St. Joseph Volotsky
St. Joseph Volotsky
(12.11.1440–9.9.1515) - an outstanding Russian church leader, writer, in the world Ivan Sanin. The son of a Volokolamsk boyar, as a seven-year-old boy, John was sent to study with the pious elder of the Volokolamsk Holy Cross Monastery Arseny. For two years, John studied the Holy Scriptures and became a reader in the monastery church.
At the age of 20, he took monastic vows at the Borovsky Monastery with the name Joseph. The Monk Joseph spent eighteen years under the guidance of the holy ascetic Paphnutius of Borovsky. Upon the death of his teacher, he was appointed abbot of the Borovsky monastery, which he ruled for about two years. In this monastery he introduced a communal rule, which caused discontent among some monks. The Monk Joseph was forced to leave the monastery and went on a pilgrimage to Russian shrines. So he ended up in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Here he became even stronger in his desire to create a new monastic hostel.
In 1479, from the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, he returned to his native Volokolamsk lands, where, at the confluence of the Struga and Sestra rivers in the forest, he founded the monastery of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In his Volokolamsk monastery, the Monk Joseph introduced the most strict community life and drew up his own charter for it, a significant part of which was taken from the charter of St. Nil Sorsky.
Being a monk, St. Joseph nevertheless actively participated in social, political and government life. Theologically educated, he fought against regional separatism. In a dispute with Rev. Nil Sorsky defended the monastery estates, citing evidence from the founders of Russian monasticism and the abbots of other monasteries, who owned villages for food and the possibility of spiritual and educational activities of the monasteries. He believed that the Church should not turn away from the world and from state life, but should actively influence it for the sake of the salvation of the flocked people.
This is the influence of St. Joseph extended himself to royal power, making a great contribution to its true Orthodox understanding. His famous saying is known: “If a Tsar reigns over people, but allows evil passions and sins, love of money and anger, wickedness and untruth, pride and rage to reign over himself, and the worst thing of all is unbelief and blasphemy, then such a king is not God’s servant, but devilish, and not a king, but a tormentor... Such a King, because of his wickedness, was not called a king by our Lord Jesus Christ, but a fox... And you should not listen to such a king or prince, who leads you to wickedness and wickedness, even if he torments and threatens death..."
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The greatest feat of St. Joseph was his struggle against the heresy of the Judaizers. The heresy appeared in Novgorod after an invitation there in 1470 to feed the Kyiv prince Olelkovich, in whose retinue there was the Jewish physician Skhariya, who propagated the heresy. The Judaizers denied the dogma of the Holy Trinity, professing Jewish monotheism; denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ, His Resurrection and the Last Judgment; they blasphemed the Mother of God and the Calvary Cross; they denied the sacraments and veneration of icons, over which they committed sacrilege, denied the afterlife, etc.
Since St. Prince Vladimir rejected the Jewish faith brought by the Khazars, and Rus' was renewed by the grace of Baptism, “the great Russian land remained for five hundred years... in the Orthodox Christian faith,” however, “the enemy of human salvation, the devil, brought the nasty and darkened Jews to Veliky Novgorod.” The fight against heresy was led by St. Gennady Novgorodsky.
Assessing the heresy of the Judaizers as the greatest danger to which Orthodox statehood has ever been exposed, the Monk Joseph is not exaggerating. Indeed, in the strict sense - and this is especially emphasized by St. Joseph - “the heresy of the Judaizers” was not a heresy, that is, an arbitrary distortion of Christian truth, but an apostasy
- a complete negation of Christianity and the complete opposite of it.
A collection of “words” against the Judaizers, over which St. Joseph worked in 1494-1506, later called the “Illuminator”, consists of 16 texts. They give a general assessment of the Novgorod heresy and propose measures for its eradication.
“The current... apostates are much worse than those [former heretics], more nasty and crafty
, – wrote Rev.
Joseph in "The Enlightener". – Being among the Orthodox, they show themselves to be Orthodox, and if someone stands firmly in the faith of Christ and Orthodoxy, they hide from him in every possible way;
if they see one of the more simple-minded, then they are ready to catch him. In order to attract people to Judaism, they even dare to become priests... If any of the Orthodox wants to rise up against them with denunciation, then they renounce the Jewish faith, and even curse its followers, and swear with terrible oaths that they are Orthodox - so that they would not be exposed and it would be more convenient for them to secretly seduce the Orthodox .
At the Church Councils of 1490 and 1504. St. Joseph was their main accuser. He called for strict punishment of apostates, so that “we do not perish like the Armenian, Ethiopian and Roman kingdoms perished. After all, they died due to the negligence of the Orthodox kings and saints of that time, and for such negligence these kings and saints will be condemned at the Last Judgment of Christ.”
. The Council determined to introduce an anathema to the Judaizers in the rite of the Triumph of Orthodoxy.
The Monk Joseph was canonized on December 20, 1578, shortly after his death. Many of the disciples and followers of St. Joseph of Volotsk also entered the ranks of Russian saints; The Joseph-Volotsky Monastery itself became the center of spiritual enlightenment for many centuries. Of the most prominent tonsures of the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery, we will mention such archpastors as Metropolitans of Moscow and All Rus' Daniel and St. Macarius, Archbishop Vassian of Rostov, Bishops Simeon of Suzdal, Dositheus of Krutitsky, Savva of Krutitsky, nicknamed Black, Akaki of Tver, Vassian of Kolomna, Saints of Kazan Gury and German, Saint Barsanuphius, Bishop of Tver.
Our Church, now troubled by heretics and torn apart by schismatics, needs strong weapons against them. Such a weapon is the word of St. Joseph of Volotsk, who not only exposed a specific heresy of the 15th century, but, defending Orthodoxy, gave a model approach to any non-Orthodox teaching - be it the Latins, Protestants, psychics or any manifestation of the “new religious consciousness.”
Reverend Father Joseph, pray to God for us!
St. Joseph Volotsky writes “accusatory words” against the Judaizers. Facial chronicle vault. XVI century
Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery
About modern Judaizers, see: The Irony of Fate of the Judeo-Christian Priest Alexander Men
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During St. Joseph of Volotsky was widely expected to expect the end of the world after the seventh thousand years from the Creation of the world (in 1492 according to modern chronology). And when this did not happen, heretics did not fail to use this fact in order to fight the Church. To this question Rev. Joseph also dedicated one of his “Words” that is still relevant today.
Excerpts from the ninth Word against the heresy of the Novgorod heretics, who say: “Why is there no second coming of Christ, although its time has already come? After all, the apostles wrote that Christ was born in recent years, and one thousand five hundred years have already passed since the birth of Christ, and there is no second coming of Christ - therefore, the writings of the apostles are false.” Here evidence is given from the Holy Scriptures that the writings of the holy apostles are true, since they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
All Holy Scripture, both the Old and the New Testament, is good, useful and saving, especially the writings of the saints and divine apostles. After all, the Lord said to them: “You are My friends... for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have told you everything that I have heard from My Father” (John 15:14–15). Therefore, what they spoke, taught and wrote about is true, useful and saving for our souls. And those who think differently reveal their malice and unforgivable madness, the newest type of wickedness, a sign of pride and unbelief. If they had faith with humility, they would agree with what is said in the Holy Scriptures: “The Lord of hosts has determined, and who can undo it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it away?” (Isa. 14:27) - and they would not dare to particularly inquire about what is kept silent, and ask about what is hidden...
The Apostle said: “The Lord is not slack in fulfilling his promise, as some count slackness,” that is, the Lord has not yet come to judge, not because he was slow, but because, he says, “he is patient with us, not wanting anyone to died, but so that everyone would come to repentance.”
And the blessed Apostle Peter also says: “Consider the longsuffering of our Lord Jesus Christ to be salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, as he speaks about this in all his epistles, in which there is something difficult to understand, that the ignorant and those who are not established are twisted to their own destruction, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures” (see 2 Pet. 3:15–16). And the holy Apostle Paul exclaims: “In the last times, difficult times will come, for people will be... impudent, arrogant... more lovers of pleasure than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid such people” (see: 2 Tim. 3:1, 3–5). And the Apostle Peter said: “And you will have false teachers who will introduce destructive heresies” (2 Pet. 2:1). And the divine Apostle Jude, brother of James, says this: “Beloved, remember what was predicted by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you that in the last time there would appear scoffers... These are people who separate themselves... natural, having no spirit” (Jude 1:17-19). “Therefore, beloved, being forewarned of these things, take heed lest you be carried away by the error of the wicked, and fall from your own conviction” (2 Pet. 3:17).
This is how concerned the divine apostles are for our salvation! How dare we, passionate and damned, say: “Why didn’t God do it the way it seemed to us?” We are so darkened by our malice that for the great mercy of the Benefactor we present demands to Him and for the great love of the Lord we annoy Him and say: “Why did He delay in judgment? Why is His second coming so long?”...
Listen to why the holy apostles said that the Lord was born in recent times. After all, He did not come to earth to be born either in the first thousand or in the second, nor did He come then when the crimes of God’s commandments increased and people desecrated the earth with murder and blood, adultery and fornication, which is why the Lord brought a flood and destroyed everyone, and only a few were saved . He did not come even when people began to make idols and worshiped creatures instead of the Creator. When five thousand five hundred years had passed, the Lord came to save us. That is why the holy apostles said that the Lord was born in recent times.
Nowhere in the holy books, neither the apostles, nor the prophets, nor the holy fathers does it say that the second coming of Christ will happen when a thousand years or two have passed after His first coming. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself said in the Holy Gospel: “No one knows, not even the angels of heaven... but only the Father” (Mark 13:32). The holy prophets and apostles and our holy fathers wrote in agreement with this.
Even if God had told us in the Holy Scriptures or one of the holy apostles or prophets had said that a thousand or two thousand years would pass after the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and then there would be a second coming, and if that time had passed and there would be no second coming it would be - and then it is unacceptable to talk about this and question the Creator and Creator of all things. For it is characteristic of the humane and soul-loving Lord God Almighty to endure our sins and not to desire our destruction in sins, but to lead everyone to repentance.
Thus, about Nineveh He said that the city would perish, but it did not perish, but piety defeated condemnation (Jonah 1, 2; 3:1-10). And he commanded Hezekiah and told him for his household that he would die and not live (2 Kings 20) - and he did not die. And about Ahab he said: “I will bring evil upon you,” but he did not (1 Kings 21). By mentioning this, we are not saying that the Lord is lying, but we want to show that the all-good Lord submits to His love for mankind.
After all, the Ninevites, being barbarians and not knowing the Holy Scriptures and the fear of God, did not despair about their salvation and did not say: “God commanded, the King established, and how could it be otherwise?” But everyone came to repentance and soon each turned away from their sinful path and from untruth in their deeds, saying: “Who knows, maybe the Lord will have mercy, and heed the prayers, and turn away his anger and rage, and we will not perish.” And God saw by their deeds that they had turned away from their sinful ways, and the Lord regretted the misfortunes that he had promised them.
When the indicated three days passed and Nineveh did not perish, they did not ask the Lord, and did not say that His word had not come true. And we, called children of God, a holy people, bearing the name of Christ, ask and inquire, saying: “Why is the second coming of Christ delayed, since it is already time for it to happen?”
O evil and crafty custom! Because of the Master’s great love for mankind, we turn out to be His enemies and because of His innumerable mercy towards us, we run away from service. Let no unnecessary things be said in the Church of God; let the ability to take on faith be glorified; Let not inquire into what is not said.
If we begin to find out the unknown, we will perish, like the Ninevites, who after some time forgot the mercy of God and returned to their previous evil. And the prophet Nahum was sent to them from God, but they did not believe his preaching, hoping that his prophecy would not come true, just as Jonah did not come true. Look what God’s prophet Nahum says about them: Nineveh will perish with fresh water and underground fire (cf. Nahum 1:8–10). And so it happened: the lake located in the vicinity of the city flooded it, and the fire that came from the desert burned its upper part. Believing the preaching of the prophet Jonah, they were saved; When they did not believe the sermons of the prophet Nahum, they died completely.
And if five thousand five hundred years had passed after Christ’s coming, the same number of years that had passed before His coming, even then it would not have been allowed to speak and ask about this. After all, you, being a person, do not know your own nature: how you came into existence, and how many years your life will last, and what your death will be. Without knowing yourself, how can you inquire about the Divine?..
As the great Paul said about Abraham and his obedience: “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but remained strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully confident that He was able to perform what He had promised” (Rom. 4:20-21). And he also says: “The righteous shall live by faith; but if anyone hesitates, My soul has no pleasure in him” (Heb. 10:38). After all, we, brethren, do not live for pernicious doubt, but for faith, which saves the soul: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen... By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that from what is invisible, what is seen was made... But without faith we cannot please God impossible” (Heb. 11:1, 3, 6).
And the apostle also says: “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds: with them we cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and we take into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). For it is said by the Holy Spirit: “The Lord is faithful in all His words” (Ps. 144:13), in what He commands, or rejects, or promises, or forbids (cf. Deut. 7:9; 32:4; 2 Tim. 2:13; Hebrews 10:23).
And enough about that.
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JOSEPH VOLOTSKY
JOSEPH VOLOTSKY (Ivan Ivanovich Sanin) (11/12/1439 – 9/9/1515, Joseph-Volotsky mon.), church leader, spiritual writer, holy Russian. Orthodox Church.
BRT Archive Reverend Joseph Volotsky. Icon 17th century. from the former Ascension Monastery of the Moscow Kremlin.
He came from the family of a poor Volokolamsk landowner. Among I.V.’s relatives there were many major church leaders and writers [Archbishop. Rostov Vassian Sanin (d. 1515), Dosifey Toporkov (d. ca. 1547), etc.]. In 1446 I.V. was sent “to science” to the elder of the Volokolamsk monastery of the Exaltation of the Cross. Arseny Lezhenka. In 1460 he took monastic vows at the Kaluga monastery founded by Paphnutius Borovsky. Nativity of the Virgin Mary (founded in 1444). After the death of Paphnutius he became the abbot of the monastery, but in 1479, due to a conflict with the leader. book Ivan III Vasilyevich and the dissatisfaction of the brethren with the introduction of strict communal regulations, left the abbess and after walking in Russia. The monasteries were founded by the Joseph-Volotsky monastery, who became a commander. 15 – 1st half. 16th centuries major church-political and the cultural center of Rus'.
The name of I.V. is traditionally associated with the origins of a special Russian movement. society thoughts - Josephiteness (see Josephites). At the Council of 1503 he spoke out against non-possessors, substantiating the doctrine of the inalienability of the property of the Church. As a practical argument in favor of monastic property, I.V. pointed out that people of noble birth go to rich monasteries, who are capable of subsequently occupying episcopal sees. Indeed, many representatives of Russian episcopate 16th century were tonsured in Joseph-Volotsky monastery. I.V. managed to convince Ivan III Vasilyevich to abandon the secularization of church lands. I.V. took an active part in the fight against the heresy of the “Judaizers”, compiling the first Russian in history. theological thought apologetic. and polemic. an essay in which the fundamentals of Orthodox dogma are set out in a vivid and dynamic form. In 1507, due to a conflict with the prince. Fyodor Volotsky (1476–1513), who presented feudal claims to the monastery, turned to Vasily III Ivanovich, asking to rid the monastery of “appanage violence” and to accept it into “his great state.” The conflict was resolved in favor of Joseph Volotsky.
Among the works of I.V. center. The place is occupied by “The Enlightener” (“Book on Heretics”). Basic The contents of the book are a refutation of the opinions of the “Judaizers” and a consistent defense of the dogmas of the Orthodox faith: about the Trinity, about the Incarnation, about the veneration of icons, about patristic teaching, about the timing of the end of the world, about the institution of monasticism, etc. The “Charter” contains a description of the organization of strict monasticism dormitories. Lasting significance for other Russian. aestheticians had three words addressed to the icon painter Dionysius about icons, which influenced the frescoes of the Ferapontov Monastery.
The Lives of I.V. were created by Bishop. Savva the Black (d. 1554) and Serb. spiritual writer Leo Philologus (d. no earlier than 1534); Valuable information about I. V. contains the “Funeral Sermon” and the Volokolamsk Patericon, compiled ca. 1546–47 nephew of I.V. - Dosifei Toporkov.
Memorial Days – September 9 (22) and October 18 (31).
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Questions of faith are life-forming questions. They are treated differently. Everyone determines for himself the degree of responsibility that he is able to bear and defend. Joseph Volotsky fought all his life, fearlessly and passionately defending what he believed in.
Ivan Sanin was born into a noble family in the service of the appanage prince Boris Volotsky. He mastered reading and writing early, with the help of Elder Arseny from the Volotsk Holy Cross Monastery, and was the first of the brothers to take monastic vows at the age of 20. Ivan began visiting monasteries. At first he went to the Savvin Monastery, but quickly left it - Ivan did not like the too soft monastic rules. Varsanofy Neumoy, a local elder, advised Ivan to go to Borovsk, to Paphnutius.
Paphnutius Borovsky is considered one of the key figures of Russian holiness, the grandson of a Tatar Baskak who converted to Orthodoxy, Paphnutius was simple as a child, but at the same time he saw right through anyone. When Ivan came to the monastery, Paphnutius was cutting down the forest. Ivan Savin took monastic vows under the name Joseph. Joseph lived in the monastery, under the mentorship of Paphnutius, for eighteen years. Before his death, the abbot bequeathed the abbess to Joseph, warning: “After my departure there will be many troublemakers in the monastery of the Most Pure One, I feel that they will confuse my soul and stir up discord among the brethren.”
Paphnutius saw it: Joseph wanted to impose new orders in the monastery. Under Paphnutius, the monastery was a special one, each monk had his own cell, some kind of household, and could eat and wear whatever he wanted. Joseph decided to introduce a hostel: all property was common, food and clothing were the same, work was distributed equally. Many monks did not like such changes and they began to grumble. It was not Joseph’s character to make concessions; he simply left the monastery, deciding to study the life of other monasteries. He spent more than a year in the Kirillovo-Belozersky Monastery. Returning to the Pafnutyevo-Borovsky Monastery did not bring peace to Joseph. The monks of the monastery even turned to Ivan III with a request to change the abbot, but the king refused. Not wanting to continue the strife, Joseph decided to radically change his life path: he left the Pufnutevo-Borovsky Monastery forever.
Turning to Boris, the brother of Ivan III, who was imprisoned in Volotsk, Joseph found support. Having lived in different monasteries, he decided to create his own, eagerly taking on a new business. Joseph never thought small; his monastery was originally conceived as a rich and influential center of spiritual life. Boris Vasilyevich allocated a village to the monastery, which supplied the brethren with everything they needed. From the day it was founded, the monastery began to quickly develop and grow rich. It is not in vain that Joseph Volotsky is recognized as the patron of Orthodox entrepreneurship and economics - through his efforts, a few years later, the stone Assumption Church was erected to replace the wooden one. It was painted by the icon painter Dionysius. Joseph did not spare money and knew how to spend it wisely. In lean years, he demanded fixed prices for bread. Thanks to the efforts of Joseph, during the famine years the monastery could feed up to five hundred people daily.
A good business executive who created a monastery with his own efforts, Joseph was an ardent opponent of non-covetous people who advocated for the church to renounce land ownership and “Judaizers.” In his fierce struggle, Joseph even accused the Metropolitan of Moscow Zosima of heresy, admonishing him for his weakness in punishing heretics. As a result, Zosima was brought to the throne.
Hegumen Joseph was also a talented church writer. He is the author of the book “The Enlightener” and several messages. In these works, Joseph clearly defines his irreconcilable position towards the enemies of the Church and faith.
In the last years of his life, Abbot Joseph was seriously ill. His successors turned the monastery into an exploiter, extracting the last from the worker. The unrest of the peasants of the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery in 1594 had to be suppressed by force of arms.
Joseph Volotsky was canonized. The relics and chains of the saint rest in the Assumption Cathedral of the Joseph-Volotsk Monastery and are available for veneration.
It was not in vain that the Monk Joseph acquired the glory of being the pillar of Russian monasticism. He was a subtle thinker, a man of complex spiritual organization, a brilliant intellectual. Joseph Volotsky never sought anything for himself personally. No wealth, no fame, no position as a court priest. He spoke and acted, defending his faith, his Church, and the monastic brethren in the monastery. He was a true monk who despised all the blessings of this world for the sake of Christ. All-Russian veneration of him was established in 1589. The Monk Joseph was canonized as an exemplary monk, denouncer of heresies and a great wonderworker.
Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery
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