Venerable Ephraim of Perekomsk

Venerable Ephraim of Perekomsk was born in 1412 in a village near Novgorod. From youth he sought monastic life and was tonsured at the Savvo-Vishersky Monastery under St. Sabbas of Vishera. Seeking solitude, he withdrew to a deserted island where the Veryazha River enters Lake Ilmen, where he dug a channel ("perekop"), giving the monastery its name "Perekomsky." Around 1450 he founded a monastery there dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, becoming its first abbot and establishing a strict communal rule. He was known for discernment and care for the poor and wandering, feeding local residents from monastery stores during famine. He reposed on September 26, 1492. Veneration began soon after his death; his relics were later translated more than once, reflected in the second commemoration on May 16.