St. Stephen of Perm

St. Stephen of Perm was born about 1340 at Veliky Ustyug in northern Russia and became a monk of great learning, mastering Greek as well as his native tongue. He conceived a missionary vocation to the Komi, or Zyrian, people of the Perm region, a Finnic pagan folk of the far north, and prepared himself for the task not by force or the imposition of a foreign culture, but by learning their language and entering into their world.

To bring them the Gospel and the sacred services in their own tongue, he devised an alphabet for the Komi language, the Abur or Old Permic script, and translated the Scriptures and liturgical texts into it, an approach recalling that of Sts. Cyril and Methodius among the Slavs. Consecrated the first bishop of Perm, he baptized the people, built churches and schools, and defended his converts against exploitation, boldly confronting the pagan sorcerers. He died in Moscow in 1396. Honored as the Apostle of the Komi, his memory is kept on 26 April.