Hierarch 14th century

Saint Cyprian Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia

c. 1336 – 1406

Also known as Cyprian of Kiev

A Serbian Athonite who became Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus', laboring for Church unity and the literary renewal of Rus'.

Feast Day

September 16

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Commemorated as

Our Father among the Saints Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kiev, Moscow, and All Rus'

Life

Saint Cyprian (c. 1336 – 1406) was a Slavic monastic and hierarch who, after formation among the Hesychasts of the Balkans and Mount Athos, was consecrated by the Patriarchate of Constantinople as Metropolitan of Kiev, Rus', and Lithuania, eventually serving as legitimate Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus'.

Though his tenure was marked by prolonged political and ecclesiastical conflict over recognition, he labored above all for the unity of the Church across the Russian lands and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and presided over a literary and textual renewal of Rus' as a writer, editor, translator, and copyist.

Accounts of his origins differ between sources, variously naming him a Serbian who struggled on Athos and a figure of Bulgarian background from Tarnovo; the anchor tradition remembers him as a Serbian Athonite. He is commemorated on September 16.

Timeline 8 moments Read Hide

c. 1336 Birth Cyprian was born around 1336. Accounts of his origin vary: one tradition names him a Serbian who later struggled on Mount Athos, while another places his birth in Bulgaria, possibly within the aristocratic Tsamblak family of Tarnovo.
c. 1350s–1363 Monastic formation in the Balkans As a young man he studied at the Kilifarevo monastery south of Tarnovo, where he may have received his monastic tonsure under the influence of Theodosius of Tarnovo. In 1363 he traveled to Constantinople and studied briefly at the Monastery of Stoudios.
1363 onward Mount Athos and Hesychasm He pursued advanced monastic studies on Mount Athos, becoming a committed practitioner of Hesychasm. In 1373 Patriarch Philotheus Kokkinos selected him for work in Lithuania and Russia to reconcile the regional princes.
Dec 2, 1375 Consecration as Metropolitan Patriarch Philotheus consecrated Cyprian as Metropolitan of Kiev, Rus', and Lithuania, with the stipulation that he would succeed to the full metropolitan office upon the death of Metropolitan Alexius.
1378–1389 Conflict over recognition After Alexius's death in 1378, Grand Prince Dmitri Donskoi of Moscow refused to recognize Cyprian, appointing rivals Pimen and Dionysius without Constantinople's consent. Following prolonged conflict — including Cyprian's flight from Moscow in 1382 amid Tokhtamysh's advancing armies — the 1389 council of Patriarch Antony IV recognized him as the true bishop of all Rus'.
1390 Return to Moscow Restored under Grand Prince Vasili, he returned to Moscow in 1390 and served as legitimate Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus'. That year he initiated the Book of Degrees, a project completed only in 1563.
Sep 16, 1406 Repose Cyprian reposed on September 16, 1406, and was buried in the Assumption (Dormition) Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.
May 27, 1472 Uncovering of his relics His relics were uncovered on May 27, 1472, during the construction of the Dormition Cathedral under Metropolitan Philip and Ivan III.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributions Read Hide

Struggle for the Unity of the Church

Cyprian's episcopate unfolded amid a contested division of jurisdiction over the Russian lands. Consecrated in 1375 as Metropolitan of Kiev, Rus', and Lithuania with the right of succession to the whole metropolitanate, he faced refusal from Moscow's Grand Prince Dmitri Donskoi, who after Alexius's death in 1378 appointed rivals without the consent of Constantinople.

The dispute was resolved only after years of struggle, when the council of Patriarch Antony IV in 1389 recognized Cyprian as the true bishop of all Rus'. Sources remember him as a zealot for the unity of the Russian lands, primarily responsible for uniting the Church across the Russian territories and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Literary and Textual Renewal

Cyprian was a writer, editor, translator, and book copyist who presided over a renewal of letters in Rus'. He oversaw the creation of the Troitskaia (Troitskaya) Chronicle and, by some accounts, the Metropolitan Justice, and in 1390 initiated the Book of Degrees.

He corrected biblical texts, translated ecclesiastical works from Greek into Old Church Slavonic, and rewrote the Life of Metropolitan Peter with improved rhetoric.

Relics & Shrines

Cyprian was buried in the Assumption (Dormition) Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. His relics were uncovered on May 27, 1472, during the cathedral's reconstruction under Metropolitan Philip and Ivan III.

He was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in the fifteenth century. St. Kiprian Peak in Antarctica's South Shetland Islands bears his name.

Notes

Repose commemoration.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints