Nieznane losy pierwszego ihumena supraskiego
Unknown history of the first hegumen of Suprasl

Summary/Abstract: Pafnucy Siehen, from Bielsk, was the founder of the Suprasl monastery. He was the one who had the biggest contribution to the creation of the first churches, financial security and determination of the status of the monastery in the Orthodox Church. The Siehen family incurred costs of raising the monastic congregation in Gródek. The Siehens, who co-founded the construction of the monastery, received numerous estates from King Sigismund the Old (Zygmunt Stary). Pafnucy Siehen created a well-organized religious community and supervised legal and material protection of his monastery. At the beginning of 1509 Hegumen Pafnucy Siehen made a request to the king for permission to build a stone Orthodox church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The construction of the church began in October 1510. According to the majority of historians, this year was the date of Pafnucy Siehen’s death. On the basis of new evidence, it has been proven that Pafnucy Siehen did not die that year; he participated in the council of Vilnius in 1509–1510. At this council Pafnucy Siehen, the hegumen of Supraśl, was declared a bishop. After bishop Wassian’s death in 1512, Pafnucy Siehen became the ordinary of Vladimir-Brest diocese. His nomination was supported by the Metropolitan of Kiev, Joseph and secular Orthodox elites. After choosing hegumen Pafnucy the Vladimir-Brest leader, the importance of the Siehen family rapidly increased. Bishop Siehen, as a bishop, initiated the restoration of numerous churches and monasteries destroyed during the Tatar invasion in 1491. In the years 1514–1516 Pafnucy received from the king the confirmation of privileges granted to the episcopate and the Cathedral of the Dormition in Vladimir-Volynski. Bishop Pafnucy managed the Lutsk-Ostroh diocese since 1523. He officially took over the Lutsk diocese after the death of bishop Cyril in 1526. Pafnucy Siehen held his episcopal function in Lutsk until 1528.

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