Maximus the Greek

Venerable Maximus the Greek was a Greek monk and scholar from the Holy Mountain, called to Russia to translate and correct the church books. He remained there until his death, after enduring nearly three decades of condemnation and imprisonment, and he is honoured as a confessor and teacher of the Russian Church.

Years of learning

He was born around 1470 at Arta in Epirus, with the name Michael Trivolis, into a Greek family of good standing. He studied for many years in Italy, in Florence and Venice, where he came to know the scholars of the age and worked on editions of Greek writings. In Florence he heard the sermons of Savonarola and spent some time in a Latin monastery.

Seeking the fullness of truth, he returned to the faith of his fathers and entered the Vatopedi Monastery on the Holy Mountain as a monk, receiving the name Maximus.

Work in Russia

In 1518, at the request of Grand Prince Vasily III, he was sent to Moscow to translate Greek books. He translated the Psalter with commentaries and other writings and corrected the errors in the service books. He wrote many spiritual and teaching works, rebuking superstition, the love of wealth in some monasteries, and the injustices of the time.

As a foreigner who rebuked without fear, he made many enemies. In 1525 and 1531 he was condemned by councils in Moscow and imprisoned, first at the Joseph-⁠Volokolamsk Monastery and then at Tver. According to tradition, while in prison he wrote a canon to the Holy Spirit in charcoal on the wall of his cell. Although the Eastern patriarchs asked that he be allowed to return to Athos, permission was never given.

Final years and veneration

Toward the end of his life he was moved to the Holy Trinity Lavra of Saint Sergius, where he could once more write and pray in peace. He reposed on 21 January 1556 and was buried in the Lavra.

The Russian Orthodox Church numbered him among the saints in 1988, and in 1996 his relics were uncovered. He is commemorated on 21 January, and the uncovering of his relics is remembered on 21 June.