Procopius of Ustyug
Prokop von Ustjug , also Prokop von Lübeck or Prokopius von Ustjug und Lübeck (* in Lübeck ; † 1303 in Veliki Ustjug ) was a merchant from Lübeck and became a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church as Jurodiwy .
Prokop, whose real name is possibly Jacob Potharst, came from Lübeck to Novgorod as a Hanseatic merchant , where he found prosperity in the Peterhof office , which he completely renounced around 1300 when he converted from the Roman Catholic to the Russian Orthodox faith by giving up his fortune distributed to the poor in order to live as a fool in Christ , also called Jurodiwy in the Russian Orthodox Church. From then on he lived on church stairs and garbage dumps and is said to have saved the city of Ustyug from destruction through his prayers.
Several Russian Orthodox parishes and church buildings in Germany are named after St. Prokop of Ustjug. This includes the Strobukeskapelle (side chapel of the Katharinenkirche ) used by the Russian Orthodox community in his hometown of Lübeck and the Russian Orthodox Prokop Church in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel .
His feast day is July 8th .
He is often shown on icons together with St. John of Ustyug , who was also a Jurodiwy.
literature
- Ekkart Sauser : Prokopius of Ustjug. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 7, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-048-4 , Sp. 994-995.
Web links
- Joachim Schäfer: Prokop of Ustjug. In: Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints. November 30, 2016 .
- Ambrosius Backhaus: Prokop - the blessed fool from Lübeck and Ustjug. Church of St. John of Kronstadt Hamburg, September 13, 2005 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Nikolai Wolper: History of the Russian Orthodox Prokop community in Hamburg. In: prokopij.de. Retrieved April 25, 2020 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Procopius of Ustyug |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Prokop von Lübeck; Procopius of Ustjug and Lübeck |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German merchant and saint of the Russian Orthodox Church |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 13th Century |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lübeck |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1303 |
| Place of death | Veliky Ustyug |