Saint Metrophanes was the first bishop of the Russian diocese of Voronezh, serving from 1682 until his death in 1703. Born on November 8, 1623, and given the name Michael in baptism, he is traditionally held to have come from a priestly family. For roughly the first forty years of his life he lived in the world as a married parish priest and had a son named John. After his wife's death he withdrew to monastic life, receiving tonsure with the name Metrophanes at the Zolotnikovskaya Dormition Monastery in 1663.
Following his tonsure he rose through monastic leadership, serving as igumen of the Saint Cosmas of Yakrom monastery for about ten years and then as archimandrite of the Makariev-Unzha monastery. On April 2, 1682 he was consecrated bishop of the newly established see of Voronezh by Patriarch Joachim together with sixteen other hierarchs. Across his roughly twenty-year episcopate the number of churches in the diocese grew from 182 to 239, and two monasteries—the Korotoyaksk Ascension and the Bitiugsk Trinity—were founded under his oversight.
Metrophanes is closely associated with Tsar Peter I (Peter the Great), whose shipbuilding program for the Azov campaign was based at Voronezh. The bishop supported the construction of the fleet and contributed material support to the state treasury, while holding firmly to his Orthodox convictions where he judged them at stake. According to his life, he declined to enter the imperial residence because pagan statues were displayed there; rather than yield, he accepted the threat of the tsar's displeasure, and Peter ultimately ordered the statues removed and afterward held the bishop in greater regard.
Before his death the saint received the great schema with the name Macarius, and he reposed in 1703; his life relates that Tsar Peter himself helped carry the coffin. His principal feast is kept on November 23. His body was found incorrupt during subsequent transfers within Voronezh, and after an examination his veneration was confirmed by the Holy Synod, with his glorification established in 1832. The finding of his relics is commemorated separately on August 7, and his relics rest in Voronezh.
