By the decision of His Holiness Patriarch Pimen and the Holy Synod of March 3, 1976, Archimandrite Kirill (Gundyaev), rector of the Leningrad Theological Academy and Seminary, was elected Bishop of Vyborg, vicar of the Leningrad Diocese.

Exactly 50 years ago, on March 13, 1976, at the Church of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian at the Leningrad Theological Academy, the rite of nomination took place; and on the following day, March 14, the First Sunday of Great Lent, the Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, during the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Leningrad, the episcopal consecration of Archimandrite Kirill — the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’ — was performed. The service was presided over by the ever-memorable Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov), whom His Holiness Patriarch Kirill calls his spiritual mentor and teacher.

The portal Patriarchia.ru publishes the address of Archimandrite Kirill, now Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, delivered at his nomination as Bishop of Vyborg, and the address of Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad and Novgorod at the presentation of the episcopal staff to His Grace Kirill, Bishop of Vyborg.

Address of Archimandrite Kirill (Gundyaev) at the Nomination as Bishop of Vyborg, Vicar of the Leningrad Diocese

(March 13, 1976)

Your Eminence! God-wise archpastors!

By the will of God, and by the election of His Holiness the Patriarch and the Holy Synod, I am to accept the ministry of bishop in the Church of Christ.

Conscious of the loftiness and significance of this ministry, I humbly confess before you my unworthiness. To be a bishop means to be the primate, spiritual father, and teacher of the people of God entrusted to you. It is also true that it implies primacy, yet not a primacy alien to the Christian spirit — not a primacy of honor and power, but a primacy in prayer, in love, in service, and in responsibility. To be a bishop means, in the words of Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer, to be the accomplisher of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (Epistles: to the Ephesians VI; to the Trallians II; to the Smyrnaeans VIII) — a ministry filled with love, truth, and self-sacrifice.

And an involuntary trembling passes through my mind and heart when I think of the greatness of that cross-bearing lot which the Lord entrusts to me, unworthy though I am, through you, the hierarchs of God. And in this sacred moment for me, bowing in full obedience to the will of the Lord, I testify that I accept this lot, for I believe in the power and efficacy of Divine Providence.

“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass” (Ps. 36:5), says the Psalmist.

Looking now upon the years I have lived, I perceive the unseen yet firm guidance of God: from early childhood I felt a calling to the priestly ministry. With the years this calling became ever more mature and conscious. With gratitude I remember my father — the ever-memorable Archpriest Mikhail — and my mother, still living, who by the example of their lives and their devotion to the Church kindled this calling within me. Heartfelt and filial thanks I render to you, dear Vladyka Metropolitan Nikodim, for in the years of my youth you became my spiritual mentor. Under your wise and firm guidance there passed the most difficult and responsible period in the formation of my vocation: the development of a conscious attitude toward church service. Having embraced monastic life and become a priest, I never ceased to feel the right hand of God upon me. At times it seemed to me that the Lord was giving me a cross beyond my strength, for the obediences entrusted to me by the Church authorities were difficult and weighty, and in my confusion I realized that they did not correspond to my age and strength. But the Lord never abandoned me, a sinner who had entrusted himself to His will through the vow of obedience. And now, on the eve of receiving this great ministry, I cry out with boldness and hope: “My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth” (Ps. 120:2).

The episcopal ministry is manifold and broad in its content. The bishop is the primate of the Local Church, the guardian of faith and morality, the dispenser of the grace of God, the successor of the apostles. How great this ministry is for human salvation, if Saint Cyprian of Carthage dared to say that the Church is in the bishop and the bishop in the Church, and he who is not with the bishop is outside the Church. This means that it is precisely upon the bishop that responsibility is concentrated for preserving the faith and keeping the catholic tradition in purity within the Local Church.

This aspect of hierarchical ministry today demands a special exertion of spiritual strength. The bishop must be zealous both for steadfastness and firmness in fidelity to the teaching handed down in succession from the apostles, and also that this teaching at all times and in every place may retain its vitality and remain effective. But what is living cannot be preserved undamaged in an old vessel; hence there must arise in the bishop a special concern for the spiritual renewal of the people of God entrusted to him.

Being at present rector of a theological school, I take these words especially close to heart, for I am convinced that in preserving the purity and vitality of apostolic teaching, theological schools, which educate future archpastors, pastors, and theologians, have particular importance.

Through conciliar communion with his brother bishops, the bishop carries out the great ministry of the unity of the Universal Church. This ministry has no constant visible expression, yet it is inseparably inherent in the episcopate; therefore the preservation of conciliar communion and its restoration where it has been broken must ever remain for the bishop a matter of unceasing and vigilant concern.

The same must be said of the bishop’s relation to the building up of Christian unity at large. The search for paths leading the now-divided Christian world to unity in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church cannot be for an Orthodox hierarch a secondary matter, something not directly related to his ministry. On the contrary, the building up of church unity is an integral part of this ministry. Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer said to Saint Polycarp of Smyrna: “Stand firm in thy place with all diligence, both fleshly and spiritual. Strive for unity, than which nothing is better” (Epistle to Polycarp, 1).

With humility I accept this patristic instruction as guidance for the ministry that lies ahead. Therefore my participation in the ecumenical movement appears to me as a particular action of God’s Providence, through which I was granted the opportunity to have fellowship with Christian brethren of other confessions. And as a symbol filled with profound meaning, I perceive the fact that my episcopal ordination is accomplished on the day of the Triumph of Orthodoxy — the feast of the unity of the Church.

The grace of the episcopate is bestowed upon me at the altar of the Life-Creating Trinity in the cathedral where the memory of the great luminary of the Russian land, the holy благоверный Prince Alexander Nevsky, renowned for his love of God and of men, is especially prayerfully venerated. The example of this saint teaches me how pleasing to God is the selfless service of a Christian to his people, and urges me to fulfill this ministry in truth and love.

As the herald of evangelical truth, the bishop must care that this truth, being assimilated by human hearts, may transform them and bring forth the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, mercy, faith, meekness, temperance (Gal. 5:22–23), so that those who believe in the name of Christ, effectively building the Kingdom of God within themselves, may attain salvation, and around themselves may build peace, love, and justice, for which modern humanity thirsts.

Having recourse to the prayerful intercession of the Most Holy Virgin, the Quick-to-Hear and our Intercessor, and of the holy right-believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, I ask the Lord to strengthen and make me wise in fulfilling the great prophetic call: “Proclaim from day to day the salvation” of our God (Ps. 95:2).

The episcopate is an ascetic feat that demands the whole man without remainder, for the bishop does not belong to himself, but to the Church. His joy, his sorrow, his life — these are the joys, sorrows, and life of the people entrusted to him. The feat of episcopal ministry surpasses the strength of one man, and yet this feat has been accomplished, is being accomplished, and will be accomplished in the Church of Christ. It is possible precisely because it is accomplished in the Church and for the Church, and the Church herself together with the bishop shares it.

And now, standing with trembling before the face of the Church of my native city, confessing my sins and my imperfection, I humbly ask you, hierarchs of God, to bless me for the ministry that lies before me.

Address of Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad and Novgorod at the Presentation of the Episcopal Staff

to His Grace Kirill (Gundyaev), Bishop of Vyborg, Vicar of the Leningrad Diocese
(March 14, 1976)

Your Grace Bishop Kirill, our beloved brother, concelebrant and fellow worker in the dispensation of the Mysteries of God, in the keeping of the evangelical faith.

The Chief Shepherd, the Savior of the world, who during His earthly life chose those whom He Himself desired for the preservation of His truth, for its proclamation in the world, and for the sanctification of those who receive this truth into their heart and mind, has called you to follow the example of the apostles and hierarchs, so as to build up and shepherd the Church of Christ, which He purchased for Himself with His most pure Blood (Acts 20:28).

And that your ministry might be filled with power and truth, He has granted to you also, as to those disciples, the same divine gift of the Holy Spirit. Not in the mighty sound as of a rushing wind, not in the appearance of divided tongues of fire, did your sanctification take place, in which the same divine grace as that of the apostles, through us, their unworthy successors, through our humble prayer and the laying on of our feeble hands, touched you, sanctified you, and sealed you forever.

This gift of grace is one and the same in all times; its power, meaning, and action are the same, just as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13:8).

The Holy Spirit has descended upon you, has rested upon you, and will abide with you, if from this moment of God’s mighty working you kindle the gift you have received by the exertion of your will choosing good, tearing evil from your heart and not allowing it into your deeds, and also by heartfelt prayer, by love burning toward God and men, and by the desire to give your whole self to the Savior of the world, to His service, to His Gospel proclamation.

A special action of the providential and sanctifying right hand of the Triune God is discerned in regard to those whom the Lord has chosen for the service of the salvation of His people.

The Heavenly Father Himself draws those (John 6:44) whom His Only-Begotten Son has chosen (John 15:16), and the Holy Spirit sanctifies them and bestows upon them gracious power, which multiplies their own gifts, raises them up, heals them of human weakness, supplies what is lacking in them, and directs them to the fulfillment of the heavenly will.

God’s providential care seeks to draw all the peoples of the earth to eternal life; and eternal life is this: that they may know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 17:3), who said: “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

And therefore the will of the Lord Jesus Christ is that knowledge of Him, and then gracious life with Him and in Him, should spread among mankind as widely as possible. For this He chose His disciples and sends them to proclaim Him to men, saying: “He who hears you hears Me, he who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the Father who sent Me” (cf. Matt. 10:40); and “he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me” (Luke 10:16).

The will of the Lord Jesus Christ is that the ministry of evangelization, the apostolic ministry, the pastoral ministry, continuing unto the end of the age, should preserve a special bond with Him; He promises His constant presence with those who proclaim His word in the world, and they, strengthened by power from on high, are to extend Christ’s presence infinitely beyond their own circle to the ends of the earth.

And as the number of the saved increased and they were added to the Church, beginning with Matthias, chosen by God, the number grew ever more of those who became witnesses of the Crucified and Risen Savior of the world, receiving the lot of mission through His disciples, so that, if possible, all people might receive the name of Christ and call upon and glorify the Heavenly God the Father with their heart and life.

But “how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?” cries out the holy Apostle Paul. “And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” (Rom. 10:14–15).

And it pleased Divine Providence that the disciples and apostles of Christ, the messengers of the God-Man, to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given (Matt. 28:18), should leave after themselves successors who, being called bishops, overseers and guardians in the Holy Church, might receive the fullness of mission, sanctification, ministry, and authority for setting in order what remains unfinished (Titus 1:5).

Such a successor and apostolic vicar has today been made of you by the Chief Shepherd and Divine Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.

From now on you are called to episcopal ministry in imitation of the Good Shepherd; and a shepherd, as we know, is one who cares for those entrusted to him and protects them, who finds for them the safest paths, who goes before them and leads them; at the same time, a shepherd is one who is accessible and near.

The shepherd guards those committed to him from predators; in order to find the weak and the lost he is ready to lay down his soul. Such a shepherd’s authority is indisputable and great; its source is love, devotion, and trust.

Church pastors, in caring for the salvation of those entrusted to them, are guardians of Divine Revelation, which the Church of Christ preserves and transmits from age to age in wholeness and without corruption; this is safeguarded by unanimity and the bond of love, which unite all the bishops of the Church throughout the world. Following the example of the Lord, who said to His disciples, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me” (John 7:16), the apostles and then their successors proclaim not their own word, but Christ’s, and they faithfully preserve this word. The Risen Christ truly remained and abided with the apostles in the days of their earthly life; He remains and abides with their successors, to teach them all things (John 14:26) and to guide them into all truth (John 16:13), which they proclaim in the Church in all its fullness.

From this day you too are a participant in the preservation of this truth; “guard what has been committed to your trust” (1 Tim. 6:20) — today we repeat to you these apostolic words: preserve the ancient and unfading treasure of the evangelical faith, and test everything contemporary in church life by how it was in former ages, when the Church was One and Undivided, when the valiant host of holy fathers and teachers by word and life embodied the Gospel.

As the faith was believed from of old everywhere, by all, and always, so must all things remain unchanged now in the foundations of faith and piety; but at the same time, in every age openness to contemporary life is necessary, and one must interpret and illumine by the light of faith all that takes place in the world. Benevolent attention is also required when observing the course of theological thought today, noting all that is new and good, that unfolds the eternal truth given by God’s revelation for all peoples.

And in our own time, as always, we must clarify for ourselves and for the flock what in us is eternal and unchanging, and what belongs to temporary traditions and bears a local character. I say this especially to you, rector of the academy — of the theological school where not only future ministers of the Church are formed and educated, but where theology also develops: that science which mediates between divinely revealed teaching and human reason, that science which helps to affirm and disclose in the consciousness of people of all times the God-manly image of Christ — the source of salvation for the whole world, the foundation of present and future life.

The bishop is the guardian of ecclesial peace. He must be peace-loving, without malice, instructing opponents with meekness (2 Tim. 2:24–25), reconciling and bringing into agreement those who are in dispute (Epistle of the Holy Apostle Barnabas, cited in: N. Cheltsov, Collection of Symbols and Confessions of the Orthodox Church. St. Petersburg, 1864, p. 245).

The bishop in his little Local Church is the center of life, and without him, as the God-bearing hieromartyr Ignatius teaches, nothing may be done: neither an assembly may be formed, nor prayer offered.

And if the qualities of the bishop are lofty, if he is truly a shepherd, if he rightly divides the word of evangelical truth, then peace is built up around him; around him there are no divisions or dissensions. The unanimity of all bishops among themselves is the foundation of a calm and normal church life in love and unity.

Such a bishop you must be, if you desire communion in heavenly life, for the Lord gives the crown of eternal life to him who burns with faith and love toward Him. Such a bishop, with God’s help, you can be.

I say this because I know the strength of your calling, your dispositions and desires; I know that inner flame with which you serve the Savior of the world.

Thus you came to theological school, thus you became a hieromonk, thus you were in all the obediences to which the right hand of God’s providence directed you.

The obediences through which you passed would have been serious, difficult, and complex even for men advanced in years and life experience; they were no easy matter for you either in your youth. Yet the powers of your being, given forever to the Holy Church, you devoted without reserve to the work entrusted to you, and you were a faithful son of obedience.

Remain such until the end of your days; perform God’s work entrusted to your care in sincere simplicity and with heartfelt zeal. Serve your God as all those chosen by Him have served Him.

Whom shall I now set before you? Whose example shall I bring? Here are but some from among the many: Noah — blameless and righteous; Abraham — steadfast in his faith and love for God; Moses — leading the chosen people out of bondage into freedom; David — taken from his father’s sheep (Ps. 151:4), anointed with the oil of the Lord’s anointing, fulfilling the ministry of leader, prophet, and psalmist; the young Jeremiah — unable to speak, yet prophesying and serving the salvation of men.

And you, beloved, imitate Noah in blamelessness; in fidelity to God imitate Abraham; always be with God’s people like Moses; until your last days faithfully serve the Lord after the example of David; seek in the world the glory of God like Elijah the Tishbite.

“Do not be afraid, and do not say: I am young,” the Lord addresses to you, as once to Jeremiah, “for to all to whom I send you,” says He, “you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Be not afraid, for I am with you to deliver you...” (Jer. 1:7–8).

I have brought you examples of devoted service to God from the Old Testament Scriptures; I have also spoken to you of Christ’s apostles. But what shall we say of the examples from the history of the Church?

Today these examples sound with particular force; today with special vividness before our inner eye is painted the multitude of images of the great luminaries of the spirit; today, on the feast of Universal Orthodoxy, when we recalled all those who strove for the purity of faith and church life by words, writings, teachings, and sufferings; today, when, in the words of the Apostle Paul, we remember all those of whom the world was not worthy, those who, suffering want and affliction, wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and clefts of the earth, but who through faith conquered kingdoms, looking for a better resurrection (Heb. 11:33–38).

And you, having around you so great a cloud of witnesses, run the race set before you, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith (Heb. 12:1–2).

Stand on divine watch over Christ’s vineyard and, like Habakkuk, listen to what the Lord will say to you through your own inner voice, through the signs of the times, through the experience of the past in the Universal Church, through the experience of the past in our Church, the Russian Local Church. Remember that one can serve the cause of God successfully only when one understands the people well, when one knows well their needs and hopes.

Serve then, beloved brother, diligently in your native land; serve your people; serve as long as your heart shall beat, for there is no greater love than to give oneself for others, for their good, salvation, and peace.

Today, laying our hands upon your head, we prayed for you thus: “Thou, O Lord, make this man, manifested as a steward of episcopal grace, to be an imitator of Thee, the true Shepherd... that, having perfected the souls entrusted to him in this present life, he may stand unashamed before Thy Throne and receive the great reward which Thou hast prepared for those who have suffered for the preaching of Thy Gospel.”

May the Lord preserve you in peace, whole, honorable, healthy, long-lived, rightly teaching the word of His eternal evangelical truth.

And now ascend this high place in the temple of the Triune God, with which you are bound by many sacred memories; receive the archpastoral staff and invoke the apostolic blessing upon your city of Vyborg and upon your native Leningrad, in which you grew and were educated; bless your fellow citizens and all the people standing here, who have prayed with zeal and love for your sanctification and for the granting to you of the gracious power of the Holy Spirit.

Source of publication: Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, 1976, No. 6, pp. 6–12.
Photo: from the archive of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy (the photo shows the consecration of Archimandrite Kirill as Bishop of Vyborg, March 14, 1976).