The Hieromartyr Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus, was born
in Kazan around 1530, and was descended from the Don Cossacks.
According to the Patriarch’s own testimony, he served as priest in Kazan
in a church dedicated to St Nicholas (December 6 and May 9), near the
Kazan bazaar. Soon he became a monk, and from 1582 was archimandrite of
the Savior-Transfiguration monastery at Kazan. On May 13, 1589 he was
consecrated bishop and became the first Metropolitan of Kazan.
While
he was the priest at St Nicholas, the wonderworking Kazan Icon of the
Mother of God (July 8) was discovered in Kazan in 1579. With the
blessing of Archbishop Jeremiah of Kazan, he carried the newly-appeared
icon from the place of its discovery to the Church of St Nicholas.
Having remarkable literary talent, the saint in 1594 compiled an account
describing the appearance of the wonderworking icon and the miracles
accomplished through it. In 1591 the saint gathered newly-baptized
Tatars into the cathedral church and for several days he instructed them
in the Faith.
The relics of St Germanus, the second archbishop
of Kazan (September 25, November 6, and June 23), who died at Moscow on
November 6, 1567 during a plague, were transfered and buried in St
Nicholas Church in 1592. With the blessing of Patriarch Job (1589-1605),
St Hermogenes reburied the relics at the Sviyazhsk Dormition monastery.
On January 9, 1592 St Hermogenes addressed a letter to Patriarch
Job, in which he asked for permission to commemorate in his See of
Kazan those Orthodox soldiers who gave their lives for the Faith and the
nation in a battle against the Tatars. In the past, it was customary to
enter into the diptychs the names of all Orthodox warriors who had
fallen in battle, and to commemorate them.
At the same time he
mentioned three martyrs who had suffered at Kazan for their faith in
Christ, one of whom was a Russian named John (January 24) born at Nizhny
Novgorod and captured by the Tatars. The other two, Stephen and Peter
(March 24), were newly-converted Tatars.
The saint expressed
regret that these martyrs were not inserted into the diptychs read on
the Sunday of Orthodoxy, and that “Memory Eternal” was not sung for
them. In answer to St Hermogenes, the Patriarch issued a decree on
February 25, which said: “ to celebrate at Kazan and throughout all the
Kazan metropolitanate a panikhida for all the Orthodox soldiers killed
at Kazan and the environs of Kazan, on the Saturday following the Feast
of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos (October 1), and to
inscribe them in the great Synodikon read on the Sunday of Orthodoxy,”
and also ordered that the three Kazan martyrs be inscribed in the
Synodikon, leaving it to St Hermogenes to set the day of their memory.
St Hermogenes circulated the Patriarchal decree throughout his diocese,
and required all the churches and monasteries to serve Liturgies,
Panikhidas and Lityas for the three Kazan martyrs on January 24.
St
Hermogenes displayed zeal in the faith and firmness in the observance
of Church traditions, and he devoted himself to the enlightenment of
Kazan Tatars with the faith of Christ.
In 1595, with the active
participation of the St Hermogenes, the relics of the Kazan
Wonderworkers St Gurias, the first archbishop of Kazan (October 4,
December 5, June 20), and St Barsanuphius bishop of Tver (October 4,
April 11) were discovered and uncovered. Tsar Theodore Ioannovich
(1584-1598) had given orders to erect at the Kazan
Savior-Transfiguration monastery a new stone church on the site of the
first one, where the saints were buried.
When the graves of the
saints were discovered, St Hermogenes came with a gathering of clergy.
He commanded the graves to be opened and, when he saw the incorrupt
relics and clothing of the saints, he notified the Patriarch and the
Tsar. With the blessing of Patriarch Job and by order of the Tsar, the
relics of the newly-appeared wonderworkers were placed in the new
church. St Hermogenes himself compiled the lives of hierarchs Gurias and
Barsanuphius.
Having been found worthy of the patriarchal
throne, Metropolitan Hermogenes was elected to the primatial See, and on
July 3, 1606 he was installed as Patriarch by the assembly of the holy
hierarchs at Moscow’s Dormition cathedral. Metropolitan Isidore handed
the Patriarch the staff of the holy hierarch Peter, Moscow Wonderworker
(October 5, December 21, August 24), and the Tsar gave as a gift to the
new Patriarch a panagia, embellished with precious stones, a white
klobuk and staff. In the ancient manner, Patriarch Hermogenes made his
entrance riding upon a donkey.
The activity of Patriarch
Hermogenes coincided with a difficult period for the Russian state: the
appearance of the false Tsarevich Demetrius and the Polish king
Sigismund III. The first hierarch devoted all his powers to the service
of the Church and the nation.
Patriarch Hermogenes was not alone
in this exploit: his self-sacrificing fellow-countrymen followed his
example and assisted him. With special inspiration His Holiness the
Patriarch stood up against the traitors and enemies of the nation, who
wanted to spread Uniatism and Western Catholicism throughout Russia and
to wipe out Orthodoxy, while enslaving the Russian nation.
When
the imposter arrived at Moscow and settled himself at Tushino, Patriarch
Hermogenes sent two letters to the Russian traitors. In one of them he
wrote: “...You have forgotten the vows of our Orthodox Faith, in which
we are born, baptized, nourished and raised. You have violated your oath
and the kissing of the Cross to stand to the death for the house of the
Most Holy Theotokos and for the Moscow realm, but have fallen for your
false would-be Tsarevich ... My soul aches, my heart is sickened, all
within me agonizes, and all my frame shudders; I weep and with sobbing I
lament: Have mercy, have mercy, brethren and children, on your own
souls and your parents departed and living ... Consider, how our nation
is devastated and plundered by foreigners, who offer insult to the holy
icons and churches, and how innocent blood is spilled, crying out to
God. Think! Against whom do you take up arms: is it not against God, Who
has created you? Is it not against your own brothers? Do you not
devastate your own country?... I adjure you in the name of God, give up
your undertaking, there is yet time, so that you do not perish in the
end.” In the second document the saint appeals: “For the sake of God,
come to your senses and turn around, gladden your parents, your wives
and children; and we stand to pray God for you...”
Soon the
righteous judgment of God fell upon the Brigand of Tushino: he was
killed by his own close associates on December 11, 1610. But Moscow
continued to remain in peril, since the Poles and traitors, loyal to
Sigismund III remained in the city. The documents sent by Patriarch
Hermogenes throughout the cities and villages, exhorted the Russian
nation to liberate Moscow from the enemies and to choose a lawful
Russian Tsar.
The Muscovites rose up in rebellion, and the Poles
burned the city, shutting themselves up in the Kremlin. Together with
Russian traitors they forcefully seized Patriarch Hermogenes from the
patriarchal throne and imprisoned him in the Chudov monastery.
On
Bright Monday in 1611, the Russian militia approached Moscow and began
the seige of the Kremlin, which continued for several months. Besieged
within the Kremlin, the Poles often sent messengers to the Patriarch
with the demand that he order the Russian militia to leave the city,
threatening him with execution if he refused.
The saint firmly
replied, “What are your threats to me? I fear only God. If all our
enemies leave Moscow, I shall bless the Russian militia to withdraw from
Moscow; but if you remain here, I shall bless all to stand against you
and to die for the Orthodox Faith.”
While still in prison, the
hieromartyr Hermogenes sent a final epistle to the Russian nation,
blessing the liberating army to fight the invaders. The Russian
commanders could not come to an agreement over a way to take the Kremlin
and free the Patriarch. He languished more than nine months in dreadful
confinement, and on February 17, 1612 he died a martyr’s death from
starvation.
The liberation of Russia, for which St Hermogenes
stood with such indestructible valor, was successfully achieved. The
body of the hieromartyr Hermogenes was buried in the Chudov monastery,
but in 1654 was transferred to the Moscow Dormition cathedral. The
glorification of Patriarch Hermogenes as a saint occurred on May 12,
1913.
Source-Oca.org
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