Holy Martyr Pitirim of Perm: Notes on the Bishop’s Biography and Veneration (15th–16th cc.)

The paper deals with three aspects of the biography of the holy martyr Pitirim of Perm († 1455): the place of his original monastic feat, the time and circumstances of the bishop's ordination, and his veneration in the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery after death. The first and third aspects are closely related. According to the author, a number of testimonies of the bishop’s veneration in the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery in the 15th–16th centuries (the presence of his hagiography here, a tradition of records of his martyrdom) may indicate that his tonsure took place in this monastery and confirms the testimony of the Life of the Holy Martyr regarding his teacher, “a certain great elder, Cyril by name”. The veneration of Pitirim of Perm in the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery could have been initiated by Bishop Philotheos of Perm, who retired there. Philotheos was careful to preserve the memory of his predecessors at the episcopal cathedra. Concerning the time and circumstances of Pitirim of Perm's ordination as bishop, the author argues for the authenticity of the dates found in the Vychegod-Vymsky chronicle placing the ordination under 6952 (1443/1444) and his death under 6963 (1454/1455). The bishop’s consecration could have been performed with the participation of Bishop Ephraim of Rostov and Bishop Jonah of Ryazan, and Vladyka (Bishop) Ephraim should have led the consecration. The Life of Pitirim's reference to his consecration by Jonah, who was already a metropolitan, may reflect the need to legitimise the first autocephalous metropolitan during the church crisis of the late 1450s–1460s. DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2020.9.2.7