Thanks to history textbooks, many of us know about people glorified over the centuries, for example, about great commanders, politicians and scientists. But, to our great regret, the school gives only a tiny bit of knowledge about those figures who carried wisdom and kindness through their lives, as well as perpetuated historical facts.
We propose to correct this and learn about a truly great man who is known to people devout and church-minded as the Monk Epiphanius the Wise (a photo of an uncanonized saint, unfortunately, does not exist a long time ago). He is the author of biographical texts about prominent people of his time, participated in the chronicle of significant events of that era and, most likely, had influence in high society. The life of Epiphanius the Wise, a summary of his literary works, which miraculously survived to this day, are described in this article.
No date of birth
It is not known for certain exactly when Epiphanius the Wise was born. The monk’s biography contains rather scarce and sometimes inaccurate information: the Monk Epiphanius lived in the second half of the 14th century, so it is not surprising that so many hundreds of years after his death there was so little information about this clever man. However, there are bit by bit the collected facts, which from scattered pieces add up to a certain life story of the monk Epiphanius.
Gifted novice
It is widely believed that the life of Epiphanius the Wise began in Rostov. Young Epiphanius began his spiritual journey in his hometown, in the monastery of St. Gregory the Theologian, whose peculiarity was that the services were conducted in two languages: Church Slavonic and Greek.
In addition to the bilingual bias, the monastery was famous for its magnificent library containing a huge number of books written in different languages. An inquiring mind and an indefatigable thirst for knowledge of a hardworking novice led him to spend hours sitting on the folios, studying various languages, as well as chronographs, a ladder, biblical texts, historical Byzantine and ancient Russian literature.
Close communication with Stephen Permsky, the future hierarch who served at the same monastery, played a huge role in the formation of Epiphanius. Readability and a broad outlook are some of the reasons why Epiphanius was called the Wise.
Wandering wind
In addition to books, Epiphanius drew knowledge in his travels. There is information that the monk traveled a lot around the world: he was in Constantinople, made a pilgrimage to Mount Athos in Jerusalem, and also often traveled to Moscow and other Russian cities and towns. Proof of the journey to Jerusalem is the work "Tales of Epiphanius Mnikh on the path to the holy city of Jerusalem." Apparently, the knowledge gained by the monk on expeditions can also serve as an answer to the question of why Epiphanius was called the Wise.
Writer of the Trinity Monastery
At the end of his studies at the monastery of St. George the Theologian, the life of Epiphanius the Wise continued near Moscow. In 1380, he transferred to the Trinity Monastery and entered the disciple famous in Russia - Sergius of Radonezh - as disciples. In this monastery, Epiphanius was listed as a man of letters and conducted active book writing. Evidence of this fact is that in the pile of manuscripts of the Sergius Trinity Lavra contains the "Poet" written by him with many postscripts and notes with his name.
Literature and drawing
In 1392, after the death of his mentor and spiritual father Sergius of Radonezh, the life of Epiphanius the Wise undergoes significant changes: he is transferred to Moscow under the leadership of Metropolitan Kiprian, where he meets the artist Feofan Grek, with whom he will later be linked with long friendly relations. The artist and his works made such a lasting impression on the monk and led to such indescribable delight that Epiphanius himself began to draw little by little.
A word about Stephen Perm
In the spring of 1396, the beneficent of the monk chronicler Bishop Stefan of Perm died. And after some time, obsessed with the desire to tell the world about the actions of the saint, Epiphanius the Wise wrote "The Life of Stephen of Perm." This work is not a detailed biography, but a traditional church-instructive description of all the blessings of the Bishop of Perm: Epiphanius glorifies Stephen as a saint who created the Perm alphabet, converted the Gentiles to the Christian faith, crushed idols and built Christian churches on the lands of the Komi peoples.
Epiphanius equates the exploits of Stephen Perm in the Christian field with historical events, because in addition to excellent literary qualities, “The Life of Stephen Perm” is an invaluable historical source, because in addition to the personality of Bishop Stephen, it contains archival facts related to ethnography, culture and history of those ancient times and the events taking place in Perm, about her ties with Moscow and about the political situation as a whole. It is extraordinary that in this literary work there are no miracles.
It is rather difficult for contemporaries to read the writings of Epiphanius the Wise. Here are a few words that are often present in the tales of Epiphanius:
- these;
- be born by the Rusyns;
- midnight, verbose;
- deliberately from a parent;
- the cleric is great;
- also christians.
Over time, the annalistic work, literacy and mastery of the monk's words were highly appreciated by pundits. This is another reason why Epiphanius was called the Wise.
Escape to Tver
In 1408, a terrible thing happened: Moscow was attacked by the cruel khan Edigey, possessed by the war, with his army. The life of the God-fearing Epiphanius the Wise makes a sharp turn: a modest bookwriter flees to Tver, not forgetting to grab his labors. In Tver Epiphanius was sheltered by the archimandrite of the Spaso-Afanasyevy monastery Cornelius (in the world - Cyril).
Monk Epiphanius lived in Tver for 6 years, and over the years he made close friends with Cornelius. It was Epiphanius who told the archimandrite about the work of Theophanes the Greek, highly praising the artist's works. Epiphanius told Cyril that Theophanes painted about 40 churches and several buildings in Constantinople, Cafe, Chalcedon, Moscow and Veliky Novgorod. In his letters to archimandrite Epiphanius also calls himself an isographer, that is, a book graphic artist, and notes that his drawings are only a copy of the work of Theophanes the Greek.
Hometown
In 1414, Epiphanius the Wise returned again to his native land - to the Trinity Monastery, which by that time had become known as the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (in honor of Sergius of Radonezh). Despite working on the biography of Stefan Permsky, as well as his long existence away from his native monastery, Epiphanius continues to record and document the facts of the actions of his mentor from the Grigoryevsky monastery, collecting information from eyewitnesses and his own observations. And in 1418 Epiphanius the Wise wrote "The Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh." It took him a long 20 years to do this. For faster writing, the monk lacked information and … courage.
Word about Sergius of Radonezh
“The Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh” is an even more voluminous work than the “Word about the life and teachings of our holy father Stephen, the former bishop in Perm.” It differs from the first “Life” by an abundance of biographical facts from the life of Sergius of Radonezh, and also differs in a more clear sequence of chronological events. It is especially worth noting the historical fact inscribed in this "Life" regarding the battle of Prince Dmitry Donskoy with the Tatar army of the cruel Khan Mamaia. It was Sergius of Radonezh who blessed the prince on this warlike campaign.
Both “Lives” are the thoughts of Epiphanius the Wise about the difficult fates of the main characters, about their emotions and feelings. Epiphanius's works are full of complex epithets, ornate phrases, various synonyms and allegories. The author himself calls his presentation of thoughts nothing more than a “verbal web”.
Here are the most common words of Epiphanius the Wise, taken from the Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh:
- like fast;
- sixth week;
- fourteen day;
- Bring baby;
- driving;
- like Priast;
- it’s bought;
- the priest is commanding.
Perhaps it is this unusual way of writing that answers the question of why Epiphanius was called the Wise.
Another well-known version of “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh” nowadays exists thanks to the processing of the Athos monk Pakhomiy Serb, who lived in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery in the period from 1440 to 1459. It was he who created the new version of "Life" after the Monk Sergius of Radonezh was canonized. Pachomius Serb changed his style and supplemented the work of Epiphanius the Wise with a story about the acquisition of the relics of the Monk, and also described posthumous miracles created by Sergius of Radonezh from above.
