Commemorated January 26 (+ 1937 ?)
The Lord preserved for his chosen people a bishop who did not agree to yield his faith for the sake of peacewith the enemies of Christ 's Church. May his name be blessed from generation to generation. Sergei Nilus
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Hieromartyr Kirill (Smirnov) |
Before his death Patriarch Tikhon left a document concerning his temporary successor, the Locum Tenens, who was to occupy the Patriarchal Throne until a new Patriarch could be freely elected for Russia. The Communist program which was being imposed upon much-suffering Holy Russia, and which was not actually atheistic but rather anti-theistic, had already made it extremely unlikely that such a free election could be held. In his choice of three successor hierarchs, the Martyr-Patriarch indicated the path for the Church to follow: these men were above all noted for their strict Orthodoxy of faith and boldness in confessing it, qualities which prepared them to become great confessors such as the Church had in the early catacomb times. The first of these pillars of firmness in unadulterated Orthodoxy was Metropolitan Cyril of Kazan, a towering figure in the Russian Church and an inspirer of the Catacomb Church.
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Hieromartyr Kirill (Smirnov) |
Born Constantine Smirnov on April 26, 1863, he graduated from the St. Petersburg Theological Academy in 1887. After marriage he was ordained priest, but soon he became a widower and was tonsured a monk and appointed head of an Orthodox Mission in Urmia. In 1904 he was consecrated Bishop of Gdov, a vicar of the Petersburg diocese, where he became spiritually very close to the great luminary of the 20th century, St. John of Kronstadt. Theholy pastor was greatly attached to the young hierarch, and in his last will St. John asked that his funeral be served and that he be buried by none other than the young Bishop Cyril. When the Saint died in 1908, Bishop Cyril fulfilled this request with great love and care, placing the body in the coffin and being the chief celebrant in the funeral services that followed, even though there were many elder hierarchs present. St. John knew well and greatly respected the high spiritual caliber of Bishop Cyril.
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Hieromartyr Kirill (Smirnov) |
During the celebration of Theophany in Petersburg in 1909 Bishop Cyril revealed himself as an outstanding fighter for church truth and tradition. Under the influence of worldly "scientific" elements it was officially decreed that all water which was to be blessed for the feast in the Petersburg diocese must be boiled beforehand, and thus the great Agiasma had to be performed over steaming pots. One outspoken church organ of the time noted that:
"More faith was shown in the firewood necessary to boil the water and kill the germs, than in God. Fortunately, however, not everyone stepped away from the anchor of our salvation, and in the same Petersburg the lord preserved for his chosen ones a single bishop who did not agree to yield his faith for the sake of peace with the enemies of Christ's Church. If these notes ever see the light of print, let them preserve the name of this loyal servant of God and archpastor, for the strengthening of faith and piety in my overburdened brethren. Cyril of Gdov is the name of this bishop. May his name be blessed from generation to generation." Defying the warnings of the police. Bishop Cyril blessed the water of the Neva River at the St. Alexander NevskyLavraright through a hole in the ice. The local police, however, took measures to ensure that no one was allowed to take water from the "Jordan."
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Metropolitan Kirill (Smirnov), photo from the 1934 file |
In 1924, when Metropolitan Cyril had refused to join the Living Church. The head of the secret police,
Tuchkov, had promised him that he would "rot in prison"; and indeed, for the rest of his life he went from prison to exile to yet more remote exile. Being in exile in 1925 when Patriarch Tikhon died, he was unable to undertake the responsibilities of Locum Tenens, and this position fell to the Patriarch's third choice, Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsa. When the latter's Substitute, Metropolitan Sergius, issued his infamous "Declaration" in 1927 Metropolitan Cyril was in exile in a remote village in Turukhan in the far north, beyond the Arctic Circle, suffering from a kidney disease. From there he sent outspoken letters both to Metropolitan Sergius and to Bishop Damascene of Glukhov (who was in exile in the same region) breaking off communion with Metropolitan Sergius, declaring his acts null and void, and stating that he had overstepped his authority by instituting a whole new church policy without even consulting the Locum Tenens. Bishop Damascene's secretary at that time. E. Lope. who recently published one such letter, also states that "in 1931 all the bishops in exile recognized Metropolitan Cyril, and not Metropolitan Sergius, as the head of the Orthodox Church" (Bishops Confessors, p. 3')).
According to information received from the Soviet Union in 1937, Metropolitan Cyril was killed in exile at that time on direct orders from Moscow. at the beginning of the Ezhov purges, as a "chief inspirer" of the Catacomb Church.
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The assassination of St. Cyril, Metropolitan of Kazan November 7, 1937 |
Reference:
Excerpts from the book "Russia's Catacomb Saints" by Ivan Andreyev
