Patriarch Nikon’s Veneration of St. John Chrysostom: on the Question of Typological and Historical Parallels

JATS XML:

XML
BibTEX:

BIB
Research Information Systems Citation Format:

RIS
Category: Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature: Issue 25
Full text:

PDF
Abstract:

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the evidence from various sources regarding Patriarch Nikon’s veneration of Saint John Chrysostom. In the extensive historiography on the Moscow primate, the issue of typological similarities between Patriarch Nikon and the ecumenical hierarchs has never been raised as an independent issue. Key aspects are explored: Patriarch Nikon’s departure from the primatial see as an imitation of the spiritual feat of Saint John Chrysostom (M.Yu. Ljustrov) and the influence of the Archbishop of Constantinople’s theory of “priesthood and kingship” (M.V. Zyzykin) on His Holiness Nikon’s teaching on the Church. Other aspects also attracted the author’s attention. The first is the influence of John Chrysostom’s writings on Patriarch Nikon’s polemical and edifying texts. Examples are given from Nikon’s major polemical work, Refutations, or Destruction, demonstrating verbatim borrowings from the Constantinople Archbishop’s commentaries on the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles, published in Kyiv and Moscow. These books which, according to the testimony of Patriarch John Shusherin, Nikon enjoyed reading, contributed to the monastery library, kept in his cell collections, and relied on in his sermons to his flock. Another point is His Holiness Nikon’s veneration of John Chrysostom, expressed in the collection of particles of his relics in the Resurrection Monastery of New Jerusalem and the dedication of a house church to the three ecumenical saints, as well as in the depictions of the saint on the “holy objects.” A research immersion in these topics will allow us to expand on existing historiographic observations about Nikon’s attention to the Archbishop of Constantinople, explore the various facets of his veneration, and more clearly define the typological connections between the two historical figures. The materials presented in this article will help to understand certain actions and ideas of Patriarch Nikon, focused on the personality and literary works of Chrysostom.
Keywords: Patriarch Nikon, Saint John Chrysostom and his commentary works, Refutations, or Destruction, Nikon’s farewell speech, images of the Archbishop of Constantinople on the “holy things” of Patriarch Nikon
Author: Svetlana K. Sevastyanova
Information about the author:

Svetlana K. Sevastyanova, DSc in Philology, Associate Professor, Professor of the Department of Psychology and Mass Communications, Siberian Institute of Management — Branch of RANEPA, Nizhegorodskaya St., 6, 630102 Novosibirsk, Russia.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9131-3285

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For citation:

Sevastyanova, S.K. “Patriarch Nikon’s Veneration of St. John Chrysostom: on the Question of Typological and Historical Parallels.”  Germenevtika  drevnerusskoi  literatury  [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 25. Ed.-in-chief O.A. Tufanova, sci. ed. M.V. Kaplun. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2026, pp. 546–584. https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2026-25-546-584 (In Russian)
EDN:

https://elibrary.ru/QDTDAB
UDC: 821.161.1.0
Publication Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2026-25-546-584

REFERENCES

  1. L. Mesiatseslov Voskresenskogo, imenuemogo Novyi Ierusalim monastyria, dlia posetitelei i bogomol’tsev sei sv. Obiteli [The Calendar of the Resurrection Monastery, also known as the New Jerusalem, for Visitors and Pilgrims of this Holy Monastery]. Moscow, Tipografiia i litografiia I. Efimova Publ., 1880. 72 p. (In Russian)
  2. Belokurov, S.A. Sobranie patriarkhom Nikonom knig s Vostoka [The Collection of Books from the East by Patriarch Nikon]. [S. ], [s. n.] 1882. 51 p. (In Russian)
  3. Borisovskii, “Mysli sviatogo Grigoriia Bogoslova o khristianskoi zhizni uedinenno-sozertsatel’noi i obshchestvenno-deiatel’noi” [“The Thoughts of St. Gregory the Theologian on the Christian Life of Solitary Contemplation and Social Activity”]. Sviatitel’ Grigorii Bogoslov: sb. Statei [St. Gregory the Theologian: Collection of Articles]. Moscow, Sibirskaia Blagozvonnitsa Publ., 2011, pp. 169–219. (In Russian)
  4. Veniamin, (Milov), Pastyrskoe bogoslovie s asketikoi [Pastoral Theology with Asceticism]. Moscow, Publishing House of the Moscow Compound of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra Publ., 2002. 350 p. (In Russian)
  5. Volodikhin, M. Velikie liudi Russkoi Tserkvi [Great People of the Russian Church]. Moscow, Russian Institute for Strategic Studies Publ., 2014. 232 p. (In Russian)
  6. Vorob’eva, V. “Sviatitel’ Ioann Zlatoust v «Vozrazhenii ili Razorenii…» Sviateishego Patriarkha Nikona” [“Saint John Chrysostom in His Holiness Patriarch Nikon’s ‘Refutation or Destruction...’.”]. Vestnik Omskoi pravoslavnoi dukhovnoi seminarii, no. 1, 2016, pp. 38–51. (In Russian)
  7. Zavarina, N. “Datirovka i programma dekoratsii tak nazyvaemogo ‘sakkosa patriarkha Pitirima’ XVII veka iz sobraniia Muzeev Moskovskogo Kremlia” [“Dating and Decoration Program of the So-Called ‘Patriarch Pitirim’s Sakkos’ of the 17th Century from the Collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums”]. Khudozhestvennaia kul’tura, no. 1, 2021, pp. 62–85. DOI: 10.51678/2226-0072-2021-1-62-85 (In Russian)
  8. Zelenskaia, M. Sviatyni Novogo Ierusalima [Shrines of New Jerusalem]. Moscow, Severnyi palomnik Publ., 2002. 440 p. (In Russian)
  9. Zelenskaya, M., and S.K. Sevastyanova. “Corpus of Patriarch Nikon’s Inscrip- tions on ‘Sacred Things’: Questions of Textology and Architectural and Artistic Design.” Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 20. Ed.-in-chief O.A. Tufanova. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2021, pp. 479–547. https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2021-20-479-547 (In Russian)
  10. Zelenskaia, M., and S.K. Sevast’ianova. “Patriarkh Nikon i ego ucheniki” [“Patriarch Nikon and His Students”]. Grand Altai Research & Education, no. S2 (16), 2022, pp. 169–189. DOI: 10.25712/ASTU.2410-485X.2019.01.023 (In Russian)
  11. Zolotov, M. “Kolokol patriarkha Nikona” [“The Bell of Patriarch Nikon”]. Sovetskaia arkheologiia, no. 2, 1964, pp. 240–245. (In Russian)
  12. Zyzykin, V. Patriarkh Nikon. Ego gosudarstvennye i kanonicheskie idei. V 3-kh ch. [Patriarch Nikon. His State and Canonical Ideas, in 3 parts]. Reprint from the publ. 1931, 1934, 1938 gg. Moscow, Ladomir Publ., 1995. 1088 p. (In Russian)
  13. Ivanova, N. “Zapisi na staropechatnykh knigakh Sinodal’nogo sobraniia” GIM [“Entries on Old Printed Books of the Synodal Collection of the State Historical Museum”]. Russkaia knizhnost’. Voprosy istochnikovedeniia i paleografii [Russian Books. Questions of Source Studies and Paleography]. Moscow, State Historical Museum Publ., 1998, pp. 151–195. (In Russian)
  14. Ikonnikov, V.S. Novye materialy i trudy o patriarkhe Nikone [New Materials and Works on Patriarch Nikon]. Kyiv, Tipografiia Imperatorskogo universiteta sviatogo Vladimira , 1888. 83 p. (In Russian)
  15. Kazakov, A. “Polemika s iosiflianami v Zhitii Serapiona, arkhiepiskopa Novgorodskogo” [“Controversy with the Josephites in the Life of Serapion, Archbishop of Novgorod”]. Slověne, vol. 9, no. 1, 2020, pp. 135–162. DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2019.9.1.5 (In Russian)
  16. Kazenina, E.T. Ioann Zlatoust i ego dukhovnoe nasledie v drevnerusskoi kul’ture [John Chrysostom and His Spiritual Heritage in Old Russian Culture]. PhD in Сultural studies Thesis. Moscow, 199 p. (In Russian)
  17. Kapterev, F. Sobr. soch.: v 2 t. [Collected Works: in 2 vols.], vol. 2. Moscow, DAR Publ., 2008. 816 p. (In Russian)
  18. Knigopechatanie i knizhnye sobraniia v Rossii do serediny XIX veka: sbornik nauchnykh trudov [Book Printing and Book Collections in Russia until the mid- 19th century: Collected Research Papers], S.P. Luppov. Leningrad, Library of the USSR Academy of Sciences Publ., 1979. 171 p. (In Russian)
  19. Liustrov, Iu. “Zemnye sredstva obshcheniia s nebozhiteliami v srednevekov’e” [“Earthly Means of Communication with Celestials in the Middle Ages”]. Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 9. Ed. E.B. Rogachevskaya. Moscow, Nasledie Publ., 1998, pp. 338–345. (In Russian)
  20. Liustrov, Iu. “Ukhod patriarkha Nikona kak podrazhanie obraztsam (k voprosu o samosoznanii moskovskogo patriarkha)” [“The Departure of Patriarch Nikon as an Imitation of Models (On the Question of the Self-Awareness of the Moscow Patriarch”]. Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issue 10. Ed. M.Yu. Ljustrov. Moscow, Nasledie Publ., 2000, pp. 447–459. (In Russian)
  21. Mendeleeva, S. “Sviatootecheskaia simvolika v tvorchestve protopopa Avvakuma. Obraznye pereklichki v sochineniiakh protopopa Avvakuma i sv. Ioanna Zlatousta” [“Patristic Symbolism in the Works of Archpriest Avvakum. Figurative Echoes in the Works of Archpriest Avvakum and St. John Chrysostom”]. Germenevtika drevnerusskoi literatury [Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature]. Issues 16–17. Ed. M.V. Pervushin. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2014, pp. 1094–1100. (In Russian)
  22. Nikiforova, “K istorii pochitaniia Trekh Sviatitelei i proiskhozhdeniia ikh prazdnika” [“On the History of the Veneration of the Three Hierarchs and the Origin of Their Feast Day”]. Pravoslavie.RU. Available at: https://pravoslavie.ru/40001.html (Accessed 25 January 2026). (In Russian)
  23. Nikolaevskii, , prot. “Iz istorii snoshenii Rossii s Vostokom v polovine XVII stoletiia” [“From the History of Russia’s Relations with the East in the Middle of the 17th Century”]. Khristianskoe chtenie, book 1, no. 6, 1882, pp. 732–775. (In Russian)
  24. Nikolaevskii, , prot. Zhizn’ patriarkha Nikona v ssylke i zakliuchenii posle osuzhdeniia ego na Moskovskom sobore 1666 goda / istoricheskoe issledovanie po neizdannym dokumentam podlinnogo sledstvennogo dela patriarkha Nikona [The Life of Patriarch Nikon in Exile and Imprisonment after His Condemnation at the Moscow Council of 1666. A Historical Study Based on Unpublished Documents of the Authentic Investigative Case of Patriarch Nikon]. St. Petersburg, Tipografiia F. Eleonskogo Publ., 1886. 141 p. (In Russian)
  25. Nikolaevskii, P.F., prot. “Obstoiatel’stva i prichiny udaleniia patriarkha Nikona s prestola” [“Circumstances and Reasons for Patriarch Nikon’s Removal from the Throne”]. Khristianskoe chtenie, 1–2, 1882, pp. 155–181. (In Russian)
  26. Sevast’ianova, K. “Biblioteka Anzerskogo skita pervoi poloviny XVII v. (Opyt rekonstruktsii po Opisi 1676 g.)” [“Library of the Anzersky Skete of the First Half of the 17th Century (An Attempt at Reconstruction Based on the 1676 Inventory)”]. Knizhnye tsentry Drevnei Rusi: Solovetskii monastyr’ [Book Centers of Old Rus’: Solovetsky Monastery]. St. Petersburg, Dmitrii Bulanin Publ., 2001, pp. 146–177. (In Russian)
  27. Sergii, (Sokolov), Moskovskii Blagoveshchenskii sviashch. Sil’vestr kak gosudarstvennyi deiatel’ [Moscow Priest of the Annunciation: Sylvester as a Statesman]. Moscow, Universitetskaia tipografiia Publ., 1893. 75 p. (In Russian)
  28. Subbotin, N. Delo patriarkha Nikona. Istoricheskoe issledovanie po povodu XI t. “Istorii Rossii” Solov’eva [The Case of Patriarch Nikon. Historical Research Regarding Volume XI of Professor Solovyov’s “History of Russia”]. Moscow, Tipografiia V. Gracheva i Komp. Publ., 1862. 262 p. (In Russian)
  29. Tkachev, , prot. Tri sviatitelia: organizator, molitvennik, propovednik [Three Saints: Organizer, Prayer Book, Preacher]. Pravoslavie.RU. Available at: https://pravoslavie.ru/51522.html (Acсessed 25 January 2026). (In Russian)
  30. Iubileinyi sbornik statei, posviashchennykh blazhennoi pamiati Ioanna Zlatousta (po sluchaiu 1500-letiia so dnia konchiny sviatitelia) [Jubilee Collection of Articles Dedicated to the Blessed Memory of St. John Chrysostom (on the Occasion of the 1500thAnniversary of the Saint’s Death)]. Kazan’, Tipo-litografiia Imperatorskogo universiteta Publ., 1908. 243 p. (In Russian)