Patriarch
Patriarch Job, born in the 30s of the 16th century in a family of townspeople in the city of Staritsa, Tver province, spent his youth in the Staritsa Uspensky Monastery, where he took monastic vows under the name Job. Around 1569, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and became the abbot of the Simonov Uspensky Monastery in Moscow. In 1581, he was ordained as the Bishop of Kolomna, and in 1587, he became the Metropolitan of Moscow. On January 23, 1589, he was consecrated as Patriarch.
Patriarch Job daily celebrated the Divine Liturgy, recited the Gospel and Psalter from memory. His life was marked by spiritual rigor and piety.
After the death of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich in 1598, a period of Time of Troubles began. The Patriarch, being old and ill, composed letters in which he condemned False Dmitry. In January 1605, he excommunicated the impostor and his supporters. After the riot in Moscow and his refusal to swear allegiance to False Dmitry, the Patriarch was deposed and subjected to persecution, but remained faithful to his faith.
On June 19, 1607, Patriarch Job passed away and was buried in the Uspensky Staritsa Monastery. In 1652, his relics were transferred to Moscow, and in 1989 he was canonized as a saint.
