- Patriarch Hermogenes
Hermogenes, or Germogen (before
1530 -February 17 ,1612 ), was the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia from 1606. It was he who inspired the popular uprising that put an end to theTime of Troubles . Hermogenes was glorified by theRussian Orthodox Church in 1913.At the
Holy Synod of 1589, which established the patriarchy inMoscow , Hermogenes was appointed Metropolitan of the newly-conquered city ofKazan . During the following two decades, he gained renown for a number of Muslim Tatars he forcibly convertedEastern Orthodoxy .In 1606, Hermogenes was summoned by
False Dmitry I to take part in theSenate recently instituted inMoscow . There he learnt about the tsar's design to marry aRoman Catholic woman,Marina Mniszech , and firmly declared against such an alliance. At that he was exiled from the capital, only to return with great honours several months later, when the false tsar had been deposed, andPatriarch Ignatius followed suit.The new tsar,
Vasily IV , helped Hermogenes to become patriarch. During Vasily's reign, Hermogenes generally supported the tsar's efforts to pacify the country and anathemizedIvan Bolotnikov and his army. When Vasily was dethroned and the Poles took hold of theMoscow Kremlin , Hermogenes staunchly opposed their plans to putWladyslaw IV on the Russian throne, lest he converts to Orthodoxy. Despite knife threats from some of the boyars, he refused to sign any petitions to the Polish king, thus preventing Wladyslaw from coronation. [Maureen Perrie. "Pretenders and Popular Monarchism in Early Modern Russia". Cambridge University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-521-47274-1. Page 210.
Robert Auty, Dimitri Obolensky. "Companion to Russian Studies". Cambridge University Press, 1981. ISBN 0-521-28038-9. Page 108.]In December 1610 Hermogenes distributed letters to various Russian towns, urging the populace to rise against the Poles. When the volunteer army under
Prokopy Lyapunov finally approached Moscow, he defied the Polish exhortations to anathemize the army. Despite being threatened with death penalty, he cursed theRoman Catholic s and showed support for Lyapunov. After that, he was arrested and thrown into theChudov Monastery . There he heard about the new volunteer army, mustered byKuzma Minin and commanded byPrince Pozharsky , and blessed them both. Thereupon the patriarch was beaten and starved to death. [Reverend R Thornton. "Lives of Eminent Russian Prelates". Kessinger Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-4179-4649-0. Page 3.
"He endured to the end and was accounted worthy of the crown of martyrdom: inflexible alike to prayers and threats, he was starved to death in prison, to be a pledge of deliverance to his country". -- A N Mouravieff. "A History of the Church of Russia", 1842, reprinted 2004. ISBN 1-4179-1250-2. Page 166.]The purported relics of Patriarch Germogen were accidentally found in one of the crypts of the Chudov Monastery during the 1913 repair works. In connection with the
Romanov Dynasty Tercentenary, celebrated that same year, the remains were canonised and transferred to the nearbyDormition Cathedral .References
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