Hierarch
Hierarch Saint Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus'
ок. 1292–1378
Saint Alexis of Moscow — metropolitan, effective regent of the Muscovite principality under the young Dmitry Donskoi, who healed Khan Jani Beg's wife Taidula.
Saint Alexis (Alexy), Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus' (secular name Eleutherius Fyodorovich Byakont), was born c. 1292 into a boyar family descended from Chernigov nobility settled in Moscow. He was tonsured young at Moscow's Epiphany Monastery, and his learning and piety brought him close to Metropolitan Theognostus, whom he succeeded as Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus' in 1354.
For over twenty years he effectively governed the Muscovite principality as regent for the young Prince Dmitry (later Donskoi), laying groundwork for Moscow's rise. He was celebrated as a skilled diplomat with the Golden Horde, reputedly healing Khan Jani Beg's wife Taidula of blindness, securing protection for the Russian Church from Tatar taxation. He founded the Chudov Monastery in Moscow.
He reposed February 12, 1378; his incorrupt relics were uncovered in 1431. He is commemorated February 12 (repose), May 20 (uncovering of relics), and October 5 (Synaxis of the Moscow Hierarchs).