Thousands gathered on Monday to bid their final farewell to the beloved elder Archimandrite Adrian (Kirsanov), who reposed on Saturday. The Divine Liturgy and funeral were celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Eusebius of Pskov at the Holy Dormition Pskov Caves Monastery, reports the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism of the Moscow Patriarchate.

The metropolitan arrived at the monastery the evening before, being greeted by the abbot Archimandrite Tikhon (Sekretarev) with the brethren and His Grace Bishop Ignatius of Armavir and Labinsk. The metropolitan proceeded into the Dormition Church where he venerated the miraculous icon of the Dormition and the relics of St. Cornelius of the Pskov Caves, and other of the monastery’s sacred objects.

The next day, he celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Meeting of the Lord, where the body of the departed Archimandrite Adrian had been placed. He was concelebrated by a number of hierarchs, abbots, and clergy, including His Grace Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov) of Egorievsk, the abbot of Moscow’s Sretensky Monastery, who began his monastic path in the Pskov Caves Monastery.

Believers gathered from all across Russia to say goodbye to their beloved confessor and elder.

Following the Divine Liturgy, Fr. Adrian’s coffin was moved to the monastery’s Dormition Square where Met. Eusebius and the other clergy served the funeral rite for the newly-departed elder, before which the Pskov hierarch addressed all those present with an archpastoral homily, noting that, “Today we are experiencing grief and sorrow, bidding farewell to a star that has faded over our holy monastery”—the ascetic Archimandrite Adrian who labored at the Pskov Caves Monastery for many decades, including under the atheist communist regime.

Met. Eusebius then recounted how he had known the beloved elder for more than 60 years, having first met him at the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra in 1957. “In his life, he accepted the yoke of Christ and walked the path of humility and meekness, in the image of Christ,” he said, recalling how Fr. Adrian took his example from Christ Himself, and dedicated himself to the Lord in His holy Church.

Fr. Adrian was persecuted for his steadfast faith, and was eventually forced to relocate from the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra to the Pskov Caves Monastery, where he continued to boldly confess the Orthodox faith and comfort and nourish the faithful who came to him.

“His prayer and his meek and quiet confession helped people to establish themselves in faith, and to fight against adversity, oppression, and various kinds of trials. We remember him ever meek, quiet, and humble, with a child’s smile—a comforting companion,” the metropolitan recalled.

“Therefore, we now pray for forgiveness for any of the departed’s shortcomings, that the Lord would number him among His chosen holy ones, that Archimandrite Adrian would not forget us in his prayers before the throne of God,” Met. Eusebius emphasized.

Then the funeral rite was celebrated, after which the body of Fr. Adrian was carried in procession around Dormition Square to the Pskov Caves, where the deceased Fr. Adrian found his last earthly refuge.

All those gathered were then invited to a memorial luncheon. May Archimandrite Adrian’s memory be eternal!

May 4, 2018