Also known as Bassian of Pertomsk · Jonah of Pertomsk · of Solovki
Two monks of Solovki, disciples of Igumen Philip, who perished in a storm on the White Sea and were buried at Pertominsk, where their relics were later found.
Feast Day
June 12
Draft
Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.
Our Venerable Fathers Bassian and Jonah of Pertominsk
Life
Bassian and Jonah were sixteenth-century monks of the Transfiguration Monastery on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea, and disciples of Igumen Philip, the abbot who would later become Metropolitan Philip of Moscow and All Russia. According to tradition they perished in a storm on the White Sea and were buried on the mainland shore at Pertominsk, in the region of Onega Bay in the Russian far north.
Their grave became a place of prayer for the fishermen and sailors of the coast. A chapel was raised over it in 1599, and a monastery was founded at the site in 1623; the community took the name Pertominsk. The uncovering of their relics is commemorated separately from their principal feast.
Timeline 3 moments
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1561ReposeBassian and Jonah, monks of the Solovki Transfiguration Monastery and disciples of Igumen Philip, died in 1561. The anchor record relates that they perished in a storm on the White Sea and were buried at Pertominsk on the mainland shore.
1599Chapel built over the graveA chapel was constructed over their grave by Elder Mamant of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The site drew fishermen and sailors who came there to pray.
1623Foundation of Pertominsk MonasteryThe hieromonk James founded a monastery at the site, which came to be known as the Pertominsk Monastery.
Contributions & Legacy
2 contributions
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Setting
Pertominsk lay on the shore of Onega Bay, an arm of the White Sea in the far north of Russia, in the region of the present Republic of Karelia and Arkhangelsk Oblast. The bay freezes over in winter and its waters supported Pomor fishing communities; the Solovetsky Islands, site of the monastery where Bassian and Jonah were professed, stand at the bay's entrance.
Both monks were formed under Igumen Philip at the Solovki Transfiguration Monastery, the renowned northern house that Philip governed before his elevation to the see of Moscow. Their veneration grew locally among the seafaring population of the coast rather than through any prominent ecclesiastical career.
Relics & Shrines
The two monks were buried at Pertominsk, and a chapel was built over their grave in 1599 by Elder Mamant of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The monastery founded at the site in 1623 preserved their memory. The finding of their relics is kept on June 5, distinct from their commemoration on June 12.
