Galacteon of Suzdal

Holy Blessed Galacteon of Suzdal was archbishop of Suzdal in the Time of Troubles and died in exile or prison, in 1610. He is commemorated on 13 July, by the old calendar. The title "blessed" in the archive does not mean foolishness for Christ; he was a hierarch.

He succeeded Hermogenes, the future Patriarch of Moscow (17 February), in governing the Transfiguration monastery in Kazan; in 1595, from archimandrite of that monastery, he was consecrated bishop at Suzdal. In 1598 he took part in the assembly of the estates in Moscow, at the election of Boris Godunov as tsar. Abraham Palitsyn says he died in exile, in the time of the sufferings of the Russian hierarchs under the Poles. Karamzin writes that he was removed from his see because he would not bless the Pretender. An account of 1852 says that the bishop of Suzdal, who was taken prisoner in 1605, was forced to send the eparchy a letter ordering prayers for the Pretender, but refused, for which he was imprisoned in the Chudov monastery, where he died in 1610 (in that account he is called Gerasim instead of Galacteon). Ananias Fedorov, the keeper of the cathedral, says he was buried in the cathedral of Suzdal, where his memory is kept on 13 July.