Hierarch Philaret of Moscow

St. Philaret (Vasily Mikhailovich Drozdov, 1782–1867) was Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, one of the most influential Russian theologians and churchmen of the 19th century, who headed the Moscow see for more than 40 years (1821–1867). Born in Kolomna to a deacon's family, he studied at the Trinity Seminary and was tonsured a monk in 1808. He authored the celebrated Longer Catechism (1823), which has remained the Russian Church's standard catechetical text for nearly two centuries, and was the chief initiator and organizer of the Russian-language (Synodal) translation of the Bible. A trusted advisor to three emperors, he was the principal author of the text of the February 19, 1861 Manifesto emancipating the serfs, freeing millions of peasants. He died on November 19, 1867 at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where he was buried. He was canonized by the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church on October 13, 1994. On June 9, 2004, his relics were translated from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, where they rest today.