The slain Crown Prince Demetrius of Moscow (1591)
Commemorated on May 15
He was murdered at the age of eight by the evil designs of
Boris Godunov, in the town of Uglich. After his death he appeared to a monk and
accurately foretold Boris Godunov's death. Countless miracles were worked at the
grave of the Tsarevich. When his tomb was opened fifteen years after his death,
his relics were found whole and incorrupt, and were solemnly buried in the
Church of the Archangel Michael in Moscow.
The circumstances of Boris Godunov's death are worth telling. He first tried
to kill the Tsarevich using the strongest poison, but it had no effect. He then
had the child publicly beheaded. Not long afterwards a 'false Dimitri' arose,
claiming to be the Tsarevich, and rallied a great army against Godunov. Godunov
was driven to such a desperate position that he took his own life by poison, the
'remedy' he had intended for the true Dimitri.
