Ηegumen / Abbot
He was born on September 20, 1412, in the city of Kashin, Tver Province, into a merchant family. From a young age, he began to lead an ascetic life, mortifying his body. Leaving his parental home, he went to the Kalazinsky Monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity. After spending three years in the monastery, he moved to the monastery of St. Savva of Vyshera, where he took monastic vows in 1437.
His parents, finding him in the monastery, tried to persuade him to return, but he convinced them to enter the monastery. In 1450, by the blessing of the abbot, he settled in a cell by Lake Ilmen, where he remained “in prayer for many years,” emulating the ancient great fathers of the desert.
Having received the rank of presbyter, he laid the foundation for a monastery in honor of the Theophany. He dug a channel from the Verenda River to Lake Ilmen, from which the monastery received the name of Perekop.
St. Ephraim reposed on September 26, 1492, at the age of 80. In 1509, the monastery was threatened with destruction due to flooding. The saint appeared in a dream to the abbot and indicated a new place for the location of the monastery.
