Saint Hilarion, Metropolitan of Suzdal and Yuriev, was a Russian hierarch of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, remembered for his ascetic monastic foundation and his pastoral leadership of the Suzdal cathedra. He is commemorated on December 14, the day of his repose in 1707.
Named John in the world, he was born on November 13, 1631, into the family of Ananias, a city priest noted for his piety and learning. Hilarion entered monastic life in 1653, and in 1655 he founded the Phlorischev wilderness monastery near the town of Gorokhovets, where he established a strict communal rule under which no member possessed anything of his own but all things were held in common.
He was consecrated Archbishop of Suzdal and Yuriev on December 11, 1681, and was elevated to the dignity of Metropolitan in 1682. He governed the Suzdal cathedra until February 1705. Known throughout his life for his generosity toward the poor, the tradition relates that only three coins were found in his possession after his death. He died peacefully on December 14, 1707, and was buried in the Suzdal cathedral dedicated to the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
