Saint Anna of Kashin

Anna of Kashin (Russian: Анна Кашинская; c. 1280 – 2 October 1368) was the princess consort of Mikhail of Tver. She is venerated as a saint and Right-Believing princess, patroness of Kashin and Tver. She is known both for her dramatic lifetime fate (the death of almost all relatives during internecine strife) and for no less complicated posthumous vicissitudes: she was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1650, but the struggle of the times of the schism of the Russian Church in the 17th century led to her decanonization in 1677 — a precedent in the history of the Russian Church. However, in 1908, her sainthood was officially restored by Nicholas II. On next year, crowded celebrations in Kashin were held on the occasion of the restoration of the veneration. Anna was a daughter of Prince Dmitry Borisovich of Rostov and a great-granddaughter of Prince Vasily of Rostov. From her earliest years, Anna was brought up strictly Christian. She was taught the virtues of humility and obedience. Her teacher was Ignatius, Bishop of Rostov (died 1288), who was noted for strict selflessness and pacifism. Like all royal daughters of her time, Anna learned different kinds of needlework. When the princess grew up, Princess Xenia of Tver, second wife of Grand Prince Yaroslav of Tver sent ambassadors to Rostov with a request to marry Anna to her son Mikhail. The embassy was successful, and Anna became the wife of Prince Mikhail. Princess Anna's marriage to Prince Mikhail took place on 8 November 1294 in the Preobrazhensky cathedral of Tver. In celebration of this event, dwellers in the city of Kashin built the Saint Michael Church and the triumphal gates from the local Kremlin to the Tver road, naming the gates also "Mikhaylovsky." In the Kashin Uspensky cathedral a special Feast was established and celebrated annually on 8 November. Anna and Mikhail had five children: In 1294, her father died, and in 1295 a terrible fire destroyed Tver.