Преставление святого отца нашего Ионы, митрополита Киевского и всея России

Saint Jonah was from the city of Galich, which is located near the Kazan land 2305. He was born of a pious father named Theodora, and at the age of twelve, in one of the monasteries of the Galich land, he took on the monastic image; then he came to the city of Moscow, to the Simonov Monastery 2306, where he worked for a long time in monastic obediences. At that time Photius 2307 was the metropolitan in Moscow. Having once arrived at the Simonov Monastery, Photius served a prayer service there in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos and, having given a blessing to the archimandrite and the brethren, wished to see the monastery novices as well and bless them. He went into the bakery and saw blessed Jonah there, who had fallen asleep after intense labor; his right hand was bent as if he were blessing with it; Photius did not order to wake him, but, blessing the sleeping man, he predicted to those with him that this monk would be a saint in the Russian countries and would guide many on the path of salvation. The prophecy of the saint of God was subsequently fulfilled. A few years later, by God's will, by the election of the Consecrated Council and the desire of the king, blessed Jonah was installed as bishop of the cities of Ryazan and Murom, where he converted to God and baptized many infidels 2308. When blessed Metropolitan Photius reposed in the Lord, Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich 2309 convened the archbishops and bishops of the Russian land and the entire Consecrated Council and ordered them to elect a worthy man to the great throne of the Russian metropolis; By the consent and desire of everyone, Jonah, Bishop of Ryazan 2310, was then elected: everyone knew him for a virtuous and holy man. He went with the message of the Grand Duke to Constantinople to Tsar John Palaeologus 2311 and to His Holiness Patriarch Joseph 2312 to accept appointment as metropolitan. But before his arrival in Constantinople, the wicked Isidore, born in 2313 from Thessalonica, had already accepted ordination to the Russian metropolis and was released from Constantinople to Russia. After his departure, Saint Jonah arrived in Constantinople and presented the Grand Duke’s messages to the Tsar and Patriarch. Having read them, they greatly regretted that they hastened to install Isidore, who had already been released to Russia, and said to Saint Jonah: – What can we do for you now? You were late in coming to us; We have already appointed Isidore to the Russian metropolitanate and cannot change this: Isidore is already the Russian metropolitan. Return to your pulpit and wait to see what God will do about Isidore. When he dies or for some reason they begin to replace him, then, with the blessing of the Patriarchal Throne of Constantinople, you will be installed as Metropolitan of Kiev and all Russia. So, they sent Saint Jonah home. Isidore first arrived in Kyiv; then he went to Moscow in the spring, and after living there all his working time until the fall, he went west, to the Council of Florence, as if to confirm the Orthodox faith. Having stayed there for three years, he returned to Kyiv as an apostate from the Eastern Church, but was not accepted there; then he went to Moscow to spread his apostate teaching. Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich, having learned about his apostasy, convened the bishops and the entire spiritual rank of the Russian Metropolis to consider this. Having gathered and examined the holy rules, they saw that Isidore had brought from the Council of Florence a teaching alien and contrary to Orthodoxy and did not want to have him as their metropolitan. And the Grand Duke ordered him to live in one monastery until he reported this to the Most Holy Patriarch in Constantinople. Isidore, seeing that his apostasy had been revealed, was ashamed and, without waiting for anything, secretly fled to Rome, where he was received and treated kindly by the pope. And Saint Jonah was again elected to the Russian Metropolis in 2314. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Gregory Melissina of Constantinople, in 2315 he was dedicated by his bishops in Moscow in the cathedral church. So, he was the first metropolitan consecrated by Russian bishops, with the blessing of the Apostolic See of Constantinople. Having ascended the throne of the Russian Metropolis, Saint Jonah intensified his exploits even more, applying labor to labor and, most importantly, taking care to establish piety everywhere; animated by this goal, he constantly taught his flock, sending messages; as a true shepherd, he affirmed the Orthodox faith, which is especially clear from his messages 2316; In general, he had great concern for keeping the flock entrusted to him by God unharmed. Saint Jonah was honored to receive from God the gift of miracles: to heal illnesses and predict the future. So, through his prayer, he raised the daughter of the Grand Duke, who was near death, from her sick bed. Seeing this miracle, one infidel, at the instigation of the devil, began to tell the saint that the Grand Duchess was healed of her illness not through his prayer, but that the illness went away on its own. Then blessed Jonah, calling the man, taught him not to blaspheme the grace of the Holy Spirit and said to him: - My son! Do not doubt anything, for “what is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27); God gave life to the girl by faith, and, most importantly, by the hope of her sovereign parents. But he did not believe the saint and began to utter even more blasphemous words. Then Saint Jonah said to him: - Let your tongue be bound, let your blasphemous lips be stopped; Instead of that girl who was dying, you will die! And immediately the blasphemer fell to the ground, speechless: his tongue was paralyzed, he only moved his eyes, and after a while he gave up his ghost because he dared to blaspheme the gift of the Holy Spirit that was in that great saint. The holy metropolitan had one monk named Pimen, who was in charge of the cellar and was entrusted with giving water to the infirm beggars who came. One day a poor widow came to him and asked him to give her some honey because of her illness. But the monk angrily said to her: - Go away, now is not the time to give you anything to drink. Having learned about this, the saint of God called Pimen and said to him: - Brother! You don’t know what kind of widow you insulted; she is a servant of God; for this God punishes you with death; go, repent of your sins, for the time has come for you to die. And Saint Jonah commanded his confessor to tonsure Pimen into the schema, and on the very day of tonsure he died, according to the word of the saint of God. Another time the saint gave one of his novices a lot of money to distribute to the poor; but he gave away part of the money and kept part for himself. It happened that one day a poor widow came to the saint with a complaint about the novice and said: - Saint of God! Your novice did not give me anything from the money you bequeathed. The saint, calling the novice, asked him: “Why did you insult this widow and give her nothing?” “I gave her a lot, but she shamelessly asks for more.” The widow denied it and insistently insisted that she had not received anything from him. The novice exclaimed with anger: - Go away! You will die because you lie! “It won’t be like this: this widow is telling the truth, but you are stealing and lying; she will live and you will die. Immediately the novice fell ill with a fever and died. One boyar, named Vasily, and nicknamed Kutuz, did not have faith in the miraculous power of Saint Jonah, never came to him and did not want to accept blessings from him. One day he fell ill with a severe toothache, from which he suffered greatly and could not recover. It happened that the boyar, whose teeth hurt, was in the cathedral church when Saint Jonah of God was performing the Divine Liturgy there; At the end of the liturgy, the saint, calling that boyar to him, blessed him, gave him prosphora and, having taught him edification from the Divine Scripture, suddenly struck him on the cheek with his hand so that many could hear the sound of the blow. - Oh, it hurts me: you knocked out my last teeth! And immediately the patient felt relief and his toothache went away. He went home rejoicing, thanking God and praising His saint, Saint Jonah. In 1451, for the sins of our ancestors, by God's permission, the godless Hagarians invaded the Russian land. One Horde prince with many Tatars unexpectedly approached Moscow, burned its surroundings and began to press the city itself from all sides. Blessed Metropolitan Jonah with all his clergy went with a procession of the cross and singing prayer songs along the walls of the city, with many tears offering up fervent prayer to God for the city and the people. Seeing one elderly elder, a monk of the Chudov Monastery, named Anthony, who was distinguished by his virtuous life and whom he knew, Saint Jonah turned to him with these words: - My son and brother Anthony! Pray to the merciful God and the Most Pure Mother of God for the deliverance of the city and all Orthodox Christians from the godless Hagarians. - Great saint! We thank God and His Most Pure Mother, our strong and quick helper: She heard your prayers and begged Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that this city and all Orthodox Christians may be saved for your sake. The enemies of the Hagarites will soon be defeated and driven away by invisible force; I alone am destined by the Lord to be killed to death by enemies. As soon as the elder said this, he was suddenly shot by an arrow fired by the Tatars, from which he soon died, after which he was buried with honor by Metropolitan Jonah with the entire cathedral. When the holiday of placing the robe of the Most Holy Theotokos arrived, July 2, the Tatars were in confusion: fear and horror suddenly attacked them, and they fled, being driven from the city by an invisible force. Holy Metropolitan Jonah ordered that, as soon as possible, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos be built in his yard, in memory of the deliverance through Her prayers from the Hagarians, for on that day they lifted the siege from the city. Then, after many years, having reached a ripe old age, Saint Jonah, before his honorable death, was vouchsafed the following revelation about her from God. The church watchman of the cathedral church, named Maxim, walking one night, as part of his duty, around the church, found it unlocked and saw that candles were burning in it and the priests were singing. He was very frightened and ran to tell the custodian, Priest Jacob, about it. He hurriedly set off, but found the church locked, as it was, but light was visible from inside. He unlocked the doors, entered the church and found no one there, but the candles were burning. He was afraid and heard a voice from the altar saying: - Jacob! Go, tell my servant, Metropolitan Jonah, since he asks me for the sake of his spiritual salvation of a physical illness, - I heard his request: I will send an ulcer to his leg, from which he will die; let him, in view of his imminent death, not hesitate to complete the tasks assigned by the duties of the archpastor. Hearing that voice, Jacob was filled with fear and horror, was perplexed and did not tell anyone his vision, not even Saint Jonah himself. In the morning, at dawn, Saint Jonah, calling Jacob to him, asked him: -Where were you last night, Jacob? What did you see and hear? Why did you not tell me what was revealed to you about me? Jacob was afraid, fell at the feet of the saint and said: - Lord, forgive me! I did not dare to tell you about this, but I see that the Holy Spirit revealed this to you. - May God forgive you, my son; but I will tell you that God will take your wife away from you. Go and take care of her soul as soon as possible, so that she may die in repentance. Until this time, the key's wife was completely healthy. When he returned home, he found her already sick, and three days later she died, having fulfilled, as befits, her Christian duty by repentance and communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. The great saint Jonah himself did not live long after that. Filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit and good deeds and “having completed holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1), in his old age he was granted a blessed death. The saint fell ill with an ulcer on his leg and, although weakened in body, did not weaken in spirit, continuing to visit the Church of God even in illness. Preparing to betray his holy soul into the hands of God, he blessed the Grand Duke, his descendants and all the people and, with prayer on his lips, went to the Lord in 1464, March 31st day 2317; he shepherded the Church of God for twelve and a half years. A few years after the death of Saint Jonah, Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich also died; he was succeeded by his son, Grand Duke John Vasilyevich, autocrat of the Russian land in 2318. By the will of God and with the blessing of His Grace Metropolitan Gerontius 2319, he wished to build a new cathedral church (which still exists) instead of the old dilapidated one. Having taken the honorable relics of the saint and wonderworker Peter Metropolitan, they transferred them for a while to another church. And so, when the old church 2320 was dismantled and ditches began to be dug to lay the foundation of a new great church, the relics of other metropolitans were found: Theognostus 2321, Cyprian, Photius, as well as the holy wonderworker Jonah. When, during the discovery of these honorable relics, cathedral funeral services began, one seven-year-old boy named Simeon, paralyzed since the day of his birth, was brought there. He was the son of the priest Peter, who served at the Church of St. John Climacus, which is in the bell tower. The cathedral presbyter Alexy, having lifted that paralytic youth into his arms, placed Saint Jonah at the feet of the shrine and, holding him, ordered him to pray. The youth, supported by that priest, praying, shouted loudly: It was a sunny day, not a single cloud was visible in the sky: the boy immediately became healthy and went home on his own without any help. Everyone marveled at this miracle and glorified God and his saint, Saint Jonah. When the construction of the cathedral church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was completed in 1479, it was solemnly consecrated and the venerable relics of the holy metropolitans were transferred into it: first, the holy wonderworker Peter, then Theognostus, Cyprian, Photius and this saint of Christ, Jonah. And since his relics turned out to be whole and incorruptible, they were placed in a shrine and placed openly in the cathedral church, as they rest now and vouchsafe to many believers who come to them with prayer, asking for grace 2322. One man, named John, being mute and unable to speak, one day came to the saint’s shrine and venerated his holy relics, kissing his holy hand. Unknown to him, by God's vision, it seemed to him that the saint stretched out his hand, grabbed him by the tongue and held him tightly. He started screaming loudly. The priests and people who were then in the church hurried to his cry and wondered why the dumb man was screaming. Seeing that the saint had let go of his tongue, John stopped screaming and immediately began to speak clearly and tell everyone about how miraculously his tongue was freed from muteness. Everyone who was there was horrified by that wondrous miracle and, glorifying the works of God, they also magnified the great wonderworker Saint Jonah. Many other miracles happened and are now happening from the honest relics of the holy Metropolitan of Moscow Jonah to all who come to them with faith, to the glory of Christ our God, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Saint Jonah was born in the ancient Galich region, near the city of Soligalich, present-day Kostroma province. Simonov Monastery, on the left bank of the Moscow River, was founded in 1370 in the days of the Great. book Dmitry Donskoy as a student and nephew of the Rev. Sergius of Radonezh by Theodore, with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexy. The monastery got its name from the place, which, after the name of its owner, was called Simonovo. He was metropolitan from 1408 to 1431. Within the vast diocese of St. Jonah, which embraced some parts of the current dioceses of Tambov and Voronezh, there were entire villages of Don tribes: Mordovians, Meshchera, Murom, who adhered to idolatry; Of these infidels, Saint Jonah led many to the true God. Saint Jonah was probably elected no later than the end of 1432; One document is known from Jonah, “named the most holy metropolis of Russia” dated March 11, 1433. John VI Palaiologos reigned from 1425 to 1448. At the very beginning of his reign, he recognized himself as a vassal of Sultan Murad II and gave the Turks several cities along the Black Sea coast, which, however, did not prevent an attempt (in 1433) by the Turks to take control of Constantinople, which, however, ended in failure. Hoping to find protection from the Turks in the West, John VI takes a decisive step towards rapprochement with him; for these purposes, he agrees to come to Italy, where Pope Eugene IV decided to convene a council on the issue of uniting churches. First in Ferrara, then in Florence, the terms of the union were worked out (1439), which was accepted by the Greeks present at the council, with the exception of some bishops, and the latter recognized as fair the teaching of the Catholic Church about the procession of the Holy Spirit and from the Son (filioque), about the primacy of the pope, about the celebration of the Eucharist on unleavened bread. But the displeasure of the inhabitants of Constantinople reduced the union concluded in Italy to nothing. Joseph II - formerly Metropolitan of Ephesus - was elected patriarch of Constantinople in 1416; Together with the emperor, he sought to unite the churches, was present at the Council of Florence (see previous note) and died in Italy in 1439. Isidore is the last Russian metropolitan from the Greeks; came from Thessalonica. After being consecrated by the Patriarch of Constantinople (see the previous note about him) as metropolitan of Kyiv, Isidore arrived in Moscow in the spring of 1437. Here he convinced the leader. book Vasily Vasilyevich the Dark to release him to Italy for the Ferraro-Florence Cathedral (see note 7). On September 8, 1437, Isidore left Moscow, accompanied by Abraham, bishop. Suzdal and about a hundred clergy and secular persons. In 1438, Isidore arrived in Italy in Ferrara, where a council met, which was soon moved to Florence. At the council, Isidore declared himself a zealous supporter of the union, for which he was made a cardinal by the pope with the name of apostolic legate for all northern lands. Going to Russia, on the way from Hungary he sent letters to the Lithuanian, Russian and Livonian dioceses, where he announced the unification of churches. In Volyn, Isidore installed Bishop Daniel, who agreed to the union, in Kyiv, Prince. Alexander gave Isidore, as “his metropolitan father,” a charter for his entire patrimony, although the Kiev Chronicle claims that Isidore was expelled from Kyiv. In the spring of 1441 Isidore arrived in Moscow, bringing with him a friendly message from the Pope. book Vasily. At the very first liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral, Isidore, instead of the Patriarch of Constantinople, remembered Pope Eugene, and at the end of the service, the deacon from the pulpit read the resolution of the Florence Council. Grand Duke Vasily immediately began to expose Isidore in the church; then he put him in custody in the Chudov Monastery, convened a council, which recognized the decisions of the Florence Council as contrary to ancient Orthodox teaching. In the autumn of the same 1441, Isidore fled to Tver, but led. book Tverskoy put him in custody. Isidore fled from Tver to Lithuanian Novgorod, and from here to Rome. During the Turkish siege of Constantinople, Isidore was within the walls of the city, offering Emperor Constantine the help of the pope if the Greek clergy accepted the decrees of the Council of Florence. After the capture of Constantinople, Isidore was captured by the Turks, but left captivity for Rome; he died here in 1462, bearing the title of Patriarch of Constantinople. The installation of Saint Jonah to the see of the Russian metropolitanate was condemned by a great council of bishops, archimandrites, abbots and the entire priesthood. The ordination itself took place on December 15, 1448, about which the 2nd Sophia Chronicle says: “the offering of the Divine service is performed and an honorable omophorion is placed on his shoulder (i.e., Saint Jonah), and the great metropolitan staff is given into his hands, and thus he performs and blesses the people with goodness and fear.” He occupied the patriarchal see in Constantinople from 1445 to 1450. To this day, the following teaching letters of Saint Jonah are known: two to Vyatka, two to Novgorod and one to Pskov. The 1st Sophia Chronicle speaks of the repose of Saint Jonah in the following way: “In the summer of 6969, the month of March at 31, the Most Reverend Jonah, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus', reposed, and then one could see his face not as usual as dead, but as if showing himself to a sleeper for his great and glorious life, as one had heard about him from youth, like the ancient holy fathers." Upon finding the relics, led. book Ivan Vasilyevich and Metropolitan Philip commissioned the famous creator of canons and lives, Pachomius Serbin, to write a canon for the discovery of the relics and established a local celebration for him in the cathedral. The solemn church-wide celebration of the memory of Saint Jonah was established under Metropolitan Macarius in 1547. You might be interested in: