47. Патриаршество в России. Патриархи Иов и священномученик Ермоген

Even under the holy Metropolitan Jonah in the mid-15th century, the Russian Church acquired independence from the Patriarch of Constantinople. Since that time, the Russian state has risen in many ways: the final liberation from the yoke of the Tatars, the fall of the appanage system, the conquest of the kingdoms of Kazan and Astrakhan exalted the throne of the autocratic Russian Tsar. And the Russian Church, accordingly, spread and rose in its external position. The region of the Moscow Metropolitan exceeded that of the patriarchs, with the exception of those of Constantinople, who, however, were heavily dependent on the Turkish Sultan and often resorted to Russia for help. Such greatness of the Russian metropolitan inspired the son of Ivan the Terrible, the pious Theodore Ioannovich, with the desire to anoint him with the rank of patriarch. The king conveyed this desire to Patriarch Joachim of Antioch, who came for alms in 1586, and he promised to talk with other patriarchs. Two years after this, in 1588, Patriarch Jeremiah of Constantinople arrived in Moscow with a conciliar resolution on the opening of the patriarchate in Russia. Then they began to elect a patriarch. First, they suggested that Patriarch Jeremiah himself take over the management of the Russian Church and live in the ancient metropolitan city of Vladimir, since they did not want to remove Metropolitan Job from Moscow. But when Patriarch Jeremiah refused, the bishops of the Russian Church, having gathered in the chapel of the Assumption Cathedral - Praise of the Mother of God, elected three candidates: Job, Metropolitan of Moscow, and two archbishops - Novgorod and Rostov. Patriarch Jeremiah presented the names of those chosen to the king, and Job was chosen, who was solemnly consecrated to the patriarchal rank on January 26, 1589. Having become patriarchs, the Russian metropolitans did not acquire new rights to govern the Church, because they had patriarchal rights before. The Patriarch, as before the Metropolitan, had the highest right of ecclesiastical court, but the most important matters, as before, were decided at councils. With the elevation of the metropolitan to the patriarchate, four bishops were elevated to the rank of metropolitans, namely; Novgorod, Kazan, Rostov and Krutitsky (formerly Saransk), six bishops to the rank of archbishops, and it was proposed to open eight bishops. The Krutitsa Metropolitan did not have a special diocese, but ruled the diocesan region of the patriarch as his vicar. During the priestly service, the patriarch had the following differences: during the cathedral service he stood in the middle, the bishops stood not next to him, but on the sides; in the altar he sat on a high place, they stood below; the patriarch gave communion to the bishops from his own hands. His vestments were: a sakkos with a sewn-on epitrachelion studded with pearls, like Aaron’s breastplate, a miter with a cross on top, a surplice, a belt, an epitrachelion and armbands with gammata (multi-colored stripes depicting streams of blood and water flowing from the Savior’s pierced rib). His robe was green velvet with streams of gold and silver, on which tablets with the image of the Annunciation were embroidered, with bells at the bottom. The patriarch's hood was white, with a sewn-on cross and an image of seraphim. In the church procession a candle was carried before the patriarch. During his travels he was preceded by a cross and followed by a rod. The Patriarch wore two panagias and a cross. The metropolitans also received some differences from other bishops: a white hood, but without a cross, a sakkos instead of the previous bishop's phelonion; when traveling they were presented with a cross, but only within their dioceses. When Tsar Theodore Ioannovich took care of the establishment of the patriarchate, he, in pious zeal, wanted to exalt the Russian Church with this high rank, and the Providence of God prepared for the Russian Church and the people in the person of patriarchs - guardians and champions of the Orthodox faith and the public good for the difficult times of boyar unrest and impostors that came after the suppression of the direct line of Rurik. The first two patriarchs rendered great services to our fatherland by fighting the Jesuits, Poles and impostors. As soon as word spread about the first impostor who appeared in Lithuania, Patriarch Job hastened to send ambassadors to the Prince of Ostrog and the Lithuanian clergy with letters that this was not Dimitri Tsarevich, but the defrocked, former novice of the Chudov Monastery, Grigory Otrepiev; Patriarchal letters were also sent to all Russian cities, in which the previous life of the impostor was described in detail, his followers were cursed and daily prayers were ordered for the successes of Tsar Boris in the fight against enemies. After the death of Boris, the patriarch zealously acted in favor of his son Theodore. Therefore, the followers of False Demetrius, having captured Moscow, first of all began to overthrow the patriarch. They burst into the Assumption Cathedral during the liturgy and tore off the saint's clothes. Then Job, standing before the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, folded his panagia and prayed with tears: “Mistress, here before Your icon the holy panagia was placed on me; I kept the integrity of my faith with her for 12 years; Now, because of our sins, the kingdom is in misery, deception and heresy triumph; Mother of God, save Orthodoxy through your prayers to Your Son.” He was dressed in a simple monastic robe and taken in a simple cart to the Staritsa monastery 73. The Holy Patriarch Hermogenes, who occupied the patriarchal see from 1607 to 1612, showed an example of pastoral firmness and steadfastness in Orthodoxy even in the rank of Metropolitan of Kazan. He adamantly demanded that Marina Mnishek, the wife of False Demetrius, accept Orthodoxy and follow all the rules of the Church. For this he was removed from Moscow to the diocese. Having become a patriarch, Ermogen supported Tsar Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky in every possible way in the fight against the second impostor, and even when the rebellious boyars forcibly tonsured Vasily a monk, he did not stop praying for him as a crowned tsar. He was the first to think about calling Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov to the throne. Russia also owes Hermogenes the fact that the cunning of the Polish king Sigismund III, who wanted to reign in Moscow himself under the name of his son, failed; the patriarch adamantly demanded that Vladislav accept Orthodoxy and that Sigismund, his father, not interfere in the affairs of Russia. Sigismund decided to gain the Russian crown with weapons and besieged Smolensk. Then the boyars agreed to give in to Sigismund and in this sense sent a letter to the great ambassadors - Prince Vasily Golitsyn and Metropolitan Philaret, who negotiated with him near Smolensk, but Saint Hermogen did not sign this letter, and the ambassadors on this basis refused Sigismund, saying: “Our patriarch is the first man.” Finally, Saint Hermogen released the people from the oath given to Vladislav, and blessed everyone to take up arms for the salvation of the faith and the fatherland. Prokopiy Lyapunov, the governor of Ryazan, was the first to respond to his call. In vain they threatened Saint Hermogenes with death if he did not stop the militia. “I will forbid,” said the patriarch, “if I see that Vladislav is the son of Orthodoxy; I will command if this does not happen.” Saltykov raised the knife at the saint. Hermogen raised a cross against the knife and said: “This is a sign against your knife, so that an oath may come upon your head.” The next day, in the cathedral, he exhorted the people to stand firmly for the Orthodox faith and ordered to write about this to all Russian cities. Guards were assigned to the patriarch. Sending out patriarchal letters, Lyapunov wrote: “Our holy Patriarch Hermogenes, like a shepherd himself, lays down his soul for the faith.” Militia marched towards Moscow from different sides. Saltykov again came to the Patriarch and said: “You wrote in cities; you see, they are going to Moscow; tell me not to go." Hermogenes replied: “When you, traitors, and all the royal people leave Moscow, then I will write you off so that you don’t go. But if you don’t go out, then I, humble one, will write you off so that they will certainly do what they started. True faith is trampled underfoot by heretics and by you traitors; Destruction comes to Moscow, desolation to the holy churches of God; a Latin church was built in the courtyard of Tsar Boris; I can’t hear Latin singing.” “If you don’t write to Lyapunov and his comrades to move away from Moscow,” Saltykov threatened, “then you yourself will die an evil death.” “You threaten me,” said Saint Hermogenes, “with an evil death, but I hope through it to receive a crown and have long wanted to suffer for the truth.” The Patriarch was imprisoned in the Chudov Monastery, they did not allow him to cross the threshold of his cells, they kept him poorly and treated him disrespectfully. The Poles again approached Ermogen and demanded that he stop the Nizhny Novgorod militia, which was marching towards Moscow under the command of Minin and Pozharsky. “May God’s mercy and blessings from our humility be upon them,” the courageous patriarch answered firmly. He was locked in his cell and starved to death on February 17, 1612. 300 years after his painful death - on May 11, 1913 - Patriarch Ermogen was canonized by the Church. – After the unfortunate death of the impostor, upon the accession of Vasily Ioanovich Shuisky, Job arrived from his imprisonment in Moscow, released the people from the oath given to the impostor, and expressed the hope that in the future he would no longer betray his legitimate sovereigns. You might be interested in: