Joseph of Volokolamsk

Joseph von Wolokolamsk on an icon from the 19th century

Joseph von Wolokolamsk (also Iossif Wolozki , Russian Ио́сиф Во́лоцкий ; * November 14, 1439 or 1440 ; † September 9, 1515 ) was a Russian monk , abbot and founder of a monastery.

Abbot Joseph was born into a noble family as Iwan Sanin . In 1460 he entered the Borowsk Pafnuti monastery (today Oblast Kaluga ), of which he became abbot in 1478 after the death of the monastery founder Pafnuti Borowski. A little later he left the monastery because of disputes with many monks with some others and founded a monastery near Wolokolamsk (today Moscow Oblast ) in 1479 , which was subsequently named after Joseph. He maintained close relationships with the nobility, who provided the monastery with rich donations. In addition, Joseph advocated a close connection between state and church. He established his monastery as a training center for the ecclesiastical hierarchy, which in the Orthodox Church was mainly recruited from the ranks of the monks. In order to be able to fulfill this task, the monastery must be economically and financially secure, said Joseph, explaining the wealth of his monastery. As abbot he attached great importance to the outward observance of the monastery rule. He was not a spiritual father to his monks, not a star who raised them to inner freedom, but a supervisor who punished even small outward violations of the rule.

In 1579 Joseph was canonized by Wolokolamsk.

At the beginning of the 16th century there were disputes between the "Iossifljanern" ( "Josifljanern" ), as the followers of Joseph are called, and monks like those around Nil Sorski , who represented an ascetic way of life in simplicity and poverty for monasticism. A Sobor in 1503 decided in favor of the Iossifljans on this matter. The proponents of the ascetic tendency in monasticism were pushed back and the Iossifljaner, who made up a large part of the episcopate, became the most influential group in the Russian Church of the 16th century.

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