Patriarch Kirill's spiritual father passes away

Schema-Archimandrite Ilia. Photo: Telegram channel "Optina Pustyn Monastery"

Late in the evening of March 15, 2025, Schema-Archimandrite Ilia, the spiritual advisor to Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church and a brother of the Optina Pustyn Monastery, passed away, according to the monastery's Telegram channel.

His funeral is scheduled for March 18, with a farewell ceremony beginning on March 17 at 12:00.

The future Schema-Archimandrite was born in 1932 into a peasant family in the village of Stanovoy Kolodez, Oryol region. After serving in the military and studying at a mechanical engineering college, he entered a theological seminary. He later graduated from the Leningrad Theological Academy, where he met the future Patriarch Kirill.

In 1966, he took monastic vows under the name Ilian. He served in churches of the Leningrad Eparchy before spending ten years at the Pskov-Caves Monastery. From 1976 to 1989, he lived in the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos.

In 1989, he returned to Russia to help restore the Optina Pustyn Monastery, where he took the Great Schema and received the name Ilia. After Kirill was elected Patriarch in 2009, Ilia became his personal spiritual father and resided at the Patriarchal Residence in Peredelkino. In 2010, he was elevated to the rank of Schema-Archimandrite.

Father Ilia was regarded as one of the most respected and revered elders of the Russian Orthodox Church.

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