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History of the Church of Russia

A. N. Mouravieff, tr. Blackmore, 1842

Appendix 1: An Account of the Coming of the Patriarch Jeremiah into Russia

In the year 7095 from the creation of the world, and 1587 from the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, during the reign of Theodore Ivanovich, the pious Tsar and Great Prince of All Russia, and the Pontificate of Job as metropolitan of Moscow, there came from the East into Russia, Jeremiah, archbishop of Constantinople or New Rome, and Œcumenical patriarch, in quest of alms to relieve the necessities of his Church. He was the second patriarch who had come into our country during the mild reign of Theodore.

Two years previously to this, Joachim, patriarch of Antioch and All the East, had visited Russia, likewise in quest of alms, by way of Astrachan and Kazan; and the pious Tsar had been so gratified at seeing the magnificence of the ceremonial of the Church heightened by the presence of a prelate of his exalted rank, that he conceived the idea of raising the rank of the Metropolitans of All Russia; for although they had hitherto reckoned themselves to form part of the patriarchate of Constantinople, they had long since surpassed every one of the Œcumenical patriarchs in power and in the extent of their jurisdiction¹. At that time the sage Dionysius Grammaticus was still metropolitan; and his meeting with the prelate of Antioch may with every probability be said to have first suggested to the Tsar the idea of instituting a new patriarchate. For when the patriarch in the church of the Assumption of the Most Immaculate Mother of God, after having saluted the holy Icons, went to salute Dionysius, the metropolitan moved from his place not more than about six feet, and gave him his benediction first; after which, the patriarch blessed the metropolitan, and slightly remarked at the time that it would have been more proper that he should first have received the benediction from him; and then made no more observations on that point. The Autocrat, however, did not thus drop the subject, but after having considered it over with his pious consort Irene, he took counsel with his boyars, and addressed them thus:

“Originally, in the time of our forefathers, the Sovereigns, Great Princes, and religious Tsars of Kieff, Vladimir, and Moscow, our intercessors with God the metropolitans of Kieff, Vladimir, Moscow, and All Russia, were appointed by the Œcumenical patriarchs of Constantinople: afterwards, by the Grace of Almighty God, and of the Most Immaculate Mother of God, our Protectress, and by the prayers of the great Wonder-workers of All Russia, and with the knowledge and advice of the Œcumenical patriarchs, there began to be appointed metropolitans in the kingdom of Moscow itself, by the direction and election of our forefathers and the whole Sacred Synod of the archbishops and bishops of the Russian kingdom; which has lasted even to our own reign. But now, through His great and unspeakable mercy, God has pleased that we should see the great Patriarch of Antioch come unto us; for which let us give thanks unto the Lord; and in the mean time let us seek from Him yet another grace, that He will manifest to us His loving-kindness, and give us in our dominions of Moscow a patriarch of the Russian kingdom: and let us confer, for the purpose of effecting this, with the Most Holy Joachim, and so arrange with him, as to obtain the blessing of all the patriarchs for the Patriarchate of Moscow.”

By the desire of the Tsar, his brother-in-law, the privy counsellor and master of the horse Boris Theodorovich Godounoff, made a communication respecting the royal speech to the patriarch of Antioch, “that he should consult on it with the Œcumenical patriarch, and he with the other two of Alexandria and Jerusalem, and with all the Sacred Council of the Greek empire, and communicate also with the Holy Mountain and with Mount Sinai; that it might please God so great a work might be happily brought to pass in the kingdom of Russia, to the honour of the Christian faith; and that they should take counsel together, and make known in what way it might most properly be done.” The Patriarch Joachim having heard this speech, said:

“It is well known to us patriarchs, as well as to all those Christians who are in Greece and elsewhere, that your sovereign is a lover of religion and of Christ; that he is gracious to his own Christian people, and that he looks with eyes of compassion on those afflictions and persecutions, which we suffer from the ungodly Hagarenes. And we pray our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and His most pure Mother, and all the Saints, who have pleased God from the beginning, that the Lord would bestow upon your sovereign all the wish of his heart, and give him health for many years to come, and victory over his enemies, and dispose his reign in peace. And it would indeed well become so great a heritage as this is in his kingdom of Russia, if it should ever please God to set up over it a patriarch; only, without first conferring with the patriarch of Constantinople and the other two, and with all the Sacred Council, it is impossible to do this; for it is indeed a great work, and one which requires the whole Council. But for us, since we have now heard what discourse has been held by your pious Tsar, we will begin to take counsel together respecting the matter; and will send to the Holy Mountain and to Sinai, and will heartily pray to God for grace, that by His Almighty power, He may bring it to pass.”

The Tsar, after having made ample presents to the patriarch, dismissed him with honour; and, the next year, there came to Moscow a Greek named Nicholas, with information that the patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch had communicated to him verbally respecting the wish of the Tsar, to have a patriarch for Russia; that they had consulted together, and had sent to the patriarchs of Alexandria and Jerusalem, and had desired them to come to Constantinople, in order to hold a council on the matter; and that they proposed to send the patriarch of Jerusalem from the council, with directions how to ordain a patriarch.

The coming of the Most Holy Œcumenical Patriarch Jeremiah was on this wise. In June 1588, the voivodes of Smolensk, the Prince Michael Katireff Rostofsky and the Boyar Prince Theodore Shestounoff, wrote to inform the sovereign that the patriarch of Constantinople had arrived there; and that he was accompanied by Hierotheus, metropolitan of Monembasia, and Arsenius, archbishop of Elasson, together with many monks and merchants, and servants; whom they were detaining, till they should receive the orders of the Tsar, in Smolensk; and in the mean time they forwarded the following letter from the patriarch.

“Jeremiah, by the grace of God, archbishop of Constantinople, which is New Rome, and patriarch of the whole universe, to the religious, the chosen of God, the pacific and glorious Autocrat, the Tsar of all the land of Russia, of Moscow, Kazan, Astrachan, Novogorod, &c.! We pray God that thy reign may last many years in peace from all enemies, visible and invisible, to be a praise and blessing to all the earth, and to all good Christians. We had heard of thy kingdom, even during the life of thy father of blessed memory, and we wished and would have been glad then to come to thy country, that we might enjoy the grace of being in a Christian land. We had heard also of the piety of the great Tsar, thy father; what devotion he shewed to all the Churches of God, and how that he ordered the affairs of his kingdom well, and in the love of God, and worthily of the kingdom of Heaven: but the times were then so calamitous as to prevent my going; there came upon us many vexations, necessities, and persecutions. I was thrown into prison by the unbelievers; and all this is already well known in thy dominions. But now, by the mercy of God, we have escaped from this persecution, and having obtained leave, we have come from Constantinople, and are arrived at a province of thy kingdom which is Smolensk, and we lose no time in writing to thee this letter, to ask if thou wilt be pleased to permit us to enter into thy kingdom; and we here await thy answer whether we are to come or not. For ourselves we have made all preparation that we could in order to promote the interests of our great Church. We write to thee this letter in God’s name, and await thy royal commands: and may Almighty God preserve thy throne for many years, and give it His blessing and defence. Amen.”

As soon as the Tsar Theodore had received this intelligence from his voivodes, with the prelate’s letter, he immediately despatched to Smolensk to meet the patriarch a commissioner of honour named Simeon Poushechnikoff, with an order to the voivodes to allow the Most Holy Jeremiah and his suite to proceed with all honour to Moscow, to supply him with suitable provisions and carriages for the journey, and to furnish him with an escort of Esquires from Smolensk. And at the same time he ordered Silvester, bishop of Smolensk, to receive the patriarch in his cathedral church of The Most Holy Virgin the Conductress with all possible state, as was usual at the reception of the Metropolitans of All Russia; and that it should be public, and in the presence of all the people. He also ordered that an honorary supply of provisions should be sent to the patriarch, the metropolitan, and the archbishop, as from himself. But while Theodore thus shewed his piety, in his joyful reception of the great prelate, he did not the less, as a prudent ruler, think it right to take certain necessary measures of political precaution. In the answer which he wrote to the voivodes, he expressed displeasure at their negligence, for “did they,” asked he, “only know of the coming of the patriarch, when he had actually arrived where they were? had he travelled from the frontiers of Lithuania seventy versts, as if he had been in a foreign territory, without meeting any where with any watch or guard; a thing which had never before occurred? and then had they not asked him how he had passed through Lithuania? and whether it was by the decision of all the patriarchs that he had left Constantinople? also of the particulars of the meeting itself they had sent no information; that now however to ask the patriarch such questions would no longer be becoming, but only in future they should be more cautious; and that they should send to the government office an inventory of all the wares and goods which were with him or the people of his train.”

The Tsar also gave his commissioner a memorandum of the manner in which he was to receive the patriarch, and attend on him during the journey with all possible care and respect; also that he was to endeavour to learn privately on the road, from his monks and attendants, what was the purpose of the Most Holy Jeremiah’s visit to him? and whether he had any communication for him from the other patriarchs? who had taken his place at Constantinople? and where was Theoleptus who had been patriarch before him? and which of the two would be patriarch upon his return? He ordered him also to make enquiries, whether any army of the Turkish Sultan had been sent in any direction? whether he was at war with the Shah of Persia? or at peace with the kings of France and Spain, and with the Emperor? also, how the patriarch had passed through Lithuania? whether he had seen the king? and who was king there then? and whether he had been at the Sessions of the Nobles? whether he brought any news from Lithuania, or had any natives of that country in his suite? He was to send and inform the Tsar exactly of all these particulars, after leaving Mojaisk; and was to send again from the last place at which he would have to halt near Moscow, and there he was to remain till he received permission to enter the city.

When he had been ten days on the road (the thirteenth of June) another commissioner of state, Gregory Naschokin, met the patriarch close to the capital at the ferry of the Milofskay road over the river Moskva, and in the name of the sovereign enquired after his health, as well as after that of the metropolitan and the archbishop; and so conducted them, by the best places, past the Dvorianoy Dvor, through the Quarter of the Streltsi, close to the city to the Tverskay Gates; then from the Tverskay street, by the Jitnoy Dvor, past the Artillery Yard, to the town lodge of the see of Riazan. Orders had been given that they should be accommodated there with all possible honour; but till they should be received by the Tsar, no Greek nor other foreigner was to be admitted to see them, except those who were sent by the boyars and the spiritual authorities to compliment them with presents of provisions; and in the mean time the Wallachians and Lithuanians were to be conducted to the Court or Hostel specially appropriated for the reception of Lithuanians. The commissioners received directions to communicate only with the Council of the Boyars, and to do nothing without the order of Andrew Schelkaloff the secretary of embassy.

After a week had passed, on the twenty-first of June, being Sunday, the Tsar desired the patriarch of Constantinople’s presence at his court; and the patriarch accordingly made his solemn entry into the Kremlin seated on an ass, and alighted on the elevated pavement before the church of the Annunciation, while the metropolitan and the archbishop, under the conduct of the Tsar’s commissioners, alighted from their horses before they arrived, without riding in. The Sons of the Boyars or Esquires and the Officers of the Courts of Justice, dressed in robes covered with gold, lined the steps of the lofty flight of stairs, where the patriarch was to be first met by Tatischeff, a boyar of the council, and Tiounoff, secretary of the court, and also the passage room at the middle staircase, where the patriarch was met the second time by the Lord of the Presence, the Prince Lobanoff-Rostofsky, and the Secretary of the Court of Requests, Sapoun Ivanoff.

In the Beautiful Corner of the Golden Hall of the Sign Manual, on a throne of great richness, was seated the religious sovereign himself, with his crown on his head, vested in his royal robes, and holding a richly-carved sceptre in his hands, a golden orb figuring the universe lying by his side. About him stood all his boyars, the lords of the presence and the courtiers, in robes covered with gold. The Treasurer Trachanioutoff announced with a loud voice the arrival of the patriarch in these words: “The Most Holy Jeremiah, patriarch of Constantinople, and Hierotheus the metropolitan of Monembasia, make their humble petition to thee, O Tsar.” Then the Tsar rose from his place, and advanced about half a fathom to meet the patriarch. The prelate first of all made his reverence to the holy Icon of our Heavenly Lady, which shone with a blaze of precious stones immediately over the throne, from under a rich canopy; he then lifted his hands on high, and offered up a fervent prayer for the health and long life of the Tsar, that his name might be glorious both in the East and West, and that it would please God to give him the blessing of heirs to reign after him; and having thus prayed, he blessed him by signing over his bended heaven-crowned head the sign of the holy Cross.

In his turn, the Tsar prayed that he might have the fulfilment of all the prelate’s good wishes, and thanked him, and said, “In a happy hour has thy Holiness visited our kingdom during my reign; has the Lord been gracious to thee by the way?” The patriarch replied—“By the mercy of God, and thy royal goodness, I have come into thy kingdom in good health, and have forgotten all my toils at the sight of thy royal countenance.”

On this he offered to the monarch the presents he had brought for him as a blessing: a gold Panagia with morsels of the life-giving Cross, of the Robe of the Lord, and of that of the Mother of God, encased within it, as well as portions of the instruments of our Lord’s passion, the Spear, the Reed, the Sponge, and the Crown of Thorns. Also, certain holy relics in a silver case, a hand of the Apostle-like Emperor Constantine, which Sultan Solyman had brought away out of Servia and had given to a former patriarch Jeremiah for the cathedral of the Mother of God, and another hand, of St. James one of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. Another golden Panagia and some relics of the holy Martyrs Solomonia and Marina of Antioch were destined as a blessing for the acceptance of the pious Tsaritsa Irene.

The Tsar ordered the Treasurer Trachanioutoff to receive these holy presents, and having seated himself again on his raised throne, desired the patriarch to sit down close by him on a bench placed on his right hand, and the metropolitan and archbishop at a little interval farther off. Then the treasurer brought forth the presents of the monarch:—for the patriarch, a double-handled silver cup, and four pieces of figured velvet, some damask silk, four-score sables, and three hundred roubles in money; while for the metropolitan there were carried to his lodgings, one silver cup, three pieces of velvet, besides damask and mohair, two-score sables, and fifty roubles in money. The archbishop of Elasson did not partake of the royal bounty, as he had been already at Moscow once before, and had received rich presents from the Tsar John, since which time he had constantly resided in Lithuania, and had never returned to his own ecclesiastical diocese. After this, Andrew Schelkaloff, secretary of embassy, announced in the Tsar’s name, that in accordance with the patriarch’s own wish, orders to confer with him had been given to Boris Theodorovich Godounoff, privy counsellor, master of the horse, brother-in-law to the Tsar, and governor of Kazan and Astrachan; and that the Tsar of his bounty would send him provisions to his lodgings from his own table. The Most Holy Jeremiah, having once more given his blessing to the monarch, went out from the presence with the commissioners and all his suite into the Small Audience Chamber, whither the Boyar Godounoff, accompanied by two secretaries, soon followed him. Schelkaloff then presented him to the patriarch, and Godounoff, after he had asked his blessing, enquired after the prelate’s health, and received this answer: “By the mercy of God we have made the journey in good health; but what has done me most good is, that I have seen the light of the Tsar’s countenance.”

They both seated themselves, as did also the secretaries, by permission of the patriarch; but the bishops and the monks were desired by the boyar to withdraw to an anteroom: he then told the patriarch that by the will of the monarch, and in accordance with his own desire expressed through the commissioners, he had been sent to confer with him on certain matters, and begged him to inform him what was the cause of his coming, and also who was patriarch in Constantinople during his absence? further, of the circumstances of his passage through Lithuania? and what his communications had been with the Pans of the Council and the chancellor? The patriarch replied:

“I was patriarch in Constantinople, when for my sins, and the sins of all the Greek Christians, the Turkish Sultan rose up against the Church of God. The cause of all was a Greek, who had been originally with me, but ran away, turned Mahometan, and became Kapoudgi to the Sultan. He then began to speak to him many slanderous words against me, and to descant on our great riches and hoards, and describe the splendour of the ornaments and furniture of the church, where my predecessors had resided; saying, that its sacred vessels were beyond all number or price. Besides this, Theoleptus began to buy over the Pashas to make him patriarch, and offered to give the Sultan two thousand pieces of gold more than the usual present. As for me in my old age, I had already desired to abdicate my throne, and to choose a successor in my place with the consent of the other patriarchs, the metropolitans, and the whole sacred synod, according to the custom in former time. But the Turkish Sultan broke through the firmans which his predecessors had granted to the patriarchs at the taking of Constantinople, and by which they had promised not to interfere in any thing with the spiritual orders, and commanded, without any reference to our synod, that Theoleptus should be patriarch. But when I upon this remonstrated freely and in many words with the Pashas, that the faith of the Sultan’s predecessors should not be broken, Sultan Mourat made a persecution against the Church of God, and inflicted disgrace upon me, and banished me to the White sea, to the island of Rhodes, where I remained in disgrace four years. In the mean time Theoleptus was patriarch of Constantinople. But in his fifth year, the Sultan deposed him, seized upon and confiscated the Church of God, and all the buildings belonging to it, and converted it into a mosque; and then sent for me to be again patriarch. I arrived in Constantinople,—I there see the Church of God destroyed, and converting into a mosque, its property all plundered, and the cells of the Religious in ruins. The Sultan then sent for me, and ordered me to build a patriarchal church and cells in some other part of Constantinople. But I had no means to do this: all that had been in our treasury had been plundered: and so with the consent of the synod, I petitioned the Sultan to permit me to go to collect alms for the building of a church to Christian countries; and he gave me permission. Now therefore, since I had heard before of the piety of your Christian monarch, I have come hither, to see his royal countenance, and to be witness of his Orthodox faith, and to ask for his alms, that he would shew mercy upon us, and assist us in our afflictions and distresses; and there is now no other patriarch in Constantinople.

“I came into Lithuania; and when I had arrived at Lvoff, I sent to the chancellor, John Zamoisky, to the city of Zamosk, to procure a pass; and the chancellor desired me to come to him, where I found one of the first noblemen of the Prince Maximilian of Austria; and the chancellor informed me, at our interview, that the high ambassadors of the sovereigns had been at the election; and that the Polish nobles had chosen Sigismund, son of the king of Sweden, to be their king, and had crowned him; but that then it was not clear who was their king. Jegimont in Cracow, and the Council of the Pans had chosen for themselves another king, Maximilian of Austria, and he was in Krasnoy-Staff; and, that for their sins, they could come to no agreement respecting their king.”

The patriarch further said, that he had some secret communications to make; and when Godounoff had heard them, which took no long time, he promised to report them to the Tsar, and then dismissed the patriarch with honour, to the town lodge of the see of Riazan; shortly afterwards the pious monarch, after having consulted with his consort, thus addressed his boyars:

“Some time ago, there came hither to us from Antioch the Most Holy Patriarch Joachim, and we then took counsel with you, O Boyars, to the end that our Lord God might grant us His mercy, and permit the establishment of a patriarch in this our kingdom of Moscow. The Most Holy Joachim engaged to consult on this with the other patriarchs. But now, by the great, and unspeakable mercy of God, there has come to us the Most Holy Jeremiah himself, the patriarch of Constantinople and the Universe, the like of which has never hitherto occurred in the time of any of our ancestors, that a patriarch should come hither from so great and principal a place in the Christian world, as the orthodox city of Constantinople; and we, after praying for the mercy of God, have determined that the patriarch of Constantinople should reside in our capital city of Vladimir.” The monarch then ordered his brother-in-law to confer with the patriarch on the possibility of his remaining and taking up his residence in the kingdom of Russia, in the former capital of Vladimir.

But in the mean time, while the Tsar was deliberating, many days and weeks passed, and the Most Holy Jeremiah began to petition to be allowed to take his leave for Constantinople, when the brother-in-law of the monarch visited him; and having received his patriarchal blessing, enquired respecting his health in the names of the Tsar, and Tsaritsa, and then spoke to him thus, in private.

“Our religious and Christian monarch has ordered me to impart to you, Most Holy Patriarch, his royal views. He in time past signified his wish by the patriarch of Antioch to you, and to the other patriarchs, that you would all confer together for the institution of a patriarchate in the kingdom of Russia, to the honour and promotion of the Christian Faith. And now thou hast informed him, that for the sins of the Christians, the Turkish Sultan has made an attack upon the Church of God, has persecuted thee, and made the patriarchate itself his prey. Our religious sovereign, therefore, begs your holiness to remain in the kingdom of Russia, and to be patriarch on the throne of Vladimir and all Great Russia; that by so doing, you may vindicate your claim to the title of Œcumenical patriarch, and he promises ample endowments to you and yours.”

The patriarch replied:—“To the Tsar and Great Prince, and to his religious Tsaritsa, we return many thanks for their magnificent offers to me. Our brother of Antioch informed our Humility of the pious wish of the monarch, and we agreed in council, that it would well become the honour of the kingdom of Russia, that a patriarch should be instituted for it; and I myself do not recede from this decision: only it will not be possible for me to reside in Vladimir, since the patriarch should always be near the throne, and that would be a strange kind of patriarch, who should live at a distance from his sovereign. Besides this, my bishops and presbyters and all the brethren of the Church of Constantinople write to me with tears, that I should return to them; and indeed it is time for me to return to that Church, which I have taken charge of as of a mother, that I may tend her in her old age and necessity, and support many of her children, who leave her stripped of all consolation, forgetting that they have received all the good they have from her.”

The great monarch, on receiving the answer of the patriarch, was disappointed; and repeatedly sent his brother-in-law to confer with him on the same matter; but the Most Holy Jeremiah would not consent. On this the Tsar convoked his council, and said thus; “We had proposed, that the Œcumenical Patriarch Jeremiah should abide with us, and fill the throne of Vladimir, and all Great Russia; and that our father and beadsman, the Metropolitan Job, should remain as before in this our royal city of Moscow. But the Most Holy Jeremiah will not assent to this, unless we allow him to reside in Moscow, at the church of the Immaculate Mother of God. We however cannot bring ourselves to remove from the church of the Most Pure Virgin and from the tombs of the Wonder-workers such a man as our Father Job, the successor and fellow of those great saints, Peter, Alexis, and Jonah, a man of such an irreproachable life, so reverend and holy, and to place a Greek patriarch in his room, who does not know either our laws or customs; and with whom I could not converse on any spiritual matters without an interpreter. But now let us again take counsel that the Œcumenical Patriarch Jeremiah may bless, and appoint to be patriarch of Vladimir, a member of the Russian synod our father the Metropolitan Job, according to the same order by which he appoints the patriarchs of Alexandria, and Jerusalem; and that we may obtain from him the order of appointment, that for the future our patriarchs may be appointed in the kingdom of Russia by their own synod; and that for this purpose there should be instituted more metropolitans, and the number of archbishops and bishops should be increased in those cities where they are most required.”

On the thirteenth of January Boris Godounoff, accompanied by the Secretary Andrew Schelkaloff, drove again to the lodgings of the Œcumenical patriarch, and delivered to him this message from the Tsar, “that if the Most Holy Jeremiah does not choose to be himself patriarch of Vladimir and All Russia, he will be pleased at all events to appoint in his stead such member of the Russian synod as the Lord God, the Most Immaculate Mother of God, and the great Wonder-workers of Moscow shall elect: for our religious ancestors the Tsars our predecessors received baptism in the Christian faith, and the most reverend metropolitans of Kieff their appointment, from the patriarchs of the Church of Constantinople; and this faith they have steadfastly maintained. And do thou, O Most Holy Jeremiah, who art also, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, their successor in the apostolical throne, perfect in our time the work of thy predecessors.” The patriarch, after having conferred at length with the boyar, replied: “Of a truth the Holy Spirit abideth in your religious Tsar, his thought has been inspired from God; and so also has this proper way of bringing it about. Since old Rome has fallen through the Apollinarian heresy², and Constantinople, which is New Rome, is in the possession of the unbelieving Turks the children of Hagar, the great kingdom of Russia has surpassed all others put together in piety, and your Orthodox sovereign is named throughout all the world as the sole pattern of a Christian king. Therefore, by the providence of God, and by the prayers of the Most Immaculate Virgin and the intercession of the great Wonder-workers Peter, Alexis, and Jonah, and by the advice of the Tsar, let this great work be accomplished.” He then gave his blessing for the election to proceed according to the wish of the monarch; and consented that, for the future, the patriarchs should be appointed in the kingdom of Russia by their own metropolitans, according to the order of the Church; and for himself he requested that he might be allowed to take his leave and return to Constantinople.

On the nineteenth day of January, 1589, there met in the royal city of Moscow a great spiritual synod of the whole kingdom of Russia: the Most Reverend Job metropolitan of All Russia, Alexander archbishop of Great Novogorod and Pskoff, Jeremiah archbishop of Kazan and Sviajsk, Barlaam of Rostoff and Yaroslavla, Job bishop of Souzdal and Torouss, Metrophanes bishop of Riazan and Mourom, Silvester bishop of Smolensk and Briansk, Zachariah bishop of Tver and Kashinsk, Joseph bishop of Kolomna and Cashirsk, Gelasius bishop of Sarai and Podonsk, and many archimandrites, hegumens, and monks, were present at the council. The great Monarch, having first informed them of his consultations with both patriarchs, and of the consent of the Most Holy Jeremiah to appoint a patriarch for the kingdom of Moscow, ordered them to consult together, in order that God might grant them to see so great and glorious a work perfected in the kingdom of Russia: and all the sacred synod testified a ready zeal to further his royal wishes. The Tsar then ordered the secretary of embassy, Andrew Schelkaloff, an experienced and learned man, and already advanced in years, to question the Most Holy Jeremiah as to the manner of appointing a patriarch; and the patriarch told him that it was according to the same order as that for the appointment of metropolitans; and gave him briefly drawn out in writing the order for the election and nomination, according to the pattern of the great Church at Constantinople; the contents of which were as follows:

“Whomsoever the Tsar desires to be patriarch he shall send two persons to his cell to inform him that the Tsar and the patriarch wish to nominate him; and they should do this privately. And when they finish chanting the Evening Service in the synod, after the Moleben³, the patriarch elect shall take a wax-light in his hand, and a roll of paper in which are written his thanks to the Tsar, the patriarch, and all the synod. One of the officers from about the Tsar’s person shall then come into the church and stand with a wax-light in his hand over against him, and shall say: ‘The Holy Tsar, and the Most Holy Patriarch Jeremiah and all the Sacred Synod have commanded me to speak to thee: they call on you to ascend the throne of Vladimir and Moscow, and All Russia.’ Then he who is nominated gives this answer to the officer of the Tsar: ‘Since the sovereign, and the Œcumenical Lord Jeremiah, together with the whole Sacred Synod, have chosen me, sinner though I am, to such an exalted dignity, I return them my thanks for it, and will take upon myself the office.’ After this the patriarch elect shall invite the whole Sacred Synod and the people to pray for him, that he may be enabled to keep this flock of the Lord.”

But the religious Tsar Theodore ordered further that the ordinance of his father of blessed memory, for the appointment of the Metropolitan Dionysius Grammaticus, should be written out, and having compared it with the order of the patriarch, he composed out of them an order according to his own mind, for the election and nomination of the patriarchs; for which however he previously sent to obtain the consent of the Most Holy Jeremiah in the name of the whole synod, by Barlaam archbishop of Rostoff, and Silvester bishop of Smolensk, accompanied by many archimandrites and hegumens.

On the day appointed, being Thursday the 23rd of January, the whole sacred synod of archbishops, bishops, archimandrites, and hegumens, assembled in the apostolical church of the Most Immaculate Virgin, and chanted Molebens⁴ to the great Wonder-workers. Two of the bishops, Job of Souzdal, and Metrophanes of Riazan, together with many canonarchs and monks, were sent again to the Most Holy Jeremiah to invite him to come to the national synod of Russia; and the patriarch, on their entreaty, arose and proceeded, amidst the ringing of bells, by the Kitai-Gorod and the Kremlin to the church, where he was met and received at three several times; first, before he had yet reached the church, by Gelasius bishop of the Steeps in his mandya, with twelve archimandrites and hegumens in their most splendid robes of ceremony; secondly, at the steps, by the three bishops of Smolensk, Tver, and Kolomna, accompanied by five more superiors of the greatest monasteries; and lastly, by the three archbishops of Novogorod, Kazan, and Rostoff, with the archimandrite of the Trinity Lavra, and the fathers of the cathedral, at the doors. The Most Holy Jeremiah entered into the church, and signed himself with the sign of the Cross before the holy Icons, and having first given his benediction to the Great Council of the bishops, he conferred in a low voice with them respecting the election: then he took his stand in his proper place as patriarch, while the bishops all went up to the head of the cathedral, to choose a spiritual head for the Church, to the chapel of the Praise of the Mother of God, which is above the vestry in the cupola.

There after having prayed, they took their seats and conferred together, and then wrote down the election in clear words, and confirmed it by the signatures of their hands: “By permission of our Lord God Almighty, the eternal Father, his co-eternal and only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ, and the all-holy life-giving Spirit, and by the prayers of the Most Immaculate Mother of God, and ever-Virgin Mary, and of the holy and great Wonder-workers, the Most Reverend Metropolitans of Kieff and All Russia, Peter, Alexis, and Jonah, and by the will of our heaven-crowned Tsar, Lord, and Great Prince, Theodore Ivanovich, Autocrat of All Russia, and by the blessing of Jeremiah the Œcumenical patriarch, of Hierotheus Greek metropolitan of Monembasia, Tichon archbishop of Kazan and Sviajsk, &c. &c., in the venerable church of the Most Immaculate Mother of God, in the chapel of her Praise, in the divinely-guarded city of Moscow, near the grace-communicating tombs of the great Wonder-workers, we have met in session, and have elected to the most holy and great Russian metropolitan see, of the divinely-guarded city of Moscow, to the apostolic and cathedral church of the Most Immaculate Mother of God, of her honourable and glorious Rest, and of the great Saints and Wonder-workers, Peter, Alexis, and Jonah, to be patriarch, Job metropolitan of All Russia, Alexander archbishop of Great Novogorod and Pskoff, and Barlaam archbishop of Rostoff and Yaroslavla.”

After this they synodically elected three for the metropolitan see of Great Novogorod, the Archbishop Alexander, with two archimandrites, Cyprian of the Trinity Lavra, and Jonah of the monastery of the Nativity in Vladimir: likewise three for the metropolitan see of Rostoff; the Archbishop Barlaam, and the Archimandrites Sergius of the Novospassky and Theodosius of the Choudoff monasteries.

After they had finished these elections, the prelates came down from the cupola of the cathedral to the patriarch, and proceeded with him at their head to the royal palace. The religious monarch met the Most Holy Jeremiah at the doors of the Golden Hall, received his blessing, and enquired after his health: he then sat down on his royal throne, and desired the patriarch to be seated near himself, and all the rest of the synod in order at a slight interval. The secretary of embassy read out the names of those who had been elected to be patriarch; and the Tsar went no further than the name of Job, but forthwith sent three bishops and his own boyar to call him to his presence to the palace. He himself rejoiced in spirit, and rose up, and gave glory to God, for having sent to him the Œcumenical patriarch, to fulfil the wish of his heart; and then afterwards he turned to the patriarch, and thanked him for having come to visit the kingdom of Moscow. The patriarch with emotion replied: “May God, whose providence is over all, fulfil always the pious wishes of the Tsar, and give His blessing upon every thing which is agreeable to his gentle heart.”

The monarch again with all the synod went forth to the doors of the hall to meet the Metropolitan Job. He was desired not to lay aside his crosier to receive the salutation of the patriarch, as he was to be from henceforward his equal, unless the Most Holy Jeremiah himself should lay aside his own. The monarch made a speech to him announcing his election, and the Œcumenical patriarch gave him his blessing. After this the secretary of embassy proclaimed the names of those also who had been elected to be metropolitans of Novogorod and Rostoff; and the Tsar stopped at the first names of those who were before archbishops of the same sees.

The monarch conducted the patriarchs to the outer hall; they both entered the cathedral, but there the order which Jeremiah had proposed was not followed; Job did not read any thing to return thanks to him and to the synod for his election, but the patriarchs merely saluted each other with a kiss in the name of Christ, and so left the cathedral by different doors, each attended by a number of bishops.

The following is a description of the invitation and meeting which awaited the Most Holy Jeremiah on the following Sunday, the twenty-sixth of January, which had been fixed for the institution of the patriarch of Moscow. Three seats, the one covered with golden tissue for the Tsar, the other two with black velvet for the patriarchs, were placed on a raised ambon or dais in the nave of the church; and from thence down the twelve steps of the dais, and all the way up the nave to the sanctuary, three variegated breadths of carpet were laid for the passage of the Tsar and the two patriarchs: benches were placed on either side for the bishops, while in front of the dais was figured on the pavement of the church an eagle with one head, the wings extended, and standing upright on his feet, while under his feet was a city with parapeted walls and towers. The eagle seemed to stand with his claws firmly fixed on the towers; and round about the eagle were twelve monks, to prevent any one but him who was nominated from stepping upon it. But Job the patriarch elect, with a firm voice, standing upon the eagle, before the face of the whole synod sitting on either side, and before the faces of the Tsar and the patriarch sitting aloft in front on the raised dais in their full robes, as before God and His elect Angels, made his profession of the true and uncorrupted faith of Christ, the symbol of the faith, the canons of the seven Œcumenical councils, and the canons of the holy Fathers; and so he went up to the dais and received the benediction of the patriarch and the salutation of the bishops; and after having paid his reverence to the Tsar, he retired back to the upper chapel of the Praise of the Mother of God, till the time should come for his consecration.

When the time approached, and the Œcumenical patriarch, accompanied by the whole synod, had already after the lesser introit left their seats and gone up into the sanctuary, and the choirs were finishing the hymn of the Thrice Holy, the archpriest and the archdeacon⁵ of the cathedral brought out Job the patriarch elect, and led him up before the royal doors, where he was received and conducted into the sanctuary by two metropolitans. And the Œcumenical patriarch, after he had laid his hands upon him, and laid the Gospel open upon his head, invoked the Divine grace on the new patriarch, and repeated over him the whole order for the consecration of a bishop, as though he had need of a double portion of grace to fulfil the duties of his high calling. After this he took him with him according to custom to the High Place⁶ while the Apostle and the Gospel were read; and they both together celebrated the divine Liturgy. The Most Holy Jeremiah made commemoration of the Œcumenical patriarchs, while he was himself commemorated by Job, now patriarch of Moscow. The lamp and the crosier of the patriarch of Constantinople were during the whole time of the service in front of the royal doors.

After the Liturgy was finished, the newly-made patriarch was conducted by the synod to the raised dais in the nave of the church, where they enthroned him three several times on the chair which had been prepared for him, and each time they sang the Polychronion, wishing him many years. The Œcumenical patriarch placed in his hands the sacred staff of the Metropolitan Peter, the Wonder-worker, while the pious Tsar himself placed on his neck a golden Panagia, ornamented with precious stones, and a splendid silk mandya, with three stripes of Venetian silk, embroidered all over with pearls, and a white khlobouk entirely covered with pearls and diamonds, with the sign of our Saviour standing on the top of it, of the most valuable amethysts, with this inscription, “The gift of the Tsar, to the Patriarch Job;” and he placed a second carved crosier in his hands, saying,

“The Almighty and life-giving Trinity, who has entrusted to us the government of the kingdom of Russia, gives thee this great and holy throne of the great Wonder-worker Peter, and the patriarchate of Moscow and All Russia, by the imposition of hands and benediction of the Most Holy Œcumenical Patriarch Jeremiah, and of the holy fathers the archbishops and bishops of our kingdom of Russia; Now therefore, accept O father this pastoral staff, and take the seat of thy primacy, the throne of the great Wonder-worker Peter, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and His Most Immaculate Mother; and pray God, and His Most Immaculate Mother, and the great Wonder-workers Peter, Alexis, Jonah, and all the Saints, for us, and for our Orthodox Tsaritsa, and for all Orthodox Christians, that He may give us and all good Christians what may be good for our souls and bodies; and may the Lord give thee health, and a long life, even for ever and ever! Amen.”

At the court which had been that of the metropolitans, but was henceforth to be the court of the patriarchs, both the prelates waited till they should be called to the royal table; and then, upon being summoned by one of the Lords of the Presence, they entered, accompanied by the whole synod, into the Golden Hall of the Sign Manual. The Greek strangers were astonished at the magnificence of the table, which was covered with gold and silver plate, tankards and cups of different shapes, filled with Malvoisie and Cyprus wines. Carved figures of different animals in precious metal loaded the table; lions and unicorns, bears and wolves, stags, hares, and other wild creatures were placed together, as if they had been in a zoological collection. There were also various kinds of birds; peacocks with their spangled wings and tails, pelicans, eagles, and wonderful ostriches, engaged the sight; nor was there either number, or weight, or price, to the vessels and plate of all kind. With such splendour did the royal board shine.

Both the patriarchs sat at the high table with the monarch; the metropolitans and other prelates and archimandrites at another table, with the boyars, and the ambassadors from Iberia, who were then at Moscow; every man according to his rank. The pages carried round to them all gracious presents of meats, with messages from the monarch, from his own table. At the third course, the Most Holy Job, patriarch of Moscow, rose from table, according to the custom of the Church, and rode in procession on an ass round the old Kremlin and the Kitai, to bless the city and the people, a Boyar of the Presence, the Prince Peter Rostofsky, holding his bridle: before him went the clerks and chanters singing anthems, his own patriarchal boyars, and four torch-bearers, with palms in their hands. He then returned to the Royal Court, and resumed his seat at the table as before. The next day he rode in the same manner round the remaining part of the city called the Kamennay, or stone town of the Tsars, and on that occasion the Boyar Boris Feodorovich Godounoff, the Master of the Horse, led his horse by the bridle.

When the royal banquet was terminated, and they had, according to custom, performed the order of lifting up the Panagia⁷, the pious monarch stood up in the midst of the hall, and gave to each a drink of mead from a tankard as they sang the Polychronion. His treasurer Trachoniatoff then brought forth fresh presents, which he was pleased to make; to both the patriarchs gifts of equal value, just such as had been bestowed at the first upon the Most Holy Jeremiah; likewise to the metropolitans and to the archbishop who accompanied him, this time in common with all the rest of the same rank, and to all the Greek and Servian fathers who had come with them. It was quite dark when the patriarchs were dismissed to their lodgings. The Œcumenical patriarch was conducted to his by a guard of Streltsi, bearing lighted torches; and the next morning, at the first dawn, the royal presents, which had been given the day before, were carried in state to the patriarch.

The next day, three bishops came from the patriarch of Moscow with a brotherly invitation to the Most Holy Jeremiah to dine at his table; and that great prelate, after first making enquiry concerning his health, arose, and followed the bishops, saying, “Let it be as my brother Job desires.” A body of bishops, presbyters, and deacons, in their robes of ceremony, with wax-lights, and censers, and the chant of anthems, was waiting to meet and receive the Œcumenical Lord, on the staircase of the patriarch. At the doors of the Cross-room, the patriarch of Moscow himself appeared to welcome him: they then both prayed for a short space before the venerable Icons, and read the Ἄξιον to the honour of the Mother of God, and so kissed each other on the lips, like brethren, as is customary between the patriarchs; and seated themselves together till the banquet should be served. But before they sat down, a Boyar of the Presence came to invite in the Tsar’s name both patriarchs to the palace, where the monarch met them as before, and seated himself on his throne in his royal robes, and bade them seat themselves also on each side of him. His boyars who encircled him were all dressed in robes of cloth of gold, and his treasurer exhibited before the Tsar the acknowledgments of Job, the patriarch of All Russia: an Icon of the Most Immaculate Mother of God, carved and overlaid with gold set with rubies, and a curtain⁸ of satin worked with pearls, a double-handled silver cup, some velvet and precious stones, forty sables, and ten Georgian ducats. There were also similar presents for the Tsaritsa. Then there entered a Boyar of the Presence from the Tsaritsa Irene, and standing in the midst of the hall, and making a humble obeisance, invited both the patriarchs and the whole synod into her apartments.

They all arose; the Tsar himself went first; after him, the two patriarchs, and then the bishops and archimandrites, according to their respective ranks, and the whole of the royal court: they entered the outer hall, where were assembled the ladies of the boyars of Moscow, of the Tsaritsa’s household, in dresses as white as snow, ornamented with gold and purple, and embroidered with pearls and precious stones. The Golden Doors of the central apartment of the Tsaritsa were thrown open, and another boyar, in her name, invited the patriarchs with all the synod to enter. The Boyar Godounoff alone followed them; and after him the doors were again closed. The whole room, which was a rotunda, shone with the purest gold; and by the ingenious disposition of the architect, there was an audible echo in it of whatever was spoken even in a whisper. The walls were decorated with the most costly mosaic work, which pictured forth the acts of the saints, choirs of angels, martyrs, and bishops; while over the magnificent throne, there shone in a blaze of jewels a large Icon, of the Most Immaculate Virgin, with the eternal Child in her arms, surrounded by choirs of saints crowned with golden crowns, studded with pearls, rubies and sapphires. The floor was covered with curiously-wrought carpets, on which was represented to the life the sport of hawking; and other figures of birds and animals, carved of the precious metals, shone in various directions all around the apartment; in the centre of the arched roof, an exquisitely-carved lion held in his mouth a serpent twisted in the shape of a ring, from which golden lamps were suspended.

The dress of the Tsaritsa herself exceeded in splendour every thing which surrounded her. Her necklace, bracelets, and collar, were made of heavy, equal-sized pearls, and her robe, trimmed with sables, was fastened with dark emeralds and brilliants; whilst her crown, which was above all price, shone with every variety of precious stones: it was surmounted by twelve battlements, like the wall of a town, in memory of the Twelve Apostles, and diamonds hung down from it, in large drops, on the bright forehead of the Tsaritsa. But the angelic beauty of that forehead eclipsed, for all that, the splendour of her royal ornaments. The Tsaritsa arose graciously from her throne when she saw the patriarchs, and met them in the middle of the Hall, and humbly asked their blessing. The Œcumenical prelate blessed her, making the sign of the Cross over her with prayer; and said aloud, “Hail, most pious Irene, beloved by God among queens, Tsaritsa of the East and West, and of All Russia, ornament of these Northern countries, and support of the Orthodox Faith!” Then the patriarch of Moscow, and after him all the metropolitans, archbishops, and bishops, each in their turn, gave their blessing to the religious Tsaritsa, wishing her every good, both of body and soul.

From her gentle lips then proceeded the speech of welcome: — “Great Lord, Most Holy Jeremiah of Constantinople, and of the Universe, first among the patriarchs, I render many thanks to Your Holiness for having undertaken the trouble of such a journey as this to our dominions, that you might afford us the consolation of seeing your sacred person, the most revered of all throughout Orthodox Christendom, and from which we have ourselves now received grace; and for this we give glory to Almighty God, and to His Most Holy Mother, and to all the Saints, by whose prayers He has vouchsafed to give us such an unspeakable satisfaction. Of a truth nothing could have been more worthy of praise and honour than your coming hither, which has conferred such great splendour on the Church of Russia; for, from henceforth, through the elevation of her metropolitans to the dignity of patriarchs, the glory of the whole kingdom has been magnified throughout the world. Our forefathers, the religious Monarchs, Great Princes, and Tsars, have, from ancient times, earnestly desired this; but it was not vouchsafed them to witness the fulfilment of their pious wishes. But now Almighty God hath conducted hither Your Holiness in the time of our reign, through the numerous toils of a long journey, for the accomplishment of what they so much desired.”

After this she retired a few steps back, and stood nearly in her own royal place, having the pious Tsar on her right hand, and on her left her brother, the boyar, with his head uncovered, while a little behind her stood in order the wives of the Princes, each according to her rank, dressed in white garments, with their hands placed cross-wise over their breasts, and their faces inclined to the ground: at a sign from the Tsar, they all, one after the other, reverently advanced to receive the benediction of the Most Holy Patriarchs; while the orthodox Tsaritsa, having received from the hands of the first of her ladies, a precious golden chalice, studded with six thousand seed pearls and other precious stones, presented it with her own hand to the patriarch; and then sat down herself, and desired him also to be seated.

But the Boyar Godounoff, coming forward into the midst, exhibited the other gifts of the Tsaritsa to both the patriarchs; to each a silver cup, one piece of black velvet, two pieces of damask silk, two pieces of watered Mohair silk, and two of satin, forty sables, and one hundred roubles in money: after which he thus addressed the Œcumenical patriarch:

“Great Lord, Most Holy Jeremiah, Patriarch of Constantinople and the Universe; these gracious presents of the Tsaritsa are for you, that you may charitably pray to God for the Great Lady the Tsaritsa, and Grand Princess Irene; and for the long life of our Great Lord the Tsar, and that they may have issue.” Upon which the patriarch rose and thus spoke:

“May the Almighty Lord, who divided the Red sea, and led through it on dry land the children of Israel, both small and great, and brought water to quench their thirst out of the hard rock, on the way to the promised land; who sent His Archangel to announce the mystery of the Incarnation to the Most Immaculate Virgin, the Highly-favoured, the Pot of the heavenly manna, the Holy Hill, the Bush Unconsumed, in which Christ abode, that He might redeem from death the whole race of Adam; may He, the same, now hear our prayers, and bestow upon thee the blessed fruit of the womb, with the overflowings of His grace!”

The Boyar Godounoff proceeded in the same way to exhibit the presents intended for the rest; proclaiming their titles, and desiring their prayers: “To the Most Holy Job, Archbishop of the Royal city of Moscow, and Patriarch of all the Northern Countries, — to the Most Reverend Hierotheus, Metropolitan of the illustrious city of Monembasia in the Peloponnesus, and to the Humble Archbishop of Elasson, of the glorious country of Greece, famed for learned men and heroes, at the foot of the Western Olympus, but not of the Eastern.”

As soon as all the royal presents, as well as those of the patriarchs in return, had been exhibited in order, the religious Tsaritsa sighed from the depth of her heart, and shedding many bitter tears, thus expressed before all the sacred synod her affliction: “O Great Lord, Most Holy Jeremiah, Œcumenical Patriarch, Father of Fathers; and thou also, Most Holy Job, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, and all ye Most Reverend Metropolitans, Archbishops, and all your sacred Synod, blessed Ministers of Almighty God, to whom a larger measure of mercy and grace is vouchsafed with the Lord, and with His Most Immaculate Mother and all His Saints, who have from the beginning pleased God, and who are continually employed in putting up your prayers to them, I entreat, I adjure you, from my inmost soul, with the groanings of a broken spirit, that with all your power and zeal, ye pray to the Lord for our Great Lord the Tsar, and for me, who am the least of your daughters, that He would look favourably upon us, and receive your prayers, and grant us issue, and an heir, by His blessing, for this great kingdom of Vladimir, Moscow, and All Russia.”

All present were moved with sympathy when they heard the sorrowful speech of the Tsaritsa; the monarch himself, both patriarchs, the whole synod and court, and the wives of the boyars; all the hall was filled with their sobbing; and tears of compassion flowed from every eye; while the patriarchs, and the whole synod, with one voice exclaimed: “May God, who is above all, and His heavenly Mother, and His Great Forerunner, and all the Saints, look upon thy tears, O religious Tsaritsa, and on our groanings in thy behalf, and fulfil the wish of thy heart. May the Creator of all things, who looks upon all with the eye of His mercy, who has filled with all manner of earthly good this great kingdom, bestow on it also an heir, over and above all these His benefits!”

After this the whole synod left the Royal Palace, the Monarch and his religious consort accompanying the two patriarchs as far as the Golden Doors, and once more received from them their benediction. The prelates then returned to the Patriarchal Court, where, after the usual repast at table, the Most Holy Job exhibited the rich presents he desired to make to his brother the Œcumenical patriarch, and to the strangers who had come with him. These consisted of holy Icons, cups, velvet, precious stones and sables; and so he dismissed them with honour to their lodgings; and on the following morning the presents of the Tsaritsa, and of the patriarch, were carried thither to them.

A few days after his consecration, (on the 30th of January) the new patriarch, with the blessing of the Œcumenical patriarch, himself instituted as metropolitans, first Alexander, archbishop of Great Novogorod, and then Barlaam, archbishop of Rostoff; and both of them the day after their institution presented themselves before the Most Holy Job, with the customary acknowledgments, which consisted of purple velvet, damask silk, forty sables, a gilt cup, and fifteen roubles in money. Previously to the commencement of the Great Fast, the Œcumenical patriarch, with the permission of the monarch, went to pay his devotions at the Trinity Lavra, where a commissioner of honour had been ordered to announce his intention to the Archimandrite Cyprian, the Bursar Eustathius, and all the monks of the church, with directions to receive him according to the same form and state as that with which they had been used to receive the metropolitans of All Russia themselves; and to offer him presents, such as an Icon of the Saviour, or of the Most Immaculate Virgin, with a frame and curtain of carved work, the most curious they could for its antiquity, and another Icon, or representation of the vision of St. Sergius, set in silver, with a golden glory, carved, a tankard and cup of silver, some velvet, satin, damask, and watered silk, forty sables, and one hundred roubles in money, three pieces of linen manufactured at the Trinity, a large water jug, wooden figured stands for dishes, water ladles and stone bottles. Likewise to all the strangers who came with the patriarch they presented some memorials of the Trinity Lavra, where they spent five days in the midst of brotherly entertainment.

During the Butter-week, the Boyar Godounoff paid a visit to the patriarch; and the Most Holy Jeremiah again urged his request to be allowed to return to Constantinople. But the boyar, in the name of the Tsar, begged him to remain till Easter, on account of the bad state of the roads: and that year Easter-week was rendered “Bright⁹” indeed in Moscow by the presence of two patriarchs, the Œcumenical patriarch, the senior of all, and the newly-created patriarch of Moscow. Previously to the departure of the Most Holy Jeremiah, in the month of May, the number of the metropolitans, archbishops, and bishops, was increased by desire of the Tsar, and decision of the synod. Hermogenes, who was to be afterwards patriarch, and who was then archimandrite of the monastery of the Transfiguration in Kazan, was made metropolitan of the kingdoms of Kazan and Astrachan, in the place of the former archbishop Tichon: Gelasius of the Steeps, was raised to be metropolitan of Sarai and Podonsk, in quality of Vicar of the patriarchal diocese. Besides four metropolitan sees, six new archbishoprics were added from sees which had before conferred only the title of bishop; these were Vologda, Souzdal, Smolensk, Riazan, and Tver; and to the bishoprics of Kolomna and Chernigoff, which existed before, were added five others, of Pskoff, Rjeff in Vladimir, Oustiog, Bielo-ozero, and Dmitroff. The provident monarch, for greater security in future times, had an account of all these establishments of metropolitans, archbishops, and bishops, written on parchment; and in like manner also of the arrival of the Most Holy Jeremiah, the election and consecration by him of Job as patriarch, and his consent to the appointment in future of the patriarchs of All Russia, by their own synod, with the proviso only that they were to give notice of it to the Œcumenical patriarch. He authenticated this document by having affixed to it his own seal of state, with those of the two patriarchs in red, and of seven other prelates in black wax, with the autograph subscriptions of all, and also with the signatures of the whole of the synod, in which, besides the Greek and Russian prelates, the greater part of the archimandrites and hegumens of the Russian monasteries took part, as well as other archimandrites from Constantinople, from the Sepulchre of our Lord, and from the Holy Mountains of Sinai and Athos.

The spring came, and together with it the period of the patriarch’s departure. The Most Holy Jeremiah was invited for the last time to the palace of the Tsar, and was received with still greater pomp than on former occasions. For the whole of the palace was filled with esquires and officers of the courts of justice, courtiers, and boyars, who wished to receive yet once more the blessing of the Œcumenical Lord. The monarch himself met the patriarch at the Golden doors of the Hall of the Sign Manual, received his benediction, and taking him by the hand, led him to an elevated seat, whilst every one else remained standing in profound silence and reverence. Then there was brought before the Tsar, on a Golden Salver, a rich mitre, entirely covered with pearls and precious stones, with a Deïsus¹⁰ in front, and the Crucifixion on the top, with choirs of martyrs, and bishops, (among which were the angels or patrons of the Tsar and the Tsaritsa, Theodore Stratelata, and Irene the martyr) with this inscription in pearls; “From the Tsar to the patriarch.”

The pious monarch arose, and taking the mitre, presented it with his own hand to the patriarch; saying, “Accept this, Most Holy Lord, that there may be preserved for ever in thy patriarchal palace a memorial of me and of my blessed ancestors.” The patriarch, lifting up his eyes to heaven, invoked Almighty God, to bestow on the orthodox Tsar, and on his consort, long life and issue; and committed them to the prayers of the archangels, prophets, apostles, bishops, and martyrs, and of all the saints.

After this other gifts were presented to him, and to all who came with him, from the monarch, and his consort; similar to those which they received at first, with the addition of five horses, and a tent for the journey; and not one of the archimandrites, hegumens, deacons, relatives or attendants of the patriarch, in number amounting to thirty, were passed over by the bounty of the monarch; not only his two nephews, but even their uncle was counted among his relatives, and had special presents conferred upon him.

The archbishop of Elasson humbly entreated the Tsar to allow him to remain in his dominions and enjoy his favour; and he was encouraged to do so by the promise of being appointed to a diocese. After sitting a short time and joining in prayers, the monarch conducted the patriarch to the gilded doors of his palace, and there they took leave of each other for ever; for the patriarch was never destined again to look on the countenance of the Tsar, and he then bestowed his blessing on the monarch for the last time.

But the cares of the Tsar for the sacred person of his guest, extended farther to the whole time that he was in his territory, and even afterwards beyond the frontier. The two former commissioners were ordered to conduct the patriarch of Constantinople with an escort of thirty Esquires to Smolensk, and they were commanded to take all possible care by the way to choose their stations for resting and passing the nights only in the great villages or hamlets where there was a post station; and that when they turned out their horses to graze in the country about them, they should send people to take care of them and secure them from any danger. At Mojaisk, Viazma, and Dorogobouge, provisions, suitable to his rank, as well as mead were to be furnished, and so from town to town, while the voivodes of Smolensk received orders from the monarch to collect as much as eighty vedros¹¹ of mead from the royal cellars or those of the monasteries, and to forward them together with other provisions for the table to Orsha, but previously to shew them, on the frontiers, to the patriarch, as the last present of the Tsar for his long journey; also to write a letter to the government of Orsha to procure a pass for him; and that orders should be given to the esquire who carried it, to collect at Orsha all the Lithuanian news possible, and return with it to Moscow.

When the patriarch had got beyond Smolensk, another messenger, named Roman Toushine, was despatched by the monarch, with orders to overtake him, even if he were beyond the borders of Lithuania, and to deliver to him in his name 1,000 roubles, to go toward the erection of a new patriarchal residence in Constantinople: and orders were given to the voivodes of Smolensk, to collect the above money quickly, wherever they could, and to give it to Toushine, when he passed through the town. The messenger carried also letters from the Tsar and Godounoff to the Most Holy Jeremiah, and moreover a friendly letter from the monarch to the Sultan, to obtain his protection for the Church of Constantinople, of which the following were the contents:

“Our God the Trinity, which was before all worlds, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, now, and for ever, and world without end, Amen! In Him we live, and move, and have our being; by Him kings reign, and princes decree righteousness, —

“Theodore Ivanovich, by the mercy of Almighty God, Tsar, and Great Prince of All Russia, Lord of Vladimir, Moscow, Novogorod, Kazan, Astrachan, Pskoff, Smolensk, Tver, Riazan, Polotsk, Perm, Viatka, Bulgaria, and many other lands; Ruler of all the northern countries of Siberia, and Lord of the country of Germany;

“To the Follower of Mahomet the Sultan Mourat, Lord of Constantinople, of the White and Black seas, Anatolia, Caramania, Roumelia, and other countries, our brother and good friend;

“There has come to us from thy dominions, brother, Jeremiah patriarch of Constantinople, in quest of alms, and has petitioned us to write in his behalf to thee, as to our brother, for his protection: and we knowing thy love to us, brother, write to thee in his behalf this letter with our own hand, that thou Sultan Mourat, our brother, wouldest maintain the Patriarch Jeremiah in his province, and order thy pashas to protect him, in the same way as thy ancestors maintained, and protected his predecessors in all things according to their rank. The same do thou also for our sake; and shouldest thou desire us to do any thing for thee, be assured, brother, that we, in return for this, are ready to shew our brotherly love to thee. Written in the Court of our kingdom, in the city of Moscow, in the year of the Creation 7097, in the month of May, the 11th of the Indict¹², the sixth year of our reign, and of our kingdoms of Russia the 43rd, of Kazan the 37th, and of Astrachan the 35th year.”

The Boyar Godounoff sent, together with the letter of the Tsar, another also which he wrote himself to the patriarch, as follows:

“To the Most Holy Jeremiah, by the mercy of God, Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome, Œcumenical Patriarch, pastor and teacher of the Orthodox Law, true defender of the faith against the enemies of God, who hast fought the good fight piously and valiantly, my Lord and Father in God, my teacher, and instructor in the way of salvation, Boris Godounoff makes his humble petition:

“After returning many thanks to Almighty God, and lauding thy labours and exertions in the cause of religion, — and thy many acts of goodness towards me, I will, in the first place, pray thy Holiness, that I be not forgotten in thy holy prayers to God, that He may be gracious unto me through thy prayers, and may do unto me according to His mercy, as shall seem best to His holy will. We hope that when thy Holiness shall have reached thy own great patriarchal throne, in the imperial city of Constantinople, which is New Rome, thou wilt not fail to send us intelligence of thy safety; that we, having heard of it, may rejoice continually with spiritual joy.

“With respect to that of which thou spakedst with me, that I should dispose our most religious monarch to write in thy behalf to Sultan Mourat, I preferred thy petition to him, and the letter is written, and a copy of it is forwarded to thee together with this. Our monarch has written briefly to the Sultan, and has not made any allusion to the confiscation of the former Church, that so he might give no occasion for anger against thee. I reminded our pious monarch and his religious consort, that you were now beginning to build a new church in the imperial city; and they have sent to thee, for their health, 1,000 roubles towards erecting it; and do thou, Most Holy Lord Patriarch, pray Almighty God, and the Most Immaculate Mother of God, to bestow on the Tsar and the Tsaritsa health and issue.

“Moreover, my Lord, when thou art in Lithuania, inform thyself, I pray thee, respecting Maximilian the brother of the Cæsar, where he now is, in what fashion he continues to reside in Poland, or whether he has been dismissed? and if so, with what sort of understanding? Also whether the son of the king of Sweden is established on the throne of Poland, and of the Great Princedom of Lithuania? and to what degree? and what are his intentions for the future respecting our sovereign? And when thou hast made exact enquiries, pray send a letter, as secretly as possible, without either discovering thy own quality of patriarch, or naming me in it. And when, by the mercy of God, thou shalt have arrived in the imperial city, write us word what kind of reception thou hast met with, and what may be the news in Constantinople? How Sultan Mourat now rules? whether there are not feuds among his pashas? and whether there is any excessive violence against the Christians? Also with whom the Turkish Sultan is at war? Whether he has lately undertaken any expedition against any kingdom of the Franks? and what they are looking forward to? Or, if thou shouldest send any trustworthy person of thine own to the Tsar, give him verbal instructions in these particulars, that the Tsar may be informed of all. And so I remain, my Lord, thy humble petitioner.”

The patriarch, after expressing his feelings of gratitude in a letter to the Boyar Godounoff, prayed to God “to preserve, for his sake, the health of the Tsar, and bestow upon him an heir, who might deliver them also from the hands of the infidels.” But of the commission with which the boyar had charged him he wrote, that “he clearly understood the whole of his letter, and if it pleased God would write him word exactly of all: only he begged him to give orders to the voivodes of Smolensk and Chernigoff, to send on straight to him his letters, or the people he might send: that he had learned in Orsha, that Maximilian had been dismissed; and that they had eaten and drank and been reconciled with the king, while he who did not entertain them was entirely ruined; that the king would be at Wilna, and that nothing had been heard of the Tartars.”

The following was the last letter of farewell from the patriarch to the Tsar, written from the frontier of his territories.

“To the divinely chosen and appointed Autocrat, the Tsar of All Russia, and of all the Orthodox Christians; health to thee, together with thy heaven-crowned and Orthodox Consort Irene, with all thy court and army.

“Our tongue fails, our mind cannot express our gratitude for all thy great grace and munificence, in what thou hast sent to me, thy humble beadsman, not only in money, but also in supplies of meat and drink, which will suffice me till I reach Wallachia. Our duty is only to pray God, night and day, to preserve thy kingdom for many years, and to subdue all thine enemies under thy footstool: and may the Lord give thee the fruit of the womb, an heir to thy kingdom; and may He vouchsafe unto thee His heavenly kingdom.

“Do not either thou forget us in thy holy prayers while we are travelling on our way, that we may reach Constantinople safe and in good health; also thy royal alms shall be reckoned to thee in the Kingdom of Heaven. The grace and mercy of God be upon thy kingdom, thy Orthodox Tsaritsa, and all thy court and army. Amen.”

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