The Kolomna Museum of Local History houses a portrait of Metropolitan Philaret whose secular name was Vasily Mikhailovich Drozdov.
Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, was one of the greatest theologians and revered saints of the 19th century. For almost half a century he held the episcopal throne of the first capital city. “Kolomna is my homeland. I am proud of it…” — this phrase of the writer Ivan Ivanovich Lazhechnikov became a hallmark of Kolomna. But this phrase has a continuation that is not always remembered: ”… because one of the most famous spiritual dignitaries and preachers of our time was born in it…”. This quote refers to Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow and Kolomna. An outstanding theologian of the 19th century, the author of many government decrees, including the manifesto on the abolition of serfdom. This alone is an indication of the many talents with which Saint Philaret was gifted.
The future Metropolitan was born in Kolomna in 1782 into the family of a deacon of the Assumption Cathedral. He was educated in the seminary in his native town. Later, he studied philosophy at the Seminary of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. In 1808 Vasily renounced the secular life and took monastic vows, receiving a new name Philaret, in honor and memory of the God-pleaser Philaret the Merciful. The main landmarks in the life of the Metropolitan as pastor were as follows: from 1817 he was a bishop in the Orthodox Russian Church; from 1819 — an archbishop, from 1826 — the Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna.
Continuing the tradition of the great church fathers, the metropolitan also gained glory as a scholar. A full member of the Imperial Russian Academy, an honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences and subsequently an Ordinary Academician in the Department of Russian Language and Literature — these were the titles with which the scientific community honored Philaret for his services to education in Russia. He was also passionately involved in the translation of the Bible into Russian.
Behind all this there was genuine service and tireless work for the good of the Orthodox Church and the Fatherland. Despite his busy schedule and high office, Metropolitan Philaret always kept in touch with his hometown and cared for it in every way he could. In 1994 Philaret was canonized as a saint, and at present he is the patron saint of Kolomna, the town of his childhood.
Nikolay Drozdov, a well-known presenter of the TV program “In the Animal World”, zoologist, traveler and popularizer of science, is Saint Philaret’s great-great-grandnephew.
Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, was one of the greatest theologians and revered saints of the 19th century. For almost half a century he held the episcopal throne of the first capital city. “Kolomna is my homeland. I am proud of it…” — this phrase of the writer Ivan Ivanovich Lazhechnikov became a hallmark of Kolomna. But this phrase has a continuation that is not always remembered: ”… because one of the most famous spiritual dignitaries and preachers of our time was born in it…”. This quote refers to Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow and Kolomna. An outstanding theologian of the 19th century, the author of many government decrees, including the manifesto on the abolition of serfdom. This alone is an indication of the many talents with which Saint Philaret was gifted.
The future Metropolitan was born in Kolomna in 1782 into the family of a deacon of the Assumption Cathedral. He was educated in the seminary in his native town. Later, he studied philosophy at the Seminary of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. In 1808 Vasily renounced the secular life and took monastic vows, receiving a new name Philaret, in honor and memory of the God-pleaser Philaret the Merciful. The main landmarks in the life of the Metropolitan as pastor were as follows: from 1817 he was a bishop in the Orthodox Russian Church; from 1819 — an archbishop, from 1826 — the Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna.
Continuing the tradition of the great church fathers, the metropolitan also gained glory as a scholar. A full member of the Imperial Russian Academy, an honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences and subsequently an Ordinary Academician in the Department of Russian Language and Literature — these were the titles with which the scientific community honored Philaret for his services to education in Russia. He was also passionately involved in the translation of the Bible into Russian.
Behind all this there was genuine service and tireless work for the good of the Orthodox Church and the Fatherland. Despite his busy schedule and high office, Metropolitan Philaret always kept in touch with his hometown and cared for it in every way he could. In 1994 Philaret was canonized as a saint, and at present he is the patron saint of Kolomna, the town of his childhood.
Nikolay Drozdov, a well-known presenter of the TV program “In the Animal World”, zoologist, traveler and popularizer of science, is Saint Philaret’s great-great-grandnephew.
