Plato (Malinovsky)

Educated at the Kiev Theological Academy .

Since 1722 - Prefect of the Kiev Theological Academy.

In 1724 he was transferred to the post of prefect at the Moscow Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy .

On March 15, 1727, he was fired for illness at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

In 1729, he was appointed rector of the newly opened Kharkov College and archimandrite of the Kharkov Kuryazhsky monastery .

In 1730 he was appointed archimandrite of Kiev Pechersk .

April 14, 1731 was moved by the rector of the Kostroma Ipatiev Monastery .

On July 21, 1730 he was appointed a member of the Holy Synod .

There is one news that Plato was soon transferred from the Ipatiev Monastery to the Vysokopetrovsky Monastery in Moscow.

At this time, during the difficult time of the struggle of two spiritual parties, one of which was headed by Archbishop Feofan Prokopovich , Archimandrite Plato, was an opponent of Prokopovich. For protection of the book “ Stone of Faith ” he was arrested on August 12, 1731 and put on trial by the secret chancellery ; we are repeatedly subjected to bodily torture.

On December 13, 1738, he was deprived of dignity and monasticism and, with the worldly name of Paul, was exiled to Kamchatka for permanent residence.

The local Bishop Innokenty (Neronovich) made him the teacher of his bishop's school, and when the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the throne, he petitioned for the return of his dignity. The Holy Synod, on the basis of a gracious manifesto of innocent exiles, returned the dignity of archimandrite to Plato and decided to appoint him rector in one of the Moscow monasteries. But Plato took leave for a solitary life in the Kiev-Pechersky monastery.

After the coronation, Plato on September 19, 1742 in the Assumption Cathedral, in Moscow, in the presence of the empress, was consecrated bishop of Sarsky and Podonsky (Krutitsky) , in the newly vacated seat of Archbishop Leonid , who had retired on September 1.

In 1744, His Grace Plato was appointed a member of the Synod and received the rank of archbishop . Staying in Moscow, His Grace Plato was the first member of the Moscow St. Synod of the Office and managed the Moscow diocese , since the Moscow department was widowed after the death of Joseph Volchansky .

March 21, 1748 Plato was appointed Archbishop of Moscow and Vladimir; On May 16, the title of Archbishop of Moscow and Sevsky was established for him.

In 1751 he was summoned to Petersburg to attend the Synod.

In diocesan history, the bishop is remembered for distinguishing his own diocesan administration from the region of the former patriarchal, then synodal administration in Moscow; he founded the diocesan department in the Miracle Monastery , removed the diocesan consistory from the synodal house, introduced subdeacons separate from the synodal ones, laid the foundation for his bishop's Miracle Choir, which became famous, appointed special confessors, examiners, proteges, etc.

The administration of his Moscow diocese was marked by the arrangement of church houses for clergy, the abolition of corporal punishment for the laity, the establishment of the office of deanery .

As the diocesan administrator, His Grace Plato was a man of enlightened and humane views, caring, attentive. By district order for the diocese in 1753, he ordered the clergy to study the catechetical doctrine and everything related to their position. The monasteries of the monasteries recommended treating subordinates not cruelly, but meekly, asserting them in a monastic life not as a rod of rage and beating, but in a word of gentle instruction and their own life; their weaknesses to endure patiently, to hold the rod of government without pride over subordinates, and in the knowledge that the holder of such a rod is the helmsman of the spiritual ship; shepherd the flock handed to her flock, as her children, to show equal love to all, to comfort the faint-hearted, the weak to affirm and heal with the spirit of meekness. The instruction to the Dean, issued by the Reverend, contained detailed and caring instructions on almost all sides of the diocesan life. This instruction served as a guide for a long time, until it was replaced by the instruction of Plato (Levshin) .

The bishop, according to the historian of the Moscow Diocesan Administration, was the patron of clerical education, the defender of the clergy from the oppression of strong and noble people so usual at that time, and the zealot of a speedy and fair trial.

He died at the first hour of the morning on June 15, 1754 and was buried in the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Church of the Chudov Monastery.

After his death, only 20 rubles remained, and those, according to his will, were distributed to the poor.

• The second weekly second word of St. Of the Spirit. M., 1742.
• Two words on the namesake of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. M., 1744 and M., 1746.
• Two words for Elizabeth's birthday. M., 1745, M., 1752.
• Word on the day of the accession of Elizabeth to the throne. M., 1747.
• A letter rejecting the hierarchy (for example, in the article of Chistovich Feofan Prokopovich).
• [Abridged Christian Theology] (study guide for the ancient academy). On September 5th. M., 1746.

• Runkevich S. G. Plato (Malinovsky) // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M. , 1896-1918.
• Plato (Malinovsky) // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.