Hieromartyr Hermogenes, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

The Hieromartyr Hermogenes began his ministry as a priest in Kazan, and in 1589 became Metropolitan of Kazan and Astrakhan — he took part in the discovery of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (1579) and the uncovering of the relics of Sts. Guriy and Varsonofiy of Kazan (1595). In 1606 he was elevated to the Patriarchal throne of Moscow and All Russia. During the Time of Troubles, when Polish forces occupied Moscow and sought to install Prince Władysław on the Russian throne (or backed the pretenders), Hermogenes refused to bless this and sent letters throughout the country calling the people to rise up in defense of the Fatherland — these appeals directly inspired the formation of the people's militias (including the militia of Minin and Pozharsky), which later liberated Moscow. For this unyielding stance the Poles imprisoned the patriarch in the Chudov Monastery and starved him to death; he died on February 17, 1612, without living to see the capital's liberation. He was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1913, on the 300th anniversary of his death, coinciding with the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov. His relics now rest in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the original entry erroneously called the saint "Hermogenes, Pope of Rome" — no such Pope of Rome ever existed; the dates (c. 1530-1612) exactly match the life of the Patriarch of Moscow, confirming this was a clear data-matching error. The meaning of the dates has also been clarified: May 12 (O.S.)/May 25 (N.S.) is NOT a separate, additional date but the New Style equivalent of the same glorification day (May 12 O.S. + 13 days = May 25 N.S.) — the same event in two calendar systems, not two different feasts.