Father among the Saints Jonas, Metropolitan of Kiev

Our holy Father Jonas, Metropolitan of Kiev, was tonsured at the age of twelve in one of the Galician monasteries and later struggled in the Simonov Monastery in Moscow. About 1430, he became Bishop of Ryazan and Murom. In 1432 he was chosen as a candidate for Metropolitan of Kiev. (The Metropolitan's residence had been transferred from Kiev to Vladimir about the year 1280, and then to Moscow in 1328, yet the Metropolitan continued to be called "of Kiev" until Saint Jonas, the last to be so called. After the fall of Constantinople, the successors of Saint Jonas took the title Metropolitan of Moscow. This is why Metropolitans Theognostus, Cyprian, Photius, and Jonas are sometimes called "of Kiev" and sometimes "of Moscow.") Upon arriving in Constantinople to reeive consecration, however, Jonas learned that Isidore had been appointed to the see by the Ecumenical Patrarch Joseph, without the knowledge of the Muscovite prince and clergy. In 1438, at the Council of Florence, both Patriarch Joseph and Metropolitan Isidore became Uniates; in 1441, therefore, Isidore was driven from his see, and in 1449 (according to some, 1448), Saint Jonas was made Metropolitan by the Russian bishops. He reposed on March 21, 1461. (See also Oct. 5)

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone:
Casting thyself wholly upon the Lord from thy youth, in prayers and labours and fasting thou wast an image of virtue. Hence, having beheld thy good volition, God established thee as a hierarch and shepherd of His Church. Wherefore, even after thy repose, thy body was kept whole and incorrupt, O holy Hierarch Jonas. Pray Christ God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone:
Since thou didst serve the Lord from childhood, O wise one, and hadst weighed down thy body with fasting and vigil, thou wast made manifest as a pure vessel and dwelling-place of the Most Holy Spirit. Hence did thy Church establish thee as a hierarch and shepherd, and having tended it well, thou didst depart unto the Lord Whom thou didst love. Wherefore, we entreat thee: Remember us who venerate thy holy memory with faith, that we all may cry to thee: Rejoice, O Father Jonas, most honoured Hierarch.

Source: http://www.goarch.org

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