Metropolitan German

Saint Gherman (real name: Grigory) (? - November 6, 1568) was an archbishop of Kazan and later Metropolitan of Moscow.

Gherman took monastic vows in Volokolamsk Monastery. Here he served under hegumen Guriy (who would become archbishop of Kazan) and was engaged in copying books. Upon organizing his flock in Kazan, St.Guriy called for Gherman and appointed him head of Bogoroditsky Monastery in Sviyazhsk. The Russian Orthodox Church attached great importance to this monastery in terms of spreading Christianity among the non-Russians in the Kazan region. Upon Guriy's death in 1564, Gherman was elected his successor. At the insistence of Ivan the Terrible and against Gherman's will, he was appointed metropolitan of Moscow in 1566. Soon, Gherman demanded from the tzar to abolish the oprichnina, for which he would be banished from Moscow disgracefully.

Gherman died in Moscow in 1568. His relics were then transported to Sviyazhsk, where they are resting to this day in Bogoroditsky Monastery. The Russian Church celebrates his memory on November, 6 and July, 23 (the day his relics were transferred from Moscow to Sviyazhsk).