Saint Pitirim, Bishop of Perm — August 19 / September 1 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, August 19 according to the Julian Calendar (September 1 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Pitirim, Bishop of Perm.

Saint Pitirim, Bishop of Great Perm, received the episcopal cathedra of Perm after the hierarch Gerasim († after 1441; commemorated January 24), who had ended his life as a martyr. Before this, the blessed father had governed the Chudov Monastery in the rank of archimandrite. Later he composed a canon to Saint Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow (commemorated February 12), and gathered accounts of his life. The apostolic labors of Saint Pitirim soon left their mark upon the life of the pagans of his diocese: little by little, as they were converted to Christianity, the shedding of blood also diminished.

Asika, the pagan chieftain of the Vogul tribe, embittered by the saint’s labors and steadily losing his hold over the people, one day fell upon the hierarch and put him to death († 1456). For forty days the body of Saint Pitirim lay in scorching heat, yet corruption did not touch it. He was buried in the Cathedral of the Annunciation at Ust-Vym.