Saint Sergius of Shukhtom (in the world Stephen) was a schemamonk of the Shukhtom Monastery, located in the village of Shukhtom, 50 kilometers from the city of Cherepovets. His holy relics were buried beneath the monastery church, which became the parish Pokrov Church. The inscription on his tombstone states that he reposed on May 19, 1609, on the feast day of Saint Patriarch Patricius, during the reign of Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky and under the holy Patriarch Hermogenes. Saint Sergius was born and raised in Kazan, and in his infancy, he was nourished by 'barley and unfermented mash,' and as he grew older, he consumed only dry bread and a little water, twice a week.
Leaving Kazan, he embarked on a three-year pilgrimage to Palestine, Constantinople, and Greece, venerating holy places and learning the monastic life. Then, as it is reported, 'he came untonsured from Palestine to the Great Novgorod to the Cathedral of St. Sophia, the Wisdom of God; from Novgorod, he went to the Solovetsky Monastery of the holy fathers Zosimas and Savvatiy.'
In 1603, the holy servant of God arrived in the Vologda region, where he received monastic tonsure from the abbot of the Cherepovets Resurrection Monastery, Archimandrite Isaiah, who, being an iconographer, later painted an icon of his holy tonsured disciple.
About the severe ascetic life of Saint Sergius, it is said that he 'remained without sleep day and night; in prayers, fasting, and kneeling, he fasted without having; when he dozed off, he took little sleep only on his elbows and knees.'
Saint Sergius reposed at the age of 50 (or 75) years. During his lifetime, he was glorified by the Lord with numerous miracles and was granted the gift of prophecy. About the external appearance of the holy schemamonk, the inscription on his tombstone says: 'He was small in age, had a white, round face, black curly hair, without a beard, a long mantle, and a black cassock.'
