Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow

Saint Macarius
Modern icon of St. Macarius of Moscow
Metropolitan of Moscow
Born	1482
Died	January 12, 1563
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church
Canonized	1988, Moscow by Russian Orthodox Church
Attributes	Vested as a bishop, holding a Gospel Book

Macarius (Макарий in Russian) (1482 – January 12, 1563) was a notable Russian cleric, writer, and icon painter who served as the Metropolitan of Moscow and all Russia from 1542 until 1563.

Macarius was born in the region around Moscow. His parents names (at least his mother's monastic names) are known because he dedicates the Great Menaion Reader to them. His secular name is thought to have been Mikhail.

In the late 15th century, Macarius became a monk at the St. Paphnutius Monastery () in Borovsk, where he would serve as a reader, subdeacon, deacon, and priest. It was here that Macarius mastered the art of icon painting. He is also known to have been a firm supporter of Joseph Volotsky and his disciples.

In 1523, Metropolitan Daniel raised Macarius to the rank of archmandrite of a monastery in Mozhaisk. It was there that Macarius became acquainted with the Grand Prince of Moscow, Vasili III. He was one of a few clerics who supported Vasili III's divorce from the barren Solomonia Saburova and blessed his second marriage with Elena Glinskaya.

In 1526, Macarius was appointed Archbishop of Novgorod, where he conducted pro-Muscovite policies. In 1533 and again in 1535, he sent the monk Il'ia and others on missionary work among the Finno-Ugric peoples along the Neva, Lakes Ladoga and Onega, and up into the Kola Peninsula. (His successor in Novgorod, Feodosii, send missionaries to the same region a decade later.) In 1541, Macarius and his companions finished work on the first edition of their great work, the Great Menaion Reader (Velikie Minei-Chetii in Russian). This compilation of lives of the Russian saints comprised 12 volumes arranged on monthly basis. He is also credited with beginning the Stepennaia Kniga (The Book of Degrees of Royal Genealogy) which traced Ivan the Terrible's lineage back to a fictitious brother of Caesar Augustus named Prus. He is also said to have painted the icons in the little iconostasis of the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Novgorod.