Epiphanius the Wise

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Epiphanius the Wise (Russian: Епифаний Премудрый) was a monk of the Church of Russia during the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. He was a noted writer during the Russian spiritual and cultural revival of the period. Epiphanius was a disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh and an admirer of Theophanes the Greek.

Life

Nothing is known of his birth. He was from Rostov and was a disciple of Sergius of Radonezh of whom he began writing his Life of Sergei Radonezh a year after the saint's repose. He did not finish until some twenty six years later. A monastic, he was ordained a priest and was a confessor at Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra. He also wrote a Life of St. Stephen of Perm. As an admirer of Theophanes the Greek, Epiphanius through a letter to another monk provided a significant record of the life and work of Theophanes.

Epiphanius traveled extensively throughout the Orthodox East and is known to have visited Jerusalem, Constantinople, and the monasteries of Mount Athos.

Epiphanius died in 1420.

Sources