Holy Hierarch, Bishop of Voronezh Mitrophan, in the world Michael, was born on November 8, 1623. In the Holy Hierarch’s diptych of commemorations, the list of names begins with people in the priestly rank; this provides grounds to conclude that he was born into a family with a priestly heritage. From Holy Hierarch Mitrophan’s Spiritual Will and Testament, we know that he “was born to pious parents and was raised by them in the unblemished piety of the Eastern Church, in the Orthodox Faith.” Until he was forty years of age, the Holy Hierarch lived in the world: he was married, had a son named John, and served as a parish priest. Priest Michael served in the village of Sidorovskoe, near the town of Shui, which is now in the Province of Vladimir.