GURII

GURII, Archbishop of Kazan, St. (?–1595). Gurii was a member of the poor, noble Rugotin family. A monk of the Volokolamsk Monastery, Gurii was made archbishop of newly conquered Kazan by Tsar Ivan IV in 1555 in recognition of his work in prison while confined on a false accusation. For nine years in Kazan, he converted many thousands of pagans and Moslems to Christianity through preaching and the instruction of children. He taught the children to read and was such a zealous preacher that if sick, he would be carried to church on a stretcher to instruct his flock from there. During the last two years of his life he devoted himself to asceticism (q.v.), died in 1595, and was buried in the Transfiguration of the Savior Monastery. He is especially venerated in the Kazan region of Russia.