 In 1905, Hermogenes, probably the most widely respected figure in the Russian Orthodox Church, became a friend of Grigori Rasputin from the time he arrived in the capital.Rasputin stayed at Alexander Nevsky Lavra; there he met with Hermogenes and Theophanes of Poltava, who were amazed with his psychological perspicacity.For a time, Bishop Hermogen and Rasputin became allies in the struggle against freethinking and modernism.