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Evgraf Duluman
(According to documents and official
messages on the Internet)
Lidia Mikhailovna Leonova
The patriarch declared her to be his non-existent second cousin.
None of official biographies Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev will never get acquainted with the story of his acquaintance with Lidia Mikhailovna Leonova, the young and pretty daughter of the head of the catering department of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU. For 30 years they have been connected by the most warm relationship, which, by the way, gave some Western journalists, who are poorly versed in Orthodox canons, a reason to call Bishop Kirill "an exemplary family man." They say that now a number of commercial enterprises are registered at the home address of Lidia Mikhailovna in Smolensk, one way or another connected with the business of the metropolitan himself.
... The name of Lydia Leonova first surfaced in the late 90s - when it turned out that several commercial structures were registered to her in Smolensk, where the current Patriarch Kirill was the diocesan bishop. These structures, in particular, were also engaged in the notorious tobacco business - they controlled some kind of tobacco trade there, they were engaged in investments of various kinds.
There is reason to believe that Lidia Leonova, whom the future patriarch brought with him to Smolensk from Leningrad, is his kind of financial agent, at least, and a fairly close person, since they live in the same apartment.
... She may be a distant relative, perhaps a spiritual child, or simply a tenant. In any case, for true believers, a wave of provocative articles is obvious as a result of the fight against Putin and United Russia. And the believer will not be shaken in faith even by a patriarch with three sixes on his forehead. For they do not believe in the patriarch, but in God. The Church is an institution for preserving knowledge and its purity, as well as helping those who go to God with advice and rituals. As long as Cyril does not introduce new trends from himself into the church, it does not matter what the newspapers write about him. Moreover, the former official in question, apparently, is on good terms with the authorities, including Putin. Why didn't Putin "protect" him then?
... It's a family thing for them, to manage other people's money. After all, the “sister” should receive compensation. Or Kirill is scorched and he and his "sister" still have common housekeeping, and he really, how innocently the Western press wrote, "a decent family man."
... The official historiography is silent about Mrs. Leonova. Therefore, its status is incomprehensible to us: so we could at least refer to some official document. There is an unofficial historiography that originates from the publication of the German magazine "Stern" around 1993-1994, where Metropolitan Kirill is described as "an exemplary family man." And it is even claimed that he has children. Further, our portal, citing various sources - in particular, Sergei Bychkov from Moskovsky Komsomolets, who conducted various investigations regarding the life of the future patriarch - wrote for several years that this Mrs. Leonova is the daughter of a certain official from the Leningrad Regional Party Committee. The future patriarch met her back in the early 70s, when he was a student at the Leningrad Theological Academy. And now, supposedly since then, she has accompanied him everywhere - she lived in Smolensk, and now in Moscow. Therefore, the word "sister", perhaps, should be understood in a spiritual sense, and not in a physiological one.
Samara was visited by the vice-rector for culture of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy Elena Mikhailovna Gundyaeva.
On March 8, on the feast of the finding of the relics of the Blessed Matrona of Moscow (that is, for believers it is still Women's Day!), a very unusual guest was greeted at the Kirillitsa spiritual and educational center. Samara was visited by the vice-rector for culture, head of the regency department of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy Elena Mikhailovna Gundyaeva. As readers may have already guessed, Native sister His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Elena Mikhailovna came to Samara in order to visit the regency department of the Samara Theological Seminary, where she visited the day before, on March 7th. And already on the way to the airport, with the blessing of Metropolitan Sergius of Samara and Togliatti, Elena Mikhailovna Gundyaeva stopped at the Cyrillic Center, where the rector of the Cyril and Methodius Cathedral, Archpriest Sergei Guselnikov, was waiting for her.
And now the cadet brass band plays a solemn march, meeting the guest of honor. A white-haired student of the first "K" (from the word "Cyrillic") class Sylvester Strelnikov in a beautiful cadet uniform with epaulettes hands a bouquet of white roses to a distinguished guest. Of course, everyone's attention is riveted on the sister of the Primate of the Russian Church. After all, no matter what spiritual height a person reaches, all the same, those who connect him with childhood, with his family, still remain next to him. All the same, after all, there are no ties on earth stronger than those of blood, of course, if these ties are also supported by spiritual kinship.
The family of the St. Petersburg priest Mikhail Gundyaev had three children. The eldest, Nikolai Gundyaev, now an archpriest, serves as rector of the Transfiguration Church in the city on the Neva. He was the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. The second was Vladimir Gundyaev, the future His Holiness Patriarch Kirill. Elena was the youngest in the family. And so she came to us in Samara.
Are these children playing? What good fellows ... - Elena Mikhailovna nods with a smile towards the guys in the cadet uniform, frozen in the spacious foyer behind musical instruments, the orchestra at that very moment was playing something upbeat, befitting the minute. -
You have such a real people here, just wow!.. We drove up here, to the temple, the spiritual center, and it took my breath away. Such a majestic sight!
These simple warm words have a calming effect on all those who meet. The first excitement subsided, and father Sergiy Guselnikov, as the owner, conducts a tour of the Cyrillic spiritual center. “Yes, you have a whole palace here!” - admires Elena Mikhailovna. The Museum of Spiritual Culture is the first on our way to open its doors. Cleric of the St. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral Priest Maxim Sokolov invites guests to the world of beautiful camping tents, military armor, medieval toys and historical reconstructions...
It's good that the guys can come here, touch it all, try on armor, probably, they can too, - Elena Mikhailovna rejoices for the Samara children.
Father Maxim competently assures her:
The caretakers of the museum tell the children during the tour: “To touch with your hands is a must!”.
When the children's choir sang a song to the words of Archpriest Andrey Logvinov in the spacious concert hall of the Cyrillic alphabet, Elena Mikhailovna Gundyaeva, having generously bestowed applause on the young artists, turned to the guys:
Children, I hope you have a very happy future. But most importantly, you have to work. And singing is wonderful, from this the soul opens up, and the head works better ...
I think the children from the choir will remember for the rest of their lives such heartfelt words from the sister of the Most Holy Patriarch himself!..
Director of the Non-Profit Foundation "Children's Diocesan Educational Center", priest Dionysius Levin (he also has a throne that day - he is the rector of the Samara church in honor of the Blessed Matrona of Moscow) tells Elena Mikhailovna Gundyaeva about the work of the foundation:
- Cyrillic, of course, is a very large center. And in small towns and villages, such children's centers are smaller. But nevertheless, we have places, especially in the countryside, where the children have absolutely no place to study in their favorite circles, except in the branches of our diocesan center. This is the main priority of Metropolitan Sergius, so that children can study in circles for free, next to the temple and under the guidance of believing teachers.
Your Lord is doing a truly great work!.. We must not lose generation after generation. After all, this is our future. What same you good fellows, Samarans! - exclaims the guest. - And how are things going in Samara schools with the introduction of the subject of the Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture?
All conditions have been created for parents to choose from the proposed modules exactly the Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture. In agreement with the Department of Education, specific schools are assigned to curator priests. And the father helps parents to make a choice. At the end of the third class, the priest comes to Parent meeting and talks about the subject of the OPK, so that next year parents will choose Orthodox culture for their child.
Then there were conversations with teachers, inspection of classes elementary school, after which Elena Gundyaeva said with joy in her voice:
Childhood under the dome of the temple! What could be better, more correct!
Our Vladyka Sergius calls it fertile environment, Father Dionysius responds.
And only after we visited the classes for bell ringing and needlework, we visited the training of young cadets martial arts owning a "checker" (imagine a couple of dozen guys who famously spin dummies of Cossack checkers, just like real Grigory Melekhov), Father Sergiy Guselnikov invites a guest to his office. Ahead of Elena Mikhailovna is a long-distance flight to the city on the Neva, and it is necessary to treat her with tea “on the road”. At the table, I get the opportunity to ask her a few questions.
- What is it like to be the sister of the Primate of our Church?- I ask Elena Mikhailovna with quite understandable journalistic interest.
What do you think? - with a smile, but very attentive to every word, she answers a question with a question.
- I think it's an honor, but it's not easy.
I think you are right. It's an honor, but it's not easy. But I can’t expand on this, we never talk about family topics. It's personal. Please note that His Holiness the Patriarch also never speaks on personal topics. So we have accepted. It's all deeply family.
- Do you often see your brother?
No. Because I am very busy with work. Ask my secretary, and Anna will confirm (Anna nods). My position is Vice-Rector for Culture. But I also have educational work with students. The task is such that during the years of study at the Academy they are imbued with secular culture at the same time. After all, St. Petersburg is indeed a cultural oasis of all that is beautiful, and it is necessary that they put in their heads the information that can be useful to them, that will be useful to them. Because today the competition is the Internet. And so we try to enable students to compare and distinguish the truly beautiful from surrogates, fakes. For this we do big projects. A lot of work.
- You came to Samara for the first time?
I was still in Kuibyshev, under Vladyka John. Then they got to know him as the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg. Vladyka often served in our Lavra and helped me a lot in the Orthodox gymnasium. Times were difficult then. It was very difficult to maintain the school, and Metropolitan John (Snychev) helped us from the diocesan funds, fed the students. Imagine: the Sunday Liturgy, almost all the students of the gymnasium took communion… And now, with the help of Vladyka, we feed them all a hearty meal. This happened more than once or twice! He helped a lot. Kingdom of heaven to him.
- What is the purpose of your visit to our city? What impression did the trip leave?
My impression is this: Samara is SAMARA!..
We opened a faculty of ecclesiastical arts at the Academy. The regency direction has already passed state accreditation, we have a bachelor's degree. And the icon-painting direction is a little lame, it has not yet been accredited. That's when we raise the direction of the regency, then we will more closely deal with icon painting.
And this is why we came here... We have developed a "regency standard" for spiritual educational institutions. Last year, representatives of the regency departments of seminaries from many cities of Russia came to our Theological Academy. And we began to discuss who has what programs. It turned out that someone focused on home economics, someone on the upbringing of mothers, on needlework, in general, who is in what much. All this is fine, and needlework is needed, but only this has nothing to do with the regency's work. The regency department has such complex training programs that with the right approach to business, there is simply no time left for embroidery. When we saw all this, we had no choice but to take on the development and implementation of this regency standard ourselves. We developed this standard on the basis of our academic regency department. And now, by the grace of God, we gather, travel, and discuss this standard. We do not impose our program, but we recommend the mandatory recruitment that we have developed over many, many years, and many graduates serve throughout Russia (“and not only Russia,” Anna inserts), yes, not only, they serve and abroad, but Russia is the main thing for us.
It's hard for us with the standard... The regents are ambitious people, everyone has their own vision. And in order to expand the business in such a way that the base is common for everyone, and local traditions are preserved, we are also creating a variable part for each seminary. It varies depending on where they teach. And in this variable part, teachers, for example, from the Samara Seminary, bring something of their own, special. There remains room for search, for creative freedom. But there is something basic, common. Compulsory for all… It is very important to deploy education so that we have a common base. And we also need to seek state accreditation so that our graduates can work normally everywhere.
- What problems in spiritual education are of particular concern to you today?
There is a proverb: where you were born, you came in handy. And you have to go to serve where you were sent to study in St. Petersburg. But we have a different attitude. A student from the Kuban came to study with us. He studied for a year and says: “My Yanochka liked Petersburg so much ...”. Stay in our city. Usually it happens like this: they stayed, they stayed, but out of work. It is not good to be the tenth in the capital, when at home you could be the only one. We need to build, not adapt. Previously, in secular universities, a young specialist had to work for two years in the direction. Well, if you haven’t taken root there during this time, then go further, try somewhere else. But give me two years. Justify the investment in your education.
I graduated from the university, philological faculty, - Father Sergiy Guselnikov enters into the conversation. - And went to the village to teach. He was even the director of a rural school. I remember those years with gratitude.
And in our seminary, - the young priest Father Dionysius continues the topic, - before the third year, they put up an announcement: those who have already decided and are not going to take holy orders, please leave the seminary. So that there is no extra spending on “random” people.
This is very correct, - Elena Mikhailovna continues the conversation. - People often go to us in St. Petersburg in the direction, but they are in no hurry to return home. I tell them: “Well, how is it? What money are you studying for? With the money of our church grandmothers. They would be embarrassed." In response, silence. More and more "jackets", those who did not take dignity after their studies, or even go somewhere to the side. This is worrisome.
Father Sergius, taking advantage of a minute, presented the honored guest with his book about the Holy Land "The Flower of Zion", with an autograph signed in advance. He said that this book won first place in a literary competition just within the walls of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
We escort Elena Mikhailovna Gundyaeva to the car.
The Lord will reward you for your labors in raising children. The Lord will help you ... - she says goodbye. And soon, in the thickening evening twilight, a white minibus dissolves, taking away from us the sister of His Holiness the Patriarch.
Famous German magazine "Stern" due to the deep ignorance of their employees at one time - even when His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia visited Germany in the rank of Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad - told readers about the family and personal life of monk Cyril. And about a cozy house in Switzerland, and about his passion for skiing and fast driving in sports cars, and about his wife, and even about children and dogs ... And out of greater respect, he even named Father Kirill neither more nor less, but "great family man".
It must be said that Lydia is a faithful common-law spouse and the same age as Holiness, and not a young "kept woman - a spoiled woman." They with "holiness" gave birth to good and smart children. Another thing is why the ROC does not tell the truth and why does Lydia continue the tobacco (from the devil) business? Why does the Russian Orthodox Church consider ordinary conception (a gift from the Almighty) to be vicious?
That's what wickedness! No, to call the PR service of the Patriarchate and find out how right tell readers about the difficult hermit prayer life of high-ranking monks! Well, by God, like small Samoyeds - “what I see is what I sing!”
As a result, since then, all sorts of blasphemers-ahhalniks have been "inclining" the poor Lidia Mikhailovna Leonova in every imaginable way. Even His Holiness himself, in connection with the recent apartment scandal, was forced to make excuses - they say, she is not my wife, but only fighting girlfriend, registered with me on the same living space. This, they say, is my sister, like, "a nun in the world." Saying "sister", one must assume, he meant, of course, not his only sister in the whole world, Elena, but "sister" in faith, in the spirit of entrepreneurship. After all, he usually addresses everyone like this: “Brothers and sisters!”. Therefore, Lydia Leonova is also his “sister”, although not his own.
Lidia Mikhailovna Leonova- (01/27/1947) - "A nun in the world", who for 38 years - since the distant "Soviet" 1974 - has been relentlessly accompanying monk Kirill through life. Moves with him to all new places of residence, accompanies him on trips and participates in his commercial enterprises. According to spiteful critics, more than 300 tobacco commercial organizations were registered in her name. It was Lidia Mikhailovna that the Stern employees had in mind when they called Kirill “an excellent family man,” and it is she who is now officially registered in the apartment and lives together with the monk Vladimir Gundyaev.
And here is how he talks about this in an interview with Yuri Vasiliev (03/23/2012) Chief Editor independent network resource "Portal-Credo.Ru" Alexander Soldatov: " Question: We talked about the option with my sister above. Are there more or less official explanations of who the monk Kirill Lidia Leonova is? In addition to the communal neighbor, of course. Answer: The official historiography is silent about Mrs. Leonova. ... There is an unofficial historiography that originates from the publication of the German magazine "Stern" around 1993-1994, where Metropolitan Kirill is described as "an exemplary family man." And it is even claimed that he has children. Further, our portal, citing various sources - in particular, Sergei Bychkov from Moskovsky Komsomolets, who conducted various investigations regarding the life of the future patriarch - wrote for several years that this Mrs. Leonova is the daughter of a certain official from the Leningrad regional party committee. The future patriarch met her back in the early 70s, when he was a student at the Leningrad Theological Academy. ... since then, she has accompanied him everywhere - she lived in Smolensk, and now in Moscow. Therefore, the word "sister", perhaps, should be understood in a spiritual sense, and not in a physiological one. (http://www.svobodanews.ru/content/article/24525100.html).
Elena Mikhailovna Gundyaeva- real and the only sister of the Holy One. She devoted her life to the Church, for many years she has been working as the director of an Orthodox gymnasium and is proud of her brother.
However, not only German, but also patriarchal "freaks" also do not catch mice (their business acumen is not the same as that of Cyril himself!). No, in order to quickly clean up all the biographical "apocrypha", so they have left them to this day - they say that Cyril has only a sister, Elena, a pilgrim, and only a brother, Nikolai, a pilgrim.
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill: we do not yet know him as a Patriarch, his era is at the very beginning. But we know a lot about his life and work, so let's try to add a few important and striking touches to the portrait of His Holiness.
Cross or tie?
Brought up in the faith since childhood, Volodya Gundyaev already at school had to give a real adult answer "about his hope." One of the best students, he did not join the pioneers. "I was invited by the school principal for a conversation. I said:" If you agree that I, as a pioneer, in a tie, went to Church, then I am ready to tie this tie. "She replied that she did not agree with this. "In In that case, Volodya said, “I won’t become a pioneer.” A thousand children are in school, one boy is not wearing a tie, and this required a constant readiness to answer why you did this.
Archpriest Michael and priest Vasily - the father and grandfather of the Patriarch
The little boy was not afraid to confess Christ crucified and risen. His grandfather and his father suffered for their faith: “Grandfather (my father’s father) was a man of deep faith, strong in spirit. In the post-revolutionary years, he ended up on Solovki, and was one of the first Solovki. spent years in prisons and exile, having a family of 8 children. My father followed the path of his grandfather - through Kolyma ... ", says the Patriarch in an interview.
A family
Perhaps there is no need to talk about the family of the future Patriarch, the little that we know is more eloquent than many volumes: his parents met in the choir of the Kazan Cathedral. A few days before the wedding, my father was arrested and sent to Kolyma, then the blockade, the front, the institute, work - and ordination. For us, these are dry lines of biography strangers. Let's read it again: arrest a few days before the wedding, then the blockade, from 1943 - fought in the army, and then - start life anew - raise a family, get a profession and work, and then leave your barely built position in the world in order to 1947 (!) to take holy orders.
The Gundyaev family
Elena Mikhailovna Gundyaeva
But it turned out that the difficult time was just beginning: "Just then, in Leningrad, new stage struggle with the church,” says Elena Mikhailovna Gundyaeva, sister of the Patriarch, in an interview. - In order to deal with the priesthood in one fell swoop, the financial committee came up with an unbearable tax - 120 thousand rubles. Compare - then the car "Victory" cost 16 thousand rubles. But if the priest refused to serve, the tax was written off ... Naturally, the pope did not even think about any refusal to serve God. We sold everything that could be sold, borrowed money, and dad paid this tax. But then he paid off these debts until the end of his life. "According to the court, Father Mikhail's salary, and then all the furniture in his apartment, was seized. Of course, there was not enough money to pay off the debt, I had to borrow from churches, from friends and "I don't understand how we lived," says Elena Mikhailovna. - As a child, I went out to the front door, and on the handle there was always a net string bag with groceries. They were brought by ordinary parishioners - people of very modest means. Most often it contained a herring and a loaf of bread"...
Volodya, Lena and Nikolai Gundyaev
In this family, children who gave their lives to God grew up. The brother of the Patriarch is Archpriest Nikolai Gundyaev, professor at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, rector of the Transfiguration Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Sister - Elena Mikhailovna - director of the Orthodox gymnasium.
Vocation
The difficult financial situation of the family forced Vladimir to live separately from the 8th grade: "I could not have my parents take care of me financially all the time. Having asked their blessing, I went to work in the Leningrad Complex Geological Expedition, continuing to study at evening school." On the expedition, he worked from 1962 to 1965 as a cartographic technician, finishing high school.
Vladimir Gundyaev did not seek service to God in the priesthood, he was called to church service. One of his favorite subjects was physics, and he wanted to continue his studies at the university. When asked which path to choose, Vladyka Nikodim (Rotov) answered him: "There are a lot of physicists in our country, few priests. Go straight to the seminary." Never, never have I regretted listening to
So, fulfilling obedience, the young man comes to church service and monasticism, embodying the testament of the lord confessor all his life: “Of course, a person remains a person, and monastic life is not the simplest, just like family life. It all depends on your lifestyle. Vladyka Nikodim taught me the following: you will never cope with your problems if you have a lot of free time. Make sure you never have it. Vladyka himself didn’t have any, and since then I haven’t had any free time.”
Monk
The patriarch, one of the youngest of the bishops of the Russian Church, took monastic tonsure: out of 62 years of his life, he has been a monk for 40 years. At the age of 22, a young man decides to leave the world and serve the Church for the rest of his life.
With gratitude, he recalls the advice given to him then by the teacher of the Leningrad Academy, Archpriest Evgeny Ambartsumov. Father Eugene - the son of Hieromartyr Vladimir Ambartsumov - one of the wisest pastors of his time, a caring father big family(one of his daughters is Matushka Maria Ilyashenko, wife of Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko and mother of 12 children): When Father Evgeny found out that Volodya had applied for tonsure, he asked young man: “Volodya, do you realize what you did? You decided the fate, not only for yourself, a twenty-two-year-old boy. You said “yes” for a thirty- and forty- and fifty-year-old man. And for a sixty-year-old and a seventy-year old man. You said "yes" for all of them. Can't it turn out that this seventy-, sixty-five-year-old will then spit on you?" “I don’t know. I don’t have an answer to this,” the future Patriarch replied. “Then I just drew a line and said – here, this is the day, March 27, 1969, when I have to decide. If I am not married by this time, I accept monasticism. And I did not marry and became a monk."
Rector
Archimandrite Kirill
After graduating from the Academy with honors, the future Patriarch remained to teach and, as he later said, he dreamed of devoting his whole life to science and teaching. When Archimandrite Kirill is appointed rector of the Academy, he is 29 years old. A young man, the age of not the most adult students of the seminary, becomes its rector and successfully leads the seminary for 10 years.
Then he will be resigned - transferred to Smolensk. Then His Holiness Patriarch Alexy said to him: “Vladyka, none of us can understand why this happened. From the point of view of human logic, this should not have happened, but it happened. And only then will we find out why all this was necessary,” said Metropolitan Kirill.Perhaps this was an initiative of the secular authorities - it was a time of constant transfer of talented clergy from one place of service to another, perhaps this did not happen without the participation of the future schismatic false patriarch Filaret, who then did not like the ideas of Vladyka Kirill for holding celebrations 1000- anniversary of the Baptism of Rus. And Vladyka sets off for a new service. He later said that he had never sought high ranks and promotion. And how beautiful and convincing these words would sound! scientific work and it was from her that he was cut off by the transfer to a new place of service. He did not leave science - many of his books were published, many were translated into foreign languages and widely known abroad.
Preacher
Patriarch Kirill is the most brilliant orator of our time, able to find an accurate and convincing word in the most insoluble situation. Orthodox person it is difficult to compete in public disputes, when the participants are often people who are hardly able to conduct a dialogue not in the style of a bazaar skirmish, when journalists who skillfully search for pain points, we are lost and silent. The word of Patriarch Kirill has always been the word of power, spiritual power, in any program where he takes part, he was able to place all accents and dots, directing the most hostile discussions to the glory of the Church. Neither in the media, nor at various public events, nor in the student audience, he is not afraid to openly and confidently denounce vice, to say in a new way about the main thing, finding a word for any audience.
The Patriarch works a lot on the texts of speeches, I recall a case when our editors were waiting from the press service for the text of one greeting speech by Bishop Kirill, which we wanted to publish along with an audio recording. It was then explained to us that Vladyka almost always changes something in his pre-composed speech, says a lot in a new way, and then corrects the text, independently and carefully editing it. It would seem surprising, but even an experienced orator can write a report for several weeks, while Bishop Kirill speaks several times a week, sometimes every day. In such an environment, it is difficult to find strength even for a simple recording of the content of a speech, and how long it takes to find the right comparison, image, the actual pathos of a speech, how difficult it is not to repeat tomorrow what you said today, and that everyone heard yesterday, how much strength is spent to make it meaningful!
"Word of the Shepherd" - this program has been published for more than 15 years, one can not even talk about its missionary effect - it is too obvious. During all these years, for many believers, the "word of the Shepherd" has become the road to the temple, to faith, to God. It is important that Patriarch Kirill will continue to host this program - the first Patriarch to address the flock on a daily basis in a regular media program.
Concluding the essay, I would like to say a few words to those of our readers who are somewhat skeptical about the choice of Metropolitan Kirill as His Holiness Patriarch. The Patriarch was elected by the Local Council - the entire Russian Orthodox Church. And so we can understand what obedience to the Church is. In one book, the author of these lines came across the following words: “Obedience is not when your will coincides with a blessing. Obedience is when you really don’t want to do something, but you do it.” This is the decision of the Church, of which we are members, and we need to share this decision and gratefully accept it. This feeling was best described by a clergyman of one of the Local Churches serving in Moscow: "In the East they say: my mother's husband is my father." The Patriarch chosen by the Church is our Great Master and Father.
Photo by S.A. Titov, official website of the Russian Orthodox Church
These are just a few touches to the portrait, which seemed so important to recall today. Others will be able to tell more, and most of all, our deeds speak about each of us. The deeds of Metropolitan Kirill honored his election as Patriarch by the entire Church. Now he bears the heavy Cross of Patriarchal Service. "There is not and cannot be anything personal, private in the life of the Patriarch: he himself and his whole life belong to God and the Church without a trace, his heart aches for the people of God," Patriarch Kirill said on the day of enthronement. And we must help him with deeds, and most importantly, with sincere and fervent prayer.
Not only our older brother Nikolai did not sleep that night, but I did too, - he smiles tiredly Elena Mikhailovna. “We were all very worried about Vladyka. They prayed that the Lord would arrange everything in the right way for the Church of God. The tension subsided only when the name of the new patriarch was announced. We congratulated Vladyka on his election to the Patriarchal Throne. His voice sounded very tired, he also hardly slept that night. Vladyka said that he was taking this cross upon himself and would carry it. This election for Vladyka is yet another service to the Church. Today he is already in business, the Cathedral continues ... We did not talk for long, I told him very personal words, sisterly. We are all praying for him. So that the Lord would strengthen him, give him health. After all, everything is the will of God. And in order to accept this will, one must have health.
Mission
Vladyka Kirill is accustomed to relying on God's will in everything, - says his sister Elena Gundyaeva. - The Lord himself leads him ...
It so happened that the number "27" became a fateful date for Bishop Kirill. Almost 40 years ago, Vladimir Gundyaev, a 22-year-old student of the Leningrad Theological Academy, once and for all determined his path, highlighting an arbitrarily chosen date in the calendar - March 27, 1969: “If until then I don’t meet a girl with whom I will be ready to go through my whole life, then I accept monasticism. And, not having met his beloved, he took the tonsure ...
This decision was not some kind of accident, - Elena Mikhailovna is sure. - It was prepared by the whole history of our family - and difficult, but wonderful Life our father, Archpriest Mikhail Gundyaev, and the tragic, ordealous fate of my grandfather, priest Vasily Gundyaev... They suffered for their faith - dad spent 4 years in Kolyma, and grandfather went through 46 prisons and 7 exiles... It was they who opened for us - and for Vladyka Kirill, and for our older brother Father Nikolai - this door of service to the Lord...
Metropolitan Kirill was also elected patriarch on the 27th, this January. It is truly a sign of fate...
Father
Mikhail Gundyaev became a priest in 1947.
Just then, a new stage of the struggle with the church began in Leningrad, - recalls the sister of Metropolitan Kirill. - In order to deal with the priesthood in one fell swoop, the financial committee came up with an unbearable tax - 120 thousand rubles. Compare: then the Pobeda car cost 16 thousand rubles. But if the priest refused to serve, the tax was written off ... Naturally, the pope did not even think about any refusal to serve God. We sold everything that could be sold, borrowed money, and dad paid this tax. But then he paid off these debts until the end of his life, - Elena Mikhailovna says with pain. - I don’t understand how we lived ... As a child, I went out to the front door, and there was always a mesh bag with groceries hanging on the handle. They were brought by ordinary parishioners - people of very modest means. Most often it contained a herring and a loaf of bread.
I remember how the inspectors came to describe the property for debts. It was scary: I’m six years old, I’m walking in the yard, and they shout to me: “Lenka, they’re coming to you!” A colorless woman in a knitted hat came once again to describe the property. I rushed upstairs, taking off to the fifth floor, so that my mother would only be ready to open the door to these people, and there was absolutely nothing to describe. Books, thank God, did not describe. All we had left was the library...
But with all the poverty, my mother always gave us tea from cups and saucers. No matter what! She raised us, that even in difficult years Man must not lose the form and likeness of God. It remains for life. Trouble comes, and it must be experienced without losing inner world. Then you will bear any misfortune. And we had many troubles.
teachers' councils
The gift of a preacher, for which Vladyka Kirill is known to millions of people, was laid in childhood. 13-year-old Volodya Gundyaev was tempered ... by teachers' councils.
During the Khrushchev persecution, as a very bright preacher, dad was exiled to serve in the provincial Krasnoe Selo, - says Elena Mikhailovna. - We were given half of the old house, with mice and frost in the corners. Then our older brother Nikolai entered the seminary, and Volodya and I went to live with our parents in this house. And at school we started very big problems. Everyone knew that we were priestly children, we did not go to the pioneers for reasons of principle. And they immediately began to “process” us - they offered me to become the chairman of the council of the squad, to go to the Orlyonok pioneer camp - just join! My refusal affected my grades... Bishop Kirill was in a very terrible situation. He, a 13-year-old boy, was summoned to the teachers' council and began to study. They really wanted to re-educate him and publicly declare this: they say, "we remade the children of such a priest"! Imagine, the entire teaching staff gathered in the teacher's room - from the head teachers to the senior pioneer leader. And it began: “Where did everything come from?”, “Why do you believe in God?” They tried to drive Vladyka into a dead end. And since dad has been studying the Law of God with us since childhood, Volodya, while still a little boy, could operate with such texts that people did not know at all, and he won! And I remember how happy he came home after the teachers' councils! I told my parents about these disputes, and they were proud of their son. It was the teachers' councils that tempered Vladyka by teaching him instant reaction and the art of discussion...
Time
Vladimir Gundyaev graduated from the seminary and the academy in less than 4 years - twice as fast as his fellow students.
Do you know how he studied? - says Elena Mikhailovna. - He went to bed at 24.00, and got up exactly at 4.15. I drank a cup of coffee, two hours later - a second cup. At 8 o'clock I went to school, and he went to the Theological Academy or worked until the evening. And in this way he handed over one subject in four days - only in his case it was not days, but days. He believed that he had no right to play for time.
Just like his decision not to marry: after all, he didn’t marry not on purpose, because he wanted to become a monk, but because it didn’t work out: “That’s it, I won’t love anymore, but time is running out, but you have to serve! »
Icon
Until the end of his life, our dad was called Father Mikhail Smolensky, because he began to serve in the church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God at the Smolensk cemetery. And then, when his son, Bishop Kirill, was transferred to Smolensk, having been appointed Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, everyone exclaimed: "God's Providence!" Indeed, this Smolensk icon seems to lead him through life.
Elena YAROVIKOVA, Elena EVSTRATOVA, Igor VASILIEV, Life.ru
