Our Venerable Father Cyril, Abbot of Chelma Hill, Enlightener of the Chudian People
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Missionary Work
Life
Cyril (Kirill) of Chelma Hill was a monk of the northern Russian wilderness who, after years of monastic training and solitary wandering, settled on Chelma Hill in the Kargopol region and became the enlightener of the Finnic Chud people, many of whom he led to baptism.
He is remembered as the founder of a monastery and church dedicated to the Theophany of the Lord, established toward the end of a long ascetic life spent on the hill. He is commemorated on December 8.
Timeline 7 moments
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c. 1285BirthAccording to the synaxarion he was born in the city of White Lake (Beloozero); one account places his birth in September of 1285.
Early monastic lifeTonsure at the monastery of Saint Anthony the RomanHe was tonsured a monk at the monastery of Saint Anthony the Roman in Novgorod, where for six years he passed through various obediences.
After leaving the monasteryThree years of wanderingLeaving the monastery, he wandered through the wilderness for three years before settling in a wild region of the Kargopol district and choosing Chelma Hill for his constant abode.
On Chelma HillSolitary asceticismHe spent the first winter in a cave, then built himself a wooden cell and a chapel, beginning a long ascetic life on the hill.
Toward the end of his lifeFounding of the monastery and churchToward the end of his life he established a monastery and a church in honor of the Theophany of the Lord.
Dec 8, 1367 (reposed 1367/1368)ReposeHaving dwelt upon Chelma Hill for fifty-two years, he died at the advanced age of 82, on December 8.
1378Founding of the Cyril-Chelmogorsky MonasteryTen years after his death, the Cyril-Chelmogorsky Monastery was founded by the Hieromonk Arseny.
Contributions & Legacy
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Monastic formation and withdrawal to the wilderness
Born in the city of White Lake (Beloozero), Cyril was tonsured a monk at the monastery of Saint Anthony the Roman in Novgorod, where for six years he passed through various monastic obediences.
After this period of formation he left the monastery and wandered through the wilderness for three years. He eventually settled in a wild region of the Kargopol district and, by an inner prompting that the synaxarion describes as a command from on high, chose Chelma Hill as his permanent dwelling. He spent his first winter there in a cave, afterward building a wooden cell and a chapel.
Mission among the Chud
Chelma Hill lay in the northern wilderness among the Chud, a Finnic people of the region. Many of the afflicted among them came to see Cyril, drawn by his ascetic life and his preaching.
The sources record that his luminous ascetic example and kindly preaching moved many of the Chud to accept holy Baptism, and it is for this missionary work that he is remembered as the enlightener of the Chudian people.
Foundation and legacy
Toward the end of his long life on the hill, Cyril established a monastery and a church in honor of the Theophany of the Lord. He dwelt upon Chelma Hill for fifty-two years and died at the advanced age of 82, his repose dated to December 8, 1367 (with the year also given as 1368).
Ten years after his death, in 1378, the Hieromonk Arseny founded the Cyril-Chelmogorsky Monastery on the site, perpetuating the community Cyril had begun in the northern Russian wilderness.
