Hierarch Serapion Of Vladimir

Saint Serapion, Bishop of Vladimir, Suzdal, and Nizhny Novgorod, was a renowned 13th-century Russian preacher and writer. His birth year is unknown. He labored at the Kiev Caves Monastery, where around 1249 he was appointed archimandrite and governed the community for a quarter-century through the harsh years following the Mongol invasion and the sack of Kiev. He became famed as a zealous pastor and outstanding preacher deeply versed in Holy Scripture; a chronicler calls him "greatly learned and mighty in Divine Scripture." In 1274 he was consecrated Bishop of Vladimir, Suzdal, and Nizhny Novgorod by Metropolitan Kirill II of Kiev. He governed the diocese less than a year, reposing in old age on 12 (25) July 1275. He was buried in the Dormition Cathedral of Vladimir. Five of his homilies survive — among the oldest original sermons in Old Russian literature; the first three interpret the Mongol invasion as divine chastisement for sin and call for repentance, while the rest denounce pagan superstition and sorcery accusations and call for justice and mercy.