the trees of forest hunters; in total, 24 characters were included in the alphabet; soon the Holy Scripture was translated into the Zyryan language After such thorough preparation, Stephen receives the blessing to spread Christianity among the pagan tribes Knowledge of the language helped the saint to get closer to the Zyryans, and to learn that the priests and magicians were most revered among them Supporters of pagan cults tried to harm Stephen’s activities, but even threats to his life did not prevent him from introducing idolaters to the faith of Christ The saint moved from village to village, bringing the light of truth to the local residents The decisive moment for Stefan was the clash with the high Zyryan priest Pama The priest invited the missionary to test the power of his god by walking through the fire Stefan agreed, and inspired by prayer, he called Pama to follow him The priest did not have the courage to enter into the competition; he retreated in fear After this incident, mass baptism began among the Zyryans and the construction of churches in the Perm region In all cathedrals, services were performed in the language of the local residents, Stefan himself taught the newly-minted Christians Zyryansk literacy, and soon a theological school for Zyryans was established at the Church of the Annunciation After four years of successful missionary activity, the saint was appointed bishop of the Perm lands, after which he began to improve the lives of his flock Through the efforts of Stefan, the oppression of the Zyryans by the troops of Novgorod ceases, they manage to survive the lean years, having received benefits and assistance for the Perm lands from the Moscow Prince Vasily himself The bishop died peacefully in 1396 on April 26th according to the old style In the 15th century, legends about St Stephen, both church and popular, began to appear, in which his great deeds were appreciated