December 17 marked the 19th anniversary of the death of Shegigumen Kronid (Demin). On this day, his numerous spiritual children and those whom Father Kronid prayerfully helps after his earthly death came to the grave of the elder at the Afanasievskoye cemetery.
After the Liturgy at the cemetery’s Resurrection Church, Rector Archpriest Sergius Kryuchkov served a memorial service for the ever-remembered Schema Kronid and his sister Schema-nun Euphemia, who is buried next to the elder.
On the day of remembrance of Shegigumen Kronid, his spiritual children recalled that the father was a true righteous man with an amazingly tender love for God and people. With all his soul he strove for grace-filled servility. It was this sacrificial love that helped the priest hold the cross of Christ.
Father Kronid (before being tonsured into the schema – Boris) was known not only in Orel. For many years he served in the Akhtyrsky Cathedral. Many came to him for spiritual advice.
Shiigumen Kronid (in the world Nikolai Ivanovich Demin) was born on December 6, 1931 in the Kalinin farm of the Skorodnyansky district of the Kursk region in a pious family with many children. His parents were believers, they tried to live according to God’s commandments and raise their children as true Orthodox Christians. It was not easy: the family endured not only poverty, but also the attacks of the atheists.
The newborn son, who was born weak and ill all his life, was named after St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
As a teenager, Nikolai Demin ended up in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, where he received healing. Staying in the monastery, the young man saw that the monks keep the Orthodox faith as the greatest treasure of the earth. During the sermons, the young man often heard the words of Christ, which sank deep into his heart.
Nicholas vividly and cordially turned to the faith. He saw that the monks should live like an angel, in humility, in love, in unceasing prayer. And their heart should burn with fiery prayer to God. He loved Christ with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind and with all his strength. It was there, in the monastery, that the young man made a firm decision for himself – to choose the monastic path.
At the tonsure, Nikolai was given the name Boris. And soon the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was closed. And the monk Boris began the trials of asceticism.
In his autobiography, shiigumen Kronid described the further path: “Then I was accepted by Bishop Leonid of Kursk and Belgorod as a psalmist and stayed for about a year, subsequently invited to the city of Yelets, Lipetsk Region, Voronezh Diocese, then I was placed in the Moscow Seminary.”
Once again on the Kursk land, Father Boris found a confessor here – Schema-Archimandrite Grigory (Davydov). This elder was a true ascetic of the faith, who went through the camps, earned a bunch of diseases, but gained invaluable spiritual experience, which Schema-Archimandrite Gregory shared with the young monk. The elder loved his spiritual child Boris very much for his intelligence and purity of heart.
With the blessing of his spiritual father, in 1963, Father Boris ended up in Orel, where he began to serve as a psalm reader in the Akhtyrsky Cathedral, which had been given the status of a cathedral not long before.
Later, Father Boris went for restoration and services to various churches in the Oryol and Bryansk regions. And everywhere the parishioners asked the bishop to leave him in their parish. Because they loved the priest very much for burning in the faith, diligent work, for the fact that he never denied the parishioners their needs, for being a good mentor and confessor.
Many also came to Father Kronid (Boris) for advice in the Akhtyrsky Cathedral, where he served in the last years before his serious illness.
Being paralyzed, the priest took the schema with the name Kronid. Numerous spiritual children constantly came to Father Kronid’s house with requests for prayer, confession and spiritual guidance. In a small house, which was located not far from the Akhtyrsky Cathedral, the shiigumen lived with his sister, nun Longina (schema nun Euthymia).
Spiritual children remember that Father Kronid was ready to give his life for everyone, just to help. Believers noted the clairvoyance of the priest, which he, of course, hid. But most importantly, the priest begged: he helped to heal from spiritual illnesses, demonic possession and physical infirmities. As the spiritual children of Father Kronid recall, consolation came from him.
Schiegumen Kronid never denounced or scolded. He was humble and patient, looking at everyone with a kind and clear look. By his example he taught true repentance and love.
Batiushka saw the state of the soul of a person, saw through his past and future, knew what everyone who was with him was thinking about.
Shiigumen Kronid passed away on December 17, 2003. The spiritual children of the priest then felt orphaned. But over time, they realized that after his earthly death, the elder did not leave them. He hears their requests and continues to pray for them. There are many evidences for this.
Information and analytical department of the Oryol Metropolis.
In preparing the material, fragments of the book by Valentina Amirgulova “Servant of God’s Love” were used.