In the photo: Saint Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow. Fragment of the painting of the Church of the Nativity of Christ in Izmailovo.
In the Elokhovsky Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow reside the relics of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, the great holy wonderworker of Russia. Saint Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, is highly revered for this Russian saint, who played a vital role in the ancient history of Russia.
Metropolitan Alexy of Moscow was born in Moscow at the turn of the 13th-14th centuries into a prominent boyar family and received the name Simeon at baptism. His godfather was the young prince John, the future Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan Kalita. Subsequently, the godfather and his godson were destined to bring their hometown to the forefront in Rus', forming here the unifying center of a fragmented country groaning under the foreign yoke.
In a dream, the future Metropolitan Alexy of Moscow heard a voice saying that the boy was wasting his time on empty labors, catching birds, while his purpose was to “catch people.” From then on, Eleutherius began to visit church often.
Saint Alexy, already at the age of 19, received monastic tonsure from the elder brother of the Monk Sergius of Radonezh, Abbot Stephen. This happened in the Epiphany Monastery, then a suburban monastery, but now located in the very center of the capital, on the territory of Kitay-Gorod.
Monk Alexy was distinguished by excellent abilities, and, having reached the age of forty, he began to be considered the official successor of the elderly Metropolitan of Kyiv Theognostus. It should be noted that the title “Kiev” by that time was already of a purely nominal nature, and the metropolitans lived in Moscow from 1325.
Saint Alexis goes to Constantinople
In 1354, Bishop Alexy went to Constantinople, where at that time the Russian high priests were undergoing the procedure for their approval. The Ecumenical Patriarch approved his nomination as a metropolitan as an exception - at that time, the majority of Russian primates of the Church were chosen from the Greeks. Patriarch Philaret of Constantinople elevated Alexy to the rank of Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Rus'.
On the way back from his second trip to Constantinople (undertaken to resolve a dispute with the Lithuanian Metropolis, which had separated from the Kiev Metropolis), Saint Alexis found himself in a strong storm and vowed, if rescued, to found a monastery in Moscow. This is how the subsequently famous Spaso-Andronikov Monastery appeared in the capital.
Returning to Rus', Metropolitan Alexy acted energetically - he installed new bishops, fought against internal church discord, and through his own actions showed his flock an example of Christian life. It was under him that the residence of Russian metropolitans was moved from Kyiv to the northeast of the country.
Moscow period 1325-1461
Alexy Metropolitan of Kyiv
Saint Alexis the Myropolitan
Saint Alexis, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia, wonderworker (in the world - Elevferiy Fedorovich Byakont) was born between 1292-1305. in Moscow in a boyar family. Father - boyar Fyodor Byakont, a native of Chernigov. Mother - Maria Byakont.
Childhood and education
Born in Moscow in the family of boyar Fyodor Byakont and his wife Maria, immigrants from Chernigov. The family of the future High Hierarch occupied a prominent place among the Moscow boyars of the late XIII-XIV. The boyars were his younger brothers - Feofan (Fofan), the ancestor of the Fofanovs (under the Grand Dukes Ioann Ioannovich the Red and Dimitri Ioannovich Donskoy), and Alexander Pleshchey, the ancestor of the Pleshcheyevs (under the Grand Duke Dimitry Ioannovich). Early chronicle sources (Rogozhsky chronicler and Simeonovskaya chronicle, reflecting the Moscow arch of 1409) call St. Alexis in baptism Simeon, and the life written in 1459 by Pachomius Logothet, and later chronicles - Eleutherius (the colloquial form Olfer (Alfer) corresponds to the initial letter monastic name); in some lists of the 17th century. The Nikon Chronicle lists both names together. It is possible that the sources reflect the existence of St. Alexy’s so-called direct name (corresponding to the saint whose memory falls on his birthday) and baptismal name (a situation well known from the example of double Christian princely names). The close proximity of the names Eleutherius and Simeon is observed twice in the calendar: Simeon the Holy Fool, commemorated on July 21, and the martyr Eleutherius, commemorated on August 4; Simeon, relative of the Lord, commemorated September 18, and Eleutherius, martyred with Dionysius the Areopagite, commemorated October 3; the first 2 memories are also present in the shortest versions of the monthly word, known in the 14th century. The indications for the date of birth, even in the oldest story of the Code of 1409, are very contradictory. In fairly detailed chronological calculations, on the basis of which the year of birth is considered to be 1293: “he took monastic vows for 20 years, and lived in the monastery for 40 years, and was appointed metropolitan for 60 years, and remained in the metropolitan for 24 years . And all the days of his life were 85 years old” - only the duration of his stay at the head of the metropolitanate is reliable. At the same time, the indication of 40 years of monastic life could have appeared as a result of an incorrect interpretation of the message that Saint Alexy “remained in the monastic life even until he was 40 years old,” which refers rather not to the duration of the monastic feat, but to the approximate age at appointment of St. Alexy as the lord's governor. When determining the time of birth, preference should be given to mentioning historical persons and events contemporary to Saint Alexy that do not agree with the date of 1293: “In the reign of the great Tfer Mikhailovo Yaroslavich, under Metropolitan Maxim, before the murder of Akinfov” (that is, before the campaign against Pereyaslavl in the winter of 1304— 1305 by Tver boyar Akinf the Great). An important piece of evidence from the story is that Saint Alexy is “17 years older than the great prince Semyon (born in 1317”), which assigns the birth of the saint to 1300 cannot be unconditionally accepted, since there is a possible typo (internal dictation error) in the recording numbers influenced by the sound of the name (“Seeds” - “seventeen” instead of “thirteen”). If we consider the year of birth of Saint Alexy to be 1300, then Andrei Alexandrovich Gorodetsky should have been mentioned as the Grand Duke, and not Mikhail Yaroslavich (although the latter returned from the Horde with a label for the great reign in the fall of 1305, that is, after the murder of Akinfov, the later the biographer of Saint Alexy could calculate the beginning of the new reign from the date of the death of Prince Andrew - July 27, 1304). The godfather of Saint Alexy was Prince John Danilovich (the future Kalita).
tonsure
According to his life, having learned to read and write at an early age, Saint Alexy already in his adolescence began to dream of a monastic life, after one day, having fallen asleep while catching birds with a snare, he heard a voice calling him by his monastic name and foreshadowing him to become a “fisher of men.” At the age of 19, he was tonsured at the Epiphany Monastery in Zagorodye (modern Kitay-Gorod), by the elder brother of St. Sergius, Abbot Stephen, confessor of the great princes.
Icon "St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow." XVII century.
Beginning of church activities
Until about the age of 40, Alexy led a monastic life.
For most of this period, all that is known is that Saint Alexy “corrected all the good wishes of the monastic life and carried out all the writings of the Old and New Law.” Undoubtedly, at this time he continued to maintain connections with the grand ducal court. On the initiative of Grand Duke Simeon Ioannovich the Proud (not earlier than 1344), the saint was appointed vicar of the elderly Metropolitan Theognost and moved to the metropolitan courtyard. During his lifetime, Metropolitan Theognostus blessed Alexy “in his place as metropolitan.” From December 6, 1352 until June 1354, the title of Bishop of Vladimir
was borne by Saint Alexy. Thus, for a short time, the Vladimir diocese, abolished in 1300 in connection with the resettlement of the Kyiv metropolitans to Vladimir, was restored; after the elevation of Saint Alexy to the rank of metropolitan, the department was again liquidated.
State diplomatic activities
An embassy was sent to Constantinople from Grand Duke Simeon Ioannovich and Metropolitan Theognostus to obtain the consent of the Patriarch to approve the candidacy of St. Alexis. Already at this time, the role of Saint Alexy in the state affairs of the Grand Duchy of Moscow was very great: according to the spiritual charter of Grand Duke Simeon, the future metropolitan remained an adviser to his younger brothers - princes Ivan and Andrey.
Appointment as Metropolitan of Kyiv
Upon the return of the embassy to Moscow, which had secured the consent of Patriarch Philotheus, Saint Alexis went to Constantinople. On the way, he received a travel letter (label) in the Horde from Taidula, the wife of Khan Uzbek: the letter protected the saint’s retinue, baggage train and property from all possible attacks. Saint Alexis spent about a year in Constantinople. The letter from Patriarch Philotheus to the new metropolitan dates back to June 30, 1354, according to it, Saint Alexy, not being Greek, was elevated to the rank of metropolitan as an exception, for his virtuous life and spiritual merits. To assist in the administration of the diocese, he was assigned as exarch Deacon George Perdika, who probably did not perform these duties for long (perhaps until January 1359, when Saint Alexy went to Lithuania), since already in 1361 he was again in Constantinople. By the same charter, at the request of Saint Alexy, Vladimir was approved as the seat of the Russian metropolitans, retaining Kyiv as their first throne.
Hagiographic icon of St. Alexis (Dionysius, 1480s)
The nomination and approval by the Patriarch of Constantinople of the successor to Metropolitan Theognostus during the life of the latter was caused by the desire to preserve the unity of the metropolis and limit the interference in the affairs of the Church by non-Orthodox secular rulers, since by that time the territory of the Kyiv Metropolis was politically subject, in addition to the Russian princes, to partially Polish Catholic and pagan kings - Grand Dukes of Lithuania. From the end XIII century Attempts were periodically repeated (short-lived for various reasons, but reflecting the general trend) to create separate metropolises in the southwestern Russian lands, initially on the initiative of the Orthodox Galician-Volyn princes, later - the Polish kings and the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. These attempts especially intensified under the Grand Duke Olgerd, who subjugated most of the western and southwestern Russian lands and claimed dominance over all Russian principalities. These plans were hampered by the existence of a Church not under his control, the head of which was from the horse. XIII century was in the Grand Duchy of Vladimir. Olgerd needed a special metropolitan for his own possessions, or an All-Russian one, but subordinate to the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Even during the life of Metropolitan Theognostus, at the end of 1352, the monk Theodoret appeared in Constantinople with a false report of the death of the head of the Russian Church, seeking his appointment to the supposedly vacant metropolitan see. It is not known for certain whether he was a protege of Olgerd or his brother, the Orthodox Volyn prince Lubart. The impostor did not receive an appointment in the capital of Byzantium and, in violation of canonical rules, was elevated to the rank of metropolitan by the Bulgarian Patriarch Theodosius in Tarnovo. Despite the non-canonical nature of the installation, Theodoret was received in Kyiv, which was not yet part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Novgorod Archbishop Moses, dissatisfied with the policies of Metropolitan Theognostus and Grand Duke Simeon, was inclined to recognize his power. In the Patriarchal message addressed to the Novgorod ruler in 1354, it was ordered to obey the legally appointed metropolitan - St. Alexis, and not Theodoret. Already during the stay of Saint Alexis in Constantinople, Bishop Roman of Tver, who was patronized by Olgerd, arrived there to be appointed metropolitan for the Lithuanian possessions. According to the Rogozhsky chronicler, he had previously received an appointment from the Bulgarian Patriarch, like Theodoret, but was not received in Kyiv. Probably, Callistus (1350-1353, 1355-1364), who replaced Patriarch Philotheus (1353-1354, 1364-1376), installed Roman on the restored Lithuanian metropolis (c. 1317 - c. 1330) with a see in Novogrudok, which included Polotsk and Turov dioceses and dioceses of Little Rus' (the land of the former Galicia-Volyn principality). The rest of the metropolis, together with Kiev, was retained by Saint Alexy, along with the title of “Metropolitan of All Rus'”. However, Romanus immediately violated the limits set for him by sending his ambassadors to Tver to Bishop Theodore (at the same time Saint Alexy also sent ambassadors to him).
Activities as head of the Kyiv Metropolis
Returning to Rus', Saint Alexy installed bishops: Ignatius in Rostov, Vasily in Ryazan, Theophylact in Smolensk and John in Sarai. But a year after his return - in the fall of 1355 - he went again to Constantinople (where his rival Roman had arrived even earlier) to resolve the issue of the legality of the division of the metropolis. According to the chronicler, “there was a great dispute between them and the gifts from them were great.” The result was confirmation by the Patriarch of the previous conditions, and St. Alexy returned to Rus' in the winter of 1355/1356. On his way back, he was caught in a storm on the Black Sea and vowed to found a monastery if he were saved. According to this vow, the Andronikov monastery in Moscow was created in honor of the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands.
Mission to Horde
In August 1357, at the invitation of Khansha Taidula, Saint Alexy went to the Horde and healed it of an eye disease. The label given in November of this year by Taidula to Saint Alexy has been preserved, traditional in content: according to it, the Russian Church, which prays for the khans, is freed from all tributes, extortions and violence from the secular authorities. According to a later legend (which has not received unequivocal confirmation during archaeological excavations), in addition to a label in gratitude for the healing of Taidula, Saint Alexy also received a plot of land in the Moscow Kremlin, occupied by the Horde courtyard (or the khan's stables).
Foundation of the Chudov Monastery
In the Kremlin in 1365, Saint Alexy founded a stone church in the name of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael in Khoneh and founded the Miracle Monastery with it.
Miracles Monastery
Temple in the name of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael in Khoneh
The main temple of the Cathedral Chudov Monastery was blown up on the night of December 16-17, 1929. The Chudov Monastery was founded by Saint Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, in commemoration of gratitude for the help and miraculous healing of the wife of the Tatar Khan Janibek Taidula - she was almost blind at that time and was already losing hope for recovery when Metropolitan Alexy was invited. The saint’s prayers had an effect - the Khansha received her sight and, in gratitude, gave the Metropolitan the territory of the Embassy Court of the Golden Horde in the Kremlin near the Spassky Gate. This was the site of the future monastery, consecrated in the name of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael in Khoneh - a unique dedication not found anywhere else in Moscow. The monk of the Chudov Monastery was the famous Grishka Otrepiev, also known as False Dmitry I. The Chudov monastery was also known as the place of baptism of royal children: since the time of Ivan the Terrible, the heirs of the Moscow throne were baptized here, and then some emperors (in particular, in 1818 there was a future Emperor Alexander II was baptized). The monastery also served as a place of imprisonment: Metropolitan Isidore, who signed the Union of Florence, was imprisoned here in 1441 (he later fled to Europe) - the history of the autocephalous Russian Orthodox Church actually begins with his deposition. However, the most famous prisoner of the Chudov monastery was Patriarch Hermogenes, who was tortured by the Poles in 1612 because of his refusal to support Prince Vladislav and the blessing of the militia soldiers (canonized in 1913 during the celebration of the tercentenary of the House of Romanov, at the same time the chapel church was consecrated in his honor) . A little later, here, in 1666, another Moscow patriarch, Nikon, was deposed by the Ecumenical Patriarchs. It was in the Chudov Monastery that Patriarch Filaret established a “patriarchal school” - a Greek-Latin school, which became the forerunner of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. Arseny the Greek and Epiphany Slavinetsky taught here, a native of the famous Kiev-Mohyla Academy, who worked in Chudov and on correcting liturgical books... According to his life, Saint Alexy led a debate about faith in the Horde in the presence of the khan. During the stay of Saint Alexy in the Horde, civil strife began here, caused by the illness of Khan Janibek and his murder, but the Metropolitan returned safely to Rus'.
Relations with Lithuania
Relations between the Kyiv (in Moscow) and Kiev-Lithuanian metropolitans continued to remain tense. Relying on the military successes of Olgerd, who subjugated his power to the end. 50s XIV century The Principality of Bryansk, a number of Smolensk fiefs and Kiev, the Lithuanian Metropolitan Roman, in violation of the terms of his appointment to the metropolis, extended his power to Bryansk and the capital center of the metropolis (from the beginning of the 50s of the 14th century, Smolensk and Bryansk were vassals of the Grand Duke of Vladimir) . In January 1359, during the Smolensk-Moscow-Lithuanian military operations, Saint Alexy went to Kyiv (probably to enlist the support of the southern Russian princes), but was captured by Olgerd, robbed and imprisoned. However, Saint Alexy managed to escape, and in 1360 he returned to Moscow. That same year, again violating the terms, Metropolitan Roman arrived in Tver. In 1361, based on the complaints of Saint Alexy, Patriarch Callistus examined the question of the borders of the Kyiv and Lithuanian metropolitanates, confirming the conditions of 1354. During the absence of Saint Alexy in Moscow, Grand Duke John Ioannovich died, and Saint Alexy turned out to be actually one of the regents under the young Demetrius (b. . in 1350). Under these conditions, in the first half of the reign of Grand Duke Dimitri Ioannovich, the role of Saint Alexy, which was already significant during the years of the “quiet and meek” Ivan Ioannovich, increased even more (although until the death of the princess mother in 1365, the influence of her brother, the Moscow thousand). The Suzdal prince Dmitry Konstantinovich received the label for the great reign of Vladimir, and the young Moscow prince temporarily lost many territorial acquisitions. The possibility of a new rise of the Moscow principality and its dynasty owes much to St. Alexy, who linked the fate of the metropolis with them and used his authority as the First Hierarch in their interests. This was a deeply conscious choice made long before the regency under Prince Dimitri Ioannovich. Olgerd’s church policy did not give Saint Alexy the opportunity for compromise, a position of non-interference in the struggle between two rival political centers - Moscow and Lithuania, even if we leave aside the Moscow roots and connections of Saint Alexy, the Grand Duke of Lithuania did not need cooperation with the Orthodox Church, but its subordination his political plans. A pagan, standing at the head of a state, the overwhelming majority of the population of which were Orthodox, married twice to Russian princesses and connected by marriage with Orthodox princes, Olgerd could not, of course, ignore the existence of the Church, but looked at it mainly as an auxiliary instrument of his external and domestic policy. In negotiations with the Ecumenical Patriarch, he set the creation of a special metropolis subject to him as a prerequisite for his conversion to Orthodoxy and the baptism of pagan Lithuania. Such a metropolitanate was created twice during the years of his reign (in 1355 and 1375), but no reciprocal step followed - Olgerd himself, according to legend, was baptized only on his deathbed (and according to German sources, he died a pagan). Therefore, apparently, Saint Alexy did not even hesitate in his choice between the stubborn fire-worshipper and the Orthodox Moscow princes, whose ancestors at one time provided significant support to the holy Metropolitan Peter in his difficult moment. Periods of comparatively peaceful relations between Olgerd and Saint Alexy were infrequent and short-lived. The most significant of them occurred in 1363-1368, when, after the death of Metropolitan Roman (1362), Saint Alexy traveled to Lithuania and, apparently, reached an agreement there with the Grand Duke, as a result of which he installed a bishop in Bryansk. Then, the following summer, Saint Alexy baptized in Tver the daughter of Olgerda, brought from Lithuania by her grandmother, the widow of the Tver prince Alexander Mikhailovich Anastasia. The Grand Duchy of Vladimir's opposition to Lithuania's expansion to the east and the seizure of Russian lands by the Lithuanian Grand Dukes was hampered by the lack of political unity among the Russian princes. On the Great Table of Vladimir along with the Moscow Danilovichs in the late 50s - 60s. XIV century the Suzdal prince Dmitry Konstantinovich claimed (in 1359-1362 he actually occupied it), and in 1371-1374. and in 1375 - Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy. The primary task of Saint Alexy as the leader of Moscow politics was to establish a balance of power in the region under the primacy of Moscow and, if possible, restore the political and church influence in Smolensk and Bryansk, achieved by Grand Duke Simeon Ioannovich and lost with the loss of the Vladimir table by his young nephew. Reliance on the authority of the Metropolitan of All Rus' allowed at this time Grand Duke Demetrius Ioannovich to ignore the labels for the great reign issued to his rivals in the strife-torn Horde, often replaced by khans and pretenders to the Sarai throne, and to defend his interests by force of arms. At the same time, with the same goal, Saint Alexy sought to prevent the predominance of pro-Lithuanian forces in those northern Russian principalities where they existed (the family of Prince Alexander Mikhailovich in Tver, Olgerd’s son-in-law Boris Konstantinovich Gorodetsky in the Nizhny Novgorod principality), acting as the supreme arbiter in intra-dynastic disputes. While loyal to the interests of Moscow, his policy in these matters was very balanced and did not have the character of rude and overt support of “friends” against “strangers.” Even the Tver chronicle (Rogozhsky chronicler), which preserved the largest number of news about the activities of Saint Alexy and was not very friendly towards him, only once, in connection with the forcible detention of Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich in Moscow in 1368, contains a direct accusation against the saint (It should be borne in mind that for that time such forced detention was a very mild form of pressure on the Tver prince in order to sign a peace treaty on Moscow terms). In all controversial situations known from sources, Saint Alexy acts as a champion of time-honored tradition. In the conflict of 1357 between the Grand Duke of Tver Vasily Mikhailovich and his nephews - the children of Alexander Mikhailovich, executed in the Horde, Saint Alexy took the side of the eldest prince in his family (and allied to Moscow) against Vsevolod Alexandrovich, who laid claim to the Tver table. In 1363, after the death of the Nizhny Novgorod prince Andrei Konstantinovich, the metropolitan supported the recent rival of Moscow, the Suzdal prince Dimitri, in his confrontation with his younger brother Boris, who seized Nizhny Novgorod, bypassing the rights of his elder. By order of the Metropolitan, his envoys - Hegumen Gerasim and Archimandrite Paul, who arrived in the city to summon the prince to the metropolitan court, “closed the church.” In a dispute over the inheritance of the appanage Tver (Gorodok) prince Semyon Konstantinovich between the brother of the deceased, Klin prince Eremey, and the Grand Duke. Mikhail Alexandrovich (to whom the inheritance was bequeathed) in 1365, the Metropolitan supported his closest relative; the dispute caused a war between Moscow and Tver. The long-term de facto leadership of Saint Alexy in the foreign policy of the Grand Duchy of Moscow under princes John Ioannovich and Demetrius Ioannovich gave the Muscovite-Lithuanian rivalry a tangible character of religious confrontation between Christians and pagans, and the High Hierarch skillfully used the current situation in the interests of the Orthodox Church and the state core of the future Russia, influencing the Russians princes - vassals and allies of Olgerd. When in con. 60s XIV century the Smolensk prince Svyatoslav and a number of other princes violated the kiss of the cross given by the Grand Duke Demetrius Ioannovich about an alliance against Olgerd, and went over to the side of Lithuania, Saint Alexy excommunicated them from the Church for speaking in alliance with the pagans against Christians, and the traditional ally of Lithuania, Prince Michael, was also excommunicated Alexandrovich Tverskoy, as well as Bishop Vasily of Tver who supported him. These actions of Saint Alexy received the understanding and support of Patriarch Philotheus, who in a letter of 1370 invited the excommunicated princes to repent and join Demetrius. However, later Olgerd of Lithuania seized the initiative and, in a message to the Patriarch (reflected in the Patriarchal Charter of 1371), accused the Metropolitan of “blessing the Muscovites to shed blood” and releasing from the oath the Lithuanian subjects who went over to the side of the Muscovites. Even more dangerous on the part of the Lithuanian prince was the hypocritical accusation of Saint Alexy that he was not involved in the affairs of the western part of the metropolis (although Olgerd himself was primarily to blame for this), on the basis of which a demand was put forward to create a separate metropolitanate again for Lithuania and its allies (“to Kiev, to Smolensk, to Tver, to Little Russia, to Novosil, to Nizhny Novgorod”). In a letter sent in August 1371, Patriarch Philotheus demanded that Saint Alexy lift the excommunication from the Tver prince and come to Constantinople for a trial on the issue of the Western Russian flock, left without pastoral teaching and supervision. Later, the summons to trial was canceled, but the Patriarch persistently advised the saint to seek reconciliation with Olgerd for the unhindered care of the Western Russian flock. Saint Alexy, in turn, stated that he was forced to defend himself, since the Grand Duke of Lithuania wanted to “acquire power for himself in Great Rus'.” Later, Olgerd put forward a demand for the metropolitan's permanent residence in Kyiv (that is, in the Lithuanian part of the metropolis). In this regard, the trips of the Patriarchal Ambassadors to Lithuania and to St. Alexis became more frequent: in 1371 John Dokian came to Moscow, and in 1374 the Bulgarian Cyprian (later Metropolitan of Moscow) came to Moscow. As a result, largely due to Olgerd’s position, the unity of the metropolis could not be preserved at this time. Back in 1371, Patriarch Philotheus, under the threat of conversion to Catholicism of the Orthodox population of the regions subject to Poland, restored the Galician metropolitanate, and in 1375, yielding to the pressure of Olgerd, he installed Cyprian as the metropolitanate of Little Russia and Kiev, appointing him heir to St. Alexius as metropolitan table of all Rus'. The explanation for these actions was set out by the Patriarch in a letter delivered to Moscow at the beginning of 1377 by ambassadors John Dokian and George Perdika, but here they were not accepted, and Cyprian did not receive recognition as the successor of St. Alexius. At this time, only Bryansk continued to remain with St. Alexis on the territory of Lithuania, where he installed Bishop Gregory around 1375.
Results of government activities
As a church and statesman, Saint Alexy stood at the origins of the successful struggle of the Grand Duchy of Moscow against the Horde yoke. He consistently pursued a policy aimed at creating a union of Russian principalities that could withstand the noticeably weakened state in the 2nd half. XIV century Horde. For the first time such an alliance, which included distant Novgorod, was tested in a joint campaign of Russian princes against Tver in 1375; after the conclusion of a peace treaty with Moscow and recognition of the primacy of Grand Duke Dimitri Ioannovich, the Tver Principality also joined it. The significant role of Saint Alexy in all-Russian political life is evidenced by the emergence since his time of the practice of sealing interstate agreements with the metropolitan seal (the agreement between Moscow and Novgorod with the defeated Tver). He also acted as a guarantor of inter-princely relations of the Moscow ruling house. With the blessing of Saint Alexy, in 1365 an agreement was concluded between the princes of the Moscow house, Dimitri Ioannovich and Vladimir Andreevich. At the same time, it follows from this agreement that the boyars played a decisive role in determining the policies of the Moscow princes. In 1372, Saint Alexy sealed with his seal the first will of Prince Demetrius, which was presented to him, which provided for the division of lands and power after the marriage of Prince Vladimir to the daughter of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Olgerd. Between 1372 and 1378 At the request of Saint Alexy, Dimitri Ioannovich transferred Luzha and Borovsk to Vladimir Andreevich.
Results of the church activities of St. Alexis
For almost a quarter of a century at the head of the Russian Church, Saint Alexy installed 21 bishops, and to some sees twice, and to Smolensk - three times. During his time as metropolitan, Saint Alexy contributed in every possible way to the spread and strengthening of cenobitic monasticism in Rus'. The name of Saint Alexy is associated with the creation and renewal of a number of monasteries in Moscow and the Metropolitan region. In addition to Spaso-Andronikov (1357), Chudov (about 1365) and Simonov (between 1375 and 1377) monasteries, with his blessing in 1360-1362. The Vvedensky Vladychny Monastery was founded in Serpukhov, the ancient but decayed Tsarekonstantinovsky Monastery near Vladimir and the Nizhny Novgorod Annunciation Monastery were restored. Monastic tradition also attributes to him the creation of the Alexievsky nunnery in Moscow for his sisters (c. 1358), although this opinion is not shared by all researchers. The saint founded monasteries in Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, Yelets and Vladimir. Under Saint Alexis, the veneration of Saint Peter continued to spread. Before Saint Alexy's trip to the Horde in 1357, in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow, at the tomb of Metropolitan Peter, “a candle was lit for itself”; after the prayer service it was broken up to bless those present. On the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary in 1372, according to the chronicles, a mute boy with a paralyzed arm was healed at the tomb of Metropolitan Peter; Saint Alexy ordered the bells to be rung and a prayer service was served.
Demise
The tonsure of Mityai-Mikhail was performed during the lifetime of St. Alexis by the archimandrite of his Chudov Monastery Elisey Chechetka. Died on February 12, 1378. Before his death, he commanded Grand Duke Dimitri Ioannovich to bury himself outside the church, behind the altar of the cathedral in the Chudov Monastery. But at the insistence of the Grand Duke, the High Hierarch was buried inside the temple, near the altar. 50 years after his death he was canonized as a saint. The relics of the saint were found in 1431 (according to other sources, in 1439 or 1438) in the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin, which he founded as a result of restoration work, and were placed in the Church of the Archangel Michael; in 1485 they were transferred to the Alexievsky Church of the Chudov Monastery; in 1686 - to the newly built Church of the Annunciation of the same monastery, since 1947 they have rested in the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow. Heavenly patron of the Moscow Patriarchs: Alexy I and Alexy II.
Memory
Holidays for Saint Alexy are established: February 12 (25) - repose; May 20 (June 2) - acquisition of relics; September 4 (17) - Cathedral of Voronezh Saints, October 5 (18) - Cathedral of Moscow Saints, June 23/July 6 in the Cathedral of Vladimir Saints, August 26 (September 8) - Cathedral of Moscow Saints. Works: - Letter from Metropolitan Alexy to Chervleny Yar to the boyars, Baskaks, clergy and laity about their criminal liability to the Ryazan bishop // AI. T. 1. No. 3. P. 3-4; PDRKP. Part 1. No. 19. Stb. 167-172; — Teachings of Metropolitan Alexy from the Apostolic Acts to Christ-loving Christians // PrTSO. 1847. Part 5. pp. 30-39; — Nevostruev K. A newly opened instructive message of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia // DC. 1861. Part 1. pp. 449-467; — Leonid [Kavelin], archimandrite. Cherkizovo village // Moscow. Ved. 1882. June 17. No. 166. P. 4; — Kholmogorov V. and G. Radonezh tithe (Moscow district) // CHOIDR. 1886. Book. 1. P. 30. Note. 2; — Word of the Right Reverend Alexy Metropolitan // Macarius. History of the RC. Book 3. pp. 543-544. Comment. 160.
Metropolitan Alexy at the Monument “1000th Anniversary of Russia” in Veliky Novgorod
Metropolitans of Kiev: Michael of Kiev, Leon, John I, Theopemptus, Cyril I, Hilarion of Kiev, Ephraim, George, John II, John III, Nicholas, Nicephorus I, Nikita, Michael II, Clement Smolyatich, Constantine I, Theodore, Constantine II, John IV, Michael III, Nicephorus II, Matthew, Cyril I (II), Joseph, Cyril III. Vladimir period: Maxim, Peter. Moscow period:
Theognostus, Alexy (1354-1378), Michael (Mityai), Pimen, Dionysius (1383 - 1385), Cyprian (1389-1407), Photius, Gerasim, Isidore of Kiev, Jonah
Metropolitans of Moscow: Theodosius, Philip I, Gerontius , Zosima, Simon, Varlaam, Daniel, Joseph, Macarius, Athanasius, Philip II (Kolychev), Kirill, Anthony, Dionysius, Job. Patriarchs of All Russia: Saint JOB, IGNATIUS, Hieromartyr HERMOGENES, PHILARET, JOASAPH I, JOSEPH, NIKON, JOASAPH II, PITIRIM, JOAKIM, ADRIAN, Metropolitan of Yaroslavl STEPHAN, Holy Synod, Saint TIKHON, SERGIUS, ALEXIY I, PIMENI, ALEXIY II, KIRILL.
HISTORY of the Vladimir region.
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Alexy Moskovsky goes to the Horde to treat Khansha Taidula for an eye disease
By 1357, rumors about the outstanding merits of the Russian metropolitan reached the Horde, and Khansha Taidul, who was suffering from an eye disease, invited him, hoping for a cure. Through the prayers of the saint, the ruler received healing and freed the Church from Horde exactions. In gratitude for this, the saint was granted land in the Moscow Kremlin, where there was an inn for Horde ambassadors. Here Alexy founded the Chudov Monastery.
In Moscow by that time, Metropolitan Alexy enjoyed enormous influence and was actually a co-ruler of the state. It was at his initiative that in the 60s of the 14th century the construction of the white stone Kremlin, which until then had been wooden, began. In addition to Spaso-Andronikov, the saint blessed the founding of the famous Chudov and Simonov monasteries in Moscow, as well as the Vvedensky Vladychny Monastery in Serpukhov, and contributed to the introduction of the practice of communal monasteries, which in this era were founded in different parts of the country by the disciples of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Residence transfer
By the way, despite the warning of Constantinople, after Alexy the presence of Russian metropolitans in the Vladimir See nevertheless became a routine practice. This was also affected by a certain decline of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and of the empire itself, which was about a century away from its complete fall.
Another important act that Alexy received from Constantinople was the official transfer of the metropolitan residence from Kyiv to Vladimir, and in fact, to Moscow. This is how Moscow began its path of becoming the center of Russian Orthodoxy.
After the death of Prince of Moscow Ivan II
After the death of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan II the Red, Alexy of Moscow took his young son Dmitry (the future Donskoy) under his wing. Having become the de facto ruler of Rus', he constantly resolved disputes among the appanage princes, trying to unite them among themselves.
Around the same time, power changed in the Horde. Janibek was killed by his own son, who demanded that the Russian princes increase the amount of tribute collected. And then Metropolitan Alexy of Moscow again went to the Horde, to Taidula. At his request, she undertook - and quite successfully - to persuade her son to change his anger to mercy.
In Moscow, the bishop was greeted with honors, and the young Prince Dmitry exclaimed:
“O lord! You have given us a peaceful life, how can we express our gratitude to you?”
Political anathema
Then, for political reasons, Alexy imposed an anathema on both Mikhail Alexandrovich and another ally of Olgerd, who was behind this invasion - Prince of Smolensk Svyatoslav Ivanovich. The anathema had its effect, especially since it was officially confirmed by the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1370.
After reconciliation of the parties, Alexy's anathema was officially lifted. But the most important thing in this story is that this church measure was used by Alexy precisely as a mechanism of political pressure on the opponents of Moscow and Dmitry Donskoy.
Subsequently, Alexy used the method of anathematization several more times. But as a secular politician, he fulfilled the goal set for him: he raised Prince Dmitry Donskoy, and gave him enough power for him to continue the work of state building, and, moreover, began the process of liberating Rus' from the Tatar-Mongol yoke.
Alexy Moskovsky is actively involved in the unification of Russian lands
The Metropolitan actively participated in the foreign policy activities of the Moscow Principality, which consisted of attempts to unite Russian lands to fight the Horde yoke. Thus, he was one of the initiators of the union of Moscow with Veliky Novgorod. Under him, for the first time, contracts and agreements between princes began to be sealed with the metropolitan seal. He also put his stamp on other important documents - in particular, those that determined the internal life of the principality.
As a metropolitan residence, the saint chose Cherkizovo near Moscow with the wooden Elias Church - the closest village to it was Izmailovo. However, whether the latter existed at that time is not known for certain.
Death and canonization of Metropolitan Alexy of Moscow
The saint ended his earthly journey in 1378 and was buried near the altar of the main church of the Chudov Monastery in the presence of the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich (the future Donskoy) and his sons. About half a century later, Metropolitan Alexy was canonized and his relics were found, which remained in the Chudov Monastery until the beginning of the 20th century.
After the closure and complete destruction of the monastery, the holy relics were threatened with destruction, however, fortunately, they survived the era of the most serious persecution of the Church and in 1947 they were placed in the Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhov, which was the Moscow Cathedral until the restoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Alexy's politics
In terms of secular policy, Alexy was as consistent as in church policy - strengthening, centralization, and elevation of Moscow as the center of Russian statehood.
At the same time, when in 1360, Dmitry Konstantinovich received the label for the great reign of the Khan of Navruz, bypassing the Moscow nobility, Alexy and the Moscow boyars made every effort so that within two years this Khan’s decree would be canceled, and political power would remain with Moscow and Dmitry Ivanovich.
