Photius (Metropolitan of Kiev)

Born in Greece in the city of Monemvasia . "Izmlada", according to his Spiritual Charter, he abandoned the secular way of life and gave himself under the spiritual guidance of the elder Akaky ^[2] (later Metropolitan of Monemvasi). In 1408 , when Photius was in Constantinople with the Patriarch on behalf of the Metropolitan, the question arose of the replacement of the Russian pulpit after the death of St. Cyprian . The choice of Patriarch Matthew fell on Photius.

On September 2, 1408, Photius was consecrated Metropolitan. September 1, 1409 arrived in Kiev ; April 22, 1410 solemnly entered Moscow ^[3] .

For six months he lived in Kiev (September 1409 - February 1410 ), arranging the affairs of the southern dioceses of the Russian Church, which were then part of the Principality of Lithuania . Seeing that the throne of the metropolitan could not be in Kiev land, which was increasingly dependent on Catholic Poland , following the example of the former Russian metropolitans who moved their whereabouts first to Vladimir and then to Moscow , Metropolitan Photius arrived in Moscow for Easter in 1410. Moscow found ruined by the recent invasion of Edigheus , and the metropolitan economy launched three and a half years after the death of Cyprian and plundered and set about restoring it.

In the spring of 1410, Khan Edigey , who ravaged the Russian land two years before, embarked on a new campaign. Units led by Tsarevich Talycha suddenly took Vladimir . But Photius was not in the city: the day before he went to the suburban Svyatoozersky monastery . When the Tatars rushed in pursuit, he took refuge in a small village, surrounded by impassable swamps, on the Senge River. The invaders betrayed the plunder of Vladimir and especially the Assumption Cathedral . The foreman of the cathedral, Patrickey, suffered terrible tortures and suffered a martyr's death, but did not open the place where he hid church shrines and treasures.

Photius managed to restore the unity of the Russian Church: the Lithuanian Metropolis , established at the insistence of Prince Vitovt for the southern and western Russian Orthodox dioceses, was abolished in 1420 . In the same year Photius visited the returned dioceses and greeted the flock with an extensive teaching message.

The chronicle contains a story about a vision that Photius had for a year and about four months before his death - a vision of an angel who informed him that he was given a “week” for considering life and “managing the flock”. After this, Photius wrote the Spiritual Letter, taking as a model - this also notes the chronicle - the Spiritual Letter of Metropolitan Kiprian: “... writing the same letter before the presentation to God the Great, in the image of this former Cyprian the Metropolitan” ^[2] .

Photius was buried in the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral next to Metropolitan Cyprian .

His remains were removed from the earth in 1472 in connection with the restructuring of the Assumption Cathedral - along with the tombs of the saints Jonah , Theognostus and Cyprian; then again interred in the same cathedral. May 27, 1472 is considered to be the day of finding the relics of the four mentioned saints, and 1472 is the year of their glorification ; however, it is known that in 1472 only Metropolitan Jonah was canonized and that until the 17th century there was no All-Russian or local celebration of the memory of Metropolitans Cyprian, Feognost and Photius ^[3] . For the first time, he will be called Saint Ambrose (Ornatsky) in his book History of the Russian Hierarchy, published in 1807 ^[4] .

In the Russian Orthodox Church, the memory of St. Photius occurs on July 2 (15) and May 27 ( June 9 ) ^[3] .

• Photius, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1902. - T. XXXVI. - S. 394-396.

• Saint Photius, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia