Venerable
Venerable Cyril of Radonezh
2-я пол. XIII в. — ок. 1337 (по др. данным — нач. 1340-х)
Also known as: Схимонах Кирилл, родитель прп. Сергия Радонежского, Кирилл Ростовский
A boyar of Rostov and the father of St Sergius of Radonezh; in old age he moved to Radonezh and, with his wife St Mary, took monastic vows at the Khotkovo monastery, where he is buried. Glorified in 1992.
Venerable Cyril of Radonezh was a boyar of the principality of Rostov and the father of St Sergius of Radonezh; he is venerated together with his wife, Venerable Mary. What is known of him comes mainly from the Life of St Sergius by Epiphanius the Wise. Cyril served the princes of Rostov and apparently accompanied them on journeys to the Horde. Their children were Anna, Stephen, Bartholomew (the future St Sergius) and Peter.
In old age Cyril was impoverished by the journeys to the Horde, Tatar raids, heavy tribute and years of famine, and around 1328 the family moved with other Rostov settlers to Radonezh in the principality of Moscow. Bartholomew stayed with his parents and cared for them until their death. Late in life Cyril and Mary took monastic vows, Cyril apparently at the Protection monastery of Khotkovo; the Church calendar calls them schemamonk and schemanun. They died around 1337 (other data point to the early 1340s) and were buried by their son at Khotkovo, where their relics rest in the Protection cathedral.
Long venerated locally, Cyril and Mary were glorified for the whole Russian Church in 1992. They are commemorated on 18 (31) January and 28 September (11 October), and in the Synaxes of the Saints of Rostov and Yaroslavl and of Radonezh.
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