Silvan of Kazan

Holy Martyr Silvan of Kazan is counted among the Russian and Tatar martyrs killed for Christ at Kazan in 1552-1553, at the fall of the city.

The Martyrs of Kazan, John (1529), Stephen, Peter (1552), Boris, Jacob, Theodore, Silvan, Theodore, Basil, Theodore, Dimitri, Michael, John and Basil (1552-1553), Orthodox Russians and Tatars, suffered for Christ at Kazan at the hands of the Hagarenes, enduring fierce torments and death for steadfastness in the Orthodox faith. Tradition has preserved some details about John (commemorated especially on 6 February) and about Stephen and Peter (commemorated especially on 6 April). Of the others only the names are known: Boris (Saltykov), Jacob (Evstafiev), Theodore (Churkin), Silvan (Vasiliev), Theodore (Baklanovsky), Basil (Konstantinov), Theodore (Konstantinov), Dimitri (Konstantinov), Michael (Kuzminsky) and John (Fedorov), then Basil. Their martyrdom is dated to 1552-1553.

A short account of John, Stephen and Peter was recorded in a letter of Metropolitan Hermogenes of Kazan, later Patriarch and hieromartyr, to Patriarch Job. The patriarch's reply, dated 3 February 1592, said that those slain at Kazan were entered in the great synodikon and that their memory was to be kept on the second day of the Protection of the Mother of God. Silvan is commemorated on 15 October, in the new style; he is not included in the present calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church.