Memorial Day of St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow

Vasily Mikhailovich Drozdov, scientist, theologian and hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, was born in Kolomna into the family of a hereditary noblewoman and a deacon on December 26, 1782 At the age of 9, the boy began attending the theological seminary where his father taught In 1799, Vasily continued his studies at the Trinity Lavra Seminary, after which he began teaching Greek and Yiddish, rhetoric and eloquence In 1808, the young man took monastic vows, after which he was named Philaret, forever connecting his life with the Orthodox Church Hierodeacon, bishop and subsequently metropolitan carried the word of God into the world from the pulpit of the St Petersburg Theological Academy, defended the interests of Orthodoxy and the religious unity of the Russian people in theological treatises The saint founded dozens of churches, eight monasteries and four monastic hermitages, and opened the St Nicholas Monastery of Edinoverie in Moscow Like many elevated Christian ascetics, Filaret possessed the gift of foresight On September 17, 1867, at the end of the liturgy, he told his confessor about the dream he had seen the day before The father who appeared in it warned the Metropolitan about the importance of the number 19 The dream turned out to be prophetic On November 19, old style (December 2, new style), a prominent political figure, theologian, educator, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna went to the Lord Paying tribute to his merits, the Orthodox Church annually celebrates the Day of Remembrance of St Philaret As a scientist, philosopher and deeply religious person, he enjoyed great authority among representatives of different classes and political views, and was known as an intellectual, an outstanding and multifaceted personality Saint Philaret, who spoke 6 languages, made the first translation from Church Slavonic into Russian of the Old and New Testaments and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures The brightest minds of that time sought to communicate with him as an educated and highly spiritual person Filaret met with P Ya Chaadaev, was in poetic correspondence with AS Pushkin, exchanged letters with VA Zhukovsky, NV Gogol and FI Tyutchev Emperors, grand dukes, ministers and senators listened to the metropolitan's advice Filaret took part in government affairs and writing documents of national importance, for example, in developing the reform of 1861 and drawing up a manifesto on the abolition of serfdom in Rus' During his service in the Moscow diocese, foreign ambassadors considered it their duty to personally introduce themselves to the saint, despite the fact that this was not part of the diplomatic ceremony The Metropolitan had an incredible work ethic According to contemporaries, he worked 18 hours a day Thanks to Filaret, students at St Petersburg and other theological seminaries now have courses in dogmatic theology, homiletics, patrolology, canon law and other disciplines For his scientific merits, the University of Dorpat (now Tartu University, located in Estonia) awarded the saint the title of honorary Doctor of Philosophy In memory of Filaret, canonized in 1994, liturgies and all-night vigils are held, and the prayer of the Metropolitan of Moscow is read, which is in every prayer book With special pomp, on December 1 and 2, services are held in the Holy Trinity Lavra of St Sergius - the burial place of a scientist, philosopher, true monk and outstanding hierarch of the Orthodox Church