Sergius of Valaam () was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

monk and

wonderworker Thaumaturgy () is the practical application of magic to effect change in the physical world. Historically, thaumaturgy has been associated with the manipulation of natural forces, the creation of wonders, and the performance of magical feats t ...

credited with bringing

Orthodox Christianity Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

to Karelian and Finnish people. Conflicting church traditions place him possibly as early as the 10th century or as late as the 14th. His feast day is celebrated on

June 28 Events Pre-1600 *1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha, Kerbogha of Mosul at the Battle of Antioch (1098), battle of Antioch. *1360 – Muhammed VI, Sultan of Granada, Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid dynasty, Nas ...

. Church legends about Sergius of Valaam were not committed to writing until the 18th century. In these writings, Sergius is described as an Athonite monk sent by the

Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

to enlighten the heathen tribes of Karelia with the light of the Christian faith. He traveled along the

trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks was a medieval trade route that connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus' and the Eastern Roman Empire. The route allowed merchants along its length to establish a direct prosperous trade with the Empire ...

, passing the

Rus' Rus or RUS may refer to: People * East Slavic historical peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia ** Rus' people, the people of Rus' ** Rus, a legendary eponymous ancestor, see Lech, Czech and Rus * Rus (surname), a surname found in Ro ...

towns of

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

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and

Staraya Ladoga Staraya Ladoga ( rus, Ста́рая Ла́дога, p=ˈstarəjə ˈladəɡə, r=Stáraya Ládoga, t=Old Ladoga), known as Ladoga until 1704, is a rural locality (a '' selo'') in Volkhovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the ...

. He arrived on the northern shores of

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...

, and soon moved to

Valaam Valaam (; ) is an archipelago in the northern portion of Lake Ladoga, lying within the Republic of Karelia, Russia. The total area of its more than 50 islands is 36 km2. The largest island is also called Valaam. Other named islands are: Ski ...

island, where he would spend the rest of his life preaching. A tradition placing his arrival on Valaam as early as 992 would make him a contemporary of Emperor

Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus (; 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer (, ), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but t ...

. Another pious legend describes Sergius as a disciple of

Apostle Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Church stems from the Gospel of Jo ...

who reportedly visited

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

in the 1st century AD. However, the earliest record of his activity claims that he arrived in Valaam in 1329. His work was carried on by, among others,

Herman of Valaam Herman of Valaam () is a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. Herman of Valaam together with Sergius of Valaam are considered to be the founders of the Valaam Monastery. The exact time of the monastery establishment is unknown and referred to th ...

, who may or may not have a contemporary of Sergius. Sergius and Herman are considered the founders of the

Valaam Monastery The Valaam Monastery (; ) is a stauropegic Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox monastery in Russian Republic of Karelia, Karelia, located on Valaam, the largest island in Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe. History It is not clear when the mon ...

. Yet another church tradition dates his death to 1353, but there are no medieval documents to validate this claim either. The

archaeological record The archaeological record is the body of physical (not written) evidence about the past. It is one of the core concepts in archaeology, the academic discipline concerned with documenting and interpreting the archaeological record. Archaeological t ...

places the arrival of

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at the 10th or 11th centuries. The date of the monastery's foundation is not clear, as all records of its early history have been destroyed, most of them in the

Russo-Swedish Wars This is a list of wars between Russia, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to th ...

. According to an 18th-century church chronicle, the

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

s of Sergius and Herman were moved to safety in

in 1162 (or 1163), possibly before a major Swedish offensive against

,. In Swedish. Hosted by th
National Archive of Finland
See and ''Diplomatarium Fennicum'' from the menu. roughly a decade after the legendary

First Swedish Crusade The First Swedish Crusade was a possibly mythical military expedition in the 1150s to Southwestern Finland by Swedish King Eric IX and English Bishop Henry of Uppsala. The earliest written sources of the crusade are from the late 13th centur ...

, to be returned in 1182 (or 1180). The date of the translation, September 11, continues to be commemorated by the

Orthodox Church of Finland The Orthodox Church in Finland (; ) is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The church has a legal position as a national church in the country, along with the Evangelical Lutheran Church ...

Notes

References

Valaam Monastery: Cloister history

Saints Sergius and Herman of Valaam / Ortodoksi.net

Sergei ja Herman Valamolainen / Ortodoksi.net / in Finnish
(icon) {{authority control 14th-century Christian saints Burials at Valaam Monastery Christian missionaries in Finland Eastern Orthodox missionaries Greek Christian monks Greek Christian missionaries Saints of medieval Greece Russian Orthodox monks Miracle workers Year of birth unknown 14th-century Byzantine monks Greek expatriates in Russia Greek expatriates in Finland

See also

Notes

References