Hierarch
Hierarch Macarius of Moscow
1482 — †31 декабря 1563
Hierarch Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus (1542-1563) — compiler of the Great Menaion Reader, who crowned Ivan IV as Tsar in 1547, presided over the councils of 1547 and 1549 that canonized dozens of Russian saints, and over the Council of the Hundred Chapters (Stoglav) in 1551; he helped launch printing in Rus.
Hierarch Macarius was born around 1482 in Moscow, baptized Michael; his father Leonty died young, and his mother took monastic vows as Euphrosinia. He was tonsured at the Pafnutiev-Borovsky Monastery with the name Macarius — in honor of Venerable Macarius the Great of Egypt. He was abbot of the Luzhetsky Monastery in Mozhaysk (1523).
On March 4, 1526, he was consecrated Archbishop of Novgorod and Pskov — the see had stood vacant for 17 years. He converted many monasteries of the diocese to cenobitic rule (18 of 24 communities), restored the frescoes of the Novgorod Sophia Cathedral, and began compiling there the "Great Menaion Reader" — a grand compendium of saints' lives and spiritual literature for the entire liturgical year.
On March 19, 1542, he was elected Metropolitan of Moscow. On January 16, 1547, he crowned Ivan IV as Tsar — the first tsarist coronation in the history of Rus. He convened the church councils of 1547 and 1549, which canonized dozens of Russian saints and standardized their vitae — a crucial stage in forming the all-Russian pantheon of sanctity. He presided over the Council of the Hundred Chapters (Stoglav) in 1551. He helped establish the first printing press in Rus for sacred books (Ivan Fyodorov).
He reposed on December 31, 1563; he was buried on January 1, 1564, in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
He was canonized at the Local Council of 1988, marking the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus.
His feast is kept on December 30/January 12.
IMPORTANT IDENTITY CLARIFICATION: Russian tradition has several outstanding hierarchs named Macarius connected with Moscow — besides this 16th-century hierarch, the best-known is St. Macarius (Nevsky), "Apostle of Altai" (1835-1926), who also held the Moscow see (1912-1917) and was canonized in 2000, but is represented in the database as a separate entry. The stub's original data (life years 1482-1563) correctly pointed to this 16th-century hierarch — the compiler of the Menaion Reader — and was not contaminated.
IMPORTANT DATE CORRECTION: the contaminated date "January 19/May 1" (shared by 9 different entries named Macarius) has been replaced with the correct date, December 30/January 12.