| Saint Tryphon of Pechenga | |
|---|---|
| Enlightener of the Lapps | |
| Born | Russia |
| Died | 1583 Pechenga, Lappland |
| Honored in | Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Feast | 15 December |
| Patronage | invoked by Russian mariners |
Saint Tryphon of Pechenga ( Russian: Преподобный Трифон Печенгский, Кольский, Finnish: Pyhittäjä Trifon Petsamolainen (Kuolalainen), and Skolt Sami: Pââˊss Treeffan) was a Russian monk in the Eastern Orthodox Church and led an ascetic life on the Kola Peninsula and in Lappland in the 16th century. He is considered to be the founder of the Pechenga Monastery.
St. Tryphon, baptized as Mitrofan, was the son of a priest from the Novgorod region. At an early age he felt that he wanted to serve God and to spend his life as an anchorite. Regarding himself as being led by God, he set off north to preach the Gospel to the Sámi living along the Pechenga River.
Having requested and received permission from Archbishop Macarius of Novgorod to found a Church of the Annunciation up north, Mitrofan was tonsured a monk with the religious name Tryphon, and ordained a hieromonk (i.e., monastic priest). After his ordination and tonsure, Tryphon became leader of the Holy Trinity Monastery on the banks of the Pechenga River while fervently spreading the Gospel to the people living there.
St. Tryphon died in 1583, and is commemorated on 15 December in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and is referred to as the "Enlightener of the Lapps". Russian seamen traditionally pray to St. Tryphon when they are in danger.