St. Philaret of Moscow

Vasily Drozdov was a deacon’s son who became the leading churchman of 19th-century Russia. As Metropolitan of Moscow for 46 years he wrote the Longer Catechism, oversaw the translation of the Bible into modern Russian, and wrote the manifesto that freed the serfs in 1861. He was glorified in 1994.

• Feast: November 19 (New Calendar)
• Lived: 1782–1867
• Place: Moscow