Hierarch Theognostus, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus'

St. Theognostus, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus', was likely born in or near Constantinople (his exact birth date is unrecorded). In 1328 he was consecrated Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus' by the Patriarch of Constantinople, succeeding St. Peter of Moscow. Like his predecessor, he chose Moscow as his permanent residence, cementing the city's role as the spiritual center of Rus'. He became a steadfast ally of the Moscow princes, especially Ivan I "Kalita" and his successors, supporting Moscow's rise among the Russian principalities. During his tenure he endured hardship at the hands of the Golden Horde: slandered before Khan Janibek for refusing to pay tribute on Church lands, he was summoned and interrogated, but firmly defended the Church's exemption and secured the khan's confirmation of ecclesiastical privileges. He governed the Russian Church for twenty-five years. St. Theognostus reposed on 14/27 March 1353, during an outbreak of plague, and was buried in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin beside St. Peter. His relics were found incorrupt in 1471 and still rest beneath the cathedral floor. His feast is kept on 14/27 March.