Saint Cyprian of Ustiug

Life

According to the accounts preserved in later Ustiug chronicles, Cyprian was originally a wealthy landowner in the Ustiug region who renounced worldly pursuits and embraced monastic life. He received the Angelic Schema with the name Cyprian; the OCA synaxarion and the Mystagogy account place his tonsure at the Monastery of the Holy Trinity at Gledeno, while the Russian tradition recorded in later chronicles associates his monastic vows with a monastery at Rostov the Great.

When the inhabitants of the newly founded city of Ustiug asked him to establish a monastery near their settlement, Cyprian accepted the responsibility and became instrumental in building the spiritual community there. He is said to have lived during the reign of Grand Prince Konstantin Vsevolodovich.

Foundation of the Ustiug Monastery

Cyprian surveyed the city and chose a location near shallow lakes at the Ostrozh falls, where he began by constructing a cell. By the year 1212 he had begun to build the monastery, connected with the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, together with a church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. The community is remembered as the Michael the Archangel (Mikhaylo-Arkhangelskiy) Monastery of Veliky Ustiug.

Tradition relates that during his nighttime prayers the monk used a stone as a prop to keep himself vigilant and continuously at prayer; this stone is preserved and venerated as a relic associated with him.

Relics & Shrines

Cyprian was interred in the monastery he founded. A church commemorating Mid-Pentecost was later constructed over his tomb, and by tradition it included a chapel honoring Saint Cyprian of Carthage. The stone said to have served as his prop or pillow during prayer is kept as a relic connected with the saint.

Miracles & Traditions

Traditional Accounts: A posthumous miracle is recorded in which a novice who had fallen gravely ill recovered after a requiem was served and the funeral veil was laid at the saint's tomb.

The primary narrative of Cyprian's life derives from Ustiug chronicles of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the sources do not record the year of his birth.