Died November 5, 1470
An orphan raised by a pious widow who became Archbishop of Novgorod, known for pastoral care, mercy, and miracles.
Our Father among the Saints Jonah, Archbishop of Novgorod
Saint Jonah, Archbishop of Novgorod, was a fifteenth-century Russian hierarch who led the see of Novgorod the Great from 1458 until his death in 1470. Orphaned young and given the birth name John, he was raised by a pious widow in Novgorod before entering monastic life.
As archbishop he was remembered for his pastoral care, mercy, and works of church-building, and he became a notable patron of monastic foundation and of the hagiographic literature of the Novgorod region. He is commemorated on November 5, the day of his repose.
Saint Jonah was orphaned young and raised by a pious widow in Novgorod; his birth name was John. According to tradition, Blessed Michael of Klops Monastery prophesied that he would one day become Archbishop of Novgorod.
He received monastic tonsure at the Otnya wilderness-monastery, located some fifty versts from Novgorod, and in time became its igumen (abbot).
In 1458, following the death of his predecessor Saint Euthymius (Evfimy II Vyazhitsky), the people of Novgorod chose Jonah as their archbishop. He is recorded in the list of Archbishops of Novgorod the Great and Pskov as serving from 1458 until his death on November 5, 1470.
He was remembered for pastoral care, mercy, and miracles. Among his works was the construction, in 1463, of the first church dedicated to Saint Sergius of Radonezh in the Novgorod region. Correspondence from him survives dating to 1464.
Jonah played a decisive role in the founding of the Solovetsky Monastery. Twice he appointed hegumens to the remote northern island, but both departed, unable to endure its harsh conditions. He then appointed Saint Zosimas as hegumen and granted the monastery its island lands, securing stable leadership for what would become one of the great centers of Russian monasticism.
He was also a key patron of medieval Orthodox hagiographic literature. He summoned Pachomius the Serb to Novgorod, where Pachomius prepared a set of lives of local saints and composed numerous liturgical services. Pachomius wrote Lives of several Novgorodian bishop-saints, including a Life of Evfimy II and, later, a Life of Jonah himself, continuing the literary patronage that his predecessor had established.
In accordance with his testament, Jonah was buried at the Otnya Monastery. His relics were uncovered in 1553, and an account of this uncovering was written by Saint Zenobius of Otnya.
The Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Jonah on November 5 (November 18 on the Old Calendar), the day of his repose. He is additionally commemorated on March 9 in the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, a date likely associated with the uncovering or translation of his relics.
Sources cited for his veneration include the Great Synaxaristes, the OCA Lives of the Saints, and Russian Orthodox Church sources.
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