Jan Rutski was sent to Vilnius by Pope Clement VIII in 1605 and entered the Monastery of the Holy Trinity there in 1607 where he took the monastic name Jazep (Joseph). After was named archimandrite of the monastery, in 1611 he was appointed coadjutor bishop of Kiev and consecrated as bishop by Metropolitan Hypatius Pociej in June 1611. On Paciej's death in 1613, Joseph Velamin-Rutski became Metropolitan Joseph IV of Kiev. He was assisted by Josaphat Kuncevyc, with whom he worked beginning at the Monastery of the Holy Trinity. After becoming metropolitan, Rutski consecrated Jasaphat as coadjutor of the Archbishop of Polotsk with the title of Bishop of Vitebsk.