Philaret Drozdov

St Vladimir's Cathedral in Kiev was built at the suggestion of Filaret. Metropolitan Philaret (Real name Vasily Mikhaylovich Drozdov, Василий Михайлович Дроздов; 26 December 1782 – 1 December 1867) was Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna and the most influential figure in the Russian Orthodox Church for more than 40 years, from 1821 to 1867.

He was canonized on 13 October 1994 and his feast day is celebrated on November 19.

Life He was born in Kolomna as Vasily Drozdov . His father was a member of the clergy. In 1809, he was appointed professor of theology in the ecclesiastical academy of Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, becoming archimandrite in 1811 and director in 1812.

The Events of 1812 produced a strong impression on Philaret; he explained the success of the Russians by moral reason and read a lecture on this theme in the "Society of friends of the Russian word". In 1813 he declaimed his famous speech on Kutuzov's death.

He took monastic vows in 1817, and was soon consecrated bishop of Reval and then episcopal vicar of St. Petersburg. In 1819, he became Archbishop of Tver and a member of the Most Holy Synod. Until his time, only a Church Slavonic version not readily understood by the general populace was available. For a time, the Minister of Education was against translations into vernacular languages, and from 1825 to 1856, Filaret concentrated on teaching and clerical duties instead.

He wrote many volumes of theological and historical works collectively known as the Filaretica. They include the Colloquy between a Believer and a Skeptic on the True Doctrine of the Greco-Russian Church (St. Petersburg, 1815); Compend of Sacred History (1816); Commentary on Genesis (1816); Attempt to Explain Psalm lxvii. (1818); Sermons delivered at Various Times (1820); Extracts from the Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles for Use in Lay Schools (1820); Christian Catechism (1823); Extracts from the Historical Books of the Old Testament (1828–30); Principles of Religious Instruction (1828); and New Collection of Sermons (1830–36). Filaret also wrote spiritual poems from an early age; his poetical correspondence with Pushkin is well known.