Elder Cleopas
Elder Cleopas (Ilie)
The name and personality of Father Cleopas (Ilie) are known today not only in his homeland, Romania, but throughout the Orthodox world. Father Cleopas was born in 1912 in the city of Sulica, Botosany district, into a pious peasant family and was named Constantine. His parents' names were Alexander and Anna, and he was the ninth of ten children. The religious education that God-fearing parents gave to their children, coupled with the inherent inclination towards monastic life in all members of a large family, led to the fact that five out of ten children, as well as their mother in their declining years, chose the monastic path.
The great ascetic of piety, Hieroschemamonk Paisius (Olaru) from the monastery of Kozanchea, who for many years was the spiritual father of the entire family, had a huge influence on the spiritual formation of young Constantine.
Konstantin spent his childhood years herding his father's sheep together with his older brothers Vasily and Georgiy in the vicinity of Sykhastria. In the spring of 1929, three brothers left their father's house and entered the field of monastic achievement in the Sikhastria monastery, which in those years was under the spiritual leadership of Archimandrite Ioannikis (Mora), recognized as one of the greatest elders of Moldova in the first half of the 20th century. In 1936, after a seven-year trial, the young novice Constantin Ilie was tonsured a monk with the name Cleopas and over the next few years continued to grow spiritually under the guidance of the virtuous monk Father Galaktion.
Father Cleopas' obedience was shepherding, and this beloved obedience, which he carried out for several years, became for the young ascetic a kind of school for cultivating humility, silence and prayer.
The majestic and silent Carpathian mountains represented the power of the Creator of them, and the quiet breeze blowing through the hills of the fertile valley of Sikhastriya whispered to the heavenly hearts of the brothers Vasily and Constantine about the goodness of the Creator.
Day followed day, time passed unnoticed. The brothers rarely left the herd. They almost did not read the circle of daily services, thinking more about the altar of God in their own hearts and constantly directing their inner eye to God through inner heart prayer.
Thus, while shepherding the dumb sheep, the soul of the future shepherd of the Romanian people was strengthened. Father Cleopas later recalled his new beginning with special feeling:
“In those years when I, together with my brothers, was a shepherd of the skete sheep, I experienced great spiritual joy. A pen for cattle, sheep... I lived among nature, in the mountains, in silence and silence. This was my monastic and theological school.
Then I read the dogma of St. John of Damascus, his “Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith”... What a wonderful time it was! When the weather became warm, we took the yearling lambs and rams out into the virgin meadows, covered with green grass and surrounded by bushes. They couldn't scatter there. I told them “Stop!” and sat down to read.
Elder Cleopas (Ilie) at the shepherd's obedience
When I read about the Holy Trinity, the differences between man, angels and God, about the properties of the Holy Trinity, or when I read about heaven or hell - the dogmas about which John of Damascus writes - I forgot about food. We had a shack to hide in. Someone from the monastery brought me food every day. Returning to the shack in the evening, I asked myself: have I eaten anything today?
The day passed by like one hour while reading. I read a lot. I read Macarius the Great, Macarius of Alexandria, the lives of the saints... These books were in my knapsack, with which I came to the monastery.
I also took books from the libraries of the Neamts and Seku monasteries and took them to the mountains. After reading my prayer rule, I took out the books of the holy fathers and, sitting next to the sheep, could read until the evening. It was as if I saw Saint Anthony, Saints Macarius the Great and John Chrysostom, others; It was as if they were talking to me. I could see Saint Anthony the Great - with a large white beard, surrounded by radiance, and everything he said to me was imprinted in my mind, as if someone were writing with a finger on wax. I will never forget everything that I read then.”
In this “monastery of obedience and silence” Father Cleopas read about a hundred works - books on theology and liturgy, hagiographic works, works of the great fathers of the Church and, of course, the Book of Hours and the Psalter. My favorite book, of course, has always been the Holy Scriptures. Father Cleopas loved the lives of saints, the sayings of the desert fathers, the “Ladder” of St. John Climacus, the ascetic works of St. Isaac and Ephraim the Syrians, Maximus the Confessor, Simeon the New Theologian, St. Gregory Palamas and others.
Gifted with deep reverence and great spiritual zeal, having acquired insight and comprehension of the Divine mysteries, and possessing an excellent memory, Father Cleopas in a short time became one of the most spiritually experienced monks in all of Romania. To these gifts the Lord added the gift of teaching and the power of eloquence. Father Cleopas revealed the truth to the people of God, speaking sermons in the beautiful, slightly archaic Moldavian language, generously peppering them with quotations from the Holy Scriptures and holy fathers, citing instructive stories as examples.
In 1942, Father Cleopas, although he was still a simple monk, was temporarily appointed to manage the Sikhastria monastery, since the elderly abbot Ioannikios (Moroy) was bedridden by illness. In January 1945, Father Cleopas was ordained a deacon, then a priest, and named abbot of Sichastria, serving as a shepherd of monastic souls for another four years. During this short time, he gathered 80 brethren around him, built new monastic cells inside the monastery fence, erected a winter church, restored the former dormitory in the monastery, arranging it in accordance with the traditional hesychast charter of monastic life, trained spiritual shepherds and made several missionary trips around the country.
In 1947, Soviet troops occupied Romania. King Michael was forced to abdicate the throne, and a communist dictatorship was established in the country. The monasteries were closed one after another. Many church hierarchs, priests, monks, nuns and ordinary Christians were arrested, tortured, and given a painful death.
"Red Corner" in the cell of Cleopas' father. Photo: Pravoslavie.Ru
The monastery of Sikhastriya remained untouched only because it was located deep in the mountains. Father Cleopa was then only 36 years old, but, despite his relatively young age, the whole country considered him one of the spiritual leaders of Orthodoxy in Romania, and the monastery of Sichastria (where, in addition to Father Cleopa, Father Paisios (Olaru), the spiritual mentor of Father Cleopa, labored in his youth, and Father Joel (Gheorghiu)) became the center of Christian Romania. The communist authorities realized the danger the monastery posed to them. Indeed, by the grace of God, the speeches flowing from the eloquent lips of Father Cleopas kindled living faith in those who had ears to hear. And the government began to look for a way to block the life-giving source.
In May 1948, on the feast of Saints Constantine and Helena, Father Cleopas, addressing the flock with a sermon, said: “May the Lord grant us that our own rulers become like the saints king and queen, so that the Church can remember them for centuries.” The next day the police arrested Cleopas' father. He was thrown into prison. He spent five days in a cell without a bed. All this time he was given neither food nor water. When Father Cleopas was released from prison, good people advised him to hide in the mountains. And he followed this advice, hiding in the mountains in a hut. Here the elder prayed day and night, seeking the help of the Lord and the Mother of God.
At this time, the elder was honored with a visit from God’s grace. When he was building his hut (the elder later told his disciples), birds flew in and landed on his head. At first he served the Liturgy right on the stump in front of his hut. When one day he received communion of the holy mysteries, the birds that had flown to him sat in a special way, in a way that he had never seen before. Taking a closer look, the elder noticed that each had a sign of the cross on her head.
Another time, the elder, preparing for the liturgy, read all the prayers, spread the antimension on the stump and uttered the exclamation: “Blessed is the kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.” Immediately the birds gathered again and, sitting on the branches of the trees, began to trill amazingly beautiful songs. Father Cleopas asked himself: “What could this be?” And then a quiet voice was heard: “These are your singers in the choir.” There were other signs that strengthened the elder during the years of his wanderings.
In the summer of 1949, Father Cleopas moved to the Slatina monastery, where 30 monks lived, skilled in virtue and striving for renewal of spiritual life. Communication with pious Christians of northern Moldavia expanded the spiritual and missionary experience of the elder and allowed him to work with great zeal in the field of spreading the Gospel of Christ. His sermons, personal advice and spiritual care, compassion and love for people were talked about throughout the country. He became one of the most revered and respected abbots of monasteries in Romania and a spiritual father with unquestioned authority. Villager and intellectual, monk and layman, old and young, healthy and sick, priest and layman - everyone found in Father Cleopas a true spiritual father. He was always ready to give everyone from his spiritual gifts, give advice or consolation, leading to Christ gently and at the same time powerfully.
At this time, the Metropolitan of Moldova blessed Father Cleopa to care for all the monasteries of the region: Putna, Moldovitsa, Risca, Sihastria and the monasteries of Sihla and Rareau.
In 1952, Father Cleopas was briefly arrested by the secret police for a second time. After his release, he wandered for some time with one brother in the mountains of Moldova. Here, in the mountains, the elder continued his battle with demons, lived side by side with wild animals, prayed day and night, confessed and took communion with his companion.
In 1953, Father Cleopas resigned as abbess. In 1956 (after helping to reorganize monastic life in the Putna monastery and the monasteries of Rareau and Gaie), the elder returned to the place of his first repentance - the Sikhastria monastery. Here Father Cleopas continued his spiritual work, being in prayer, reading the holy fathers, and guiding many disciples.
In 1956, communist persecution of the Church began again. This time, from 1956 to 1964, was the most difficult for Romanian monasteries. In 1959, a government decree was issued ordering all monks under the age of 55 and all nuns under the age of 50 to leave the monasteries. In the spring of 1960, the police expelled more than 4,000 monastics from the monasteries. Again Father Cleopas was forced to go to the mountains of Moldavia, where he spent twelve hours a day in prayer. At this time he wrote his famous manuals for spiritual life for priests and laity.
In the summer of 1964 (by this time, communist persecution had subsided, and the Church in Romania was again gaining some freedom), Father Cleopas, to the joy of all the monks of Sichastria, returned from the desert and silence to his native monastery. Within a few days the monastery was filled with pilgrims seeking his spiritual advice and guidance. The apostolic missionary work of the elder began again, offering soul-helping words of instruction to the faithful, confession and guidance to the pious.
Elder Cleopas (Ilie)
Father Cleopas' first concern was for the faithful to remain in the true Orthodox faith, to preserve all the dogmas and sacraments of the holy Orthodox Church, since without true faith, even when doing all good deeds, there is no salvation.
The elder also attached great importance to the confession of sins, urging the faithful to confess at least four times a year. He taught: “Brother, if you see that your father or your mother is sick, do not call the doctor first; Call the priest first, because the doctor cannot add a single minute to our lives! Everything depends on God.”
The elder advised reading an akathist to the Mother of God along with morning prayers, and in the evening a prayer canon for the Mother of God with a lit lamp. During the day, pray the Jesus Prayer as much as possible. The elder prayed a lot for the Church, for the faithful, for those who had fallen into mortal sins, for those overwhelmed by sorrows, for those who had suffered a tragedy. The elder’s prayers brought miraculous results: the sick were healed, the sick returned home from hospitals after an unexpected improvement in health, examined by doctors, by the grace of God and through the prayers of the elder.
Father Cleopas tried to instruct his flock to show mercy to the poor and give alms. He said: “Do not reject anyone without showing mercy. If you don’t have money, give me potatoes, bread, a scarf, at least give me the leftovers from lunch. If you give something, then next time it will not be difficult for you to give your neighbor a little more, and so your alms will ascend to God like lightning. Why? Two great virtues are connected: almsgiving and humility.”
And the first thing he asked family Christians to do was give birth and raise children. Following the holy church canons, Father Cleopas completely rejected abortion and considered the murder of an embryo one of the most terrible sins.
In 1965, at the request of his disciples and with the blessing of the hierarchy, Father Cleopas began to write sermons, teachings and soul-helping messages for monastics and laity. He knew well the communal life of Romania and the spiritual illnesses of the clergy. But what bothered him most was the fanatical proselytism of non-Orthodox denominations in the country over the past 30 years. Father Cleopas wrote many apologetic works in defense of the Orthodox faith and against false teachings. One of his most significant works is “Conversations on Visions and Dreams.” It consists of seven conversations, which spoke not only about dreams and visions, but also about the need for frequent communion of the holy mysteries, as well as heresies. Another of his great works, which included 33 dialogues, spoke about various anti-dogmatic and anti-Orthodox teachings, to which both non-Orthodox and the faithful, who had lost their way in simplicity, were inclined. This work was published in 1981 under the title “On the Orthodox Faith.” We should also recall such works by the elder as “Teachings for the Holidays” (consists of 33 sermons on the great holidays of the whole year, published in 1976), “Teachings for the monks” (a voluminous work of 48 sermons) and “Teachings for the laity.”
These works, like many other endeavors, were part of the enormous missionary work done by Father Cleopas from the fall of 1964 to December 2, 1998, when he gave his soul into the hands of God. All these years, the elder's day was divided into three equal parts. In the first, at night, he rested a little and prayed. During the next part of the day, he read the holy fathers and wrote, and in the third part of the day he devoted himself entirely to the students and pilgrims who came to him from near and far places for confession and for instruction. So that nothing would distract him in his work, the elder left his cell in the morning, which was located a five-minute walk from the monastery, and went to a further one - a twenty-minute walk to the north. There, staying alone all day, he tried to describe his spiritual experience in as much detail as possible in order to pass it on to others, and in the afternoon he returned to the monastery to confess to the monks and receive pilgrims.
Father Cleopas was first and foremost a man of prayer. Even in his youth, Konstantin memorized many prayers. Then he developed a great love for the Psalter, which he read daily. He knew by heart the akathist to the Sweetest Jesus, the akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos, the canon of repentance and the canon of prayer to the Mother of God, which he read daily. To this he added from 300 to 400 bows and bows to the ground.
Under the influence of his ascetic-minded older brothers Vasily and George, from a young age he also began to force himself to do heartfelt prayer, which the two elders succeeded in in their youth.
Being constantly busy during the day, Father Cleopas prayed at night. He slept two hours before Matins and two hours after the service, after which he performed his daily prayer rule for three hours. During his years of wandering, he lived as a hermit for more than ten years, devoting time to heartfelt prayer. Even the nail of his thumb, with which he fingered the knots of the rosary, became deformed from constant practice in this task for many years.
Father Cleopas spoke to his disciples about his experience of inner work as if it were the experience of another ascetic: “I once met a monk in the forest who suffered hunger, thirst, cold and nakedness, and he told me this. One day he spent the night in the house of a pious Christian. It was Saturday. He read his evening prayer rule, praying before the icon of the Mother of God. And in the house next door there was music playing: a wedding was being celebrated there. And the hermit thought about the words of John Climacus: “God-loving souls, when they hear the singing of worldly or spiritual songs, are filled with the purest consolation, Divine love and tears.” Listening to the wedding singing, he said to himself: “If these people can sing so beautifully, then how do the heavenly angels sing, giving praise to the Mother of God?” And then his mind sank into his heart, and he stood in prayer for two hours, feeling great sweetness and warmth. Tears flowed incessantly, his heart was on fire, and he felt Christ talking to his soul. Such a fragrance of the Holy Spirit enveloped him, and he felt such spiritual warmth that he said to himself: “Oh, Lord, I want to die at this moment!”
After two hours, his mind left his heart and remained in this bright sadness, in this joy, in consolation and inexpressible spiritual warmth for a month. The heaven in his heart could not be compared with anything in this world, since the streams of tears that flowed during that prayer had their source in the Holy Spirit and washed away every imperfection, every sinful image, and the soul remained pure.”
Father Cleopas spoke about heartfelt prayer: “When the mind descends into the heart, the heart opens and then closes; it is then that the heart is united with Jesus and Jesus is united with the heart. At this moment, the Bridegroom Christ meets the bride, that is, our soul.”
The grave of Elder Cleopas. Photo: Pravoslavie.Ru
The Lord granted Father Cleopas good health. But when he reached seventy years old, he began to get tired quickly. Many years spent in the mountains, coupled with what the old man experienced in communist dungeons, made their presence felt. Since 1985, the elder suffered from a double hernia, kidney stones, numbness in his right hand, cysts and other diseases. All these ailments kept the elder ready for the coming of the last hour, always collected, in unceasing prayer and thought about Christ.
The elder spent the last 20 years of his life in intense prayer—fourteen to fifteen hours a day. It happened that the elder did not want to talk to anyone, even his cell attendant. From four o'clock to eight o'clock the elder read out his prayer rule, which included the canon of repentance, the canons of the Mother of God, prayer service, small compline and other services. At night he retired to the veranda, where he remained alone in prayer. In reverence he reflected on all of God’s creation.
In the last months of his life, he often repeated: “Soon I will go to my brothers!” and “I will go to Christ! Pray for me, a sinner.”
In the evening, on the eve of his departure to eternal life, the elder began to read the morning rule. The student remarked to him: “Elder, it’s evening, we will read these prayers tomorrow morning!”, to which the elder replied: “I read them today, because tomorrow I will go to my brothers.” On December 2, 1998, at about 2:20 am, Father Cleopas departed to the Lord.
Thousands of Orthodox Christians gathered at the Sikhastria Monastery to pay their last respects to their elder. People said goodbye to the elder with tears in their eyes, when suddenly everyone was filled with Easter joy and shouted the jubilant song “Christ is Risen.”
The life of Elder Cleopas is a golden page in the history of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Archimandrite Cleopas (Ilie). What is humility?
Archimandrite Cleopas (Ilie)
Brother: I completely understood, Reverend Father, how harmful the sin of pride is. Therefore, I ask you, tell me, how can we avoid the great danger of the sin of pride?
Elder: Brother John, the greatest virtue that saves us from the sin of pride is humility!
Brother: But what is humility, Reverend Father Superior?
Elder: This time, brother John, you asked me a very difficult question.
Brother: But why is this question so difficult, Reverend Father?
Elder: That's why, Brother John, because this highest virtue cannot be clearly expressed by anyone except such a blessed man who has succeeded a lot, walking along his path following the Lord, and in fact has reached the pinnacle of all virtues. For this is the highest good, that is, humility, a mysterious power that God gives to man as the crown of all virtues, that is, gives only to the perfect! But for me, a sinner and weak, who has not yet begun to practice any virtue, how can I talk about this and how can I show what humility is, which God honors only the perfect?
Brother: Reverend Father, if you say that you cannot tell me from experience what humility is, then I ask you, tell me at least what you know about it from the teachings of the Holy Fathers and from the Divine Scriptures.
Elder: If your brotherhood poses the question this way, that is, for me to say what I know about humility from the holy fathers, then you instill in me, a sinner, some kind of boldness - to say at least a little about the wondrous and highest virtue of humility. Listen, brother John, to several testimonies of the holy fathers about blessed humility.
Saint Isaac the Syrian calls humility the robe of the Divine, for the Word, having become incarnate, clothed itself in it[1]. The divine father Ephraim the Syrian says the same about humility: “Humility is the garment of God”[2].
Saint John Climacus calls humility a treasure stored in mortal vessels, and says that no word can fully explain the properties of this spiritual treasure[3]. This same holy and divine father says that humility is the nameless grace of the soul and only those who know it from their own experience, that is, in life, only those know its name [4]; that it is the spiritual teaching of the Lord, which the worthy accept into the cage of their soul through the mind, but it is impossible to explain it in words[5]. Therefore, think, brother John, if such a great and divine father as Saint John of the Climacus says that humility cannot be explained in words, then how could I, a sinner and foolish, tell your brotherhood what humility is?
And yet, from the testimonies of these divine fathers, we can imagine to some extent how great and priceless this supreme and all-honorable virtue of humility is. And we must be content with the concept of the ineffable goodness of humility, which the Good God revealed to us through His saints, and we will not inquire into what is above us, lest we choose harm for ourselves instead of benefit, according to the word of the divine Gregory the Theologian, who says that “unbridled looking at things above can plunge us into the abyss.”[6]
Brother: Reverend Father, it seems to me, a simple and short-minded man, that these holy fathers speak too sublimely and too subtly about humility. Therefore, Reverend Father, I ask you, if possible, give a few teachings on humility that are simpler and closer to my understanding.
Elder: Brother John, if the testimonies about the humility of these three holy fathers seemed too complex and too subtle to you, and if you want easier and more understandable teachings about humility, then read the Patericon, especially chapters 4 and 10[7], where you will find among other things and this.
A certain brother asked the elder, saying:
- Father, what is humility?
And the elder answered, saying:
— Humility means considering oneself the most unworthy and the most sinful of all and submitting to everyone.
And the brother asked:
-What does it mean to submit to everyone?
The elder answered:
- Do not try to see the sins of others, but see your own sins and vices and constantly pray to God for forgiveness[8].
Here, Brother John, the teaching on humility is quite simple and easy. Only may God help us not to forget him and to act as this blessed elder teaches us, that is, to always have the weight of our sins before the eyes of our minds, mourn them and not condemn anyone.
[1] See: St. Isaac the Syrian. Ascetic words. Word 53. P. 364.
[2] Wed: St. Ephraim the Syrian. [Word] 106. On the words spoken by the Lord... // St. Ephraim the Syrian. Creations: In 8 vols. M., 1994. T. 3. P. 292, 293.
[3] See: Rev. John, abbot of Sinai. Ladder. Word 25. § 2. P. 162.
[4] See: Ibid. § 4. P. 163.
[5] See: Ibid. § 41. P. 170.
[6] Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 39. § 8 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations: In 2 vols. M., 2007. T. 1. P. 454.
[7] In the Russian “Ancient Patericon”, see chapters 3, 14 and 15.
[8] Compare: Ancient Patericon. Ch. 15. § 99. P. 298; § 24. P. 278; § 58. P. 288; Memorable tales about the asceticism of the holy and blessed fathers. M., 1999. About Abba Matoi. § 11. pp. 316–317; About Abba Siso. § 11. pp. 468–469; About Abba Typhoas. § 6. P. 516.
Translated from Romanian by Zinaida Peikova Archimandrite Cleopas (Ilie)
December 30, 2010
https://www.pravoslavie.ru/put/43862.htm
