Holy Ro-sti-slav, great prince of Kiev, son of the great prince of Kiev, holy Vengeance Ve -li-ko-go († 1132, commemorated June 14), brother of the holy prince All-vo-lo-da-Gav-ri-i-la († 1138, commemorated February 11 -ra-la, 22 April and 27 November), is one of you state and church kov-nyh de-i-te-ley Ru-si se-re-di-ny of the 12th century.
The strengthening and rise of Smo-lensk, the Smo-lensk principality and the Smo-lensk diocese are associated with his name .
Until the 12th century, the Smolensk land was part of a single Kiev state. At the beginning of its isolation, it was in 1125, when the holy prince Msti-slav Ve- li-kiy, una-follow-to-vav from his-e-father, Vla-di-mi-ra Mo-no-ma-ha, ki-ev-sky ve-li-ko-prince - table, gave Smo-lensk to his son Ro-sti-sla-vu (in the Baptism of Mi-ha-i-lu). Blessed is the work and progress of the holy Ro-sti-glory of the Smo-lensk principality, which he reigned over more than 40 years old, expands mi and mo-na-sta-rya-mi, have-ob-re-ta-et influence on general Russian affairs.
Holy Ro-sti-slavl, Msti-slavl, Krichev, Pro-poisk, Va -si-lyev and others. He became the son of the Smo-len princely di-na.
In 1136, Saint Ro-sti-slav fought to establish a separate Smolensk diocese. Its first bishop was Ma-nu-il, installed in March 1136 by the mit-ro-po-li-tom of Kiev Mi-ha -and-scrap, and her property status was provided by the Charter of the Prince of Ro-sti-slav-va, given in the same year. In addition, on September 30, 1150, the special gram of the holy Rosti-slav confirmed the re-da-chu Smo -Lensky cathedral of the Cathedral Mountain in Smo-lensk, on which the cathedral of the Assumption Cathedral and others were stationed Diocesan buildings.
Modern-men-ki-you-have-not-done the church-building of the Prince of Ro-sti-slav-va. Yes, the exact same people, who have nothing more to say about him, note that “this prince of the Holy -ro-di-tsu built in Smo-lensk." These words are meant not only in the sense of re-building and expansion under Prince Ro-sti-slav-ve Uspen- sko-bo-ra, erected his grandfather's house, Vla-di-mir Mo-no-ma-hom, in 1101 (re-built) This cathedral was consecrated by Bishop Ma-nu-i-lom on the feast of the Assumption on August 15, 1150). Prince Ro-sti-slav was “the builder of the Church” in a broader sense: he provided the Smolensk Church of the Assumption of God -ro-di-tsy ma-te-ri-al-no, turned from the city council into the church center of the huge Smo-lensk diocese -hii.
The Holy Prince Rosti-slav was the builder of the Smo-lensk Kremlin and the Spas-sko-bo-ra of the Smo-dyn-skogo Bo-ri-so -Gleb-sko-go-mon-on-sta-rya, os-no-van-no-go at the place of the murder of the holy prince Gle-ba († 1015, commemoration 5 Sep -tyab-rya). Later, his son Da-vid, perhaps fulfilling his father’s desire, moved it to Smya-dyn from Kiev-sko You-sh-go-ro-yes old de-re-vyan-nye shrines of saints Bo-ri-sa and Gle-ba, in which their powers are in -i-lis before the re-transformation into stone shells in 1115.
In the 50s of the 12th century, Saint Rosti-slav was drawn into a long struggle for Kiev, which or before the two strongest princely groups - Ol-go-vi-chey and Mo-no-ma-ho-vi-chey.
Although the main pre-ten-den-tom for the great prince from the hundred Mo-no-ma-ho-vi-whose was Uncle Ro-sti - glory to Yuri Dol-go-ru-kiy, Smo-lensk prince, one of the most powerful authorities of Rus of the land, the re-sha-y voice in the military and diplomatic co-per-ni- honour. For each of the participants in the battle, he is one-of-a-time dangerous adversary and a desirable ally, in his own way -whether he wants to be in the center of the co-being. This had a mental meaning, because Saint Rosti-slav was among modern-day men state-wisdom, strict justice and unconditional obedience to elders, deep-rooted -read to the Church and its hierarchy. For several generations, he became an oli-tse-creative but-si-te-lem of the Russian Truth and Russian justice.
After the death of brother Izya-s-la-va († November 13, 1154), Saint Ro-sti-slav for a short time became a great kim prince of Ki-ev-sky, but owned Ki-e-vom jointly with his uncle Vya-che-glory Vla-di-mi-ro-vi-chem. After his death later (at the end of the same year), he returned to Smolensk, ceding the Kiev Prince to his other uncle - Yuri Dol-ru-ko-mu, and removed himself from active participation in the bloodshed - of the inter-princely uso-bi-tsakhs. Secondly, he occupied Kiev on April 12, 1159 and remained a great prince until his death († 1167), although More than once he had to get away from where he left with a sword in his hands.
The years of the reign of the holy Ro-sti-glory come during one of the most difficult periods in the history of Rus. -sky Church. The elder brother of Ro-sti-sla-va, Prince Izya-s-lav Msti-sla-vich, a supporter of the auto-ke-fa-lia of the Russian Church, was elected to the mit -are you a Russian scholarly foreigner Kli-men-ta Smo-la-ti-cha and ordered him to be placed in the mit-ro- Are you with a bunch of Russian bishops, without contacting the Kon-stan-ti-no-Polish Pat-ri-ar-hu. This happened in 1147. The Russian hierarchy is mainly under the der-zha-la of the mit-ro-po-li-ta Kli-men-ta and Prince Izya-s-la-va in their struggle for church independence from Byzantium, but some bishops headed by Ni-fon, Saint Nov- city (past April 8), didn’t recognize the auto-ke-fal-no-go Russian mit-ro-po-li-ta and neatly -they refused to communicate with him, turning their dioceses, until the situation was clarified, into their own -the-ke-fal-nye" church districts. So did Bishop Ma-nu-il of Smo-lensky.
Holy Ro-sti-slav is not a little dangerous, which the idea of a Russian av-to-ke-fa-lia contained in itself at that time, in conditions of raz-dro-ben-no-sti Ru-si. The hundred-year-old battle for Kiev, waged by the princes, would have been complicated by the same “battle-howl” for the Kiev mit- ro-by-whose ka-fed-ru between the many-number-len-ny-mi pre-ten-den-ta-mi, which you-moved-ga-la that or another princely group.
The vision of the holy Ro-sti-glory was completely justified. Yuri Dol-go-ru-kiy, who held the Vi-zan-Tiy ori-en-ta-tion, having occupied Kiev in 1154, immediately -but expelled the mit-ro-po-li-ta Kli-men-ta and sent him to Tsar-Grad for a new mit-ro-po-li-tom. He became Saint Constantine (commemorated on June 5), but he arrived in Rus' only in 1156, half a year before the death of Yuri Dol-go-ru-ko th († May 15, 1157). And half a year later, when on December 22, 1157, the nephew of St. Ro-sti-slava, Msti, entered the city -Slav Izya-s-la-vich, Saint Kon-stan-tin had to flee from Ki-e-va, and to the mit-ro-of-whose ca-fed-ru the lowly-female Kli-ment Smo-la-tich has returned. Church turmoil began - there were two mit-ro-po-li-tas in Russia. The entire hierarchy and spirituality found themselves under a ban: the Metropolitan Greek forbade the Russians, under living Kli-ment, Kli-ment for-banned all the st-len-niks and supporters of the Greek. To stop the co-blame of the holy Ro-sti-slav and Msti-slav, you need to remove both of their mit-ro-po-li-tov and ask Pat-ri-ar-ha for a position at the Russian ca-fed-ru but at the first place.
But the difficulties did not end there. Arriving in Kiev in the fall of 1161, mit-ro-po-lit Fe-o-dor died in the spring of the next year. According to the example of St. Andrew the God-loving (commemorated on the 4th of July), he experienced at this time in the mit-ro-do-you-s-move-the-episco-pa Fe-o-do-ra, Saint Ro-sti-slav you-moved your e-th kan-di-da-ta, who once again found himself in the many-straight-distant Kli-ment Smo-la-tich.
The fact that the great prince changed his affiliation with the mit-ro-po-ly Kli-men-tu, pro-nik-well-idea- her Russian car, explains the influence of Ki-e-in-Pe-cher-sko-go-na-sta-rya and especially-ben-but ar-hi-mand-ri-ta Po-li-kar-pa. Ar-hi-mand-rit Po-li-carp, blue-sti-tel of the Pe-cher-pres-das (in 1165 he became the sto-l-em obi-te-li ), was the closest person to the holy Ro-sti-slav-vu.
Saint Ro-sti-slav had the blessed custom of inviting the Great on Saturdays and Sundays to his table of the Pe-cher-go-go-go-me-na with two-dozen foreigners and himself served them. The prince more than once expressed his desire to get a haircut in the monastery in the abode of the elders An-to-niya and Fe-o-do-siya and he even decided to build a cell for himself there. Pe-cher-skie monks, who have a huge spiritual influence in Ancient Ru-si, under-the-living-va -Is there a thought in the prince about the independence of the Russian Church? Moreover, there were bishops from the Greeks in Russia in these years, even under their pre-visionary right-to-glory in connection with the well-known “dispute about the po-sts” (“Leon-ti-an-heresy”). But the blessing of the holy Ro-sti-slava is to be achieved by the Pat-ri-ar-ha of the blessings of Rus -the mit-ro-po-li-ta Kli-men-ta did not materialize. The Greeks consider the right to know the mit-ro-po-li-ta to the Kiev-ka-fed-ru as their most important pri-vi- Le-gi-ey, that it was explained not so much by the churches, but by the in-the-re-sa-mi -per-ii. In 1165, a new mit-ro-polit arrived in Kiev - the Greek John IV, and Saint Ro-sti-slav from the media and churches by obedience he accepted it. The new mit-ro-po-lit, like his predecessor, ruled the Russian Church for less than a year († 1166). The Kiev cathedral was once again left a widow, and the Grand Duke was deprived of his father's co-vet and spirit. but the feeding from the hundred-ro-ny mit-ro-po-li-ta. His only spiritual consolation was communication with Abbot Po-li-karp and the holy elders Ki-e-vo-Pe-cher-sko-go-mo-na-sta-rya and Fe-o-do-rov-sko-go-go-mo-na-sta-rya in Ki-e-ve, os-no- Van-no-go is his father.
Returning from a trip to Novy-gorod in the spring of 1167, Saint Ro-sti-slav for-could not. When he reached Smo-lensk, where the prince lived his son Roman, his relatives decided to stay in Smo-lensk, but the great prince ordered to take him to Kiev. “If I die on the road,” he said, “live me in the monastery of St. Fe- oh-do-ra. If God heals me, pray to His Pre-pure Ma-te-ri and Pre-precious Fe -o-do-siya, shear-a-goose in the Pe-cher-sky mo-na-sta-re.”
God did not destined to fulfill the desire of the Ro-sti-slava long ago - to end the life of another holy abode. The holy prince died on the way to Kiev on March 14, 1167. (In other sources, the year 1168 is indicated.) His body, according to the report, was in Ki- Ev-sky Fe-o-do-rov-sky mo-na-sta-re.
Saint Rostislav, Grand Duke Kyiv, son of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Saint Mstislav the Great (+ 1132, commemorated June 14), brother of the holy Prince Vsevolod-Gabriel (+ 1138, commemorated February 11, April 22 and November 27), is one of the outstanding state and church figures of Rus' mid-XII century.
The strengthening and rise of Smolensk, the Smolensk principality and the Smolensk diocese are associated with his name.
Until the 12th century, the Smolensk land was integral part single Kyiv State. Its political isolation began in 1125, when the holy prince Mstislav the Great, having inherited the Kiev grand-ducal table from his father, Vladimir Monomakh, gave Smolensk to his son Rostislav (baptized Michael). Thanks to the labors and exploits of Saint Rostislav, the Smolensk principality, which he ruled for more than 40 years, is expanding, being built up with cities and villages, adorned with churches and monasteries, and gaining influence on all-Russian affairs.
Saint Rostislav founded the cities of Rostislavl, Mstislavl, Krichev, Propoisk, Vasiliev and others in the Smolensk land. He became the founder of the Smolensk princely dynasty.
In 1136, Saint Rostislav achieved the founding of a separate Smolensk diocese. Its first bishop was Manuel, installed in March-May 1136 by Metropolitan Michael of Kyiv, and its property status was ensured by the Charter of Prince Rostislav, issued in the same year. In addition, September 30, 1150 special certificate Saint Rostislav confirmed the transfer to the Smolensk cathedral of the Cathedral Hill in Smolensk, on which stood the Assumption Cathedral and other diocesan buildings.
Contemporaries highly valued the church construction of Prince Rostislav. Even sources that report nothing more about him note that “this prince built the Holy Mother of God in Smolensk.” These words should be understood not only in the sense of the reconstruction and expansion under Prince Rostislav of the Assumption Cathedral, erected by his grandfather, Vladimir Monomakh, in 1101 (the rebuilt cathedral was consecrated by Bishop Manuel on the Feast of the Assumption on August 15, 1150). Prince Rostislav was the "builder of the Church" in more than in a broad sense: he provided the Smolensk Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary financially, transformed it from a city cathedral into the church center of the huge Smolensk diocese.
Holy Prince Rostislav was a builder Smolensk Kremlin and the Spassky Cathedral of the Smyadyn Boris and Gleb Monastery, founded on the site of the murder of Saint Prince Gleb (+ 1015, commemorated September 5). Later, his son David, perhaps fulfilling his father’s wishes, transferred dilapidated wooden shrines of Saints Boris and Gleb to Smyadyn from Kyiv Vyshgorod, in which their relics rested until they were transferred to stone shrines in 1115.
In the fifties of the 12th century, Saint Rostislav was drawn into a long struggle for Kyiv, which was waged by representatives of the two strongest princely groups - the Olgovichi and Monomakhovichi.
Although the main contender for the great reign on the part of the Monomakhovichs was Rostislav’s uncle Yuri Dolgoruky, Prince of Smolensk, one of the most powerful rulers of the Russian land, often had a decisive voice in military and diplomatic rivalry. For each of the participants in the battle, he is both a dangerous opponent and a desired ally; against his will, he finds himself in the center of events. This had providential significance, because Saint Rostislav stood out among his contemporaries for his statesmanship, strict justice and unconditional obedience to elders, deep respect for the Church and its hierarchy. For several generations, he became the personified bearer of Russian Truth and Russian righteousness.
After the death of brother Izyaslav (+ November 13, 1154), Saint Rostislav short time became the Grand Duke of Kyiv, but owned Kyiv together with his uncle Vyacheslav Vladimirovich. After the death of the latter (at the end of the same year), he returned to Smolensk, ceding the reign of Kiev to his other uncle, Yuri Dolgoruky, and withdrew from active participation in the bloody inter-princely strife. He occupied Kyiv for the second time on April 12, 1159 and remained Grand Duke until his death (+ 1167), although more than once he had to defend his father’s heritage with a sword in his hands.
The years of the reign of Saint Rostislav fell on one of the most difficult periods in the history of the Russian Church. Rostislav's elder brother, Prince Izyaslav Mstislavich, a supporter of autocephaly of the Russian Church, elected the Russian learned monk Clement Smolyatich as metropolitan and ordered him to be installed as metropolitan by a council of Russian bishops, without appealing to the Patriarch of Constantinople. This happened in 1147. The Russian hierarchy generally supported Metropolitan Clement and Prince Izyaslav in their struggle for ecclesiastical independence from Byzantium, but some bishops led by Niphon, Saint of Novgorod (April 8), did not recognize the autocephalous Russian metropolitan and avoided communion with him, converting their dioceses , pending clarification of the situation, into unique “autocephalous” church districts. Bishop Manuel of Smolensk did the same.
Saint Rostislav understood the danger that the idea of Russian autocephaly posed at that time, in the conditions of fragmentation of Rus'. The constant battle for Kyiv, waged by the princes, would have been complicated by the same “battle” for the Kyiv metropolitan see between numerous contenders nominated by one or another princely group.
Saint Rostislav's prediction was completely justified. Yurn Dolgoruky, who adhered to the Byzantine orientation, having occupied Kyiv in 1154, immediately expelled Metropolitan Clement and sent to Constantinople for a new metropolitan. He became Saint Constantine (June 5), but he arrived in Rus' only in 1156, six months before the death of Yuri Dolgoruky (+ May 15, 1157). And six months later, when on December 22, 1157, the nephew of Saint Rostislav, Mstislav Izyaslavich, entered the city, Saint Constantine had to flee from Kyiv, and the deposed Clement Smolyatich returned to the metropolitan see. Church unrest began - there were two metropolitans in Rus'. The entire hierarchy and clergy were banned: the Greek metropolitan banned the Russians who supported Clement, Clement banned all henchmen and supporters of the Greek. To stop the temptation, Saints Rostislav and Mstislav decided to remove both metropolitans and ask the Patriarch to appoint a new high priest to the Russian see.
But the difficulties did not end there. Metropolitan Theodore, who arrived in Kyiv in the fall of 1161, died in the spring next year. Following the example of Saint Andrew of Bogolyubsky (July 4), who at that time was trying to promote his associate Bishop Theodore to the metropolitan position, Saint Rostislav nominated his own candidate, who again turned out to be the long-suffering Clement Smolyatich.
The fact that the Grand Duke changed his attitude towards Metropolitan Clement, imbued with the idea of Russian autocephaly, is explained by the influence of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery and especially Archimandrite Polycarp. Archimandrite Polycarp, guardian of Pechersk legends (in 1165 he became rector of the monastery), was the person closest to Saint Rostislav.
Saint Rostislav had the pious custom of inviting the Pechersk abbot with twelve monks to his table on Saturdays and Sundays of Great Lent, and he himself served them. The prince more than once expressed a desire to become a monk at the monastery of Saints Anthony and Theodosius and even ordered the construction of a cell for himself there. Pechersk monks, who enjoyed enormous spiritual influence in Ancient Rus', supported the prince’s idea of the independence of the Russian Church. Moreover, during these years the Greek bishops in Rus' were even under suspicion regarding their Orthodoxy, in connection with the well-known “dispute about fasting” (“Leontian heresy”). But Saint Rostislav’s pious desire to obtain from the Patriarch the blessing of the Russian Metropolitan Clement did not come true. The Greeks considered the right to appoint a metropolitan to the Kyiv See their most important privilege, which was explained not so much by church matters, but political interests empires. In 1165, a new metropolitan, the Greek John IV, arrived in Kyiv, and Saint Rostislav, out of humility and church obedience, accepted him. The new metropolitan, like his predecessor, ruled the Russian Church for less than a year (+ 1166). The Kiev See was again left widowed, and the Grand Duke was deprived of fatherly advice and spiritual guidance from the Metropolitan. His only spiritual consolation was communication with Abbot Polycarp and the holy elders of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery and the Feodorovsky Monastery in Kyiv, founded by his father.
Returning from a campaign against Novgorod in the spring of 1167, Saint Rostislav fell ill. When he reached Smolensk, where his son Roman reigned, his relatives tried to persuade him to stay in Smolensk, but the Grand Duke ordered him to be taken to Kyiv. “If I die on the way,” he bequeathed, “put me in my father’s monastery with St. Theodore. If God heals me, through the prayers of His Most Pure Mother and St. Theodosius, I will take monastic vows in the Pechersk Monastery.”
God did not destined that Rostislav’s long-standing desire would be fulfilled - to end his life as a monk of the holy monastery. The holy prince died on the way to Kyiv on March 14, 1167. (Other sources indicate the year 1168.) His body, according to his will, was laid to rest in the Kiev Feodorovsky Monastery.
It is his merit that the widespread dissemination of Christianity among the Slavs by Saints Cyril and Methodius. The prince greeted them very kindly and provided all possible support.
In 846, Prince Rostislav inherited the princely throne after the death of his uncle Moimir the First. King Louis the Second of Germany also contributed to this, because he hoped to see an obedient “subordinate” in Rostislav.
But this turned out not to be the case. The holy prince accepted Christianity and did his best to ensure that his people accepted Christ. He turned to the Pope with a request that preachers who could speak the Slavic language visit the Great Moravian lands. But Pope Nicholas the First, being an ally of the German king, refused the prince. After this, Saint Rostislav went to the Emperor of Byzantium, Michael the Third, with a similar petition. With the blessing of Patriarch Photius, two Christian brothers soon went to Moravia: Saints Cyril and Methodius. They did a lot for Christian preaching, translated liturgical books into Slavic language, as well as itself Scripture. Many temples began to be built, schools were opened.
But this state of affairs did not last long. Prince Rostislav's nephew Svyatopolk entered into an agreement with the German prince. As a result, the saint was captured and imprisoned, where he died in 870.
Saint Rostislav, Grand Duke of Kiev, son of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Saint Mstislav the Great († 1132, commemorated June 14), brother Holy Prince Vsevolod-Gabriel(† 1138, commemorated February 11, April 22 and November 27), is one of the outstanding state and church leaders of Rus' in the mid-12th century.
The strengthening and rise of Smolensk, the Smolensk principality and the Smolensk diocese are associated with his name.
Until the 12th century, Smolensk land was an integral part of the unified Kyiv state. Its political isolation began in 1125, when the holy prince Mstislav the Great, having inherited the Kiev grand-ducal table from his father, Vladimir Monomakh, gave Smolensk to his son Rostislav (baptized Michael). Thanks to the labors and exploits of Saint Rostislav, the Smolensk principality, which he ruled for more than 40 years, is expanding, being built up with cities and villages, adorned with churches and monasteries, and gaining influence on all-Russian affairs.
Saint Rostislav founded the cities of Rostislavl, Mstislavl, Krichev, Propoisk, Vasiliev and others in the Smolensk land. He became the founder of the Smolensk princely dynasty.
In 1136, Saint Rostislav achieved the founding of a separate Smolensk diocese. Its first bishop was Manuel, installed in March-May 1136 by Metropolitan Michael of Kyiv, and its property status was ensured by the Charter of Prince Rostislav, issued in the same year. In addition, on September 30, 1150, with a special letter, Saint Rostislav confirmed the transfer to the Smolensk cathedral of the Cathedral Hill in Smolensk, on which stood the Assumption Cathedral and other diocesan buildings.
Contemporaries highly valued the church construction of Prince Rostislav. Even sources that report nothing more about him note that “this prince built the Holy Mother of God in Smolensk.” These words should be understood not only in the sense of the reconstruction and expansion under Prince Rostislav of the Assumption Cathedral, erected by his grandfather, Vladimir Monomakh, in 1101 (the rebuilt cathedral was consecrated by Bishop Manuel on the Feast of the Assumption on August 15, 1150). Prince Rostislav was a “builder of the Church” in a broader sense: he provided the Smolensk Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary financially, transformed it from a city cathedral into the church center of the huge Smolensk diocese.
Holy Prince Rostislav was the builder of the Smolensk Kremlin and the Spassky Cathedral of the Smyadyn Boris and Gleb Monastery, founded on the site of the murder Saint Prince Gleb(† 1015, commemorated September 5). Later, his son David, perhaps fulfilling his father’s wishes, transferred dilapidated wooden shrines of Saints Boris and Gleb to Smyadyn from Kyiv Vyshgorod, in which their relics rested until they were transferred to stone shrines in 1115.
In the fifties of the 12th century, Saint Rostislav was drawn into a long struggle for Kyiv, which was waged by representatives of the two strongest princely groups - the Olgovichi and Monomakhovichi.
Although the main contender for the great reign on the part of the Monomakhovichs was Rostislav's uncle Yuri Dolgoruky, the Prince of Smolensk, one of the most powerful rulers of the Russian land, often had a decisive voice in military and diplomatic rivalry. For each of the participants in the battle, he is both a dangerous opponent and a desired ally; against his will, he finds himself in the center of events. This had providential significance, because Saint Rostislav stood out among his contemporaries for his statesmanship, strict justice and unconditional obedience to elders, deep respect for the Church and its hierarchy. For several generations, he became the personified bearer of Russian Truth and Russian righteousness.
After the death of his brother Izyaslav († November 13, 1154), Saint Rostislav briefly became the Grand Duke of Kyiv, but owned Kiev together with his uncle Vyacheslav Vladimirovich. After the death of the latter (at the end of the same year), he returned to Smolensk, ceding the reign of Kiev to his other uncle, Yuri Dolgoruky, and withdrew from active participation in the bloody inter-princely strife. He occupied Kyiv for the second time on April 12, 1159 and remained Grand Duke until his death († 1167), although more than once he had to defend his father’s heritage with a sword in his hands.
The years of the reign of Saint Rostislav fell on one of the most difficult periods in the history of the Russian Church. Rostislav's elder brother, Prince Izyaslav Mstislavich, a supporter of autocephaly of the Russian Church, elected the Russian learned monk Clement Smolyatich as metropolitan and ordered him to be installed as metropolitan by a council of Russian bishops, without appealing to the Patriarch of Constantinople. This happened in 1147. The Russian hierarchy generally supported Metropolitan Clement and Prince Izyaslav in their struggle for church independence from Byzantium, but some bishops led by Niphon, Saint of Novgorod (April 8), did not recognize the autocephalous Russian metropolitan and avoided communion with him, converting their dioceses , pending clarification of the situation, into unique “autocephalous” church districts. Bishop Manuel of Smolensk did the same. Saint Rostislav understood the danger that the idea of Russian autocephaly posed at that time, in the conditions of fragmentation of Rus'. The constant battle for Kyiv, waged by the princes, would have been complicated by the same “battle” for the Kyiv metropolitan see between numerous contenders nominated by one or another princely group.
Saint Rostislav's prediction was completely justified. Yuri Dolgoruky, who adhered to the Byzantine orientation, having occupied Kyiv in 1154, immediately expelled Metropolitan Clement and sent to Constantinople for a new metropolitan. He became Saint Constantine (June 5), but he arrived in Rus' only in 1156, six months before the death of Yuri Dolgoruky († May 15, 1157). And six months later, when on December 22, 1157, the nephew of Saint Rostislav, Mstislav Izyaslavich, entered the city, Saint Constantine had to flee from Kyiv, and the deposed Clement Smolyatich returned to the metropolitan see. Church unrest began - there were two metropolitans in Rus'. The entire hierarchy and clergy were banned: the Greek metropolitan banned the Russians who supported Clement, Clement banned all henchmen and supporters of the Greek. To stop the temptation, Saints Rostislav and Mstislav decided to remove both metropolitans and ask the Patriarch to appoint a new high priest to the Russian see.
But the difficulties did not end there. Metropolitan Theodore, who arrived in Kyiv in the fall of 1161, died in the spring of the following year. Following example Saint Andrew Bogolyubsky(July 4), who at that time was trying to appoint his associate Bishop Theodore as metropolitan, Saint Rostislav nominated his own candidate, who again turned out to be the long-suffering Clement Smolyatich.
The fact that the Grand Duke changed his attitude towards Metropolitan Clement, imbued with the idea of Russian autocephaly, is explained by the influence of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery and especially Archimandrite Polycarp. Archimandrite Polycarp, guardian of Pechersk legends (in 1165 he became rector of the monastery), was the person closest to Saint Rostislav.
Saint Rostislav had the pious custom of inviting the Pechersk abbot with twelve monks to his table on Saturdays and Sundays of Great Lent, and he himself served them. The prince more than once expressed a desire to become a monk at the monastery of Saints Anthony and Theodosius and even ordered the construction of a cell for himself there. The Pechersk monks, who enjoyed enormous spiritual influence in Ancient Rus', supported the prince’s idea of the independence of the Russian Church. Moreover, during these years the Greek bishops in Rus' were even under suspicion regarding their Orthodoxy, in connection with the well-known “dispute about fasting” (“Leontian heresy”). But Saint Rostislav’s pious desire to obtain from the Patriarch the blessing of the Russian Metropolitan Clement did not come true. The Greeks considered the right to appoint a metropolitan to the Kyiv See as their most important privilege, which was explained not so much by the church as by the political interests of the empire. In 1165, a new metropolitan, the Greek John IV, arrived in Kyiv, and Saint Rostislav, out of humility and church obedience, accepted him. The new metropolitan, like his predecessor, ruled the Russian Church for less than a year († 1166). The Kiev See was again left widowed, and the Grand Duke was deprived of fatherly advice and spiritual guidance from the Metropolitan. His only spiritual consolation was communication with Abbot Polycarp and the holy elders of the Kiev Monastery and the Feodorovsky Monastery in Kyiv, founded by his father.
Returning from a campaign against Novgorod in the spring of 1167, Saint Rostislav fell ill. When he reached Smolensk, where his son Roman reigned, his relatives tried to persuade him to stay in Smolensk, but the Grand Duke ordered him to be taken to Kyiv. “If I die on the way,” he bequeathed, “put me in my father’s monastery with St. Theodore. If God heals me, through the prayers of His Most Pure Mother and St. Theodosius, I will take monastic vows in the Pechersk Monastery.”
God did not destined that Rostislav’s long-standing desire would be fulfilled - to end his life as a monk of the holy monastery. The holy prince died on the way to Kyiv on March 14, 1167. (Other sources indicate the year 1168.) His body, according to his will, was laid to rest in the Kiev Feodorovsky Monastery.
*The newest publications of the Statutory Charter of Holy Prince Rostislav of the Smolensk Episcopal See are contained in the books:
1. Smolensk charters of the 13th-14th centuries. / Prep. for publication by T. A. Sumnikova and V. V. Lopatin. M., 1963. S. 75-79.
2. Old Russian princely charters of the 11th-15th centuries. / Edition prep. Ya. N. Shchapov. M., 1976. S. 141-146.
3. Praise to the Holy Prince Rostislav // Published in the works of Sumnikova T. A.
4. “The Tale of the Grand Duke Rostislav Mstislavich of Smolensk and the Church” among other Smolensk sources of the 12th century. // East Slavic languages. Sources for studying them. M., 1973. S. 128-146.
5. Shchapov Ya. N. Praise to Prince Rostislav Mstislavich as a monument of literature of Smolensk of the 12th century. // TODRL. XXVIII. L., 1974. P. 47-59.*
Based on materials from Patriarchia.ru
Saint Rostislav, Grand Duke of Kiev, grandson of the pious Monomakh, son of the Grand Duke of Kyiv SaintMstislav the Great (+1132, commemorated June 14/27), brother of the holy Prince Vsevolod-Gabriel (+1138, commemorated February 1/14, April 22/May 5 and November 27/December 10), is one of the outstanding state and church figures Rus' of the mid-12th century.
In his youth, he was distinguished by his feats of courage in battle. Rostislav was distinguished by both courage and deeds of courage, and high Christian qualities: he was gentle, compliant and peaceful. Love for his subordinates, desire for all good for them, forgetfulness of grievances and constant remembrance of his sins constituted an integral part of his soul. During the struggle of his brother Grand Duke Izyaslav with the Olgovichs and Yuri, in many cases he showed fearless courage, but together he tried to extinguish the enmity of the princes with compliant love. The strengthening and rise of Smolensk, the Smolensk principality and the Smolensk diocese are associated with his name Rostislav.
Until the 12th century, the Smolensk land was an integral part of the unified Kyiv state. Its political isolation began in 1125, when the holy prince Mstislav the Great, having inherited the Kiev grand-ducal table from his father, Vladimir Monomakh, gave Smolensk to his son Rostislav (baptized Michael). Thanks to the labors and exploits of Saint Rostislav, the Smolensk principality, which he ruled for more than 40 years, is expanding, being built up with cities and villages, adorned with churches and monasteries, and gaining influence on all-Russian affairs. A stone church in honor of the holy princes Boris and Gleb, built in 1145 on the site of the latter’s martyrdom, in Smyadyn, and in Smolensk Petropavlovsky are monuments to the pious ancestor of the princes of Smolensk.
Give the Lord your God glory before it grows dark(Jer. 13, 16), - teaches the prophet of God. Blessed Prince Rostislav acted according to the teachings of the revelation of God. For earthly happiness he thanked the Lord and used earthly blessings for the glory of the name of God; for him, first of all and above all, was the glory of God.
After the death of his brother Izyaslav (November 13, 1154), Saint Rostislav for a short time became the Grand Duke of Kyiv, but owned Kiev together with his uncle Vyacheslav Vladimirovich. After the death of the latter (at the end of the same year), he returned to Smolensk, ceding the reign of Kiev to his other uncle, Yuri Dolgoruky, and withdrew from active participation in the bloody inter-princely strife. He occupied Kyiv for the second time on April 12, 1159 and remained Grand Duke until his death (in 1167), although more than once he had to defend his father’s heritage with a sword in his hands.
The years of the reign of Saint Rostislav fell on one of the most difficult periods in the history of the Russian Church. Rostislav's elder brother, Prince Izyaslav Mstislavich, a supporter of autocephaly of the Russian Church, elected the Russian learned monk Clement of Smolyatich as metropolitan and ordered him to be installed as metropolitan by a council of Russian bishops, without appealing to the Patriarch of Constantinople. This happened in 1147. The Russian hierarchy generally supported Metropolitan Clement and Prince Izyaslav in their struggle for church independence from Byzantium, but some bishops led by Niphon, Saint of Novgorod (April 8/21), did not recognize the autocephalous Russian metropolitan and avoided communicating with him, turning their dioceses, pending clarification of the situation, into unique “autocephalous” church districts. Bishop Manuel of Smolensk did the same. Saint Rostislav understood the danger that the idea of Russian autocephaly posed at that time, in the conditions of fragmentation of Rus'. The constant battle for Kyiv, waged by the princes, would have been complicated by the same “battle” for the Kyiv Metropolitan See between numerous contenders nominated by one or another princely group.
Saint Rostislav's prediction was completely justified. Yuri Dolgoruky, who adhered to the Byzantine orientation, having occupied Kyiv in 1154, immediately expelled Metropolitan Clement and sent to Constantinople for a new metropolitan. He became Saint Constantine (June 5/18), but he arrived in Rus' only in 1156, six months before the death of Yuri Dolgoruky (May 15, 1157).
And six months later, when on December 22, 1157, Saint Rostislav’s nephew Mstislav Izyaslavovich entered the city, Saint Constantine had to flee from Kyiv, and the deposed Clement of Smolyatic returned to the metropolitan see. Church unrest began - there were two metropolitans in Rus'. The entire hierarchy and clergy were banned: the Greek metropolitan banned the Russians who supported Clement, Clement banned all henchmen and supporters of the Greek. To stop the temptation, Saints Rostislav and Mstislav decided to remove both metropolitans and ask the patriarch to appoint a new high priest to the Russian see.
But the difficulties did not end there. Metropolitan Theodore, who arrived in Kyiv in the fall of 1161, died in the spring of the following year. Following the example of Saint Andrew of Bogolyubsky (July 4/17), who at that time was trying to appoint his ascetic Bishop Theodore as metropolitan, Saint Rostislav nominated his candidate, who again turned out to be the long-suffering Clement of Smolyat.
The fact that the Grand Duke changed his attitude towards Metropolitan Clement, imbued with the idea of Russian autocephaly, is explained by the influence of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery and especially Archimandrite Polycarp. Archimandrite Polycarp, guardian of Pechersk legends (in 1165 he became rector of the monastery), was the closest person to Saint Rostislav.
Prince Rostislav, surrounded by happiness, was not captivated by anything earthly. He never sought power, but only accepted it when it was handed to him, and, moreover, as a burden. His kindness forgave everything to others; he remembered his sins, his debts to God and forgot about what others owed him. He was constantly concerned about how to please the Lord. Saint Rostislav had the pious custom of inviting the Pechersk abbot with sixteen monks to his table on Saturdays and Sundays of Great Lent, and he himself served them. He often said to the Pechersk abbot: “Prepare a cell for me, I’m afraid of an unexpected death,” and he himself received the Holy Mysteries on every Sunday of Lent. He really wanted to escape the bustle of life to the Pechersk monastery, and he repeatedly told the Pechersk abbot about this. The abbot stopped him, pointing out that the prince’s job was to protect the peace of people with justice and the sword, and finally invited him to submit himself to the will of God.
The Pechersk monks, who enjoyed enormous spiritual influence in Ancient Rus', supported the prince’s idea of the independence of the Russian Church. Moreover, during these years the Greek bishops in Rus' were even under suspicion regarding their Orthodoxy, in connection with the well-known “dispute about fasting” (Leontian heresy). But Saint Rostislav’s pious desire to obtain the blessing of the Russian Metropolitan Clement from the patriarch did not come true. The Greeks considered the right to appoint a metropolitan to the Kyiv See as their most important privilege, which was explained not so much by the church as by the political interests of the empire. In 1165, a new metropolitan, the Greek John IV, arrived in Kyiv, and Saint Rostislav, out of humility and church obedience, accepted him. The new metropolitan, like his predecessor, ruled the Russian Church for less than a year (+1165). The Kiev See was again left widowed, and the Grand Duke was deprived of fatherly advice and spiritual guidance from the Metropolitan. His only spiritual consolation was communication with Abbot Polycarp and the holy elders of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery and the Feodorovsky Monastery in Kyiv, founded by his father.
In 1167, despite his old age, he went to Novgorod to establish his son Svyatoslav there. On the road, the Smolensk ambassadors met him 300 miles from Smolensk; then residents of all classes accepted him with gifts: this is how they loved the virtuous old prince in Smolensk. In Velikiye Luki he took an oath from the Novgorod ambassadors to forget displeasure against his son and to be separated from him by death alone. He arrived sick on his way back to Smolensk. His sister and son persuaded him to stay in Smolensk in order to be buried in the temple he created. “Take me to Kyiv,” he answered, “if I die on the road, put me in my father’s monastery near St. Theodora, if God heals me through the prayers of His Most Pure Mother and St. Theodosius, I will take monastic vows at the Pechersk Monastery.”
God did not destined that Rostislav’s long-standing desire would be fulfilled - to end his life as a monk of the holy monastery. The blessed prince died on the way to Kyiv, with a quiet prayer on his lips. “Now let Your servant go, O Master, according to Your word in peace,” these were last words, and the tears stopped on his frozen face. The righteous man reposed on March 14, 1167. (Other sources indicate the year 1168.) His body, according to his will, was laid to rest in the Kiev Feodorovsky Monastery.
“Act,” the life of the righteous prince tells us in conclusion, “act in accordance with the calling for which you are recognized, with all humility, meekness and generosity, bearing with one another out of love” (Eph. 4: 1-2).
