St. Photius of Moscow, Metropolitan of Kiev and Vladimir (+ 1431) His memory is celebrated on July 2 on the day of his repose, on May 27 on the day of finding the relics and on the 2nd Week of Great Lent with the Cathedral of St. Fathers of the Kiev Caves and all the saints who shone in Little RussiaSt. Photius

(1408-1431)

- the years of his pontificate. Remember, guys, 1399 in the history of the Lithuanian state. What is this year? This is the defeat of Vitovt on the river. Vorskla Tatars. Vitovt fled 600 km from the Tatars. Kyiv bought off the Tatars with an indemnity of 3000 rubles. The same campaign, with the same indemnity, the Tatars made to Moscow in 1408. The same Edegei took Moscow by surprise by deceit. When he went to Moscow, he announced to Moscow that he wanted to punish Lithuania and walked past Moscow, suddenly turned, and winter was already on the nose, Moscow was completely unprepared for war: there were no grain reserves. there are no stocks of weapons, what a groan went through Moscow! The city somehow prepared for defense. Edegey surrounded, Muscovites prepared for death. And, suddenly, he sends a courier with a proposal to spare, if Moscow pays the same as the people of Kiev. He also took 3,000 rubles, although he left Moscow not because he took 3,000 rubles, but because news came from his native Sarai - strife began there.

Firstly, I want to say that Photius was a Greek, he lived in Kyiv for six months, and then went to Moscow. Moscow after the siege of the Tatars was anarchy, because there were robberies, the authorities groaned. The metropolitan economy was plundered. Photius made a lot of effort to restore church property. And he made many enemies with this, because not only criminals robbed, the boyars also robbed. They quarreled with Vitovt, who was offended by Photius for leaving Kyiv. Relations between Moscow and Lithuania were upset. You remember Vasily Dmitrievich was Vitovt's son-in-law, but the relationship between son-in-law and father-in-law was already upset. In 1411, Photius was almost captured by a gang of Tatars in his estate on the Holy Lake. In gratitude for the salvation, the Metropolitan erected a temple on Lake Sengi. Photius helped the marriage of the daughter of Vasily Dmitrievich with the eldest son of the Byzantine emperor Manuel. Vasily Dmitrievich became related to the Byzantine court! However, this daughter seems to have died three years later.

Metropolitan Photius, like his predecessor, was a Muscovite. In litigation with Novgorod and Galich Prince Yuri Dmitrievich. Vasily Dmitrievich, the son of Dmitry Donskoy, died in 1425 and his son Vasily Vasilyevich ascended the throne. A long internecine war began between Vasily Vasilyevich and his cousins. This war went on until 1462, for almost forty years. In this war Photius supported Moscow. The Metropolitan died on July 1, 1431. He left the Russian Church reconciled and reunited under the rule of one hierarch. He himself had to endure the struggle with the newly appointed Galich Metropolitan Grigory Tsamblak. This is the nephew of Mr. Cyprian. We have already mentioned Photius' clashes with the Lithuanian prince Vytautas, who wanted to have his own metropolitan. The Lithuanian prince found a candidate, hegumen Gregory, the nephew of Met. Cyprian, whom he sent to the patriarch in the CP-l, but he was defrocked there and excommunicated for trouble. But Vitovt was not embarrassed by this, he demanded from the cathedral of South Russian bishops the appointment of Gregory. “If you don’t put a metropolitan in my land, in Kyiv, then you will die evil.” There was nothing to do and on November 15, 1415, Gregory was appointed metropolitan in Novogrudok. And Photius was rejected. At the request of Photius, the Patriarchs gave Tsamblak, which had been set up without permission, an eruption and a curse. It is known that Tsamblak attended the Council of Constance in 1415. This council is known as an attempt to conclude a union. Gregory rejected this union. What is this cathedral known for in the history of the Western Church? Who knows the history of the Hussitz movement? (Jan Hus is betrayed to be burned). Kartashev: “Old textbooks claim that he (Tsamblak) soon died, but according to new research (1904), he took the vows in the schema and went to the Neamtsky monastery, where he worked in the book field for more than 30 years. (This monastery is known to us by Paisiy Velichkovsky. After the death of Photius, the Lithuanian prince Svidrigailo sent Bishop Gerasim of Smolensk to the Communist Party of Smolensk to appoint him to the metropolitans. //Who knows the history of periodization according to Filaret of Chernigov? Our periodization is slightly different. And Archbishop Filaret says that before the division of the Russian metropolis into two halves: the North-Eastern and the South-Western, this moment came not in 1415, but in 1410, when Grigory Tsamblak appeared on the arena of church life. So, keep in mind, the current Ukrainian schismatics they begin the division not in 1415, but in 1410. Why do we start from 1415? Yes, Grigory Tsamblak achieved independence, right, but for a while, not for long. Please tell me why Dostoevsky has such surnames: Svidrigailo? This is a speaking surname, Dostoevsky himself was from the Brest region, hence his hatred for Catholics and gave such surnames to negative heroes. historians argue, but his fate is tragic. He died at the stake, and Svidrigailo sent him there, suspecting Metropolitan Gerasim of working for the benefit of Poland. Although, guys, the countries of Lithuania and Poland were united (1386?), however, there were contradictions.

And in Moscow, Jonah, the bishop of Ryazan, was nominated for metropolitan, but for a long time he could not go to the CP-l, because. there was a struggle for power. Finally, when Jonah arrived there in 1436, they expressed regret to him that he was late, they say the Greek Isidore had already been appointed to the Moscow cathedra. And he Jonah, if he really wants to, be after Isidore. This is tantamount to a denial.

Chosen during the life of Theognostos, his successor the saint Alexy was from boyar family Pleshcheev, was born in 1300 and had Kalita as his successor. For about 20 years, he took the vows in the Moscow Epiphany Monastery. Here Metropolitan Feognost noticed him and made him his governor, and then the bishop of Vladimir. After the death of Theognostos, Saint Alexis went to Greece and was consecrated to the metropolitanate (1354). Apparently, the repeated appointment of Russian people to the metropolis began to attract the restless attention of the Greeks; on the occasion of his appointment, the council made a reservation that Alexy was appointed metropolitan only as an exception, due to his personal merits, but that henceforth metropolitans must be sent to Rus' without fail from the Greeks. At the same time, it was again decided not to divide the Russian Metropolis into parts, because, although the metropolitan does not live in Kiev, but in Moscow, Kiev still remains his altar seat. But Alexy had not yet left Tsaregrad, when a new candidate for the metropolis arrived here Novel, a man of a noble, princely family, a relative of Olgerd's second wife, Juliana of Tver. He was sent by Prince Olgerd himself, who, wishing to free himself from the ecclesiastical subordination of his country to the Moscow metropolitan, wanted to have his own metropolitan. The fear that, in the event of a refusal, Olgerd would not do any harm to Orthodoxy in his country, and most of all, rich gifts forced Patriarch Philotheus to consecrate Roman as well, appointing Lithuania and Volhynia to him with a cathedra in Novgorodka Lithuanian. Kyiv was still left behind St. Alexis. Both metropolitans appeared in Rus', and "according to the chronicler's story, there was a rebellion in the hierarchship." Alexy submitted to the determination of the patriarch and his cathedral and was content with his area, but Roman was not satisfied, he tried to get Kiev with the Bryansk diocese, also ceded to Alexy, under his authority, made power orders in Tver, taking advantage of the fact that Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy was a relative and ally Olgerd. Church unrest ended already in 1368 with the death of Roman. Patr. Philotheus and the Council of Constantinople again determined that Lithuania should not be separated from the All-Russian Metropolitan; but this definition, as we shall see, was not carried out, it was hardly even made public. Saint Alexis was by no means such an educator that could be satisfied in the principalities that did not get along with Moscow. To the board John// Alexy was the chief adviser to the Grand Duke and assisted him in everything, and his assistance was then very important due to the special goodwill towards the saint of the Horde khans. In 1357, on the occasion of the eye disease of the khansha Taiduly, which the Tatar magicians could not cure in any way, Khan Chanibek wrote to the prince: “We heard that God does not refuse the prayers of your main priest; let him go to us, may my queen heal him with prayers; otherwise I will go to lay waste to your land.” The saint went and healed Taidula. After that, he was even more respected in the Horde. That same year, Chanibek died; his son, ferocious Berdibek, demanded new tribute from the Russian princes. Alexy again went to the Horde to intercede for the Russian land. With the assistance of Taidula, he tamed the khan and returned with a new label. When underage Dmitry Ioannovich Donskoy the metropolitan was the real ruler of the state and rescued Moscow from rather dangerous circumstances. He helped Dmitry retain his grand ducal dignity, despite the rivalry of his elder relative, Demetrius Suzdal. Some time later, the metropolitan entered into a quarrel between the Suzdal princes Dimitri and Boris because of Nizhny and called them to sue in Moscow. Boris was about to refuse the Moscow court, but Saint Alexy sent a reverend to him in Nizhny Novgorod. Sergius of Radonezh with the command to close all the churches in the city, and with this strong measure he humbled him before the Moscow authorities and forced him to yield the Lower to his brother. Through the mediation of the metropolitan, all princely agreements were concluded; he used his spiritual strength and in order to force the princes to comply with these treaties, he excommunicated those of them who entered into an alliance with Lithuania against Moscow.

Such a constant relationship between the metropolitan and Moscow, of course, must have aroused in him strong hostility in Lithuania and Poland. In 1371. despite all the previous determinations about the unity of the metropolis, Patriarch Filofey had to first yield to the insistence of the Polish king Casimir and give Galich a special metropolitan Anthony. Then, in the same year, a persistent message came to him from Olgerd of Lithuania, who complained that there had never been such a difficult metropolitan in Russia as Saint Alexy, that he did not visit Kiev and Lithuania at all and loves only the Prince of Moscow, with his blessing Moscow offended him, Olgerdov, brother-in-law, Mikhail of Tverskoy, and son-in-law, Boris Nizhny Novgorod, the metropolitan removes the kissing of the cross from defectors to the Moscow side, etc. Lower, i.e. in all areas that were at enmity with Moscow. Filofey yielded to this request, and in 1376 appointed a Serb metropolitan of Kyiv Cyprian. In Russia, there were thus three metropolitans at once. To maintain the unity of the metropolia, the patriarch only determined that Cyprian should unite Rus' again under one of his powers after the death of Alexy.

Troubles in the metropolis after the death of Metropolitan Alexy. Metropolitan Cyprian and his merits.

It is clear that in Moscow they were very dissatisfied with the appointment of Cyprian and his appointment as successor to St. Alexis without the consent of the Grand Duke. The aged saint wanted to appoint St. Sergius as his successor, but the humble ascetic resolutely refused this honor. Then Grand Duke designated for the metropolis his confessor and favorite, a priest Mityaya(Michael). He was a man of prominent appearance, with a loud and clear speech, well interpreting the power of the book, knowing all the old stories, books and parables, reasoning eloquently in courts and deeds, but at the same time proud and arrogant. The Grand Duke persuaded him to take a haircut, and on the very day of his tonsure he made him archimandrite of his Moscow Spassky Monastery. Despite the fact that Alexy did not agree to recognize this new-educated monk as his successor, as soon as the saint died (in 1378), Mityai entered the metropolitan court and began to dispose of everything here, like a real metropolitan, to manage affairs and collect metropolitan tribute . Since he wanted to be consecrated by Russian bishops, in Moscow, by order of the Grand Duke, a council of bishops and higher clergy gathered for this. But among them there were many people, especially among the monks, who did not at all want to have him as a metropolitan. More than others spoke against him the bishop of Suzdal saint Dionysius. Mityai became attached to him, passionately demanding an answer from him, why, upon arrival in Moscow, he did not come to him for a blessing. “You should have come to me for a blessing, and not I to you,” answered Dionysius, “because I am a bishop, and you are a priest.” “I won’t leave you as a priest,” Mityai shouted. “I dispute my tablets with my own hands.” - Having learned that Dionysius himself intends to go to Greece for the metropolitan rank, Mityai and the Grand Duke put him in custody. Dionysius gave his word not to go to Greece and made St. Sergius as his guarantor, but nevertheless he left no more than a week after his release. Mityai was terribly angry with both him and Sergius. Meanwhile, from Kiev, another, even more dangerous candidate for the metropolis, Cyprian, was traveling to Moscow, who was now supposed to occupy the entire metropolis by virtue of the conciliar decision of 1376. The Grand Duke himself rebelled against this candidate, seeing in him the chosen one of Olgerd, and with dishonor kicked him out of Moscow. After all this, Mityai decided to hurry up with his initiation and he himself finally moved to Greece with a huge retinue, with gifts for the Greeks and with several forms sealed with the seal of the Grand Duke, just in case, but at the very end of the road, already in sight of Constantinople itself, he suddenly died in 1379.

After his death, his companions decided to arbitrarily choose one archimandrite from his retinue as metropolitan, Pimena, and on one of the forms behind the Grand Duke's seal they wrote on behalf of the Grand Duke a petition for his appointment. Patriarch Nil and the emperor at first refused to fulfill this request, referring to the fact that Cyprian had long been consecrated to Russia as Metropolia. But the ambassadors, using a different form, borrowed money, distributed up to 20,000 rubles to those who needed it, and still achieved their goal. Having learned about Pimen's deceit, the Grand Duke invited Cyprian to Moscow even before his return, and ordered Pimen to be imprisoned upon his return. But after a while it turned out that he did this solely under the influence of anger at Pimen, and not because he had confidence in Cyprian. During the invasion of Tokhtamysh, Metropolitan Cyprian withdrew from Moscow to Tver, which is known to be allied with Lithuania. After that, the Grand Duke again drove him away and invited Pimen to the metropolis. But since this metropolitan was not pleasing to him, he at the same time sent a request to Greece for the appointment of Dionisy as metropolitan. Dionysius was also installed, but on his way back from Greece he was detained by the Lithuanians in Kyiv and died there in 1385 in prison. Meanwhile, Cyprian and Pimen traveled to Greece to compete for the metropolis before the patriarch. The patriarch decided the case in favor of Cyprian. All other circumstances were now in his favor; in 1389, Grand Duke Dimitri, who was unfriendly to him, died; the deposed Pimen also died. “And he stopped,” says the chronicler, “the rebellion in the metropolis and the metropolis was united, Kyiv and Galich and all Rus'.” This news, however, is not entirely fair; there was still a special Metropolitan Anthony in Galich.

The one-man rule of Cyprian has passed everything in the world. His agreement with the new Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich was not interrupted even once, and since the Grand Duke was in constant peace with the Lithuanian prince Vitovtom (his father-in-law), then in Lithuania they stopped fussing about a special metropolitan. He no longer needed to go to the Horde, because after the Donskoy it ceased to be terrible for Rus'. With the weakening of the strength and power of the Mongols, the metropolitans stopped soliciting the khan's labels, but began to beg for letters from their grand dukes. In 1404, such a charter was given to Metropolitan Cyprian by Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich. It is remarkable that the princely letters contained various restrictions on the former civil rights of the church, granted to it by labels, since they were now given from the real state power, and not from the power of the wild Horde, which demanded only slavish obedience from the Russians and did not pay attention to the very structure and needs of the Russian state. By a charter of 1404, the people of the metropolitan were still exempt from taxes and duties and from the court of princely judges, but in both respects with restrictions: they were obliged to pay the Horde output, put horses in pits and pay tamga from the auction, except for the auction with their own works , and participate in military service - for the war, the metropolitan had to put his regiment with the governor under the banner of the Grand Duke. According to the court, all church people were subordinate to the metropolitan, but in the case when the matter concerned both the princely and the metropolitan person together, a common court was appointed - the metropolitan and the grand duke; according to the petitions against the metropolitan governor, tenth or volostel, the Grand Duke himself had to judge. Restrictions also affected the scope of the church department: the metropolitan was not supposed to appoint service and taxable people of the Grand Duke as priests and deacons - this was one of the most important reasons why the children of the clergy themselves entered the church places for the most part; the priest, separated from his father, left the church department and became a man of the Grand Duke. This is how relations between state and church departments were determined. The Grand Duke even entered into the internal administration of the metropolitan diocese and determined in it the amount of church tribute and decimal dues, to which he was probably caused by some kind of abuse that was revealed during the long church troubles. The reign of Metropolitan Cyprian was also remarkable from a purely ecclesiastical point of view. He took great care to eliminate various disorders that arose in the liturgical rank of the Russian Church, and to correct and multiply church books, he himself brought with him many manuscripts from Serbia and, living in solitude in his village of Golenishchevo near Moscow, was engaged in various translations from the Greek language. The saint died in 1406 and was buried in the Dormition Cathedral, where, after Saint Peter, all Russian metropolitans were buried.

Saint Photius, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus', was a Greek from the Peloponnesian city of Monemvasia (Malvasia). While still in his teenage years, he entered a monastery and was tonsured by Elder Akakios, a great ascetic (later Metropolitan of Monemvasia). In 1408, when Photius was in Constantinople with the Patriarch on an assignment from the metropolitan, the question arose of replacing the Russian see after his death († 1406; Comm. 16 September). The choice of Patriarch Matthew (1397-1410) fell on Photius, known for his learning and holiness of life. On September 1, 1408, Saint Photius was appointed metropolitan and a year later arrived in Rus'.

He spent half a year in Kyiv (September 1409-February 1410), arranging the affairs of the southern dioceses of the Russian Church, which were then part of the Principality of Lithuania, or rather, as it was called, Lithuanian and Russian. The saint saw that the throne of the metropolitan - the spiritual center of the church life of Rus' - could not be located in the Kyiv land, which was increasingly falling into dependence on Catholic Poland. Following the example of the former Russian metropolitans, who moved their residence first to Vladimir and then to Moscow, Metropolitan Photius arrived in Moscow on Holy Pascha 1410.

For 22 years the Saint labored in the laborious service of the Primate of the Russian Church. In the difficult conditions of wars, internecine strife, predatory raids of the Tatars, he managed to raise the spiritual significance, material security and magnificence of the temples of the Moscow Department. The well-being of the Church allowed St. Photius to render great assistance to the impoverished Patriarchate of Constantinople, to strengthen the international significance of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian state. Enemies of Orthodoxy more than once tried to impede Photius' patriotic ministry. In the spring of 1410, when Saint Photius arrived from Moscow to Vladimir, Khan Edygei, who had ravaged the Russian land two years earlier, undertook a new campaign with the aim of capturing the metropolitan himself. Tatar detachments led by Tsarevich Talycha "exiled", that is, suddenly and quickly, took Vladimir. But God preserved the righteous man: the day before, unaware of the danger, the saint left for the out-of-town Svyatoozersky Monastery. When the Tatars rushed in pursuit, he took refuge in a small village surrounded by impenetrable swamps on the Senga River. Unable to capture the metropolitan, the embittered Tatars plundered Vladimir and especially the Assumption Cathedral. The cathedral's dean Patrikey suffered terrible torture and was martyred by Tatar robbers, but did not open the place where he hid church shrines and treasures.

Through the efforts of the holy Metropolitan Photius, the prayer-canonical unity of the Russian Church was restored: the separate Lithuanian Metropolis, established at the insistence of Prince Vitovt for the southern and western Russian Orthodox dioceses, was abolished in 1420. In the same year, the saint visited the returned dioceses and greeted the flock with an extensive teaching message. The wise and highly educated shepherd left many teachings and messages. Of great theological significance were his denunciations of the heresy of the Strigolniks that arose in Pskov even before his reign. Through the efforts of the wise saint, the heresy ceased (in 1427).

Important ecclesiastical historical sources are the Order for the Election and Appointment of Bishops compiled by Saint Photius (1423), the Teaching on the Importance of the Priesthood and the Duties of the Clergy, and also the Spiritual Testament, which tells about his life. The great work of the saint was also the compilation under his leadership of the All-Russian Chronicle Code (circa 1423).

On April 20, 1430, the holy archpastor was informed by an angel of his impending death and peacefully reposed in the Lord at the time indicated to him, on the feast of the Deposition of the Robe of the Theotokos, July 2, 1431. His relics were found in 1471. Two sakkos of St. Metropolitan Photius are kept in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin.