Macarius ( in
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
* Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
) (1482 – 12 January 1563) was the Metropolitan of Moscow and all Rus' from 1542 until 1563. He was the tenth Metropolitan in Moscow to be appointed without the approval of the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as had been the norm.
Early life and work on the Menaion
Macarius was born in the region around Moscow. His parents' names (at least his mother's monastic names) are known because he dedicates the ''
Great Menaion Reader'' to them. His
secular name
A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of registration of the birth and which then ap ...
is thought to have been Mikhail.
In the late 15th century, Macarius became a
monk at the in
Borovsk
Borovsk (russian: Бо́ровск) is a town and the administrative center of Borovsky District of Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Protva River just south from the oblast's border with Moscow Oblast. Population: 12,000 (1969).
History
It ...
, where he would serve as a
reader
A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to:
Computing and technology
* Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader
* Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application
* A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
,
subdeacon,
deacon, and
priest. It was here that Macarius mastered the art of icon painting. He is also known to have been a firm supporter of
Joseph Volotsky
Joseph Volotsky — also known as Joseph of Volotsk or Joseph of Volokolamsk (russian: Ио́сиф Во́лоцкий); secular name Ivan Sanin (russian: Ива́н Са́нин) (1439 or 1440 – September 9, 1515) — was a prominent Russian ...
and his disciples. He was a notable
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
n cleric, writer, and
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...
painter.
In 1523,
Metropolitan Daniel raised Macarius to the rank of
archmandrite
The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...
of a
monastery in
Mozhaisk
MozhayskAlternative transliterations include ''Mozhaisk'', ''Mozhajsk'', ''Mozhaĭsk'', and ''Možajsk''. ( rus, Можа́йск, p=mɐˈʐajsk) is a town and the administrative center of Mozhaysky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located to t ...
. It was there that Macarius became acquainted with the
Grand Prince
Grand prince or great prince (feminine: grand princess or great princess) ( la, magnus princeps; Greek: ''megas archon''; russian: великий князь, velikiy knyaz) is a title of nobility ranked in honour below emperor, equal of king or ...
of Moscow,
Vasili III. He was one of a few clerics who supported Vasili III's
divorce from the barren
Solomonia Saburova and blessed his
second marriage with
Elena Glinskaya
Elena Vasilyevna Glinskaya (russian: Елена Васильевна Глинская; 1510 – 4 April 1538) was the Grand Princess consort of Russia, as the second wife of Grand Prince Vasili III and de facto regent of Russia for 5 consecut ...
.
In 1526, Macarius was appointed
Archbishop of Novgorod
The Diocese of Novgorod (russian: Новгородская епархия) is one of the oldest offices in the Russian Orthodox Church. The medieval archbishops of Novgorod were among the most important figures in medieval Russian history and cul ...
, where he conducted pro-
Muscovite
Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula K Al2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavage ...
policies. In 1533 and again in 1535, he sent the monk Il'ia and others on
missionary work among the
Balto-Finnic peoples
The Baltic Finnic or Balto-Finnic peoples, also referred to as the Baltic Sea Finns, Baltic Finns, sometimes Western Finnic and often simply as the Finnic peoples, are the peoples inhabiting the Baltic Sea region in Northern and Eastern Europe ...
along the Neva, Lakes Ladoga and Onega, and up into the Kola Peninsula. (His successor in Novgorod, Feodosii, send missionaries to the same region a decade later.) In 1541, Macarius and his companions finished work on the first edition of their great work, the
Great Menaion Reader (Velikie Minei-Chetii in Russian). This compilation of lives of the Russian
saints comprised 12 volumes arranged on monthly basis. He is also credited with beginning the
Stepennaia Kniga (The Book of Degrees of Royal Genealogy) which traced Ivan the Terrible's lineage back to a fictitious brother of Caesar Augustus named Prus. He is also said to have painted the icons in the little iconostasis of the
Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Novgorod.
Metropolitan of Russia
Having secured the support of powerful Prince
Andrey Shuisky, Macarius was elected Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia on 16 March 1542. During
Ivan IV's nonage and
Shuisky
The Princes Shuisky (russian: Шуйские, Shuyskiye) was a Rurikid family of Boyars descending from Grand Duke Dimitri Konstantinovich of Vladimir-Suzdal and Prince Andrey Yaroslavich, brother to Alexander Nevsky. The surname is derived f ...
s'
regency
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...
, Macarius's relations with the
Boyar Duma gradually worsened due to his constant "grief" over the disgrace of courtiers and church dignitaries. His independent-mindedness induced a number of attempts to dislodge him. In the summer of 1544, Macarius escaped a sure death in the fire raging in the
Moscow Kremlin. Three years later, he took part in removing Ivan's maternal relatives, the Glinskys, from the Russian government.
Upon becoming one of the closest advisers of
Ivan the Terrible, Macarius arranged his
coronation
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...
on 16 January 1547. That year, he blessed the tsar's marriage with
Anastasia Zakharyina-Yuriyeva. Macarius was an active participant at the
zemsky sobors of 1547, 1549, and 1550, advocating conciliation between the opposing boyar groups.
During the
synod of 1542, Macarius achieved the
excommunication of
Maximus the Greek
Maximus the Greek, also known as Maximos the Greek or Maksim Grek (; ; –1556), was a Greek monk, publicist, writer, scholar, and translator active in Russia. He is also called Maximos the Hagiorite (), as well as Maximus the Philosopher.. His ...
's associate
Isaac Sobaka (archmandrite of
Chudov Monastery
The Chudov Monastery (russian: Чу́дов монасты́рь; more formally known as Alexius’ Archangel Michael Monastery) was founded in the Moscow Kremlin in 1358 by Metropolitan Alexius of Moscow. The monastery was dedicated to the mir ...
). Curiously enough, Macarius would later correspond with the exiled Maximus the Greek and include some of his essays in his the Great Menaion Reader, rejecting, however, his appeals for pardon. During
Stoglav
The ''Book of One Hundred Chapters'', also called ''Stoglav'' (''Стоглав'') in Russian ("Hundred chapters"), is a collection of decisions of the Russian church council of 1551 that regulated the canon law and ecclesiastical life in the Tsar ...
and other such synods (traditionally known as Macarius's synods in Russian historiography), Macarius carried out
canonization
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...
of 39 all-Russian saints. In 1551, Macarius (together with the tsar) convened the so-called
Stoglavi Sobor. He also blessed the Russian army before its departure to
Kazan in 1552.
During his Kazan campaign in 1559, Ivan the Terrible left Macarius in Moscow to "protect the tsardom", which made him a temporary head of state. In 1552 and 1554, Macarius completed the second and third editions of the ''Grand Menaion''. During the church councils in 1553-1555, Macarius supported the accusations of
heresy, aimed at a boyar son
Matvei Bashkin,
starets Artemiy, and monk Feodosiy Kosoy. However, he took the side of
Silvester
Saint Sylvester's Day, also known as Silvester or the Feast of Saint Sylvester, is the day of the feast of Pope Sylvester I, a saint who served as Pope from 314 to 335. Medieval legend made him responsible for the conversion of emperor Constant ...
, a monk at the
Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Moscow Kremlin, who had been accused by
diak Ivan Viskovatyi in uncanonical wall-painting of the above-mentioned cathedral.
When the tsar was away from
Moscow, Macarius was in charge of diplomatic negotiations and dispatching messengers abroad with different
deeds. The painting of the
Saint Basil's Cathedral
The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed ( rus, Собо́р Васи́лия Блаже́нного, Sobór Vasíliya Blazhénnogo), commonly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is an Orthodox church in Red Square of Moscow, and is one of the most po ...
and Kremlin's
Golden Chamber was carried out with his assistance. He also took part in compiling the ''Chronicle of the Beginning of Tsardom of Tsar and Grand Prince Ivan Vasiliyevich'', i.e., an official
chronicle
A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and l ...
of Ivan the Terrible's reign and the ''Regal Book'', an
illuminated manuscript about Ivan's reign and policies.
Later years
In his declining years, Macarius moved away from the affairs of the state. He supervised the creation of the Stepennaya kniga (or the Book of Generations), supported
Ivan Fyodorov's book-printing, and renovated
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...
s. Metropolitan Macarius died on 12 January 1563 and was buried in the
Cathedral of the Dormition
The Cathedral of the Dormition (russian: Успенский собор , translit = Uspensky sobor), also known as the Assumption Cathedral or Cathedral of the Assumption, is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos. ...
of the
Moscow Kremlin. After his death, they wrote his life and ''A Tale of the Last Days of Metropolitan Macarius''. Macarius was
canonize
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...
d by the
Russian Orthodox Church in 1988 (he, however, is found in lists of saints dating back to the 18th century).
[Makarii, ''Zhizn' i Trudy Makariia''.] His icon hangs in a niche over the archway of the entrance to the Russian State Archive of Ancient Documents in Moscow.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macarius, Metropolitan Of Moscow
Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow
1482 births
1563 deaths
Russian saints
Burials at Dormition Cathedral, Moscow
16th-century Christian saints
Russian icon painters
Medieval Russian painters