The life of St Mercurius of Smolensk
In 1239, when a horde of Tatars threatened to destroy Smolensk as they had already destroyed other Russian cities, a church warden praying before a wonderworking icon of the Theotokos heard her voice send him to summon Mercurius to battle. Mercurius himself then heard the same call in the cathedral and set out that night for the enemy camp. Church tradition tells that he struck down the Tatars' champion, a giant of great strength, and fought on against many more with unseen aid, until he was mortally wounded by the slain giant's own son. The people of Smolensk recovered his body and buried him with honor, and his memory has been kept ever since as their city's protector. Accounts differ on exactly where his relics now rest, most naming the cathedral of the Dormition in Smolensk, with his weapons still held there in reverence.
