The juggling of historical facts and lies from the high stands, unfortunately, have already become commonplace. It looks especially cynical when it comes to faith and religion. The miracles attributed to St. Stephen turned out to be a forgery …
Before getting acquainted with the works of Academician N. V. Levashov, I myself sincerely believed what the Orthodox Church was saying. Moreover, he not only regularly visited the temple, but, unlike many, was also a regular reader of the Izhevsk diocesan library. So, for several years I learned this topic well enough.
Then, while studying the history of the Orthodox Church, I was surprised by the fact that there are quite a few saints (including locally revered ones) in the Kama region. Stefan Velikopermsky stood out among them. Unlike the others, he alone was credited with miracles during his lifetime and the title of Equal to the Apostles. It was reported that he entered into confrontation with local idols, priests and defeated them "with God's help."
This vivid image is well remembered. Imagine my surprise when the book "St. Stephen the Great of Perm", authored by Archpriest E. Popov, published in Perm in 1885 (hereinafter - "Old Life") became available to me. This work was created on the basis of a manuscript of a certain Epiphanius, and was interesting to me first of all, as a storehouse of random references to the state of Great Perm. After all, few people notice, especially among believers, that Stephen is called not the Great Perm, but namely the Great Perm.
The book was full of unexpected details and interesting facts. In order to see how the church created the illusion of holiness, I will give here comparisons between excerpts from the above old book and another, modern one, which is called “All saints pray to God for us. Miracles and Brief Lives of All Saints”, publishing house“Siberian Blagozvonnitsa”, 2004 (hereinafter -“New Life”).
This modern book is 821 pages long and, although brief, is quite accessible to believers. Full descriptions of the lives of the saints make up many volumes, and few people read them.
So, the "new life" reads: "… St. Stephen decided to fulfill his long-standing intention - to enlighten the pagan Zyryans with the light of Christ's faith. He created a written language for them and translated the liturgical books and partly the Holy Scriptures into the Zyrian language”.
But in the “old life” it is written: “Stefan compiles the alphabet for the inhabitants of“this country of Perm”, in which there was no literacy at that time. As usual, if the alphabet was transferred to the newly baptized people, then special letters from the language of the unbaptized were added there. So also St. To compile the Zyryan alphabet, Stephen uses money signs from the Zyryans, which the Zyryans carved on thin quadrangular sticks (passes) and which served them instead of books that only they could understand (it was in 1375 - author). Even now Zyryan has not yet deprived of its use of “passes”. With passes, they make annual calculations and signs of the past year in economic terms."
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And in the same place: “The diploma was a rarity in Russia at that time. There were faces and statesmen could hardly sign their names. Often, the clergy did not know any more basic literacy."
This is what is called - the enlightenment of the dark peoples! Apparently, the Permians (today's "Komi") in the 14th century were quite literate, and retained elements of this literacy right up to the 19th century. The clause about the ignorance of government officials and churchmen in Russia at that time also speaks against Stephen and his "light of Christ's faith."
Obviously, the Komi "Passes" in their use have the meaning of writing. After all, the sequence of labels cannot be considered a book. And if calculations can be made with simple labels, then the most competent bookkeepers should be recognized as dogs and cats. They leave their "annual calculations" on each pillar. It is a pity that Professor Valery Alekseevich Chudinov has not made it to the Finno-Ugric "passes" yet. In places they are strikingly similar to the runitsa.
It is not surprising that modern proofreaders did not say a word about these inconvenient facts.
Further in the new life we read: "Accompanied by difficulties and dangers, the saint advanced deep into the Perm land, convincing with a word, crushing idols and idols."
I wonder what kind of difficulties and dangers accompanied our hero on the way. Probably robbers and cannibals-savages? It turns out not! They met him according to all the laws of hospitality, the land was inhabited and habitable. And Stephen's difficulties always stemmed from his obsessive missionary activity, closely associated with a more complete, spiritual enslavement of the Permians.
In the “old life” it is said about this: “The Grand Duke of Rostov saw in his (Stefan's - author) determination the best future of Perm in civil terms, as at the same time the acquisition of a new and rich land for the entire Russian kingdom. Therefore, for his part, he endowed him with a protective letter against insults in a distant country."
This letter apparently had considerable power, because it convinced the Zyryan-pagans much stronger than God's word. This becomes obvious when describing the very first episode of baptism, when our preacher came to the nearest Zyryan village and immediately announced that the old gods must be destroyed.
The locals, apparently, imagined what such a baptism would result in and the hospitality immediately receded into the background. In the old life it is described as follows: “And - now Stephen was wrapped in straw! But suddenly everyone's hands dropped: no one dared to approach him with a lit torch (apparently at that moment a security certificate was presented - author). His meek appearance, his fearlessness in view of death, as well as the fear of responsibility for his violent death before the Moscow principality, enlightened the frantic ….
So, this was the first "MIRACLE" by Stefan Velikopermsky! When describing this "miracle" now, the title of protection is rarely mentioned. The emphasis is on the fearlessness and meek look of the saint. Well, okay, let's not be too hard on him. The first pancake is lumpy. Perhaps further the holy spirit will manifest itself more strongly than the princely threats.
Stephen continued to annoy the inhabitants of the surrounding villages with annoying offers to be baptized. Everywhere, as a traveler, he used the Zyryan cordiality and hospitality, then frightening the Perm people with his missionary speeches, and not forgetting to wave the coveted letter, for example: “… he greeted the meeting with such a speech that he came to them to preach the true God, them happiness and salvation, that the Grand Duke of Moscow knows about his travels among them, from whom he even has a letter to do so … He baptized those who converted (probably the faint of heart - author), and threatened the stubborn people with eternal destruction, and again urged them to know the truth."
Seeing that they were afraid to kill him, but the Zyryans were in no hurry to get baptized, Stefan began to greatly abuse his hospitality. In particular, in another village he set fire to an idol room, which was revered by the whole district: “He began to wait for the time when there would be no Zyryan at the idol room. The time has come, and now he put fire under it. The idol room (it was made of wood) immediately burst into flames …
People came running. Stefan is not hiding. And again no one gives him a decisive blow. Some stopped with such a thought: how to raise their hands to the one whom the gods did not dare to touch? Others were restrained by the local custom of not attacking the wanderer, unless he himself starts a fight. Still others feared execution by the prince of Moscow. This time the priests were most afraid; because they would be primarily responsible for the life of the holy preacher. It was only desirable for the priests to expel him from Perm."
But modern Orthodox writers, of course, believe that the "savages" were frightened and enlightened by the fearlessness of the saint and the impotence of the old gods. This was Stephen's second “MIRACLE” and the manifestation of “God's grace” through him!
There is also a third wonderful feat. Although this moment was reduced in the quoted new life, it is well known from other church sources. Stefan cutting down a cursed (mischievous) birch. This feat is very interesting because the author of the old life tells about the prophecies made by the birch, immediately accusing the local priests of forgery. Say, it was not the tree that spoke, and not even the demons, but the priests hiding in the branches for the sake of supporting the birch authority.
So, Stefan continued to test the patience of the Permians: "… here, too, he came to the idea of destroying the idol … Stefan one morning and proceeded with an ax to the deified tree … On the third day the tree succumbed."
Various church legends shamelessly say that an uncut birch was overgrown by morning, and Stephen had to start all over again, but the old life says nothing like that. It's just that the trunk of the birch was three girths, and that's it. On the contrary, in pagan folklore there are stories about a world tree that is not chopped up and overgrown by morning. These are images of the impending destruction of the universe, and they have nothing to do with Stephen, since they are much older than the 14th century.
However, right there in the “old life” it is said that the birch cut down by Stephen asked him in different voices not to do this. I wonder if the cunning priests were hurt when the felled tree fell, judging by the suspicions of the author of the old life, who warned from the branches for 3 days while the saint was waving his ax.
And this time Stefan was protected from the indignation of the Zyryans by a reliable "roof" in the person of the Moscow prince. But in this feat, today's Orthodox storytellers emphasize precisely the wonderful properties of birch, thereby emphasizing how “God's grace” acted through the saint and helped him in opposition to pagan magic. However, if there was a miracle here, it certainly did not come from Stephen, and not even from God, but from a pagan birch.
The crown of Stephen's apostolic activity, as well as his main miracle, is the competition between the saint and the Zyryan priest Pam the centurion. According to the conditions of the competition, it was necessary, with God's help, to enter a burning hut (and yet they did not live in dugouts in the Kama region in the 13th century - author), and then go through the river from one hole to another under the ice.
It never came to ice, but with fire an interesting thing came out. The new life says: “The humble monk, having prayed, went into the fire, inviting Pama to follow him, but the wizard retreated. The saint came out of the fire unharmed."
This is a miracle, so a miracle! I remembered that story well, and I was anxiously waiting for the old life to tell about it. I get to the moment when it's time for Stefan to go into the fire and read:
“Stephen turned to Pama and said:“Now let's go together, holding in hand as agreed.” Pama saw a grave in front of him and began to step back. Stefan grabs his clothes tightly and pulls him towards the fire. Already both of them were quite separated from the people and approached the blazing fire. Pama rests with all his might, looking for something to grab onto and falls to the ground. All the people were agitated: everyone demanded that the sorcerer go into the fire, as it was decided.
St. Stephen, in the voice of an accuser, says to him: “After all, you yourself wanted to tempt the living God by demanding a miracle, you yourself set this condition for testing your faith: for what now do you refuse and want to flee?” Pama betrayed his pride, fell at the feet of the man of God and confessed to everyone that he only wanted to intimidate Stephen, that he was really afraid to go into the fire, in which he would burn like hay or like a handful of straw.
Stephen also said to him: "If not into the fire, then we will go at least into the hole." Pama also refused another true grave. After all this, St. Stephen asks him: “Now you are defeated; do you want to believe in Christ and be baptized”? Pama stubbornly answered: “No, I don’t want to.”
That's all! Nobody went into the fire or left!
No, the scene is certainly dramatic, no words, but there was no miracle! This means that the modern consecrated book, published in an edition of 5,000 copies, bought by me personally in a church shop, overshadowed by the blessing of the Archbishop of Ternopil and Kremenets Sergius, is frankly LIES! This can shake faith.
Thus, according to the "Old Life", Stephen baptized in 3 years only from 700 to 1000 people. Why it is believed that he christened Great Perm is not clear. After all, even then, until the death of the saint, the number of new converts increased insignificantly. Let me remind you that the territory of the state of Great Perm at the time of its heyday was comparable to Europe, but in the 13th century, it was still much larger than the basin of the Vychegda River, where the saint operated.
What merits is he praised for?
The merits become clear if we compare the life of the Zyryans before and after Stephen's activities. At the time of their baptism, the Zyryans lived quite self-sufficient culturally and economically. They were free people, had their own reign, only were forced to pay taxes to the Moscow prince. So what? At one time, Byzantium paid tribute to Kievan Rus.
The “old life” says: “Nobody accompanied Stephen, because“everyone was afraid of going to idolaters and wandering among them (probably, it meant preaching, remember the Zyryan laws of hospitality, - author)”. True, they had Moscow officials to collect taxes; but they knew one thing - to collect taxes, and did not concern the faith of the natives”.
It should be noted that the Zyryans were quite afraid of an armed punitive expedition from the Moscow principality. The reason for this was the recent military campaigns of the specific Moscow prince Ivan Kalita to the northeastern lands. It is reliably known that he imposed a tribute on the region of the northern Dvina in 1337, and disposed of the lands on Pechora. It was just 30-40 years before Stefan's sermon. It is possible that many Zyryans who lived on Vychegda still remembered the sharpness of the prince's swords.
And here is what happened after: “The Prince of Moscow donated to Stefan the entire Ust-Vymsk volost with its rich arable land and meadows as a patrimony, gave his volost the right to duty-free trade in its place and gave him the trade tribute that was collected from merchants and industrialists, who came to Perm, and which should go to the treasury of the grand ducal, finally - provided him with special advantages in the management of the diocese in the affairs of judges."
Easier to put it this way: “What you baptized is yours. Take it and dispose of it as you want. " And the Zyryans, who were not lucky to live there, became servants. Indeed, by definition, a patrimony is a land property belonging to a feudal lord hereditarily (from the word "father") with the right to sell, pledge, donate. The patrimony was a complex consisting of land ownership (land, buildings and implements) and rights to dependent peasants. It is not for nothing that the Permians did not want to be baptized.
How would you react in their place?
This is the main "merit" of Stephen Velikopermsky! He was not afraid to go along the edge and impudently, under the threat of military intervention, spiritually enslave even a part, but Great Perm. Then others came for him. There is no smell of miracles here, but you need to have a lot of talents. A worthy follower of the traditions of the Greek religion.
It is vitally important for the current inhabitants of the Kama region to understand who made the turning point in their spiritual and physical enslavement. On the day of St. Stephen the Great, celebrated by the church on May 9, we need to remember this …
