Saint Job

Saint Job (died June 19 [June 29, New Style], 1607, Staritsa, Russia; canonized Oct. 9, 1989) was the first Russian Orthodox patriarch of Moscow (1589–1605).

Until Job’s election, the head of the Russian church had held the title metropolitan of Moscow and was, at least nominally, subordinate to the patriarch of Constantinople. Moscow, however, was eager to have its own patriarch, and it took advantage of the pecuniary needs of the patriarchs of Antioch and Constantinople to suggest that, in exchange for giving them financial support, Moscow be given a patriarch. At that time, the Orthodox church had only four patriarchs—those of Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem—instead of the traditional five. Moscow hoped to fill the role of primary patriarch, which, in the Orthodox view, had belonged to Rome before the East-West Schism of 1054.

Patriarch Jeremiah of Constantinople ultimately agreed to Moscow’s suggestion and in 1589 elevated Job, who was then metropolitan of Moscow, to the position of patriarch of all Russia. In 1593 the patriarchs of Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem confirmed Job’s appointment but placed Moscow fifth in the hierarchy of patriarchates.

Job’s elevation had both religious and political ramifications. Because Job no longer had to guard Moscow’s primacy within Russia, he was able to raise the bishops of Novgorod and Rostov to the position of metropolitan. On the other hand, when Tsar Fyodor died in 1598, the Russian people turned to Patriarch Job to secure a new tsar, and he chose Boris Godunov, whose reign marked the beginning of the Time of Troubles in Russia. In 1605 Job was removed from his office by boyars who opposed the Godunovs. He was sent to Uspensky Monastery in Staritsa, where he died two years later.