Misail of Ryazan

Saint Misail (Missail) the hieromartyr was archbishop of Ryazan and Murom, born in the first quarter of the seventeenth century in the village of Gruzino in the diocese of Novgorod, and died in April 1655 in the village of Aglomazovo, wounded by an arrow on a missionary journey among the Mordvins. He was glorified on 12 January 1987 as a hieromartyr in the synaxis of the local saints of Ryazan. He is commemorated on 10 (23) April and in the synaxes of the saints of Ryazan, Tambov and Lipetsk. In 2001 his veneration was established for the whole Russian Church.

To the archbishop's see

He began his monastic life at the Resurrection monastery at Derevyanitsa in Novgorod, where he stood out for his pious life. He drew the attention of the church authority and the brethren and was ordained hieromonk. He was sacristan to the Metropolitan of Novgorod Nikon (Minov), later patriarch, who pointed out Misail to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich as a worthy successor to the recently deceased Archbishop Moses of Ryazan. On 13 April 1651 he was consecrated bishop of Ryazan, with elevation to the rank of archbishop.

His ministry

Taking over the governance of the diocese, he found shortcomings in the monasteries and among the parish clergy. Zealous for the glory of God, at the very start of his service he sent a letter to his flock in which he gave fatherly exhortations, and to the abbots he gave instructions to keep the monastic rules strictly. His words to the people and the clergy were marked by simplicity and sincerity and showed an intelligent archpastor of high moral life. From his first year he showed unwearying activity. He entered fatherly into the private life of the clergy under him and often invited them to his house on feasts. He fought energetically above all against the people's general drunkenness: he rose against the tavern-⁠keepers and their overseers, who systematically made the people drunk, and drove them out of the diocese. He fought against religious indifference, shown in extreme and widespread coldness toward the Church. Widowed priests who gave cause for scandal were tonsured by force as monks and sent to monasteries. He loved to serve the services and always did so with solemnity and splendour. In private life a strict monk, temperate in everything, during the service he dressed in costly vestments.

The mission among the Mordvins

His chief merit before the Church is that he took on himself the mission of christianizing the native inhabitants of the Ryazan region. In the first years of his episcopate he entrusted this work to the monk Artemy, because he himself was much occupied with putting the affairs of the diocese in order, and then he was called to Moscow by Patriarch Nikon to the Council on the correction of church books. In 1654 he asked the patriarch for a blessing to preach among the Mordvins. Receiving patriarchal and royal letters, the archbishop with several priests went himself to the Mordvin villages. He moved from one village to another, preaching the Orthodox faith. His preaching was successful, and more than three hundred pagans received baptism. Then he made a second journey and spent more than a year in missionary labours, baptizing 4,200 Mordvins.

In February 1655 Archbishop Misail went again to preach in the Shatsk district. P. I. Melnikov-⁠Pechersky wrote that, "moving from place to place, Misail baptized the Mordvins, forcing them to cut down their sacred groves and burning the log shrines in their cemeteries". These actions aroused discontent among the local people, who often refused to be baptized. Misail received two royal letters from Moscow, which ordered him to baptize the Mordvins and Tatars and to take servicemen to help, "as many as fit".

Death and veneration

His last journey ended tragically. In April 1655, returning to Ryazan, he entered the village of Yambirno and began to read the tsar's decree. A hostile crowd of Mordvins gathered around, a scuffle broke out, and a Mordvin arrow pierced the archbishop's left hand and chest. The wound proved mortal. He was brought to the village of Aglomazovo, where on 9 (19) April he died of his wounds. According to another version it happened near the village of Konobeevo in the Shatsk district. The chronicle has preserved the name of the killer of the archbishop of Ryazan: a Mordvin, Garechishka, who, in the chronicle's words, "by satanic influence shot the most faithful servant of God".

At his wish he was buried in the Chernaevo monastery of Saint Nicholas, beside the church of Saint Menas. In 1656, by the tsar's will, his body was moved to the Archangel cathedral of Ryazan, and in 1820 a tomb was put over the place of his burial. In 1987 he was glorified in the synaxis of the saints of Ryazan as a hieromartyr. In 1998 his relics were found, and on 18 September of the same year they were moved to the Holy Trinity monastery of Ryazan. In 2001 his veneration for the whole Church was established.