Philotheus, Metropolitan of Tobolsk

May 31

Philotheus was from a seventeenth-century noble Ukrainian family.  After completing his education, he married and was ordained to the priesthood.  He served as a parish priest for several years, but when his wife died, he entered the Kiev Caves Lavra, eventually becoming the abbott.  Tsar Peter I had Philotheus consecrated to the episcopate of the vast territory of Tobolsk and Siberia.  He exerted great efforts to evangelize there.  During his tenure, the number of churches in Siberia grew from 160 to 448.  Thirty-six monasteries were created and more than 40,000 pagans were converted to Orthodoxy.  Because of illness, he interrupted his administration of his diocese.  When he recovered, he concentrated on missionary work, making numerous trips to teach and convert the natives.  He resumed his duties as metropolitan for a short time and died peacefully at the age of seventy-seven.

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SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2017(with 2016's link here also and further: 2015,2014  2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and even 2008!):Philotheus