Patriarch Job of Moscow

Job
Patriarch of Moscow and all the Rus'
Church	Russian Orthodox Church
See	Moscow
Installed	26 January 1589
Term ended	June 1605
Predecessor	None (post established)
Successor	Patriarch Ignatius
Personal details
Birth name	Ioann (Russian: Иоанн)
Born	unknown date Russia
Died	19 June 1607 Staritsa
Buried	Dormition Cathedral, Moscow
Profession	Civil Servant, Tsardom of Russia

Job (Russian: Иов, Iov), also known as Job of Moscow (2nd quarter of the 16th century – 19 June 1607) was the first Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and is a saint of the Orthodox Church.

His birth name was Ioann (Russian: Иоанн, a form of John). As a teenager, Ioann knew most of the biblical texts by heart and strove to become a monk. His father, however, insisted that he marry. Once, Ioann asked his father's permission to see his confessor in the Uspensky Monastery in their native town of Staritsa (Tver Oblast). Upon his arrival, Ioann immediately took monastic vows and assumed the religious name of Job. He spent fifteen years in the cloister and finally became its abbot in 1566 with the help of Ivan the Terrible, who had made Staritsa his residence during the time of the Oprichnina.

In 1571, Job was transferred to Moscow and appointed abbot of the Simonov Monastery. In 1575, he became the abbot of the Novospassky Monastery. In 1581, Job was consecrated as Bishop of Kolomna.

Though considered by some to be a person of mediocre mental abilities, he nevertheless managed to draw the attention of Boris Godunov by his talent for reading the longest of prayers by heart in a very expressive manner. During the reign of Feodor I (whose government was controlled by Boris Godunov), Job was appointed archbishop of Rostov and Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia in 1587.

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