Saint Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow

Saint Philip II of Moscow (Russian: Филипп II; born Fyodor Stepanovich Kolychov; Russian: Фёдор Степанович Колычёв; 11 February 1507 – 23 December 1569) was Metropolitan of Moscow and all Rus', the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, from 1566 to 1568. He was the thirteenth metropolitan of Moscow to be appointed without the approval of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as had been the norm. He was one of a few metropolitans who dared to openly contradict Ivan the Terrible. It is widely believed that the tsar had him murdered on that account. He is venerated as a saint and martyr in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Fyodor Stepanovich Kolychov was born in Moscow into the old roots Moscow boyar family of Kolychevs, descendants of Andrei Aleksandrovich Kobyla, one of the noblest families of Muscovy. Grand Prince Vasili III took young Theodore into the royal court. It is said that since childhood Theodore was on friendly terms with Tsarevich Ivan, later Tsar Ivan IV of Russia ("the Terrible"). According to other accounts, he was involved in the conspiracy of Prince Andrey of Staritsa against Elena Glinskaya and, when their plans were discovered, he escaped to Solovetsky Monastery on the White Sea. Yet another account says that his decision to become a monk occurred on Sunday, 5 June 1537, while he was standing in church for the Divine Liturgy, on hearing the words of Jesus: "No man can serve two masters" (Matthew 6:24). According to this account, he secretly left Moscow dressed as peasant, and for a while he hid himself away from the world in the village of Khizna, near Lake Onega, earning his livelihood as a shepherd, later joining the monastery at Solovetsk. At any rate, he entered the monastery at Solovki at the age of 30, and a year and a half later he took monastic vows, receiving the religious name of Philip. In the monastery he worked at the iron forge and as a baker. 11 years later, Philip was made hegumen (abbot) of the monastery.