“The time will come when money will disappear and there will be electronic cards, and believers who do not accept this will live on potatoes alone, as in a war. And in the West, even believers cannot live like that, because the elder blessed everyone to move to Russia ... Father Kirill often told us, especially before his death: the way a beggar would give in Russia "..."

Memoirs of Abbess Euphemia (Belokhvostikova): I met Father Kirill at the time when I was ill: I had cancer, and the doctors insisted on an operation. I was treated in the Kremlin hospital (my sister made an appointment). I was operated on twice, treated with all possible means. Once I overheard how
The doctors told my husband about me: "She won't live more than two months." Then I decided to go to church to take communion. Before, I didn’t go to the temple, and it was forbidden. In the Ivanovo Church (the only church in Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg) that operated in the 1970s), I learned about Father Kirill in Tselinograd and took his address from Father Vladislav Pitkevich.

They brought me home (I myself could no longer walk), and after telling my husband everything, I asked him to take me to Tselinograd to see Father Kirill. The husband did not agree, he said: “You are not a child, you will die on the way, then what to do with you?” I began to cry, and began to beg to take me to the priest. He is in no way. Still, the Lord sent me a man.

There was a woman who was just about to go to Tselinograd. I was wrapped in a blanket and loaded into the car. Porters were hired at the station to carry me onto the train. I lay there, not moving, all the way to Tselinograd. There I was helped by two students who carried me to a taxi. We reached the very monastery gates, and there they asked who we were and where we came from. I say: "I need Father Kirill." After a couple of minutes, a smart young priest runs out: “Who do you want?” - "Father Cyril." “And this is me!”

Father Kirill told me to be brought into his office. In the study, I was seated opposite the priest, and he said to me: “I will cure you, mother, I will cure you, you won’t die, in twelve days you will go home by yourself.” I told him: “I, father, ran away, they will look for me and worry,” to which Father Kirill reassures me: “No one will look for you, I will pray, and everything will work out.”

I lived in the monastery for twelve days. And all my treatment was - reprimand and Holy Communion. I don't know what Father Kirill did himself. I lived there in a monastery hotel, in a separate room. Since I was a bedridden patient, the elder put a walker behind me - mother Misail. God bless her! I lay and read the prayers that the father gave me. Father Kirill reprimanded me twice, on the third time I came to church to take communion myself. Before the reprimand, Father Kirill told us not to be afraid, because everyone would shout in different voices, but no one would interfere or hurt anyone. And so it happened. Twelve days passed, I was healed and went home without outside help (the woman who brought me left earlier). My husband was so surprised by my healing that even his eyes widened. "How did he heal you?" everyone asked. He could not believe in such a miracle: he saw that I was lying, and now I suddenly began to walk. Before leaving, Father Kirill gave me a handful of sweets and told me to bury the sweets on the western side of the house when I got home, but in no case did I bring them home (such a kind of obedience). I remembered about the sweets already at home and waved it off, not attaching any importance to the words of the old man. So I left these sweets at home: I put them in a chest of drawers, they lay there for two months. Two months later I came to the elder, and he suddenly told me: “Why did you disobey? I didn’t bury the sweets, because they are in your chest of drawers. When you come, throw it away immediately." Father Kirill said: “Don't worry. I'll heal you, but not right away. You can’t right away, otherwise your heart is weak. You will heal gradually." The second time my husband wanted to go to Tselinograd with me, but he could not. I told Father Kirill about my husband. He answered me that my husband would not come to him, but would come only before his death. So then it happened.

Nothing and no one could help me the way Father Kirill did. It happened that it would become bad or something else would happen, you would come to your father, and everything would be removed as if by hand. And if she was far from him, then the water or oil consecrated to him helped just as quickly. For two years I went to the elder, in 1979 and 1980. Then my father was transferred to Riga. In Riga, priests were not given apartments. I needed to buy a house. Father Cyril bought a house with a plot. Over time, everything got better. And as soon as the house was completely restored, they wanted to take away this house from my father, they said that it had allegedly been acquired illegally. Two years of litigation, still defended. Father Kirill then left for Chimkent, stayed there for two years and then returned to Riga. And I didn't know that. And so I went to the market for milk, suddenly I see Father Kirill standing. At first I didn’t believe it, I thought it was a vision, and he was waving to me. I want to go to him, but my legs don't go: I want to go up and I don't dare. Then Father Kirill turned and went. The next day I went back to the market. Then suddenly someone closes my eyes from behind, I grab my mantle with my hand: “Father Kirill, is that you?” "Yes it's me. I am now in Riga,” he replies. That was some joy. I told him: “And now I am here. You helped me a lot, now I will help you.

My father asked me to look after the house while he lives in Chimkent. When the house was awarded to him, Father Kirill had already completely moved to Riga. After all, the house, when they bought it, was completely unusable: no roof, no ceiling, the basement was flooded all the time. But over time, they rebuilt it to glory: there was a church, a hotel, a refectory, and a sauna bath. My father hired workers, many of them worked for free. They bought a cow, then another. We only had five cows. The whole monastery gathered. A lot of people came to us, everyone was accommodated in the house. There was a collapsible home church in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

I remember how father Cyril scolded. After the service, the elder from the pulpit said: "All the sick, possessed by an unclean spirit and the weak, stay on reprimand." Having placed everyone in a semicircle in front of the altar, he began his rounds. The royal gates were open. During the tour, the elder brought out several people, saying that they did not need to report. So he walked along the rows and said: “You don’t need ... you don’t need ... you don’t need.” I wrote down all the names and began to read the Gospel, then the Psalter. And at that moment, when he began to pray, calling our names, many began to shout, squeal, wheeze, crow, grunt, bark and cry. I cried a lot and shook. A nun from Omsk was standing next to me, and so she cursed terribly. In it, as it turned out later, there were three demons. Father Kirill approached her and asked the demons sitting in her: “Who put you there?” The demons, screaming and squealing, answered from the nun: "Lenka, Lenka in Novosibirsk, Lenka." Father ordered them to leave, and they shouted: "We will not leave, we will not leave." Then Father Kirill says to one: “If you come out, I will hit you with a clear blow!” "I'll go out, I'll go out. I'm leaving, I'm already gone!" the demon shouted. Father Kirill tells another: "Come out." He wept and wailed: “I won’t go out, I won’t go out, I’ve been imprisoned before Peter and Paul.” And the third demon shouted: "Let's go out, let's go out, don't burn us, you burned us so badly." At that moment, other demons shouted from other people in different voices: “We will kill you, you hear, we will kill you anyway, there are many of us, and you alone, tortured us all, burned us. We'll kill you anyway!" After the reprimand, Father Kirill began to lay the gospel on everyone. And after he placed the gospel on my head, I stopped crying. The next morning, he gave communion to everyone he scolded. The elder usually reprimanded no more than three times. After the third time, few remained unhealed. If someone was not healed even after the third time, he reprimanded for the fourth time. And then everyone was healed for sure. I recovered after the second report. Indeed, he told me: “Arrived promptly. Even later, and no one would have helped you! I won't let you die now."

My sister also visited my father. She had tumors, three bumps that choked her. When father Cyril asked her if she took anything from anyone, her sister remembered that she had three bumps after a friend gave her three rolls. The elder also cured my sister.

I was often sick, and Father Cyril always saved me. Sometimes, if he is not around, I will crawl to the phone, the priest will immediately pick up the phone, pray and say: “God help you!” And everything passes. For the father there were no distances. How many people he healed before my eyes, do not count! He treated both by phone and by letter.

Once my granddaughter Olya (the eldest son's daughter) went missing. She was gone for three days. I called Father Cyril. “Olya,” I say, “ours is gone.” And my father answers me: Your Olya is in good health and is locked up at such and such an address,- completely the street, house number, apartment number, but he himself is in Riga. — Take a few people with you, arm yourself, because the one who stole your granddaughter is also armed.(The one who stole Olga was the director of her company, he was not Russian and wanted to sell my granddaughter along with her girlfriends, sort of like a concubine.) So my son and his friends went to this address, we took knives and sticks with us . We ring the doorbell, and my son says: “Open, we know that you are here and Olga is here, the house is surrounded, and we are armed.” He was frightened, returned Olga and her girlfriends, and gave the money, those that she had earned. If not for the father, it is not known what this non-Russian would have done with the girls.

Mother Sophia (now the abbess of the Pokrovsky Verkhotursky Convent) said that when Metropolitan Joseph of Alma-Ata died, Father Kirill immediately dropped everything and left for the funeral. Vladyka Joseph was a holy man, he loved to do secret alms. And he instructed Matushka Sofya to carry it around at night so that no one would see it, and put it on the threshold or near the fence of this or that house. Mother Sophia said that Vladyka Joseph loved Father Kirill very much and often talked with him. Once Vladyka told Matushka Sofya that Father Kirill would come to him that night. And she really wanted to see what kind of father Kirill was. And so, when the priest came to Vladyka, she began to look at him through a crack in the door. Vladyka and Father Kirill sat, talked, prayed, and without waiting for the morning, Father Kirill left. So they often met at night, apparently hiding their communication from the authorities.

Father Cyril predicted his death to the day. When his father Vladimir (who serves in Osh) was washing, he saw that the whole body of the old man was in bloody wounds, the flesh was moving away from the bones. The father suffered greatly. And I thought, why is it that he holds his hands akimbo, and it turns out that he had wounds from diabetes under his armpits. Such suffering, Lord have mercy!

Although my father himself told me that he would soon die, I did not believe it at all - I could not contain it, as if I was petrified. They wanted to transport him to Russia, but it did not work out. Once he became very ill, and he had to urgently go to Russia, to his children. Doctors warn him: "You can't go, you will suddenly die on the way." And their father: "It's good that I'll die in Russia." Father Kirill told me that after his death I should move to Russia in a year.

A friend of mine has gangrene. The doctors said that an urgent operation was needed, and if the operation did not help, then amputation of the leg was also possible. I persuaded her to fly a few hours before the operation by plane to Father Kirill. When we came to the elder, he immediately told her that she had gangrene, and her leg had already become all black. Her father looked at her and gave instructions on how to treat her. My friend fulfilled everything exactly, not forgetting about prayer. The leg became completely healthy. So Father Kirill healed such a woman in less than a week. serious illness, which, even with the best outcome of the case, would have taken six months, if not more. Three months later, the healed woman came to the elder and brought him five hundred rubles (a lot of money in those days). Father Cyril did not take the money, but told her to apply to the church for herself and for her son and thank God for the healing. The elder also said: “You won’t get sick for ten years, and then I can’t say, because you drink vodka.” And this woman worked as a warehouse manager. And exactly ten years later, she again came to the old man - her leg hurt. Father Cyril cured her in one day and forever.

One day, Father Kirill gave me the obedience to sell all our sauerkraut because we were bad with money. No matter how much I refused, he still persuaded me. Obedience is obedience. And so I came to the market, I stand, I trade smartly. And the women standing nearby warned me that the director of the market was a sorcerer and that he had spoiled all their husbands. I look, a man comes up to me, tasted cabbage, praised me and asked me to change the ruble. I changed him. And by the end of the day, I felt very bad: the temperature rose to forty degrees, my cheek was so blown that my face seemed to have become twice as large. I did not go to the rule and did not reach my father, I decided to go home. I came home and I can not find a place for myself. I gathered my last strength and went to Father Cyril, and he was already meeting me at the gate with the words: “Well, what are you, mother ?! People from thousands of kilometers go to be treated, and why did you go home? What did they do to you? Well, let's go! He brought me to his cell and made me sit down. He began to pray and put his hand to his sore cheek. Right before our eyes, the cheek began to decrease and decrease, and the hand of Father Kirill, on the contrary, began to swell. When my cheek was completely healed, my father said: “Now go, work on, and I’ll sort it out myself somehow.” Father Kirill got up, raising his swollen hand, and went to pray. The next day, his hand was fine. So the old man treated. He seemed to take some of our sins upon himself, begged us, while he himself was seriously ill and suffered. Father always saved us and inspired us. Sometimes, you work, you get very tired, you no longer have any strength, and your father will come up, encourage you, say two or three words, and from somewhere the strength will come again, as if you hadn’t worked at all.

I had another such case, already in Riga. I told Father Kirill that I needed to go to my daughter, but he did not bless me (the next day I had to plant potatoes, and for this I was scheduled to wake up at half past five in the morning). And I told him: "Father Kirill, yes, I'll spend the night with my daughter, I'll come to you in the morning." Batiushka replies: "We leave at six o'clock, you won't make it in time." I say: "I can do it." She came home to her daughter and only in the morning she closed her eyes, she could not sleep at all. I opened my eyes - it's a quarter to six, but I can't get up, I'm lying like a sick person. And suddenly I see: the door to the room opens, someone in white comes in, all glows. The aroma spread around the room in an extraordinary way, as if it smelled of peace or incense. This man came up to me, touched me, and I seemed to wake up. I got up, I looked, and he went out through the window and went to heaven, and he himself glows, and a wonderful aroma from him throughout the house. I quickly got dressed, ran out, immediately caught a taxi and at exactly six I was at Father Kirill's house. I got on the bus, my father said to me: “Well, mother, I told you that you wouldn’t have time, I had to go to wake you up, otherwise I would have overslept.” It was only then that I realized who the luminous person who woke me up was.

Father Kirill made sure that we ate well, that everything was neat with us, he took care of us like a dear, loving mother. He was very kind and gave everything to those in need. Sometimes he will distribute, and there will be nothing left for us, we will grumble, and he consoles us: “Do not worry, the Lord will send more tomorrow.” All of us (nuns ) he took us into his spiritual children when we were very sick, mortally ill, there were no healthy people among us. He cured us all both physically and spiritually. We did not know grief, but now it has become hard.

Father knew all our thoughts. He did not go anywhere, but he saw everything with his spirit and immediately denounced us. Nothing could be hidden from him. It happened that he would stop one or the other and say: “Why did you go without an apostle today?” Or: “Why were you sleeping undressed, are you a nun?” He taught us to always tell the truth. I go one day, and thoughts come to me that my father is such and such, and that, all sorts of filth climbs into my head. “Yes,” you think, “such and such is Father Kirill, something is wrong, this is not like that.” I approached the house of Father Cyril, and he himself opened the gate and met me with the words: “Well, she came to me, and I’m such and such.” And he retells all my thoughts exactly, and then he says: “If I am such and such, why do you come to me, I don’t keep anyone, leave if you want.” I fall at his feet and begin to repent: "Forgive me, father, thoughts." - "And you do not agree with them, as soon as they appear, immediately drive them away."

When Father Kirill was told how they slandered him, he answered: "Well, so what? I should be scolded." Didn't respond to slander at all. He never held a grudge against anyone, did not take revenge and told us that we need to pray for our enemies.

About the last times, the elder said that suffering would not last long, but
strong sorrow awaits us. Earthquakes, cataclysms, famine, persecution of the true faith… Many people will die, many will get sick. The time will come when money will disappear and there will be electronic cards, and believers who do not accept this will live on potatoes alone, as in a war. And in the West, even so, believers cannot live, because the elder blessed everyone to move to Russia ... Father Kirill often told us, especially before his death: “ Russia is Russia, although she is a beggar, she will serve like a beggar, but here (in Latvia ) even the rich will not give as a beggar in Russia will give". The old man also said that there will be famine in Russia, pensions, benefits and salaries will not be paid, but all this will change over time. He also said that the time would soon come when all the Orthodox would be persecuted… Then I didn’t even want to listen to this, everything seemed so incredible.

Shortly before the death of the elder, I saw him in a dream. He lay on his deathbed and said to me: "I'm dying, mother." And I felt so sorry for him, I went up to him, knelt down and said: “Do not die, father, do not die, because you have already died.” I'm on my knees and crying, and I'm holding his hand. And so she woke up all in tears, and her lips kept whispering: “Do not die, father.” On the day of his death, the elder appeared to me in a dream (I did not yet know that Father Kirill had died). He came up to me, blessed and kissed me, as if saying goodbye to me. Then, leaving, he said: “Enough for you, mother, to drag around with bags, get ready to me.” And I ask him: “Where will I live with you?” And Father Kirill shows me with his hand at the wonderful house, which suddenly opened up in front of me, and says: “Look, mother, what a big building.”

I went to this building, and some man ran ahead of me and did not let me in, saying: “There is nothing for you to do there, there is no one there, no.” When I nevertheless approached, I saw that the house was locked up. I go in from the other side - the lock is also hanging. I look out the windows, and there Mother Varvara is already arranging the icons, and Mother Anina is laying out the linen. I woke up with this. What it all means, I understood later. Apparently, it was not yet time for me to go there.

Once, during the life of Father Kirill, a famous doctor from Odessa came to him. This doctor has not had a daughter since birth. Father received them in his office. He put the doctor's daughter on her feet and told her: "Well, come, come to me." And the girl, staggering, still went. Here was a miracle! Once I witnessed how Father Kirill healed the daughter of a foreign ambassador. The girl was bedridden for many years. The father of the healed woman, as a token of gratitude, brought a new minibus and parked it in front of the temple. Then he helped the priest all the time: he gave a few more cars, helped in the construction of a new church, which Father Kirill began to build shortly before his death.

Do not count all the cases of healing through the prayer of the father. To this day, many people are healed at his grave. Sometimes there are so many people that it's not crowded. The grave of Father Cyril smelled very fragrant, especially on the fortieth day after his death.

How many times Father Kirill told me that he would soon die and that I should obey him in everything! And somehow, waving his hand, he said: “But anyway, you will come to my cold feet.” And so it all happened afterwards. “It will be so hard for you, mother, so hard,” my father told me. How many tears will you shed! But do not be afraid and do not be discouraged, I am everywhere, mother, I will be with you!

Once, on the feast of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, I saw how the priest in the altar did a lot of prostrations. As the father did the bows, no one did it - quickly, quickly. I used to do it once He same for this time three or five. And he was heavy. I look, after the service, Father Kirill goes to the refectory as if not himself, in a special peaceful way. I to him: “Father, what is the matter with you?” And he quietly and joyfully says this: “I saw Saint Prince Vladimir in the altar with a bowl. He is several times taller than me, and so he stood straight in front of me. This phenomenon took place in Riga in 1988 (the year of the millennium of the Baptism of Rus').

No matter how much money she brought to her father, he distributed them all: to the poor, the sick, the needy, spiritual children. Part to Jerusalem, to monasteries, or somewhere else he sent. From Father Cyril, I saw only good. He loved everyone and only did good to everyone. The kingdom of heaven to him and eternal memory!

According to the book: “Healing by the Spirit. Biography of the ever-memorable Archimandrite Kirill (Borodin), memories of him, his conversations and sermons. Compiled by A. Kuzmin, Yekaterinburg: OMTA Publishing House, 2006, p.88-100

A glimpse into the holy of holies - the place where art is made - is an incomprehensible (and practically unattainable) miracle for any admirer. The veil of secrecy is sometimes lifted by the masters themselves, letting the journalist into the distance of a shot: on one side of the shutter, on the other - well, you understand. Or, as it is now accepted, an independent photo on Instagram. Be that as it may, the created miracle is beautiful even without a public examination of the act of creation. Therefore, it is still interesting to go to exhibitions and vernissages.

The Antonov Gallery once again attracted me on someone's birthday. The opening of the exposition of Kirill Borodin marked the second anniversary of the exhibition space itself. This time it was the opposite: the gallery acted as a platform for celebrating the artist's birthday and timed to coincide with this occasion (read, "event") the presentation of not only works, but the atmosphere of the creative space. And the fact that canvases are so successfully hung in it is an irreparable accident and a pleasant coincidence.

Workshop for the artist - the bosom of his creations. And without that, the torments of creativity are often accompanied by the inconvenience of the places where they have to indulge. Therefore, a specialized space is a considerable blessing and a high honor that can be shown. As far as I understand, the Antonov Gallery itself somehow contributes to the comfort of artists. Although it is in the case of Kirill that this is a way to “invite to your home”, without being within the four walls of an apartment, in order to celebrate a birthday in an uncountable circle of people, friends and random like-minded people.

This exhibition does not have especially cunning eyeliners or scattering of inconspicuous trifles, diligently attributed in the release. But maybe this is precisely its charm - the simplicity of the form in favor of the content. And Kirill Borodin is one of those artists who define for me the concept of " modern Art” through the time of its creation, and not as a synonym for the conceptually suffered nonconformist in the conditions of all-round tolerance of symbolism. A new word in our time can be said in the classical genre - it would have a vocabulary.

P.S. This time I tested the Zenit Fisheye, so the general plans irreparably prevail over the large ones.

Considering that people did not stop dropping in for another 3-4 hours after the start of the exhibition, we can say that these are "only flowers". Paws and bunnies always gravitate towards the darker time of the day: O)

A minute of solemn words, and a speech like a toast - "for teachers and new heights"

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I suppose that these palettes characterize the mood of the paintings as a whole much more clearly than those individually.

Knitting of obsolete brushes

The master poses: "come on as if you are drawing me as a model"

There is room for courage even for children

In this photo on the right - Archimandrite Kirill (Borodin) (1930-1998) - an outstanding pastor of the Russian Orthodox Church, the successor of the Optina monastic tradition. He went through the Gulag, suffered persecution and slander for his faith. Carrying out his ministry in different parts of the country, he fed a vast flock. The recollections of his spiritual children testify that the Lord endowed Fr. Cyril with many gifts - healing, wonderworking, unceasing prayer, insight.

On True Humility

At the time of my youth, when I worked in the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, I often had to be on duty in the patriarchal reception room, performing secretarial obedience.

One day, a slightly strange old man came into the waiting room. It must be said that in those years, pensioners had a fashion for underpants-type tracksuits, with the unofficial name "Farewell, youth." This strange visitor was wearing just such a costume. On his feet he had short tarpaulin boots, and on his head was a velvet dark green skullcap, on which I did not immediately notice the cross. It seemed strange to me such a combination of styles in clothes, but I did not give special significance this circumstance. True, the face of the visitor seemed a little familiar to me. I asked the strange old man:

- Are you at the reception?

“Yes,” he replied in a Georgian accent.

– Then you will have to wait two hours, because His Holiness (Aleksy I. – Ed.) is very busy.

“Nothing, nothing, I’ll wait,” the old man said humbly.

Two hours have passed. The Georgian elder, meekly lowering his eyes, sat on a chair and humbly waited. I contacted the Patriarch, and he told me that he was very tired and needed at least one hour to rest.

“You will have to wait another hour and a half,” I said, fearing the old man’s displeasure. “His Holiness is very tired. He needs rest.

But, to my surprise, the Georgian, not at all embarrassed in spirit, answered:

- Okay, okay, I'll wait. Of course, a person needs to rest, because he has a hard job.

The thought again slipped through my mind: "Strange skufeyka." About an hour later, already feeling somewhat awkward, I spoke to the old man myself:

- I'll ask the Holy One, maybe he will receive you now?

- Ask, son, ask dear.

I contacted the Patriarch again - the result is the same.

- You know, wait another hour. You can go have lunch.

“Yes, dear, don’t worry, you’d better have dinner yourself, otherwise look how thin you are.” You need to go to Georgia. We would have fed you so much there, we would have tasted our lamb.

“Sorry, but I’m a monk, I can’t eat meat.”

- And if you can’t, then you’ll try our chickens.

But chickens are also meat.

– Yes you that, expensive! Are chickens meat? What is this meat? It's chickens!

Generally speaking, in the world now only Russian monks do not eat meat, and all the rest - Georgian, Romanian, Bulgarian and partly Greek - eat meat. What can you do - human infirmities!

After talking a little more with a charming old Georgian man, I left on business. About half an hour later I returned. The elder continued to humbly await the patriarchal reception. Glancing at the clock, I realized that the poor old man had no chance at all to get an appointment.

“You know,” I turned to the humble visitor, “you'd better come tomorrow. I will tell the Holy One to be the first to receive you. I'm sorry it happened.

“God bless you, son. I probably won't be able to tomorrow. You then tell him that Ephraim the Second came ...

I almost lost the power of speech, I was struck like a thunderbolt. Really! Why didn't I think of it right away? After all, a green skullcap, and there is also a cross on it! Only patriarchs wear green skufei! Woe to me! After all, this is the Georgian Patriarch, His Holiness Ephraim II.

“Your Holiness,” I rushed to him for a blessing, “what didn’t you say right away? They sat for a long time, but all in vain! Now, now you will be accepted immediately. Oh, why didn't you just say something?!

– Yes, they said that His Holiness is busy. And how can I distract such a person as Patriarch Alexy from important matters?

What humility! Having a high dignity, to behave so meekly! This is what true humility is! "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" ( Matt. 5, 3). There is much to learn from our contemporary clergy and laity.

About Saint Seraphim

At that time, when I was obedient to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I, the following amazing incident happened to me.

After I graduated from the theological seminary, from an overabundance of knowledge, like many "intellectual theologians", a certain arrogance began to appear in me.

Once, sitting late at night in the waiting room of the Patriarch, I was reading archival materials about the canonization of St. Seraphim of Sarov.

Reading about the solemn events of 1903 that took place in Sarov, I suddenly thought, or rather, the thought began to sound obsessively in my head that all these celebrations were nothing but a political act, pursuing the goal of bringing the Tsar and the people closer together.

This obsessive thought seemed to darken me, and I, it seemed to me, understood everything. “Yes, this is politics, and nothing more,” the irrepressible voice sounded insistently in my head.

It was our patriarchal cleaner.

I shook myself a little from my philosophies and asked:

- What do you want?

The cleaner replied:

- Father Kirill, some Jew is asking you there.

I was incredibly surprised:

- What other Jew and why all of a sudden me?

“I don’t know, father, he really wants to see you, and he even mentioned your last name.

“Well, let him come in, only, of course, all this is strange,” I said in bewilderment.

Literally a minute later, a clearly disturbed man with a large canvas bag in his hands looked into the waiting room.

His appearance was so specific that it became immediately clear why the cleaning lady easily identified in him a representative ancient people. I started first:

- What do you want, "faithful son of Abraham"?

- So you are Father Kirill Borodin?

- Yes, why?

“Listen, father Cyril,” my visitor began to ask me with some pity in his voice, “take him away from me, I have no more strength. Take away!

At that moment, the unfortunate Jew pulled out a portrait from his canvas bag, on which the face of St. Seraphim was hardly recognizable.

But what a portrait!

Only because of Father Seraphim I will not call him a daub.

On a small board, slightly peeling and darkened antique (it is not clear whether it was applied with paints at all), there is a slightly smeared image of the Sarov Wonderworker without a halo.

I have never seen such a terrible copy in my entire life, even to this day.

“Why, may I ask, should I be the one to take this picture from you?” I asked a sudden visitor.

“Why, he, this old man, whom I had the misfortune to draw and whom you are now examining on this board, himself demanded that I give it - that is, give it, and not sell it - only to you! He simply tormented me from the moment I drew him, or rather, copied from one old engraving. I wanted to sell this painting first, passing it off as an antique dealer.

- And he ... - then the poor Jew began to lament strongly, and I had to work hard to calm him down. “And he haunts me day and night. “Give me,” he says, “to Father Kirill Borodin, who works in the Moscow Patriarchate, he will pray to me.” This old man appears to me in my dreams almost every night. Take him away, Father Kirill, I beg you! I have no life from him, I don’t know who he is, but I feel - woe to me from him!

To be honest, I'm the kind of person who's hard to break into a tear. But then, to be honest, I just could not stand it - my heart skipped a beat, and a lump rolled up in my throat.

My soul melted, tears glistened in my eyes.

“This is necessary! I relented. “Reverend Seraphim asks me, the most sinful, cursed and unworthy monk, to save my icon from desecration!”

No matter how much I shoved money to the unfortunate artist, he did not take them under any pretext. That's how much he wanted to get rid of his job!

After the Jew, delighted with his deliverance, fled home, I knelt before the face of the monk and prayed to him for a long, long time with tears.

My heart rejoiced, my soul was calm and joyful.

All the thoughts about the “politics” in the canonization of Father Seraphim, which had recently been seething in my highly intelligent head, disappeared somewhere without a trace. Apparently, the monk himself expelled them with his visit.

About TV and demons

People often ask me: “How bad is it to watch TV?”

I will answer with a few examples from my own life.

When I was serving in Tselinograd, a commissioner for religious affairs was assigned to us as a spy from the authorities. And then one day when we met, he asked me:

Didn't you watch yesterday? How many goals have we scored?

I didn't quite understand the question and asked:

- What pucks? The ones with nuts? I just don't understand where to put them?

The agent looked at me like I was crazy:

- You don't know what hockey is?

And then he suffered ... I hardly fought off the unfortunate.

- Don't you watch hockey?

“I don’t look,” I answer, “and I don’t even know what it is.”

- Yes, you ... Yes, you, - the poor fellow almost choked with indignation. - Yes, you know, in general ... What are you? And don't watch TV?

- I'm not looking.

- What are you doing! In our progressive age of building communism - and such uncivilized darkness! But people come to you. Disorder! To turn on the TV immediately and watch the news!

“Excuse me,” I say, “I don’t even have a TV.

Don't worry, I'll take over the TV. For the sake of such an opportunity to stop your lack of culture, I order the TV set to be delivered here immediately. And personally once a week I will ask you about what they show there.

Or not! You will submit a report to me in writing: what events are taking place in the world in our country, what films are being shown, where, who and how many goals have been scored. Got it? Otherwise, blame yourself - I will ensure that your monastery is closed.

- Well, - I say, - be your way.

The TV arrived the next day.

For a long time I thought about where to put it.

And, finally, I decided to install it in the room for the reception of the demoniac (there are no icons there, because the demoniacs tore them down and broke them).

So we got TV.

That same night, the following incident occurred.

I, according to the Optina Rules, every night at three o'clock served the midnight office. And that's about three hours At night, I got up to, as usual, walk around the entire monastery with a prayer.

Passing by the TV room, I noticed that there was something glowing with blue light. Stopping, I looked in there and saw the TV turned on.

I must say that in those days (it was the 1970s), unlike today, television did not work at night. I was surprised to find that the room was empty. “Apparently, someone turned it on and left,” I thought, “but what is it showing there?” Began to look.

I see stripes on the TV, and suddenly demons appeared on the screen. There were many. They were all different sizes and colors: thick, thin, long, short, red, yellow, blue, green and black. Some were speckled. The eyes of all are convex, the horns are small, the look is disgusting.

They sang and danced something, and when they saw me, they became even more outrageous. I, having managed to make prayers, crossed myself, crossed the screen and ran for holy water and sprinkles, since they were nearby. Having come running, I read a conjurational prayer and sprinkled the TV screen.

There was a deafening explosion.

The screen shattered, and all the insides flew out of the TV. When the smoke cleared, I went to the charred box that was once called the TV, and was horrified to find that it was not even plugged into the network. The evil has perished. “But how can I report to the commissioner now?” I thought.

And then it dawned on me.

I decided to give obedience to the collection of television information for the authorized one of our employees, very secular in spirit, a deacon. He still watches TV at home and reads newspapers. I called the deacon to my place and, having explained the situation, gave my blessing for this obedience, which, I must say, turned out to be very to the liking of the father deacon and his mother. They set to work zealously and with great enthusiasm.

I was simply amazed at the conscientiousness with which the deacon, together with his mother, performed the task entrusted to them. Once a week they brought a written review of everything that was reported on TV on several sheets: news, sports, politics, movies. And mother, plus everything, even described the latest fashion in detail.

All in all, a great job has been done.

The commissioner was simply stunned by the abundance of information and asked only one thing: “Father Kirill, when do you pray?”

Imagine how furious he was when he found out that he was deftly tricked.

Let me tell you about one more case with the TV. Once I was asked to bless the apartment. The hostess was old woman. I told her to sprinkle holy water all over her apartment while she was waiting for me, while reciting the ninetieth psalm. When I arrived at her home, I found her unconscious on the floor.

We barely managed to bring the poor woman to her senses: she was paralyzed, but she could speak. It turned out that during the sprinkling of holy water, she went to the TV and saw how a little imp jumped out of it, which, grimacing, pointing to the blue screen, squeaked: “But you will never kick me out of here!”

The poor woman almost had a heart attack and later had a heart attack.

So think about this TV: “Watch or not?”

When Father Kirill was asked: “So, you can’t watch the news either?” The father answered, condescending to the infirmities of people who can no longer live without TV: “Watch the news, but not all. Don't get caught up in the news. Look into this box for no more than an hour a day. If something useful for the soul is shown or normal educational program, such as, for example, “In the world of animals”, then you can watch longer. ”

“That's after all,” Father Kirill joked, “what they have come to! The most harmless, it turns out, is to look about animals, but at least don’t show people - one sin, and nothing more!

These words reminded me of the reflections of the great Optina elder, the Monk Nectarios, who, recalling the Great Flood, said: “Here Noah called people to the ark, but only cattle came!”

In 1995, the first Chechen war was going on. At a time when Russian soldiers were dying, betrayed by politicians, many television journalists in their reports called Chechen bandits fighters for independence, and entertainment programs continued to amuse the idle man in the street.

And when one well-known journalist was killed, the media staged a national mourning. They made almost a hero out of the dead.

Of course, the bulk of people, succumbing to another telehypnosis, began to venerate the murdered as a martyr for the truth.

Father Cyril had a reception just that day, and many visitors asked the elder about this murder, wondering why. The father answered simply and clearly:

“What do we care if they share a fat chunk of TV?

They didn’t share it with one - they killed him, and after a while they will say on TV that the killer was not found. This is not the last murder of its kind. They will constantly divide something, and in the end they will let everything down against us.

Under the guise of fighting communism, nationalism or terrorism, they will actually fight against Orthodoxy and Russia.

Years have passed, and we, looking at how the empire of lies - television - continues to do its dark work of destroying human souls, every time we recall the prophetic words of Father Cyril. And, praying to the elder, we ask that he, standing at the Throne of the Most High, would ask Him for all of us firmness in faith and courage to stand in the face of the coming Antichrist into the world.

From the book: "Healing by the Spirit." Spiritual Conversations and Answers by Archimandrite Kirill (Borodin) to the Questions of Spiritual Children, Recorded by A. Kuzmin

Yekaterinburg artist - Kirill Borodin creates bright and at first glance frivolous pictures, but are they so simple? Let's find out!

As an example, I would like to recall the painting of masters Northern Renaissance And Dutch painting 17th century. The fact is that the work of the masters of the aforementioned eras is much deeper than it might seem, the whole point is hidden symbols that fill the painting. So, for example, in the work of Van Eyck “Portrait of the Arnolfini couple”, the dog symbolizes marital fidelity, the oranges on the window - well-being, but the fact that the husband holds his wife with his left hand tells us about an unequal marriage (most likely the girl was from a lower social circle ).

IN Dutch still lifes, be it breakfast, dessert, flowers or the so-called vanitas (lat. vanitas, lit. - "vanity, vanity"), each item is filled with meaning. Unfortunately, today we cannot know about all the symbols in the works of artists, but people of the 15th or 17th century easily “read” the messages in the picture.

Peter Klas. Still life with a brazier, herring, oysters and a smoking pipe. 1624

Now back to our time. A series of works by Kirill Borodin, which was presented at the exhibition entitled "Garden of Earthly Delights", on the one hand, is a beautiful glossy art, on the other, they reflect the processes in our society that are taking place today.

The name of the exhibition "Garden of Delights" immediately refers us to the work of Bosch, and sets us up for a serious perception of light, at first glance, art.

Even in the time of Shakespeare, jesters could allow very caustic and caustic remarks about the king or his politics, covering up the whole truth with jokes.

In my opinion, modern artists are doing the same to reach out to the viewer, they can hide the serious problems of society behind very beautiful glossy art.

It is very interesting how a well-known mythological plot is described in the work of Kirill Borodin in a modern key. The work “Rubber Friend”, at first glance, is a hymn to glamor and a beautiful life from Instagram. Remember some time ago such circles for swimming were very popular? In this case, the artist refers to this trend with irony and refers us to the plot of mythology about Leda and the swan.

"Rubber Friend"

Brief reminder of the myth: Leda was the beautiful daughter of the king, she was so beautiful that Zeus himself wanted to take possession of the beauty. Zeus in mythology is famous for his adventures to Danae, he appeared in the form of a golden rain, but to Leda in the form beautiful swan. After an intimacy occurred between Swan and Ledai, she gave birth to several eggs from this union, from which children hatched. That is why the pictures different eras in addition to Leda and the swan, the artists depict children in shells. One of the hatched children was the same Elena the beautiful, who would become the wife of Theseus, and give her beloved a ball so that he would defeat the Minotaur and return from the labyrinth.

The mythological plot depicting Leda can be found on the work of art of almost all eras, we do not take into account only the Middle Ages, but antiquity and the entire history of art since the Renaissance have actively used this plot.

As a rule, artists portrayed Leda at the moment of intimacy with Zeus, or after, very often depicting already hatched children.

The most explicit scenes were depicted french artists the Rococo era, for example, the work of Boucher and, of course, in the sensual era of modernity, Gustav Klimt.

Francois Boucher, Lebel and Leda

Gustav Klimt. Leda and the swan. 1917

The plot depicting Leda and the swan was by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Correggio, Rubens, Cezanne, etc. Paolo Veronese

Dali, "Atomic Leda"

Drawing for a lost painting by Michelangelo

Paul Cezanne. Leda and the swan

Unfortunately, from the canvases of the era High Renaissance there are copies created by other artists. But Raphael's drawing for this story has a double value, it is assumed that he was copied from the lost work of Leonardo.

No wonder they say that the new is the well-forgotten old. And contemporary art is most often very closely connected with the whole past history arts. And in order to be able to "read" the works contemporary artists and to be able to appreciate their work, it is necessary to navigate in the history of art.

Archimandrite Kirill (Vladimir Borodin)
From 1983 to 1990 was pastor of the church. Born January 1, 1930 in Konigsberg.
After World War II, the Borodins were exiled to northern Kazakhstan. Studied at school for
exiled children, after which he entered the Medical Institute. Soon he was called to
military service. After demobilization, he continued his studies at the evening faculty, and during the day
worked as a school teacher German language.
Elder Archimandrite Sevastian of Karaganda was tonsured a monk.
Around 1960 he was ordained a priest.
In 1966 he graduated from the seminary, later - the Moscow Theological Academy.
During the period of study, he worked in the publishing department of the Moscow Patriarchy.
Since 1970, he served in the former Cossack Constantino-Eleninsky Church in Tselinograd.
In 1971, he founded a monastery at the temple and until 1980 was the confessor of the monastery and rector
temple. From an old wooden Cossack church he built a stone cathedral with several side chapels.
Around this time he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
In 1980 he was transferred to Chimkent, where he restored an Orthodox church in less than a year.
In the same 1980 he was transferred as the second priest to the Riga Trinity-Zadvinskaya Church, and in 1983
year was appointed pastor of this church.
Through the efforts of Father Cyril, the Church of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer was built on the lower floor of the temple
Panteleimon in memory of the revered image located in the upper church to the right of the iconostasis,
donated to the temple by Athos monks at the beginning of the 20th century. A parishioner of the Riga Trinity Zadvinskaya Church, Kaleria, recalls that with the beginning of service and mentoring in the temple
Father Kirill began to increase the flock of Christ. People came to church from everywhere
Orthodox Christians. When he came to the service in the church, he did not immediately go to the pulpit,
for many came to him for blessings. Yes, and himself, passing, sometimes turned to
believers with a question, calling them by name. He had an excellent memory, remembered not only names, but also
life circumstances of parishioners. Soon he organized repairs inside the temple and outside.
In 1989 he organized a Sunday school for children, he rented classes for it at the RLTU. Conducted reprimands
demon-possessed, which attracted the sick and those in need of spiritual help.
In 1990 he was appointed rector of the Riga Nativity Cathedral.
In 1992, he left the staff, but continued to serve in his house in Riga, Kalnciema Street.
He died on April 30, 1998, at the age of 69, after a severe long illness.
He was buried at the Riga Ivanovo cemetery.
Not only those who knew him during his lifetime come to the grave of Fr. Kirill, but also young Christians, not
who were his spiritual children.
Spirit Healing
Biography of the ever-memorable Archimandrite Kirill (Borodin).
Blessed be exile for the sake of righteousness: for those are the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when they reproach you, and
Izhdeny, and say every evil verb against you lying, For my sake: rejoice and be glad, as your reward
many in heaven: so the prophets were expelled, who [besha] before you. Matt. 5:10-12.
Prophesy, man speaks creation and consolation and affirmation. 1 Cor. 14:3.
Archimandrite Kirill (Borodin) was born on January 1, 1930 in Konigsberg 1 in the family of Count Habsburg
2. . Kirill's father's mother was from Poland 3. During the birth of her first and only
her son died, and the boy was given to be fed by the wife of the count's gardener, a Russian
woman Maria Borodina. Newborn baby at Catholic baptism was named
Karl. The husband of the wet nurse of little Karl, the gardener of Count Nikolai Borodin, was a man
kind and pious. Together with his wife Maria, they raised their children in Russian
Orthodox spirit, being for them good example true piety.
1Kenigsberg belonged to Germany in 1930. In 1945, Soviet troops took this city. WITH
At that time, Koenigsberg became Kaliningrad.
2 The Habsburgs are an ancient Austrian royal family. We have not yet been able to establish a name
Count of Habsburg, but it is possible that he was related to the Austrian royal house. Myself
1

Father Kirill did not talk much about his childhood during his lifetime, therefore all the facts presented in this
biography, are cited from those memoirs of the elder, which he shared with the compiler of this
biography, as well as with his father Vladimir Eliseev, noise Evfimiya (Belokhvostikova) and
Deacon Vitaly Kondratov.
3 Unfortunately, the name of the elder’s mother has not yet been accurately determined, so it is not included here.
is given.
Through breastfeeding, the infant and the nurse developed a spiritual connection that invisibly connected
their hearts. Little Karl, a Catholic by baptism and a German by birth, along with breast milk
absorbed the Russian spirit of his nurse. The Borodin family, who lived in a foreign land, fell in love
child and with some special instinct, as if prophetically, became attached to him. Karl became for them a truly native son. The upbringing of the little count was also entrusted to the family
Borodin. “Not the mother who gave birth, but the one who raised,” says the proverb. It must be assumed that with
over the years, the boy clung more and more to people who surrounded him with sincere care and attention,
characteristic in general for the Russian Orthodox family.
Meanwhile, Habsburg Sr., not yet an elderly man, decided to marry in order not to be a widower.
The new wife of the count was young and beautiful, but at the same time she had a cruel
heart and immediately disliked the little stepson. Seeing him, as Father Kirill recalled, for the first time
time, she exclaimed: “What kind of German is he? He doesn't look like a German! The point is that Karl
mother inherited large, dark, like cherries, Brown eyes, which is why later on he seemed to many an Oriental man. “When I lived in Kazakhstan,” the priest told himself,
“Everyone took me for a Kazakh, but I’m not a Kazakh at all.” Providence of God phrase, with dislike
what the stepmother said about Cyril's father became prophetic for him. After a few
decades, the son of a German Catholic count will become the most remarkable pastor of the Russian
Orthodox Church, a healer of suffering human souls, an elder who received from God
many spiritual gifts. Truly marvelous are Your works, O Lord!
The stepmother was the first serious test in the life of the young Habsburg. For new wife graph,
who dreamed of owning an inheritance, he was a threat. And, as in the fairy tale about Cinderella, she
mocked Karl, insisting on doing things that were obviously impossible for him. The elder himself
He spoke about it this way: “Sometimes he will make me embroider scarves or something else, but I really didn’t know how: I was small, I’m all pierced with a needle. Forced to cook food, potatoes
clean, lift weights, wash, sweep, bring tea on a tray to her. And God forbid something
do so!” The Borodin family, who saw how the lad, who was not yet strong, was suffering in his soul, tried
comfort and support him in every possible way, sympathizing with Karl in that evangelical spirit in which once
a Russian man was brought up.
The new mistress of the count's estate tried hard to put things in order in the house. boy
became more and more difficult. Then something opened in the soul of the count-father, and he sent his son
together with the Borodins to Eastern Poland to visit their grandmother. In September 1939 Poland was invaded
German troops, and the territory where the Borodins lived, ended up in the zone of German occupation, and after
conclusion of the so-called Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact became part of the USSR 4. Father himself
Cyril recalled that at first they "were under the Germans", and then under "ours". So unexpectedly
Mya Borodinyh fell under the yoke of the Soviet government, which, as you know, did not forgive its citizens
kinship with the "bourgeois West".
4 According to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact concluded in 1939, the USSR included Lithuania,
Latvia and Estonia, as well as some areas of Eastern Poland.
Once on Soviet territory, the Borodins were exiled as "enemies of the people" to the Northern
Kazakhstan, on the territory of the so-called KARLAG - in those years, one of the centers of mass
genocide of both Russian and other peoples of the Soviet Union (mainly Germans). Settlers were thrown straight into the cold steppe, often without even the most primitive
livelihood. More than half of the exiles did not live to see the summer. So nine-year-old Carl
together with his named parents from the chambers of a luxurious count's house, he got into
southern steppes of Northern Kazakhstan. The elder himself, recalling this period, spoke to his spiritual
children:
2

— It was in those years that I truly believed in God, because I saw an example of the true,
confessional faith. Then the exiled Orthodox monks took me to their tent. Was
it was very cold, and the monks put me in the first tent of the tent so that I would not freeze, and they themselves lay down around.
Every night they drew lots to see who would sleep on the edge of the tent, since the one who slept on the edge did not
survived until morning. So all the monks strove to lie on the edge in order to die "for their friends." I was
shocked by this.
In northern Kazakhstan, the Borodins began to live in conditions of hard labor, where oppression from the new government
was a permanent phenomenon. Father Cyril became an exile already from his “young nails”.
Rev. Sebastian Karaganda
After Koenigsberg was taken by Soviet troops in 1945, the Borodin family learned
sad news: Karl's father - Count Habsburg - died. How and why is not known exactly, but
The elder said about this: “Our people killed the Pope.” Orphaned in the flesh, Habsburg Jr. was not orphaned
spiritually. The Borodins are now his legal parents. Karl, adopted by them, adopted
Holy Orthodoxy. He was named in honor of the Holy Baptist of Rus', Grand Duke Vladimir.
(It still remains unknown which of the KARLAG priests performed the rite of joining
Orthodox Church. It could be Reverend Sebastian of Karaganda. Possibly a new name
The Borodins gave Karl long before his baptism, and the rank itself was completed later.) So the son of a German
Count Karl Habsburg became the Russian Vladimir Borodin, and only innate accuracy and
pedantry made it possible to recognize in him a German, in whom the nobility of manners revealed
high origin.
Such is the providence of God! Subsequently, becoming an elder, Father Kirill took care of a large flock,
scattered throughout the world. Therefore, through his pastoral ministry, he became related to the East,
and with the West. But in his heart he was closest to the Russian Land. When asked: "Father, and
do you love Russia?” he replied:
- Russia for me is something abstract, but I love Russians, and you know why? When I was at
cousin in Germany, then at the end of my stay there, my sister gave me a list of
accounts: how much and what I spent. After reading the list, I sighed heavily and for some reason remembered
how one day, getting lost and freezing in the steppes of Northern Kazakhstan, I came across a shack.
The mistress of a wretched house - a kind old woman - let me in, warmed me, fed and watered me,
although she herself lived in dire need. I then spoke Russian poorly, and she, seeing that I was a German (and
then there was a war with Nazi Germany), continuing to feed me, she began to sentence with
love: "Yes, you eat, eat, fascist." This is what real Russian people are. It is in those
difficult years, I fell in love with Russia with all my heart (I) 5.
The youth Vladimir had a lively disposition, but he was obedient and meek, with a kind, sympathetic heart.
Knowing in early childhood the bitterness of orphanhood, he was sensitive to all the unfortunate, sick and miserable.
The pain and suffering of others became Vladimir's own. He thought more and more
about how to help people suffering from serious bodily and spiritual ailments, therefore
I firmly decided that I would become a doctor. Vladimir was endowed with an extraordinary memory, deep
penetrating mind and incredible diligence, which opened up to him the opportunity to become
great person. But he was not at all proud of his talents, having absorbed
the meek spirit of Orthodoxy with milk, and realizing that everything given to him is from God, and not his own
merit. “Ours are only sins,” Father Kirill often repeated. Already as a child, he was
I am so sincerely convinced of this that people sometimes saw in him a kind of foolishness. "My kingdom
nothing of this world,” says the Lord / Jn. 18:36/. So the lad Vladimir was like that
"non-dead" person.
"Hereinafter, the numbers in brackets indicate the number of the commentary to the biography
Archimandrite Kirill (Borodin) Archpriest Alexander Nikulin (see the relevant chapter, p.
57 — 65).
At the school for exiled children, Vladimir studied "excellently", although he barely learned well
speak Russian. Classmates, knowing that he lived in Germany, teased him as a "fascist German"
(The “non-Soviet” origin will be remembered more than once by those in power to Father Kirill) (2).
3

After graduating from school with honors and enrolling in a medical institute, Vladimir, who, according to documents
was listed a year older than his real age, was called up for military service.
He served in the Moscow General Staff. This period in the life of an old man causes many
bewilderment: how could the son of a German count be taken to the Red Army ?! Father Kirill himself
He told about this to one of his closest spiritual children, Father Vladimir Eliseev.
Demobilized, Vladimir Borodin happily began his studies 6. After completing the theoretical course
medical institute and started to practice, he, being an Orthodox believer, refused
practice abortion, for which he was expelled from the university. But by the grace of God
transferred to the Pedagogical Institute for the fourth year. Knowing about religious views and county
the origin of Vladimir, the authorities established constant control over him. Vladimir studied at
evening faculty, and during the day he worked at the school as a teacher of German. He didn't want to be in
a burden to his family and earned his own bread (later, when the Borodins grew old, and his father
Kirill was already a priest, he sent them money every month, providing his adoptive
parents a comfortable old age).
6 In what city was the institute where the father studied, it is not exactly established. It is only known
that it was no further than the exiled territory of the KARLAG.
Possessing a high intellect and a flexible mind, Father Kirill also had an extraordinary gift
a blessed word that simply and quickly reached the mind and heart of the listener. This gift
first manifested itself in the father during his pedagogical activity. The young teacher is very
loved by the students. The management of the school, knowing Vladimir's intellect, entrusted him to teach in addition to
German and other subjects, thereby replacing the missing teachers. But, as said, not
the hail may take refuge on the top of a standing mountain / Matt. 5:14 /: in his lessons, the future elder, talking about
discoveries of world science and giving students the opinions of great Russian scientists about the creation of the world,
preached the existence of God. Some teachers, jealous of a gifted teacher, became his
hate. The non-Soviet spirit of Vladimir was incomprehensible to most of his school colleagues and caused
jealousy and irritation in the hearts of these spiritual blind men 7. The elder himself recalled: “I didn’t want to drink with
them vodka on numerous Soviet holidays. And in general, I did not drink vodka and drunkenness did not
I loved". Who knows, maybe it was in those years that Father Kirill felt in himself the desire to be
a monk? Spiritual abstinence and strict asceticism, combined with spiritual simplicity and kind
hearts became good grounds for his future monastic life.
7 The righteous serves as a rebuke and rebuke to the wicked man. "Reproofs 6 about wounds to the wicked
him,” says the Book of Proverbs of Solomon / Prov. 9:7/. The sad thing is that not only in the secular environment
This prophetic word of the holy King David works, but also in the church environment. We will see it in
life of the old man more than once.
Having made enemies among his school colleagues, Vladimir resigned himself, enduring malice and slander with meekness.
in relation to yourself. Also in early years of his childhood, he learned not to respond with evil for evil and for
such zeal for the commandment of love for enemies was able to feel the grace of the Holy Spirit. All
thoughts about monasticism began to visit the young man more often, and the Lord did not leave unheard
heartfelt sighs of His servant.
Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov)
God's Providence brought Vladimir together with Elder Sevastian of Karaganda and Bishop Joseph
(Chernov). Father Sebastian was one of the last elders of the Optina Hermitage, more precisely, this
marvelous ascetic of piety, who had from God the grace-filled gifts of healing, miracle-working,
insight and unceasing prayer, became worthy successor Optina eldership. B1934
year he ended up in the Karaganda camps (in the village of Dolinka), and remained so until the end of his days
to serve God and people with a sacrificial feat of grace-filled shepherding in these harsh lands. In
the times of prosperity of the blessed Optina Hermitage, father Sebastian carried for about two years
the obedience of a cell-attendant to Elder Joseph (Litovkin), and after this God-loving husband departed
in the villages of the righteous, Father Sebastian served another great elder - the Monk Nectarios
Optinsky. The meek, humble, truly Orthodox spirit of Father Sebastian conquered
4

Vladimir Borodin, and he became the spiritual child of this great shepherd, now ranked
Orthodox Church to the face of saints.
Every day, seeing before him an example of holiness and true monasticism, Vladimir grows
spirit and more and more feels the desire to become a warrior of the Heavenly King, serving Him in the rank
angelic. Elder Sebastian, seeing a future elder in a young school teacher, through
for some time he tonsured Vladimir in a cassock, and then in a mantle with the name Cyril, in honor of
Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril, teacher of Slovene 8. Elder Sebastian was from
peasants and was not aware of the sciences, but he commanded Father Kirill to study both in the seminary and in
academy. Father Cyril fulfilled these commandments with zeal.
8 According to other sources, Vladimir Borodin met the elder at the age of thirteen, and
for fourteen years, with the blessing of Father Sebastian, he takes the cassock.
In the second half of the 1950s, Khrushchev organized a new campaign against
Churches of Christ. During the Great Patriotic War Stalin, realizing the role of Orthodoxy in
strengthening the patriotic spirit of the people, began to favor the believers. Temples began to open
monasteries, theological seminaries, schools and academies, the patriarchate was restored. However
Khrushchev, who replaced Stalin, again attacked the holy of holies of the Russian people - Orthodox
Church - with the fury of Nero. The years of the "thaw" caused a sigh of relief from anyone, but
but not among those who believe in Christ. Seeing strong