Athanasius III of Constantinople
Athanasius III of Constantinople | |
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Enlightener | |
Born | 1597 Retimon, Crete |
Died | 5 (15) April 1654 Mhar Monastery |
Venerated in | Russian Orthodox Church |
Canonized | 1670s |
Major shrine | relics at the Annunciation Cathedral, Kharkiv |
Feast | Synaxis of Athonite Venerables: 2 (15) May |
Patronage | Dubna, Kharkiv |
Athanasius III of Constantinople | |
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Church of Constantinople | |
In office | 25 February 1634 – early April 1635 June 1652 (15 days) |
Predecessor | Cyril Lucaris, Cyril III of Constantinople |
Successor | Cyril Lucaris, Paisius I of Constantinople |
Athanasius III Patellarios (
Athanasius was canonized as an Enlightener into the Synaxis of Athonite Venerables by the
Biography
Alexios was born to a noble family with roots dating back to the
In 1631, Alexios was consecrated as
After several days he was dethroned by Cyril Lucaris, who returned from prison. Athanasius then escaped to the Athos, where he built the skete (where in 1849 the Russian St. Andrew skete was founded), which kept the icon Consolation in Sorrow and Grief (В скорбех и печалех Утешение).
After his second deposition in 1635, Athanasius went to
]In 1637, Athanasius was called to Constantinople. On 26 June 1638, after Lucaris was strangled by the request of
In 1643, he moved to
Athanasius returned to Constantinople in 1652 and took the patriarchate for the third time. Again holding the throne for a short time, Athanasius in July 1652 voluntarily renounced from the patriarchate and ad infinitum left Constantinople. During his last patriarchate, he spoke out a sermon mentioning his dissociation with Catholicism. He again went to Moldavia visiting Lupu in
There he lived at the Kirillov metochion, and made his divine service at the
At the request of
Athanasius is known as a trader of indulgences, which he sold in large quantities in Ukraine and Russia.[6]
By December 1653, Athanasius moved to Moldavia for the Nicholas Monastery in Galați. En route, he made a visit to Bohdan Khmelnytsky. In February 1654, he stayed at the Mhar Monastery near Lubensk and died on 5 April on Thomas' Week. He was buried by the hegumen of the Transfiguration monastery, his body was in a sitting position on the throne under the ambon.
Veneration
On 1 February 1662, the saint's relics were
In 1818, Methodius (Pishnyachevsky), bishop of Poltava, applied the Most Holy Synod for the canonization of Athanasius, but the application was declined. However the saint's honouring and recorded wonders from his relics continued. In the 1860s, church historian Andrey Nikolayevich Muravyov created a new hagiography of Athanasius with examples of wonders at his relics.
The history of the canonization of Athanasius is vague, but the official honouring began in the Russian Church by the end of the 19th century, although Yevgeny Golubinsky through his works proved that the honouring started between 1672 and 1676 under Joseph (Nelyubovich-Tukalsky), metropolitan of Kiev (Constantinople Orthodox Church).
In 1922, the Transfiguration cathedral, including the saint's silver throne, was plundered by the Bolsheviks. The relics were moved to Kharkiv in the 1930s. They were eventually preserved in the city's Annunciation Cathedral in 1947.
References
- ^ in Russian tradition also known as Enlightener Athanasius of Tsargrad (the Sitting), Wonderworker of Lubensk and Athanasius of Kharkiv
- ^ Peter Rietbergen, Power and Religion in Baroque Rome: Barberini Cultural Policies (Brill, 2006), p. 400.
- ^ "The career of Cyril Lucaris showed that there was a powerful party within the hierarchy which was prepared to accept Roman supremacy. Cyril’s opponents, the Patriarchs Gregory IV, Cyril II and Athanasius III, all declared themselves for Rome." (Steven Runciman, The Great Church in Captivity, 4. The Church and the Churches. Constantinople and Rome.)
- ^ See also Eugenia Kermeli, "Kyrillos Loukaris’ Legacy: Reformation as a catalyst in the 17th century Ottoman Society", in The Muslim World, Volume 107, Issue 4 (p. 737-753). "Finally Kyrillos Kontaris of Verroia educated in the Jesuit school of Constantinople and Athanasios Patelaros metropolitan of Salonica and Patriarch for a month in 1634, both signed the catholic symbol of faith." (footnote 83)
- ^ M. S. Zheltov. Episcopal Liturgy
- ^ Гидулянов, Павел Васильевич. / Загробная жизнь, как предмет спекуляции, или индульгенции в римско-католической и греко-православной церкви / П. В. Гидулянов. - М. ; Рязань : Атеист, 1930. - 176 с. / С. 163, 172
Further reading
- A. V. Ryndina, V. Shapran Athanasius III Patellarios // The Orthodox Encyclopedia. vol. IV – Moscow, 2002. — pp. 20 – 22.
- St. Athanasius, Patriarch of Tsargrad, Wonderworker of Lubensk // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 1947, No. 10.
External links
- Englightener Athanasius III Patellarios, Patriarch of Tsargrad on pravoslavie.ru
- Englightener Athanasius, Wonderworker of Lubensk. Short hagiography on the Poltava Missionary Spiritual Seminary of the UOC