Bishop
Saint Gerasim, Bishop of Velikoperm, became the successor of Saint Stephen, the founder of the Ustyvym Diocese. He was elevated to the Permian see during a difficult time when the flock suffered from attacks by pagan tribes and oppression from the Novgorod and Vyatka freebooters. Saint Gerasim tirelessly cared for the spread of the Christian faith, penetrating into the remote areas of the Perm land.
In 1429, Saint Photius, Metropolitan of Kiev, confirmed that the Permian land was conducting divine services according to the Christian law. Gerasim participated in the Moscow Councils of 1441 and 1448, where he defended the interests of his flock.
In the last years of his episcopate, the raids of the Voguls on the Christian Zyryans increased. He himself went to the camp of the Voguls, asking them to leave the Zyryans in peace. The name of Saint Gerasim was pronounced with reverence, but his health weakened. He was suffocated by a Vogul boy who was taken for upbringing, probably at the instigation of shamans.
Saint Martyr Gerasim accepted a martyr's end on January 24, the year of his death, most likely around 1441. He was buried in the Blagoveshchensky Cathedral in Ustyvym, where many miraculous healings occurred. The celebration of his memory was established in 1607. In 1649, a church was erected in Vologda in his honor.
