Methodius 1663 delivered. Now, with the permission of the grandfathers of your Imperial Majesty, the blessed and eternally worthy of the memory of the great sovereigns, tsars and great princes Ioan Alekseevich, Peter Alekseevich of all Russia, autocrats from the entire clergy of the diocese of the Kyiv Nirsky rank and spiritual unanimously elected to this throne of Kyiv as shepherd His Eminence Gideon Svyatopolk, Prince of Chetvertensky, from His Holiness Joachim, All-Russian Patriarch of Moscow, with the blessing of the Patriarch of Tsarigrad Dionysius, was dedicated in 1685 as Metropolitan. Job, Eminence Gideon, Metropolitan of Kyiv and after him the Metropolitans of Kyiv, namely: Barlaam Yasinsky, 1690, His Holiness Adrian, Patriarch of Moscow, Joasaph of Krokovsky, 1608, Metropolitan of Ryazan and Murom, Stefan of Yavorsky, Guardian and exarch of the throne of the All-Russian patriarchal consecration, and from that time on they were already under the blessing and obedience of the most holy patriarchs of Moscow, and before them the metropolitans of Kyiv, monasteries of piety were still located both in Little Russia and in the Polish state, and the entire pious people were subordinated to their blessing and obedience and by them only always defended himself from Roman and Uniate persecution. And when I, a humble worshiper of your Imperial Majesty, was consecrated by the Archbishop of Kyiv to the throne in 1722, then the metropolis was removed from the throne of Kyiv, and now the Uniate bishops, by the Metropolis of Kyiv, are instituting the honor and dignity of the throne of Kyiv for themselves. And the monasteries of piety and the people of piety, found in the Polish state, were much embarrassed by such a taking away of our metropolitan honor, and the opponents rejoiced and those who were wavering, cowardly in piety, and even more so began to slander and forcibly attract all sorts of images to their piety.
Most merciful sir! In common with all the clergy of my flock under the jurisdiction of your Imperial Majesty, may your High Power command by your merciful decree, so that there will still be a metropolis under the Kyiv throne, not for the sake of my humility, but for the glory of God and glory for the sake of your all-August Majesty and honor for the sake and dignity of the holy place, on which the grace of God and faith prevail holy ascension from judas
F THE Kyiv th CENTURY.
spreading throughout the entire Russian country, according to the prophecy of the Apostle of the Lord, Saint Andrew the First-Called on the mountains of Kyiv, who was slain and blessed with the installation of the cross, for the establishment of pious Christians and the monastery there in the orthodox faith and in the Polish state, and for the disgrace of the evil apostate and other persecutor of Orthodoxy of this saint Our petition, before the earth, is aggravated by all the clergy of my diocese under jurisdictional worship, we all pray that your High Power will command the former metropolitan throne of Kyiv to resume.
Your Imperial Majesty's most humble Bogomolets*.
No signatures; Obviously, this copy, as well as the one above it, however, had documentary significance, since under it there is the following note: the Kyiv clerk Ivan Savussky testified to the cathedral.
There is no date under the petition, but we can guess that it was drawn up in 1727. This year, the hopes of the Little Russians for the restoration of their rights and liberties were revived, since the Little Russian Collegium was abolished and the Little Russians were still allowed to elect a hetman, who was chosen as Daniil the Apostle. In the same year, hierarchical hopes also revived; metropolitans, demoted from their degrees, were again elevated to metropolitan dignity; 1727 Mar. 15 Sylvester Kholmekiy, who was on the Kazapi cauder, was made metropolitan for the second time, but with a black hood; On July 13, 1727, Ignatius Smola, who was in retirement in the Nilova Hermitage, was appointed Metropolitan of Kolomna. All these were signs of the times favorable for drawing up the above petition with full hope of success.