died October 7, 1412
A Greek Athonite monk who became a disciple of Saint Sergius of Radonezh and founded the Nurma monastery in Vologda.
Our Venerable Father Sergius, Abbot of Nurma
Saint Sergius of Nurma (died 1412) was a monk of Greek origin who came to Muscovite Russia from Mount Athos and became a disciple of Saint Sergius of Radonezh. Though already an experienced elder, he sought out the great abbot for spiritual counsel before withdrawing to the northern forests to pursue a life of solitude.
Settling in the Vologda region near the Nurma River, a tributary of the Obnora, he attracted a community of ascetics and organized them into a cenobitic monastery centered on a church dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Lord. He is remembered together with his neighbor and spiritual friend Saint Paul of Obnora, for whom he served as confessor and spiritual director.
Sergius originated from Greece and lived as a monk on Mount Athos before traveling to Russia. Although he was himself an experienced elder, he came to Saint Sergius of Radonezh to consult with him on spiritual matters and became his disciple.
After his time under the guidance of Sergius of Radonezh, he departed for the Vologda region, seeking solitude near the Nurma River, a tributary of the Obnora River.
In his solitude Sergius was twice attacked by robbers. The first assault nearly killed him; during the second, the tradition relates that the robbers were driven off by the power of his prayers.
As many as forty ascetics gradually gathered around him. He established a cenobitic monastery for them and built a church dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Lord.
Sergius encountered Saint Paul of Obnora in the forest, where the synaxarion relates that he observed Paul in a miraculous communion with the wild animals of the woods. Paul chose Sergius as his confessor and spiritual director.
The two ascetics visited one another frequently and supported each other in their labors. Whenever Sergius set out to return to his own cell, three miles distant, Paul would accompany him for two thirds of the way. By tradition, Sergius prophesied that a monastery would one day be established at the place where Paul had experienced his visions, and that many there would find salvation.
Saint Sergius departed this life on October 7, 1412. His Church-wide veneration began in 1546.
His commemoration is kept across the Russian Orthodox tradition. On the Julian calendar his feast falls on the day corresponding to October 20.
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