Bishop
Georgy Vasilyevich Govorov was born on January 10, 1815, in the village of Chernavskoye, Orlov Province, in the family of a priest. In 1837, he graduated from the Orlov Spiritual Seminary and entered the Kiev Spiritual Academy. In 1841, he completed the Academy and took monastic vows under the name Theophan. He taught at the Saint Petersburg Spiritual Academy, then was sent to Jerusalem, where he studied the holy places and the writings of the Church Fathers.
With the onset of the Crimean War, members of the Spiritual Mission were recalled to Russia. In 1855, Saint Theophan became an archimandrite and taught at the SPDA, later becoming the rector of the Olonets Spiritual Seminary. From 1856, he served as the rector of the embassy church in Constantinople, and from 1857, he was the rector of the SPDA. In 1859, he was consecrated as the Bishop of Tambov and Shatsk, where he established church-parish and Sunday schools and opened a women's diocesan school.
From July 1863, the saint was on the Vladimir See, and in 1866, he was retired to the Uspenskaya Vyshenskaya Monastery. The time left from services and prayers he dedicated to writing. After Easter 1872, the saint entered into a hermitage, writing literary-theological works, commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, and responding to numerous letters.
The saint had a profound influence on the spiritual revival of society; his teachings are akin to those of Elder Paisius Velichkovsky. His most significant works include “Letters on Christian Life,” “Philokalia,” “Commentary on the Apostolic Epistles,” and “Outline of Christian Morality.”
The saint peacefully reposed on January 6, 1894, on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and was buried in the Kazan Cathedral of the Vyshenskaya Monastery. He was canonized in 1988 as a struggler of faith and piety, having had a profound influence on the spiritual revival of society through his works.
