​Written by  Fr. Dennis O'Neill
The saintly Peter Yuryevich became prince of Murom, Russia, on the death of his brother. He eventually fell in love with and married a beautiful woman named Fevronia, who was a gifted healer. Because she was a peasant, the wives of the local nobles wanted nothing to do with her. Under continuing pressure to separate, Peter decided that, rather than do so, he would resign as prince of Murom, and the couple would go into exile. After their departure, there was such unrest and such bickering about who would succeed the prince, the nobles eventually decided to recall the saintly couple, who then governed happily and successfully for many years.
Sensing that they were nearing the end of their lives, they decided to become a monk and a nun, taking the new names of David and Euphrosyne. They also prayed that they would die on the same day. They actually did so on July 8, 1226. They were buried together in the cathedral of Murom. Later, after the Soviets destroyed the cathedral, their remains were transferred to the convent of the Holy Trinity in Murom, where they rest to this day.

In 2017, Abbot Pavel Uvarov of St. Catherine’s Cathedral in Krasnodor asked Bishop Isidor of Krasnodor if he would obtain some of Peter and Fevronia’s relics for a newly built church in their honor. The bishop petitioned Bishop Nil of Murom, who sent the relics to Abbot Paul. A while later, he separated some of the relics and sent them to another Russian church. And in April of 2021, he separated some more of the relics and sent them to our Shrine of All Saints. Their icon in our church is new and just came from Russia. It is dazzlingly and spectacularly colored entirely with tiny beads from the Czech Republic. ​
In the Catholic Church, our equivalents of a saintly couple, who were devoted to each other and were models of Christian love are St. Elizabeth of Hungary (d. 1231) and her husband, Blessed Ludwig IV, landgrave of Thuringia (d. 1227). They were exact contemporaries of Sts. Peter and Fevronia, and they are depicted in the “Marriage Window” in our small church. St. Elizabeth’s relics are in our Shrine of All Saints Church. 
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