Saint Efrasinnia (Euphrasinne)(1110-1173) was the Granddaughter of
the famous prince of Polacak (pronounced Polatsak or Polatsk), Usiaslau.
Young Pradslava - such was the name of Efrasinnia before she
took the veil - seems to have inherited many traits of her grandfather's character, in
particular his strong will, energy and determination to persevere a chosen path. This
became manifest early in her life when she refused all proposals of marriage and, without
her parents' knowledge, ran away to the convent of which her aunt was the abbess. Later
she founded a convent of her own and was joined there by her sister, her cousin and two
nieces. This was no mean achievement, for - unlike the custom in the West and in Byzantium
- it was unusual for a young girl in Belarus and the other East Slav lands of that time to
choose the monastic life in preference to marriage. This may partly explain why Efrasinnia
has up to the present day remained the only East Slav virgin saint.
In addition to a convent of nuns Saint Euphroyne founded a
monastery for monks and remained superior of both establishments - another unusual
occurrence in The East, although not unknown in the West, Finally, towards the end of her
life, she undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, were she died sometime after 1167. Her
body after the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187, was carried by the monks to Kiev
and deposited there in the Monastery of the Caves. It was only in 1910 that the relics of
the saint were brought back to her native town of Polacak.
The cross of Saint Efrasinnia
Her name was immortalized by (among other things) a splendid
gem-studded cross created at Efrasinnia's behest by a local master, Lasar Bohsa. The
famous six-armed golden cross was decorated with enamels and precious stones and presented
by her to the church of the Holy Saviour in 1161. Of exquisite beauty , the relic survived
centuries of turbulence until World War II, when it mysteriously disappeared. In its
attempts to trace the whereabouts of this treasure, the government of the Republic of
Belarus has looked virtually everywhere, examining even private collections in the United
States.
The document "The life of Saint Efrasinnia" is a
useful source on the 12th century Polacak and its culture, made more valuable by the fact
that most other written documents regarding the early history of that city have long since
been destroyed or lost. The Life my be regarded as an example of early Belarusian
literature.
The Holy Saviour Church
A striking feature of the Life is the hagiographer's
insistence on the great role played by Saint Efrasinnia in the cultural development of her
native town. As a young she was "exceedingly fond of learning". Later, as a nun
in the cathedral of the Holy Wisdom, she spent her time copying books, and the money she
thus earned she distributed amongst the poor. Finally, when she moved to the church of the
Holy Savior, among her scanty possessions were books, in which - according to the worlds
put into her mouth by the hagiographer - "my soul finds consolation and my heart
rejoices". It is interesting also to note that when she wanted her father, prince
Sviataslau, to give permission to her sister to come to the convent, her argument was:
"Let my sister Hardzislava come to me so that she may learn to read and write".
It was not only in the world of learning that the activities
of Saint Efrasinnia were being felt. She also built two churches in the monasteries
founded by her. Of these two, the church of The Holy Saviour still stands and is
considered to be the most precious monument of early Belarusian architecture. The author
of this early Belarusian masterpiece was o local architect, Iaan, and we owe the knowledge
of his name to the Life of Saint Euphrosyhe.
For the preparation of this Page I have used
the article after Alexander Nadson "Come, Saint Euphrosyne, and stand up for
us!" taken from the newspaper "Belarus News" 12, 1995 and the book of Jan
Zaprudnik "Belarus at the Crossroads in History". |