Hierarch Saint Gabriel (Gorodkov), Archbishop of Ryazan

St. Gabriel (secular name Grigory Ivanovich Gorodkov; 1785–1862), Archbishop of Ryazan and Zaraisk, was born in the village of Gorodkovichi, Spassky district, Ryazan province, the son of a church reader. He graduated from Ryazan Theological Seminary and the St. Petersburg Theological Academy (1814), taught and served as rector of several seminaries, and was superior of the Caves (Pechersky) Monastery in Nizhny Novgorod.

In 1837 he was elevated to Archbishop of Ryazan and Zaraisk, governing the diocese until 1858. Under his oversight the bell tower of the Ryazan Kremlin cathedral was completed, the Dormition Cathedral renovated, and numerous churches built and adorned; he was known for his devotion to theological education and to the poor.

He died on April 7, 1862, on the eve of Pascha, and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Ryazan Kremlin. He was glorified as a locally venerated Ryazan saint on January 12, 1987, and is also commemorated in the Synaxes of Nizhny Novgorod, Lipetsk, and Belarusian saints.