Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom

Prince Davyd Yuryevich was the second son of Duke Yuri of Murom the Grand Prince of Kiev and his second wife Helena of Constantinople, grandson of Prince Yaroslav I of Murom and Ryazan, the first Grand Prince of Ryazan. He ascended the throne in 1203 after the death of his elder brother Prince Vladimir Yuryevich (according to his life, the Prince Peter assumed the prince's throne after the death of his elder brother Prince Paul). During his reign, he acted supporting Duke Vsevolod III the Grand Prince of Vladimir.[1]

Some years before Prince Davyd was seriously ill with leprosy, many doctors attempted to heal the prince; still, nobody could. During a vision it had been revealed to the prince that the daughter of a bee keeper would be ready to heal him: the pious maiden Euphrosyne, a peasant from the small Village of Laskovo in Ryazan Governorate,[2] Euphrosyne healed the prince and have become his wife, and Euphrosyne then becomes the princess of Murom. Soon the couple has their three children, they raised them using the fear of God. They ruled the city of Murom and lived happily as one family.

His son Prince Yuri, In all significant campaigns and battles of that time. In 1207, Prince Davyd Yuryevich came to the aid of Prince Vsevolod Yuryevich during his campaign on the Ryazan Governorate land near Pronsk District, Prince Pronsky Mikhail Vsevolodovich fled to Chernigov to his father in law Vsevolod Chermny, Residents led by Izyaslav cousin of Mikhail Vsevolodovich defended the city for six weeks, waiting for help from Ryazan, but experienced an acute shortage of food and water.

After an unsuccessful attempt at the unblocking strike of the Ryazan people, the city surrendered at the mercy of the winner. Izyaslav was released in peace, and instead of him Vsevolod gave Pronsk to his brother Prince Oleg Vladimirovich, who was among the besiegers. However, in the next year, 1208 upon learning of his willfulness, Vsevolod took Pronsk from Oleg Vladimirovich and gave the city to Davyd Yuryevich. In the same year, Oleg and his brothers drove Davyd out of Pronsk and gave him to Mikhail.

In the struggle for the great reign of Vladimir after the death of Prince Vsevolod III, Prince Davyd supported Prince Yuri and Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. In 1213 he participated in the campaign of Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich against Rostov, In 1216 the Murom squad took part in the battle of Lipitsk as part of the combined forces of Vladimir, Pereyaslavl, Suzdal and some other estates on the side of Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich against the united army of Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, Toropets, Rostov.

In 1220 Prince Davyd sent his son Prince Svyatoslav with an army to take part in a joint campaign with the Vladimir people against the Volga Bulgars.

According to the Genealogy of Davyd and Euphrosyne, Prince Davyd Yurievich and Princess Euphrosyne had a children, The names of the three children are known Yuri, Svyatoslav and Evdokia,[3] Along with this, the names of their four grandchildren are known Yaroslav son of Prince Yuri, Vasily and Ivan sons of Prince Svyatoslav and Dmitry son of Princess Evdokia.

The fate of the children was different. The youngest son Svyatoslav died in the same week as his parents, only 2 to 3 days earlier. The eldest son, Prince Yuri, died heroically in 1237 in the battle with Batu Khan, defending his native land.

The fate of Princess Evdokia's daughter turned out to be even more amazing and was marked by many signs of God's mercy. According to numerous sources, she married Prince Svyatoslav, the son of Duke Vsevolod III the Grand Duke of Vladimir and became Prince of Yuryevskaya. The chronicles mention that her father, Prince Davyd the Prince of Murom was present at her wedding.[4]

The Prince of Murom became directly related to the great family of the Prince of Vladimir, among whom there were many saints. One of them was Prince Svyatoslav's mother, Maria Yasynya, who became famous for her love of children and piety. She gave birth to 12 children, after which her holy spouse began to be called Prince Vsevolod III having a large family, They raised their children in the fear of God and Christian piety. As a result, four of the sons are now canonized as saints by the Russian Orthodox Church.

The beneficial spiritual influence of Saint Mary on the princely couple of Prince Svyatoslav and Princess Evdokia was very visible. So, it is known that Princess Evdokia had a son, Prince Dmitry, who after his father became the Prince of Yurievsky (1253-1269). After their death, Prince Svyatoslav and his son Prince Yuri began to be revered as saints, which was noted in the old calendar, Now they are officially included in the Cathedral of Saint Vladimir.

Princess Evdokia did not live long in marriage with her husband. In 1228, she begged her husband to let her go to the city of Murom in Borisoglebsk Monastery, where her parents asceticised, took monastic vows there after the death of her parents, and in the same year died after them and her younger brother.[5]

Towards the end of their lives, Prince Davyd Yuryevich and Princess Euphrosyne took their vows and entered monastic life, Prince Davyd taking the monastic name of Peter and Princess Euphrosyne the name of Fevronia, According to the book of Kormchaia only the simultaneous cutting of spouses into monasticism could be regarded condescendingly as a reason for the dissolution of the marriage union.[6] Both prayed that they would die the same day and their wish was fulfilled and they both died on Easter Sunday, 25 June 1228 at the same time, then the holy couple was buried at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in their homeland in Murom, Russia.

According to legends, they had expressed their desire to be buried together in the same coffin. Finding the burial in one coffin incompatible with the monastic rites, their bodies were placed in different coffins, but, by miracle the next day they were found together. This happened several times until their wish of being interred together was fulfilled, The simultaneous death of members of the Murom princely dynasty fell during the service in Murom, the Bishop of Murom and Ryazan, Bishop Yephrosyn Svyatogorets, who allegedly was the performer of the monastic tonsure of the prince couple, as well as their Christian burial.

In 1547, Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow canonized Saint Peter and Saint Fevronia as a saints in the Cathedral of Makaryevsky and also the holy couple declared as the patron saint of Love and Marriage,[7] After the Communist regime in Russia the relics were rediscovered after being hidden in a Soviet Anti-religious Museum.[8]

On 19 September 1992 the relic was enshrined in the Holy Trinity Monastery in the city of Murom, and every pilgrim can venerate to the saints and evoke their intercession.

• The Tale of Peter and Fevronia
• Peter and Fevronia Day
• Monument to Peter and Fevronia
• List of Russian saints

• Volodikhin D., Levina I. Peter and Fevronia. - Moscow: Mol. Guard, 2016. - 246 p. - (Life of wonderful people).
• Gumerov P. Was there a snake? Mysterious places "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" (in Russian).
• Kuskov V.V. History of ancient Russian literature. - 7th ed. - Moscow: Higher. shk., 2003. - 336 p.
• Sporova E. Peter and Fevronia of Murom // Young artist. - 1988. - No. 12. - S. 13- 17.

• Peter and Fevronia - Love and Faithfulness forever // petr-fevronia.ru (in Russian).
• Saints Peter (David) and Febronia (Eufrosina) Spouses and Monks // santiebeati.it (in Italian).
• They Lived Happily and Died on the Same Day (Reflection on the life of Saints Peter and Fevronia).