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HierarchUnknown

Cyril of Astrakhan

d. c. 1576

A hierarch associated with Astrakhan commemorated on this day; little biographical detail is available in the source.

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Cyril of Astrakhan, Archimandrite of the Trinity Monastery

Life

Cyril (Kirill) of Astrakhan was a sixteenth-century Russian monastic who served as archimandrite of the Trinity Monastery in the city of Astrakhan, on the lower Volga. He is commemorated by the Orthodox Church on March 18.

By the surviving accounts he was sent to Astrakhan in 1568 by Tsar Ivan the Terrible to serve as abbot of the newly founded monastery there, in the years shortly after the city had come under the control of Moscow. He died in about the year 1576, and his veneration developed gradually over the following centuries.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide
TroparionTone 8

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile,
and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance.
By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe!
O our holy father Cyril, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline5 momentsReadHide
  1. 1568Sent to AstrakhanSent by Tsar Ivan the Terrible as hegumen of the newly built Trinity Monastery in Astrakhan, after the city came under Moscow.
  2. c. 1576ReposeDied at Astrakhan in about the year 1576.
  3. 1676Icon commissionedAn icon of the saint was commissioned in fulfillment of a vow following a reported rescue from drowning.
  4. 1790Life compiledThe Life (Vita) of the saint was compiled, and a troparion and kontakion are known.
  5. 2002GlorificationGlorified (formally canonized) as a saint.

Contributions & Legacy

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Ministry at the Trinity Monastery

Cyril was sent as hegumen, and later served as archimandrite, of the newly built Trinity Monastery in Astrakhan in 1568, in the period after the city was incorporated into the Muscovite state. The monastery he led stood at the frontier of an expanding Russian presence on the lower Volga, in a region with a substantial Muslim population.

During his leadership he oversaw the construction of churches at the monastery dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity, to the Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple, and to Saint Nicholas. The sources remember him as devoted to the Christian enlightening of the Astrakhan region, and relate that by his meekness and piety he gained the respect even of the local Muslims, who called him 'Kara-Daud' — 'the Black David'.

Veneration and Commemoration

Cyril died in about the year 1576. His veneration grew in the following century: according to tradition he was credited with aiding the city during a fire in 1599, and an icon of him was commissioned in 1676 in fulfillment of a vow by a person said to have been rescued from drowning. A wooden chapel was built over his grave and was later replaced by a stone structure in 1677.

The Life of the saint was compiled in 1790, and a troparion and kontakion to him are known. His commemoration was established on March 18 — by one account assigned on the basis of his sharing a name with Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, who is honored on the same day. The whereabouts of his relics are not known; a wooden tomb bearing his image was placed over his grave in 1992.

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints