Hieromartyr Mitrofan, Bishop of Vladimir

Hieromartyr Mitrofan, Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, was a hierarch of the Russian Church who perished at the hands of the Mongol invaders. Before his episcopal consecration he served as abbot of the Nativity Monastery in Vladimir. On March 14, 1227 he was consecrated Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, and led the diocese through the catastrophic years of the Mongol invasion of Rus'. During the siege of Vladimir in the winter of 1238, Bishop Mitrofan comforted the townspeople and tonsured into monasticism all who wished to receive it in the face of death. When the forces of Khan Batu broke into the city, the bishop shut himself in the Dormition Cathedral with the grand-princely family and many citizens. The Tatars broke down the cathedral doors, piled firewood around it, and set it ablaze; Bishop Mitrofan died in the flames with all those sheltering inside on February 7, 1238. He was buried in the Dormition Cathedral of Vladimir. He is venerated as part of the Synaxis of Vladimir Saints, kept June 23/July 6, with a separate commemoration of his martyrdom on February 7/20.