A friend of mine at the Centre emailed me and asked me to pass the word that Schema-Archimandrite Ilya Nozdrin, Patriarch Kirill’s confessor, is in a very bad way. His health has taken a turn for the worse and his doctors don’t have much hope. Pray for him and ask your priest to mention him at the Proskomidi tomorrow. We’re Christians… that’s what we do…
BMD
A friend of mine at the Centre just informed me that Schema-Archimandrite Ilya Nozdrin (the confessor to Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev) is in very poor health. If you could add him to your prayer rule, that’d be a good thing (especially, as this is a Lenten period). Fr Ilya is one of the few genuine startsy in the Church today (we don’t have any here in the American diaspora… the loud konvertsy claims of such are loud and clanging rubbish).
Pray for Fr Ilya’s health… we’re Christians! That’s what we do…
BMD
I’ve never put clergy on a pedestal. Firstly, there are too many rum sorts in riassas. “You have to respect me because I’m a priest”… yadda, yadda, yadda. These men are the greatest recruiters for atheistic secularism that I know. They make Christ’s Church look like a cheapjack personality cult (or an Anti-Christian Evangelical conventicle).
Secondly, clergy and monastics are real people. They aren’t special. They don’t have anything that the rest of us don’t have. They have the same feelings and urges that the rest of us do. They’re as capable of friendship as any of us are (and of hate, too). Unfortunately, too many people only see the riassa. They don’t see the real person in the riassa! They think that they have to be “religious” with clergy and monastics. That’s absolute bullshit and hooey. Be REAL with clergy and monastics. That’s showing them real respect. Interact with them as people. Don’t make them into something that they’re not. You’ll find that decent clergy and monastics will thank you for that. As for the rest, what need I say? Ignore them, for the most part, and oppose them if you must.
Remember… real people EARN real respect. Anyone who “demands” it is rather dubious (some men are in the clergy because they know that they couldn’t do as well in the secular world). Have a care. There be rum sorts afoot…
BMD
The most important thing is to preserve love. Don’t fall into animosity; don’t fall into disputes. The enemy hates harmony. Discord is one of his most ancient wiles. Therefore, I wish that you had brotherhood and unity. Restrain yourself; forgive one another.
1919-2017
On 20 February, in the 98th year of life, Fr Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov departed this life. Today, 21 February, his body will lie in state at the St Sergei-Troitsa Lavra in Sergeyev Posad. He was one of the greatest elders of our time. Always remember that their numbers are few… and that we have none here in the USA. Kirill Dmitryevich was the elder to three patriarchs and people called him the “all-Russian Confessor”
The memory of the righteous will be eternal
BMD
Voices from Russia 
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