Venerable Cyril, Igoumen of White Lake
Saint Cyril, Igoumen of White Lake, (in the world Cosmas) was born in Moscow of pious parents. In his youth he was left an orphan and lived with his kinsman, the boyar (nobleman) Timothy Vasil’evich Vel’yaminov, in the surroundings of the court of the Great Prince Demetrius Donskoy (1363-1389). Secular life bored the youth. Knowing that Timothy would never consent to Cosmas to become a monk, Saint Stephen of Makhra (July 14), clothed him in the riasson and named him Cyril, leaving the rest to God's will.
Saint Stephen went to see Timothy, who was delighted by his visit. He met his guest at the door, asking for his blessing. The Saint replied, "Cyril, who entreats God for you, blesses you." The boyar asked who this Cyril was. Saint Stephen said, "Cosmas, your former kinsman, but now a monk laboring for the Lord, and praying for you."
At first, the boyar was very angry, and spoke harshly to Saint Stephen, who left the house. Timothy's wife reproached him for offending the Elder. The boyar repented and sent someone to ask him to return. Both men asked forgiveness of one another, and Timothy agreed to let Cosmas fulfill his heart's desire. Saint Stephen rejoiced, and told Cyril the good news. He gave away all his possessions to the poor, keeping nothing for himself.
Before returning to Makhra, Igoumen Stephen brought the new monk to Simonov Monastery, which had been established in a new place by Archimandrite Theodore (November 28), the nephew of Saint Sergius. He accepted Cyril into the Monastery and then tonsured him.
Cyril fulfilled his monastic obediences under the supervision of Elder Michael, who later became the Bishop of Smolensk. By night the Elder read the Psalter, and Cyril bowed and made prostrations, but at the first ringing of the bell, he went to the church for Matins.
He asked the Elder permission to partake of food every second or third day. The experienced Elder did not permit this, but blessed him instead to eat with the brethren, only not to the extent of satiety. Cyril fulfilled his obedience in the bakery: he carried water, chopped firewood, and distributed bread. When Saint Sergius of Radonezh came to the Simonov monastery to see his nephew Theodore, he would seek Cyril in the bakery and converse with him about spiritual matters before seeing anyone else.
After a while, Cyril was transferred from the bakery to the kitchen. He gazed into the burning fire and told himself, “Have patience, Cyril, so that by this fire you might save yourself from the eternal fire." Cyril toiled for nine years in the kitchen and God granted him such a tender heart that he was not able to eat the bread he baked without tears, and all the brethren regarded him not as a man, but as an Angel of God.
Fleeing the glory of man, he began to behave as a fool-for-Christ. As punishment for transgressing against propriety, the Superior of the monastery placed him on bread and water for forty days. Cyril underwent this punishment with joy. But the Saint could not conceal his spirituality, and the experienced Superior discovered that Cyril was not behaving as a fool out of pride, but out of humility. Against his will, they compelled him to accept ordination to the priesthood. When he was not serving in church, Cyril occupied himself with heavy work. When Theodore was made Archbishop of Rostov, the brethren chose Cyril as Archimandrite of the monastery in 1388.
Wealthy and important people began to visit the monk to hear his counsels. This disturbed the Saint's humble spirit. Despite the entreaties of the brethren, he would not remain as Igoumen, but secluded himself in his former cell. Even here he was disturbed by frequent visitors, and he went to the old Simonov Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos.
Saint Cyril’s soul yearned for solitude, and he asked the Mother of God to show him a place conducive for salvation. One night he was reading an Akathist in his cell before the Hodēgḗtria icon of the Mother of God, and had just reached the eighth Kontakion, “Seeing the strange Nativity, let us become strangers to the world and transport our minds to Heaven.” Then he heard a voice say, “Go to White Lake (Belozersk), where I have prepared a place for you.”
There at the desolate and sparsely populated White Lake, he found the place which he had seen in the vision. Saint Cyril and his companion Saint Therapon of White Lake and Mozhaisk (May 27), set up a cross and dug a cell in the ground near Mount Myaura at Siversk Lake.
Saint Therapon soon went to another place, and Saint Cyril remained where he was. However, he was not able to live in his underground cell for even one year.
Once Cyril, troubled by a strange dream, lay down to sleep under a pine tree, but just as he closed his eyes, he heard a voice cry, “Run, Cyril!” Cyril barely managed to jump away as the pine tree came crashing down. From this pine tree, the ascetic fashioned a cross.
Another time, Cyril nearly perished from flames and smoke when he was clearing the forest, but God preserved His Saint. A certain peasant attempted to burn down the monk's cell, but try as he might, he did not succeed. Then he repented with tears, and confessed his sin to Cyril, who tonsured him into monasticism.
Two monks whom Cyril loved, Zebediah and Dionysios, came to him from Simonov monastery, and then Nathanael, who afterward was steward of the monastery. Many began to come to him seeking to be tonsured. The holy Elder perceived that his time of silence was ended. In the year 1397 he constructed a temple in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God.
When the number of brethren had multiplied, the monk gave the monastery a Rule of cenobitic life, which he sanctified by the example of his own life. Thus, no one could talk in church, and no one could leave before the end of services. They also came to venerate the Gospel according to seniority. At meals they sat at their own place, and there was silence. From the trapeza, each went quietly to his own cell. No one was able to receive either letters or gifts without having shown them to Cyril, nor did anyone write a letter without his blessing.
Money was kept in the monastery treasury, and no one had any personal possessions. They went to the trapeza even to drink water. The cells were not locked, and nothing was kept in them but icons and books. In the final years of Saint Cyril’s life, the boyar Roman decided to give the monastery a village and sent the deed. Cyril knew that if the monastery came to possess a village, the brethren would become concerned about the land and settlements would disrupt the monastic solitude, so he refused the gift.
The Lord rewarded His Saint with the gift of clairvoyance and healing. A certain Theodore desired to enter the monastery, but the Enemy of mankind instilled in him such hatred for Cyril that he could not look at him, nor listen to the sound of his voice. He approached Cyril’s cell and, seeing his grey hair, he was not able to say a word from shame. The Saint said to him, “Don’t be sad, my brother, for all are mistaken about me. You alone know the truth and my unworthiness. I am actually a worthless sinner.” Then Cyril blessed Theodore, promising that he would not be troubled by such thoughts in the future. From that time Theodore lived at peace in the monastery.
Once, there was no wine for the Divine Liturgy, and the priest told the Saint about this. Cyril ordered a monk to bring him the empty wine vessel, and when he opened it, it was full of wine. During a time of famine Cyril distributed bread to all the needy and he did not stop, even though the normal reserves hardly sufficed for the brethren. Despite this, the more that bread was distributed, the more it increased. The monks then realized that God would provide for their needs, through the prayers of Saint Cyril.
The Saint calmed a storm on the lake which threatened the fishermen. He predicted that none of the brethren would die until after his death, despite a plague that would rage. Then many would follow after him.
The Saint served his final Divine Liturgy on the day of Pentecost. After giving final instructions to the brethren to preserve love among themselves,1 Saint Cyril reposed in the ninetieth year of his life on June 9, 1427 on the Feast day of his namesake Saint Cyril of Alexandria. Within a year after the Saint's death, more than thirty of the fifty-three brethren reposed. He often appeared to the survivors in dreams, offering advice and guidance.
Saint Cyril loved spiritual enlightenment and he instilled this love in his disciples. In 1635 there were more than two thousand books in the monastery, including sixteen “of the Wonderworker Cyril.” Three of his letters to Russian princes survive down to our time. They are remarkable specimens of his spiritual instruction, love, peace, and consolation.
The veneration of the holy ascetic began not later than 1447-1448. The Life of Saint Cyril was commissioned by Metropolitan Theodosios and Great Prince Basil the Dark. It was written by the Athonite monk Pakhomios the Logothete, who dwelt at the Cyrilov monastery in 1462 and met with many eyewitnesses and disciples of Saint Cyril. He learned the most from Martinian (January 12), who had lived with the Saint from his youth.
1 In the Icon of Saint Cyril, his words appear on the scroll in his hand: "Preserve love among yourselves."