Blessed, Fool for Christ Procopius of Vyatka

Blessed Procopius, born Procopius Maximovich Plyusnin, was born in 1578 in a village near the town of Khlynov (now Kirov), to the peasants Maxim and Irina. In 1590, while in a field, he was struck by lightning and lost his reason: he tore off his clothes, trampled them, and walked naked. His parents brought him to the Dormition Tryphonov Monastery in Khlynov, where St. Tryphon of Vyatka and the brethren healed the boy through prayer. When Procopius turned 20, his family wished to marry him off, but he secretly left for the town of Khlynov and took up the feat of foolishness for Christ's sake, meekly enduring hunger, cold, mockery, and beatings. The first redactions of his life were composed, presumably, in the third quarter of the 17th century under Bishop Alexander of Vyatka and Velikopermsk. He died on December 21, 1627, in Khlynov. His memory is kept on the day of his repose, December 21/January 3.