Kirill of Beloozero
Encyclopedia
Cyril of White Lake was a monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

 and saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

 of the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

 who lived in the 15th century. Saint Cyril was a disciple of Saint Sergius of Radonezh
Sergius of Radonezh
Venerable Sergius of Radonezh , also transliterated as Sergey Radonezhsky or Serge of Radonezh, was a spiritual leader and monastic reformer of medieval Russia. Together with Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, he is one of the Russian Orthodox Church's most highly venerated saints.-Early life:The date of...

. In 1397, he founded the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery , loosely translated in English as the St. Cyril-Belozersk Monastery, used to be the largest monastery of Northern Russia. The monastery was dedicated to the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, for which cause it was sometimes referred to as the Dormition Monastery...

 in Northern Russia, in the present-day Vologda
Vologda
Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. The city is a major transport knot of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda is among the Russian cities possessing an especially valuable historical heritage...

 Oblast.

Biography

Cyril was born as Kosma in Moscow in 1337. Hi origin is not entirely clear, but he was in any case close to the boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....

 family of Velyaminov. Cyril's parents died when he was a child. Around 1380 he became a monk in the Simonov Monastery
Simonov Monastery
Simonov monastery in Moscow was established in 1370 by monk Feodor, a nephew and disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh.The monastery land formerly belonged to Simeon Khovrin, a boyar of Greek extraction and progenitor of the great clan of Golovins. He took monastic vows in the cloister under the name...

 and took the name of Cyril (Kirill). In the monastery, he got in contact with Sergius of Radonezh. In 1387, the archimandrite
Archimandrite
The title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise...

 of the Simonov Monastery, Feodor, was appointed a bishop of Rostov, and Cyril became his successor. However, he soon realized that the position of archimadrite requires too much involvement in public relations, and first resigned, then moved to a neighboring monastery as an ordinary monk, and then decided to move to a deserted place where he could pray in rest. Together with St. Therapont, previously the monk of the same monastery, Cyril left for Lake Beloye. On arrival, following the advice of Sergius of Radonezh, he first dug a cave, and then built a wooden Assumption
Assumption of Mary
According to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life...

 chapel and a loghouse for other monks. Therapont, who found the restriction imposed by Cyril too strict, left within a year and founded nearby the Ferapontov Monastery
Ferapontov Monastery
The Ferapontov convent , in the Vologda region of Russia, is considered one of the purest examples of Russian medieval art, a reason given by UNESCO for its inscription on the World Heritage List....

. In what became Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Cyril established a very strict order.

The monastery grew and later became the largest monastery of Northern Russia. Cyril, as the first hegumen
Hegumen
Hegumen, hegumenos, igumen, or ihumen is the title for the head of a monastery of the Eastern Orthodox Church or Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the one of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called hegumenia or ihumenia . The term means "the one who is in charge", "the leader" in...

, arranged purchases of large areas of land by the monastery.

Cyril of White Lake died in the monastery in 1427, at the age of ninety.

At present there are several churches in Russia bearing the name of Cyril.

His day is marked by Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

 on June 9.
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