Vladimir Bogoyavlensky

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Lore & Background

Born on 1 January 1848 to a clergyman's family in Tambov Governorate, Vasili Bogoyavlensky graduated from a seminary in Tambov and the Kiev Theological Academy. He returned to Tambov to teach at his alma mater. In 1882 he was ordained a priest in Kozlov, Tambov Guberniya. After his wife and child died in 1886, he took monastic vows, receiving the religious name Vladimir, and was appointed igumen of the Trinity Monastery in that same town. In 1888 he was sent to St Petersburg as a vicar to assist the Metropolitan and was consecrated as a bishop. He was soon assigned to preach in Samara, where during an epidemic of cholera and crop failure he called on clergy and laity to help the needy and often conducted moliebens himself. For six years from 1892 he administered the Georgian Exarchate, opening new churches and parish schools. In 1898 he was summoned to Moscow as Metropolitan of Moscow. During the events of October 1905, he wrote an address titled 'What should we do during these troubled days?' and ordered it read aloud in all Moscow churches. In it he told the people about the 'criminal' and 'anti-Christian' intentions of those who compiled The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, directly associating their 'monstrous' intentions with revolutionary events. He urged Orthodox people to stand up against the Anti-Christ. Upon the death of Metropolitan Anthony of Saint Petersburg in 1912, Vladimir was chosen to fill the post. His successful career there ended because he criticized Grigori Rasputin's influence on the Church. In December 1915 he was sent away to Kiev. A few months after the October Revolution, on 7 February 1918, he was arrested by five Red Army soldiers when Muravyov's army swept through Ukraine. He was immediately executed in front of his monks and his body mutilated. He was glorified as a saint in 1992, with his feast day on January 25 (Julian), corresponding to February 7 on the Gregorian calendar.

Reader's Guide

Vladimir Bogoyavlensky's significance lies in his high-ranking ecclesiastical career and his martyrdom at the hands of Bolshevik soldiers, which marked him as the first bishop to die as a New Martyr under Soviet rule. His tenure as Metropolitan of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kiev placed him at the center of the Russian Orthodox Church during a period of political and social upheaval. Notably, during the events of October 1905, he wrote an address titled 'What should we do during these troubled days?' and ordered it read aloud in all Moscow churches. In it he told the people about the 'criminal' and 'anti-Christian' intentions of those who compiled The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, directly associating their 'monstrous' intentions with revolutionary events. He urged Orthodox people to stand up against the Anti-Christ. His later criticism of Grigori Rasputin's influence on the Church led to his transfer from St. Petersburg to Kiev in December 1915. A few months after the October Revolution, on 7 February 1918, he was arrested by five Red Army soldiers when Muravyov's army swept through Ukraine and was immediately executed in front of his monks, his body mutilated. He was glorified as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992, with his feast day on January 25 (Julian), corresponding to February 7 on the Gregorian calendar. He is remembered as the first bishop to suffer as a New Martyr under the Soviets.

Did You Know?

• Vladimir's baptismal name was Vasily Nikiforovich Bogoyavlensky.
• He was tonsured a monk in 1886 after the death of his wife and child, taking the religious name Vladimir.
• During the 1905 cholera and crop failure in Samara, he conducted moliebens himself, beseeching the Lord to deliver people from calamities.
• He was Chairman of the Most Holy Synod from 1912 to 1917.
• He was the first bishop to suffer as a New Martyr under the Soviets.