The Cult of the Saintly Metropolitans of Moscow Peter, Aleksei and Iona in the 16th–17th Centuries

The 16th–17th centuries were marked by a significant increase in piousness which resulted in the establishment of multiple saints’ cults. One of the newly emerged worships was the cult of the three Moscow hierarchs: Peter, Aleksei and Iona. The strengthening of Moscow as a religious and political center during this epoch has led to an augmentation of the significance of Moscow metropolitans. Traditionally they were revered as patrons of only one territory – the city of Moscow. However, by the 17th century these wonder-workers became protectors of the whole Orthodox Russia. For both the high clergy and secular authorities the veneration of Peter, Aleksei and Iona was important as a political statement declaring the primordial holiness and historical continuity of the Moscow Metropole / Patriarchate. Genesis and development of this veneration will be analyzed in this study.