Saint Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky)

Vladimir (Russian: Владимир), baptismal name: Vasily Nikiforovich Bogoyavlensky (Russian: Василий Никифорович Богоявленский; 1 January 1848 – 7 February [O.S. January 25] 1918), was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. He was appointed to the position of Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna between 1898 and 1912, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga between 1912 and 1915, and the Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia between 1915 and 1918. Murdered by Bolshevik soldiers in 1918, Metropolitan Vladimir was glorified as a Hieromartyr by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992. He was Chairman (the leading member) of the Most Holy Synod (1912–1917). Born to a family of a clergyman in Tambov Governorate, Vasili Bogoyavlensky graduated from a seminary in Tambov and Kiev Theological Academy. He then returned to Tambov to teach at his alma mater. In 1882, Vasili was ordained a priest in a town of Kozlov in Tambov Guberniya. On the death of his wife and child in 1886, he was tonsured (took monastic vows) being given the religious name of Vladimir, and was appointed igumen (abbot) of the Trinity Monastery in that same town. In 1888, Igumen Vladimir was sent to St Petersburg as a vicar to assist the Metropolitan and was thereafter consecrated as a bishop. He was soon assigned to preach in Samara. When the country was afflicted by the epidemic of cholera and crop failure, he called upon the clergy and laity to help the needy and often conducted moliebens himself, beseeching the Lord to deliver people from calamities. For six years, from 1892, Vladimir administered the Georgian Exarchate, paying special attention to the spiritual enlightenment of the multiethnic Orthodox population of the Caucasus, and opening new churches and parish schools. In 1898, Bishop Vladimir was summoned to Moscow where he was appointed Metropolitan of Moscow.