Joseph (Patriarch of Moscow)

Almost nothing is known about his life before the patriarchate; there is evidence that he was from Vladimir , where his sibling served as the catholic archpriest.

In 1636, also on the day of the Holy Resurrection, he dined with Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich with Tomila Lugovsky ; besides them there were three boyars and one deceased ^[2] .

Since 1639 - Archimandrite of the Simonov Monastery .

On March 20, 1642, he was elected to the patriarchal throne, which had been vacant for about a year and a half, after the widow's long widowhood. For the first time in the elections, lots were used. Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich himself wrote for the election the names of six candidates for the patriarchal throne (among them was Joseph), sealed the notes with the imperial seal and sent them to the Council. The saints first took three lots and invested in the panagia worn by the previous patriarchs, laid the panagia in front of the image of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, and after the prayer service took out one of the three lots. So did the other three lots. And again pulled one. For the third time, they put in the panagia two previously drawn lots, again they served a prayer service, pulled out one lot and, without printing, sent it to the king. The king opened the lot in the presence of his synclite . Archimandrite Joseph turned out to be the chosen one.

On March 27, 1642, Joseph was solemnly intronized to the Moscow throne. Personally, he was modest; he defined his tasks as pastoral; he did not differ in authority at the head of the Church.

He took measures to instill school education in Moscow, for which he wrote out scientists from Kiev. In 1649, the directors of the Moscow printing house prepared the polemic Short Catechism of Peter the Grave for publication “for teaching children”. The educational literature, presented previously only by special Psalms, Watchmakers, Alphabets and Primers, was replenished with the “Grammar” of Meletius Smotrytsky (1648).

He cared for the improvement of churches and the magnificence of church service. At the consecration of the church in the name of the holy prophet of God Elijah in Yaroslavl in 1650, the patriarch brought as a gift to the new church a piece of the robe of the Lord.

He published a printed “Teaching” to priests, laity and priests, and a number of other messages. The Hierarchy of Joseph is marked by intensive publishing and the revitalization of church thought (the Moscow circle of "zealots of piety" , the beginning of the activities of future irreconcilable opponents of Habakkuk and Nikon , etc.). Church books published under Joseph were the last, reflecting the Donikon revision of texts and ritualism. Therefore, they were subsequently highly regarded and reprinted by the Old Believers . The most important event of the patriarchate of Joseph was the publication of liturgical and church-teaching books, in such quantities as they were not published under any of his predecessors, partly previously published, partly new, and other editions in his patriarchate were repeated several times (Psalm , liturgical and educational at the same time - eight times, other liturgical books - from two to five times; a total of 19 liturgical books were published).

With him, the Council Code was published ( 1649 ) and many saints were canonized; including the relics of St. Alexander Svirsky (1643), the rightful prince George Vsevolodovich (1645), Cyril Novoezersky (1648), Anna Kashinsky (1649), Savva Storozhevsky (January 19, 1652), the relics were carried out with him Patriarch Hermogenes , Patriarch Job .

Relations between Patriarch Joseph and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich were not easy. Having ascended to the patriarchal throne already in old age, he could not be such an adviser to the young tsar, as for the tsar, the patriarch Filaret , and after him the patriarch Nikon . Relations especially escalated in the last years of the patriarch’s life, during his conflict with the circle of “God-lovers”. Patriarch Joseph unsuccessfully fought against the introduction of unanimous singing and reading in the churches, on which the “God-lovers”, led by the tsar’s confessor Stefan Vonifatiev, insisted. At the beginning of 1649, Patriarch Joseph convened a Church Council, whose participants condemned the opponents of disagreement, when at the same time various parts of the service were performed in different places of the church. For example, in one place shepalsalm was read, in another - kathismas , in the third - a canon or some stichera were sung. However, the initiator of this case was Metropolitan Nikon of Novgorod, who in the last years of the life of Patriarch Joseph enjoyed great influence in Moscow and managed church affairs. Meanwhile, Tsar Aleksey Mikhailovich supported his confessor and did not approve of the deed sent to him. Moreover, he refused the patriarch the demand to punish Stefan Vonifatiev for publicly vilifying the swear words of the patriarch and members of the “consecrated cathedral”. A sharp explanation between the patriarch and the royal confessor occurred precisely because of the decision of the Council of 1649. In a council code of 1651 on unanimity, the patriarch wrote: "The third summer is a behem from the wedding, suffering slanderous wounds."

On April 5, 1652, during a meeting of the relics of Patriarch Job, the elderly saint said to the tsar: “Look, my lord, how good it is to stand for the truth, and glory after death.”

He died on April 15, 1652 , without waiting for the relics of Metropolitan Philip of Moscow to arrive in Moscow, for which Metropolitan Nikon , the future patriarch, was sent to Solovki and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich . He was buried in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow, next to the tomb of the first patriarch Job , in a place that he himself indicated shortly before his death.

After the death of Patriarch Joseph, there remained a large amount of cash that he collected, wanting to buy land for himself. Patriarch Joseph did not leave his wills, and all his accumulations, at the direction of the king, were mainly distributed to monasteries and churches.

On his patriarchate and demise, a special story was composed by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who joined the throne under him. It very vividly depicts the scene of agony during the gathering and decomposition of the body of the deceased:

... but I myself look at the face of Evo, and it swells immensely. That whole beard was cringing, and her face was swollen pink ... We kissed on the hat and on the hand, and it was by no means impossible to open our faces ...

- Bogatyrev A. A. Letters of “Silent” // Moscow Journal. - 2012. - No. 12 . - S. 24 . - ISSN 0868–7110 .

• Rank of Election to the Patriarchal Russian Throne, 1640 "Ancient Russian Vivlofika", part 6. M., 1788.
• Message from the Moscow Patriarch Joseph to the relics of Patriarch Job, when they were transferred from Staritsa to Moscow, “Christian Reading”, St. Petersburg, 1885. Part 2.
• The petition for Patriarch Joseph of 1649, February 11, to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich against the tsar’s confessor, the Annunciation Archpriest Stefan Vonifatievich, complaining that Stephen publicly abused his Patriarch and the whole consecrated Cathedral M., 1887.
• Joseph (Dyakov) on the site "Russian Orthodoxy".
• T. A. Oparina, S. M. Shamin. IOSIF // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2011. - T. XXV. - S. 594-601. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-89572-046-2 .