Hermogenes of Moscow

Life events

1. Born — 1530

   Hermogenes (secular name Yermolay) was born before 1530; the place of birth is not recorded in the sources.

2. Consecrated — 1589

   At the Holy Synod of 1589, which established the patriarchate in Moscow, Hermogenes was appointed Metropolitan of the newly conquered city of Kazan.

3. Exiled — 1606

   After publicly opposing False Dmitry I's plan to marry the Roman Catholic Marina Mniszech, Hermogenes was exiled from Moscow; he returned with honours months later when the pretender was deposed.

4. Consecrated — 1606

   On 3 July 1606, Metropolitan Hermogenes was installed as Patriarch of Moscow and all the Rus' by an assembly of hierarchs at Moscow's Dormition Cathedral; Metropolitan Isidore presented him with the staff of Peter, and Tsar Vasily IV gifted him a jewelled panagia, white klobuk, and staff.

5. Council — 1610

   When Polish forces occupied the Moscow Kremlin and pressed for Wladyslaw IV's accession, Hermogenes refused to sign petitions to the Polish king despite knife threats from boyars, insisting on Wladyslaw's conversion to Orthodoxy as a precondition.

6. Imprisoned — 1611

   After distributing letters in December 1610 urging Russian towns to rise against the Polish occupation and publicly blessing the volunteer army of Prokopy Lyapunov, Hermogenes was arrested and confined to the Chudov Monastery.

7. Martyred — 1612

   Hermogenes died on 17 February 1612 in the Chudov Monastery; he had been beaten and starved there after blessing the second volunteer army assembled by Kuzma Minin and commanded by Prince Pozharsky.

8. Translated — 1654

   Hermogenes's remains, originally interred at the Chudov Monastery, were transferred to the Moscow Dormition Cathedral in 1654; relics rediscovered during 1913 repair works at the Chudov Monastery were moved to the Dormition Cathedral in connection with his canonization that year.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Hermogenes's secular name before entering religious life was Yermolay; the patriarch's Russian name is rendered Гермоге́н. (likely)
• As Metropolitan of Kazan from 1589, Hermogenes oversaw the conversion of Muslim Volga Tatars to Eastern Orthodoxy over two decades, earning renown in that region before his elevation to patriarch. (likely)
• At his patriarchal installation on 3 July 1606, Hermogenes entered Moscow riding upon a donkey, following the ancient manner of patriarchal induction. (likely)
• Hermogenes was glorified (canonized) by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1913 as a hieromartyr, during celebrations marking the Romanov Dynasty Tercentenary. (certain)
• The Russian Orthodox Church commemorates Hermogenes on two dates: 17 February, the day of his death in 1612, and 12 May, the day of his recognized glorification in 1913. (certain)