Hieromartyr Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky), Metropolitan of Kiev

Hieromartyr Vladimir, born Vasily Nikiforovich Bogoyavlensky, was born on January 1, 1848, into a priest's family in Tambov province. After graduating from the Kiev Theological Academy in 1874 he married and was ordained a priest, but was widowed a few years later and took monastic vows under the name Vladimir. He rose from monastery superior to episcopal service, successively holding the sees of Staraya Russa, Samara, and Don, and in 1888 was elevated to archbishop of Kartli and Kakheti with the title of Exarch of Georgia. In 1892 he was transferred to the see of Moscow, where he became known as a preacher of sobriety and patron of religious education; in 1898 he was elevated to metropolitan. In 1912 he was appointed Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, first member of the Holy Synod, where he took a firm stand against Grigori Rasputin's influence on church affairs, for which he was transferred to the Kiev see in 1915. He took part in opening the All-Russian Church Council of 1917-1918 and the restoration of the Patriarchate. After the Bolsheviks seized Kiev in January 1918, he was seized by an armed group on the night of January 25 (February 7) inside the Kiev Caves Lavra itself, tortured and abused, and shot outside the monastery walls. He became the first hierarch to suffer a martyr's death at the hands of the atheist regime, opening the host of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. He was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992.