Memorial Day of the Hieromartyr Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

Every year on March 2, Orthodox Christians remember the Holy Martyr Hermogenes (Hermogenes), Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Ermogen (in the world Ermolai) was born in the 30s of the 16th century, according to some sources, into the princely family of the Shuiskys or Golitsyns, according to others, into a family of Don Cossacks As a teenager, he went to the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery (Kazan) Soon he took monastic vows and became a priest in Kazan To this time, the end of the 80s of the 16th century, there is evidence of the miraculous appearance of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God during the service of Hermogenes in the Church of St Nicholas Gostiny (the church at the Gostiny Dvor) After the terrible fires in Kazan, the immaculate maiden Matrona, the daughter of the archer, had repeated visions and persistent instructions to dig the earth on the ashes of the house in order to find an icon Nobody believed the words of the young girl Only after she herself began to dig the ground and took out the bundle in which the icon was wrapped, did people kneel before the holy image Hermogenes, being at that time the Archbishop of Sviyazhsk and Kazan (1576-1591), served a prayer service before the miraculous icon, during which there were cases of healing from blindness In the spring of 1589, Ermogen was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan of Astrakhan and Kazan He was a very respected person, his activities were aimed at strengthening the Orthodox faith in the multinational region where Chuvash, Russians, Tatars, and Mari lived The future martyr had the talent of a writer, expressed his thoughts well, and described the events taking place At a time when the Orthodox faith needed support, Hermogen sent a letter to Patriarch Job about the need to celebrate the days of memory of the soldiers Stephen, John, and Peter The Orthodox warrior-martyrs did not betray their faith, were tortured by the Tatars, and did not renounce their Christian views John was from Nizhny Novgorod, and Peter and Stefan were Tatars baptized in Orthodoxy Ermolai’s narrative, which was based on information obtained from reliable sources, shocked Job February 24th was designated as the day to celebrate the death of the Kazan martyrs, and their names were included in the synodikon for prayers on the Week of Orthodoxy Hermogenes contemporaries describe him as an ardent fighter for faith in God After entering the rank of metropolitan, he began ascetic activity to convert foreigners, Muslims, and pagans to the Christian faith Even after baptism, representatives of the Volga region peoples who re-entered the ranks of the Orthodox did not adhere to the traditions of the Christian Church The Metropolitan put a lot of effort into strengthening his faith, often with the use of physical force He was adamant in upholding church canons Many churches were built, sermons were read, and the illiterate population became familiar with the Holy Scriptures Hermogenes' activity occurred during the Time of Troubles After the death of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, the last representative of the Rurik dynasty, together with all the people he prayed for Boris Godunov to accept the throne In 1605, after the accession of False Dmitry to the throne, Ermogen openly opposed the marriage of the new king with the unbaptized Catholic Maria Mnischek, and was adamant in defending the Orthodox canons He fought against the interference of Poles and Poles in Russian affairs Hermogenes did a lot of work in glorifying Archbishop Herman of Kazan; he wrote the lives of the wonderworkers Guria and Barsanuphius According to eyewitnesses, Hermogenes was a very intelligent and well-read man, adamant in matters of faith After Vasily Shuisky ascended the throne, Ermogen became Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' The saint ended his earthly journey in the Chudov Monastery at the age of 82 The holy martyr was starved, but until his last breath he offered up prayers to the Lord, zealously serving the Russian people and the Orthodox faith The day of the death of Hermogenes, February 17 (March 2, new style), is the day of remembrance of the saint