Hierarch
Hierarch Saint Gennadius, Archbishop of Novgorod and Pskov
ок. 1410–1505
Also known as: Геннадий (Гонзов)
Saint Gennadius of Novgorod — organizer of the first complete compilation of Scripture in Church Slavonic (the "Gennady Bible"), who combated the Judaizer heresy.
St. Gennadius (secular name Gonzov) was born around 1410 in Moscow. In 1484 he was consecrated Archbishop of Novgorod and Pskov. One of the most prominent Russian hierarchs of the late 15th century, he led the campaign against the "Judaizer" heresy, pressing Grand Prince Ivan III and church councils to condemn and punish its adherents.
He organized the first complete compilation of Scripture in Church Slavonic — the celebrated "Gennady Bible" (1499), drawing on Western translators and using some books rendered from the Latin Vulgate where no Slavonic text existed. He championed clergy education and the founding of schools to train priests.
Deposed from his see in 1504, he spent his last years at the Chudov Monastery in Moscow, where he died on 4 December 1505. He is venerated in the Synaxis of Novgorod Saints and the Synaxis of Moscow Saints.