Patriarch
Saint Hermogenes, the Holy Martyr, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, was born around 1530 in a family of Don Cossacks. In his youth, he witnessed the appearance of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. After taking monastic vows and being named Hermogenes, he was appointed as the archimandrite of the Kazan Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, and later elevated to the rank of metropolitan. Conducting extensive missionary work, he brought pagans and Muslims to the Orthodox faith.
In 1592, he transferred the relics of Saint German of Kazan, and in 1594, he composed a service to the Mother of God in honor of Her Kazan Icon. On July 3, 1606, he was appointed Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. His patriarchate coincided with the difficult period of the Time of Troubles, during which he opposed the enemies of the Fatherland and Uniatism.
Patriarch Hermogenes addressed the rebels with an exhortation, asking them not to raise arms against their Fatherland. During the famine, he opened the monastery granaries for the starving. He inspired the monks to the heroic defense of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra against the Polish-Lithuanian invaders.
In 1610, after the overthrow of Tsar Vasily Shuisky, Moscow was occupied by Polish troops. Patriarch Hermogenes refused the boyars' request to recognize the Polish prince Vladislav, offering special prayers for the election to the throne 'from the blood of the Russian lineage.' He called the people to defend the Motherland and blessed them for the liberation effort.
The Holy Martyr Hermogenes died a martyr's death on February 17, 1612, from hunger and thirst. His death inspired the militia, and on October 27, 1612, they achieved victory over the Polish-Lithuanian forces. The body of the Holy Martyr was buried in the Chudov Monastery, and in 1654, the incorrupt relics were transferred to the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
