Trinity Synodik. September 8 is the day of remembrance of Archimandrite Daniel (Sarycheva, † 2006)

Trinity Synodik. September 8 is the day of remembrance of Archimandrite Daniel (Sarycheva, † 2006)

Archimandrite Daniel (in the world - Ivan Sergeevich Sarychev), tonsure of the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra and resident of the Moscow Donskoy Monastery, was born on January 14, 1912 in the village of Zverevo, Ryazan region, into a peasant family.

In the early 1920s, Ivan moved to Moscow with his mother, sisters and brother. The family settled with relatives near the Danilov Monastery. The boy became a permanent parishioner of the ancient monastery, and soon he was already singing in the choir. He had a strong and beautiful voice and a tenacious memory. At the age of eleven, Ivan is already a canonarch at divine services.

Archim. Daniil (Sarychev)

In 1925 he took part in the burial of Patriarch Tikhon.

By 1930, the Danilov Monastery was closed, Ivan became regent of the Church of the Resurrection of the Word.

Two years later, this church was also closed, Ivan was arrested, but released after 40 days.

Soon he was accepted into the clergy of the Church of St. Nicholas on Novokuznetskaya, where he remained for nine and a half years.

Novice Ivan Sarychev – far right

He got married, his wife was Klavdia Nikolaevna Kutomkina, they got married secretly in 1933. On May 18, 1934, their daughter Olga was born, and on February 14, 1936, their son Vladimir was born.

For many years, Archimandrite Seraphim (Klimkov) was Ivan Sergeevich’s spiritual father.

In the years 1940-1960, when being a believer was unsafe for life, Ivan Sergeevich not only visited churches, but organized church choirs and led them.

In 1950-1960, Ivan Sergeevich Sarychev led the choir in the Church of the Deposition of the Robe on Donskaya Street and the choir in the Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery.

On April 27, 1970, in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, he was tonsured a monk with the name Daniel in honor of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow. The tonsure was performed by Archimandrite Naum (Bayborodin). Klavdia Nikolaevna also took secret tonsure - with the name Olga.

In the Donskoy Monastery

On December 17, 1978 he was ordained as hierodeacon.

On September 8, 1983, Mother Olga died tragically - she was hit by a car. Father Daniel took the loss seriously.

On August 2, 1988, he was ordained a hieromonk at the Danilov Monastery. In 1991 he became a resident of the Donskoy Monastery.

On April 7, 2000, Archbishop Arseny (Epifanov) of Istra elevated him to the rank of archimandrite.

On July 24, 2006, he was taken to the fifth city hospital with a diagnosis of bilateral pneumonia.

Died on September 8, 2006. Before his death, he was honored to receive the Holy Gifts.

Funeral service for the archimandrite. Daniil (Sarycheva)

Father Daniel was buried in the cemetery of the Donskoy Monastery in front of a large gathering of believers and clergy.

Eternal memory to the ever-memorable Archimandrite Daniel!
September 8, 2022 Share

You could rely on him even in the most stalemate situations

Today is the 40th day of the repose in the Lord of the confessor of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow, Archimandrite Daniil (Voronin). The spiritual father is remembered by a servant of God who was cared for by him for more than 20 years and who wished to hide his name.

Archimandrite Daniil (Voronin)

He inspired unconditional trust

- Oh you! - one lively nun once told me, even after her tonsure she remained straight as a general. – You go to the Danilov Monastery and you don’t even know that there is an elder here! - and straight up dragged me along.

Where? To Father Daniel. That’s how I saw the priest for the first time. We agreed that we would meet after the liturgy on a weekday, and he set a date.

I remember I came, the service was over, I was standing, waiting for him at the fraternal building. 40 minutes pass.

- Well, what are you doing? I'm waiting for you there, in the temple! – Father Daniel appears.

So our communication with him began with such a warm-up... This somehow turned out to be very significant for me. I remember I started going to him for Confession and seeking advice. You ask about one thing, and he suddenly tells you something else... And then you understand: this is the most important thing! The confessor tells you the most important things, just listen. And then, on our first scheduled meeting: you need to be in church - this is also a lesson!

I remember that my father immediately called me an “intellectual.” And this, they say, is a hopeless people. We talked and laughed.

You ask about one thing, and he suddenly tells you something else... And then you understand: this is the most important thing

Father Daniil later scolded us, the weak Muscovites, and used to say:

- Listen, how I suffered with the Muscovites in the army! – He himself was a sergeant, from the Ryazan region, when I saw a photo of him from those years: he was so strong, fit, handsome!

“A Muscovite, he doesn’t wear boots,” Father Daniil was perplexed, “but he drags them!” Everyone is weak. Well, where does health come from in Moscow? You don’t even need to climb the stairs, it takes you up on its own.

In general, the priest had such a normal male practicality that, of course, men were very attracted to him. For example, he drove a car. I remember I had to transport some cargo, but the car I found was just a dilapidated one. Father Daniel crossed himself, prayed, got behind the wheel and took everything where it needed to go. He inspired unconditional trust. You know how it happens: you can’t tell your father everything that you can tell a friend, but you could tell your father everything. You could rely on him even in the most stalemate situations.

By the way, he was very protective of people. One of the lessons of childhood is that he and his friend are walking home from school, and he says:

– My mother has a heart condition. And today I got a bad grade... I’ll go and tear out a page from the diary.

“It seems like slyness,” the priest commented, “but it’s not out of passion, but out of love for a person.”

What amazed your son the most?

My son had throwing problems for a while. Transitional age. He's an excellent student at school, but the enemy is trying to push him, if not to the left, then to the right, and now a storm has struck: I don't need to study anymore, I'll go to a monastery, I need to humble myself... I'm going to the priest. And he always has tons of people, how can I get to him?..

I came on weekdays and even then I couldn’t get through. I stand and pray. Here the priest makes some incomprehensible maneuver - he was standing with someone, talking after Confession, suddenly stops this conversation and abruptly walks past me. I was captured by his mantle like a whirlwind flow... I just woke up on the street. Next to my father...

- What do you want?!

- Yes, there are problems with my son...

“Well, come on, on such and such a day, at such and such a time, to the fraternal building,” and disappeared.

At home I tell my son (he is now a priest himself):

– Write down all your questions on a piece of paper.

- Fine.

He got 12 questions...

We arrive at the appointed time to the priest in the fraternal building. There is such an interesting picture hanging there, with an intricate plot, the priest stared at it - and began to say something to his son...

I wave to him: take out a piece of paper!!! Now if you forget something, then we won’t have any problems again! And he answered me with his hand: leave me alone! And he listens.

Father spoke to him for more than an hour. He talked and talked and talked. And he listens silently, he doesn’t even open his mouth. Didn't ask any questions.

They “talked.” Let's go out.

I walked with him to the Tulskaya metro station, I can’t wait:

- Dad, wait! - interrupts.

Just ask him something again...

- Shut up, shut up!

And he listens somewhere deep:

- Give it to me, give it to me! - he keeps walking and listening and listening: as if the priest had told him something for the rest of his life...

We reached the metro, he stopped dead in his tracks. Look somewhere else not here. I see that he is impressed.

- Pa-a-ap! In our meeting today, I was, of course, surprised by the fact that the priest answered all dozen of my questions. But what surprised me most was that he answered without seeing the pieces of paper, exactly in the order in which I wrote them!

Roots out, or It’s easier to come to an agreement with a drunkard than with an unhumble one

The son, himself already the rector of the temple, was cared for by the priest until the last. A little something right away:

- Okay, just a minute, guys. I have a problem. I can not today. I'm going to see my father.

He constantly went to Father Daniel for advice. Father solved all his questions. He always collected his words, like golden grains, and kept them in his heart. Father seems to say simple words, but he puts them together in such a way that it’s a treasure.

The elder will always tell you the most vital things - I was convinced of this not only from my own experience, but also from the example of those close to me. From all your many phrases, impressions - once, and the root was pulled out! It was always so shocking. We live on the surface of external life, but the priest saw the spiritual root causes. He will choose two or three words - and this is the support to turn the whole situation and your attitude towards it! – he will say, and nothing else is needed!

We live on the surface of external life, but the priest saw the spiritual root causes

I remember my son was once indignant at his mother and me in a conversation with his father:

– They didn’t wake me up! I had to prepare for the exam, and they...

“That’s right, you overslept - your parents are to blame,” Father Daniil responded in a recitative. -What's next for you?

Somehow he knew how to deal with all our infirmities, problems, and perplexities. One or two words and: what’s next?

And then I found this scene: an irritated man, dissatisfied with something after Confession, was leaving the lectern, I approached and heard the priest summing up to himself:

“It’s easier to come to an agreement with a drunkard than with an unhumble one.”

Archimandrite Daniil (Voronin) on Mount Athos I came to him one day, before I knew it, he greeted me! - and dragged it somewhere:

- Come here!

We sat there, near the fraternal building, behind the apple trees. We can’t be seen behind the foliage, but in front of us there are lines of people: “Have you seen Father Daniel?” - “Where did he go?..” - “How can I find Father Daniel?” I was dumbfounded.

- Say Say.

For him, this was all familiar. But this is such a tension - to live constantly “at gunpoint” of expectations, attention, requests...

I remember the priest standing in front of the Church of the Holy Fathers of the Seven Ecumenical Councils, and in front of him there was a huge crowd, blocking his way, everyone was saying something, asking... And he raised his eyes to the sky, stood there, praying - and suddenly he spoke in a pleading voice, pointing with his hands at temple:

- I want to go there...

The crowd silently parted for him.

Universities of Father Daniel

When terrorists blew up houses in Moscow, everyone was scared and depressed. And the priest came out before Confession and said:

- So, come here, confess, take communion, and go - don’t be afraid of anything! As God willing. Don't be afraid of anything.

Something else stunned him. For example:

- How can you not fast? – I remember he was perplexed. – I just don’t understand this! Well, how can you not fast?!

He himself is from the Ryazan land, there were many pious people there even under Soviet rule - despite all the persecution. Once I saw him in the Ryazan Kremlin at the celebration of the memory of St. Basil of Ryazan. The priest prayed for a long time on his knees at his tomb. And at that time his mother left the temple. So he still had to follow her. And he keeps looking in the direction of the temple - and so, half-turning, he reaches out his hand, like little kids when they part with their mother.

I was in the car then and asked:

- Father, can I give you a ride?

“No, I’m at home,” he replied.

So all his life he treated the Ryazan region as his homeland, his home.

His parents were very religious. Both dad and mom. People often went to the St. John the Theologian Monastery in Poshupovo to see Archimandrite Abel (Makedonov). I remember once I crossed paths with Father Abel, and he told me:

– Yes, Alexey (Daniel’s father’s dad – editor’s note) was with me three days ago!

He loved Father Daniel - words cannot describe how! And the priest himself loved Father Abel so much that it is even incomprehensible to us. This is some kind of reciprocity at a height unattainable for us!

What does our church history look like?

Father kept telling me: “Abel, Abel...”. And at first I didn’t even know who it was about... At that time, little was published. It was necessary to simply grow up in tradition, to know the oral tradition, whom the church people honor. And then I read it, and how I saw Father Abel myself! There are no more questions left. But even before that, the priest says: “Abel, Abel...” and he himself glows all over. It's light for you too.

I remember when I ended up in Poshupovo, Father Abel took us to the house’s wooden church.

“And we are here for the Patriarch,” he says, “waiting.”

We look: the staff of St. Luke of Crimea stands there... The most ancient, including miraculous, icons - from the ceiling to the plinth. Each icon contains relics. So Father Abel also brought out holy things from the altar for us... We venerated and venerated them... This is something unimaginable. Just from head to toe - in grace.

Then Father Abel hurried somewhere, someone was waiting for him, apparently:

- Wait, guys, I'll come now.

And so my father Sergiy Saltsov and I, he serves there in Ryazan, stayed for a while, I began to pester him:

– I wish I could take a picture with Father Abel, huh?

- Well, don’t you see: he’s barefoot, wearing an old cassock - is it possible to photograph him like that? He is our church history!

I hung my nose. Then Father Abel comes in... And do you know what he started talking about? About photography!

- Well, I had a mentor here - Vladyka Archbishop Dimitri (Gradusov), he was later transferred from Ryazan to Yaroslavl, and I went to see him when it was very difficult for me, the commissioner was tormenting... I cry and cry, I’ll take the photo of Vladyka in my hands Dimitria, I’m kissing her. Then I came to him one day, and he said to me: “Why are you, my angel (he called him an angel), crying like that, killing yourself? Do you know that your tears can ruin my photograph?”

That's how encouraging I was!

Father Daniel had such a school. Universities! Also, of course, Vladyka Simon (Novikov), ruling bishop of the Ryazan diocese...

Fish from the Metropolitan

About Vladyka Simon, Father Daniel, I remember, told us the stories of the local Ryazan priests:

- How was it before? They will say: “Simon is calling!” So this is me going to see my father! I’ll gather the whole family: mother, children. He receives us in his own way, wearing felt boots, treats us, asks us about everything, helps us if we need anything. And then my children remember for a long time: “When will we go to Vladyka again?”

These were the working methods of the ruling bishop!

Archimandrite Daniil (Voronin)

And Father Daniel recalled:

Father could have dropped such a phrase: “Closer to the Church and away from the priests.”

– He calls me and a friend once... And then there were Brezhnev times: there were no products in the stores. And he told us: “Guys, you should go to such and such a store and buy some fish...”. We looked at each other: “Vladyka, what kind of fish?!” It’s like a ball!” “Well, you go,” he blesses. Went. We found the indicated grocery store. And there’s some kind of bustle there... Suddenly a worker jumps out of the store: “Oh, guys, you’re young, strong, come on, come here!” We follow him through some corridors, and he: “They unexpectedly brought fish!” We need to unload..." And those who unloaded were the first to receive goods!

So they brought fish to both Vladyka Simon and themselves at home - they also fed their loved ones! These are the circles of clergy that people gravitate towards. And so the priest could drop such a phrase: “Closer to the Church and away from the priests” (in the priestly environment, unfortunately, one can encounter temptations that are not useful for ordinary parishioners).

I gave everything I could give

“Father,” I say one day, “you are going on vacation, to Ryazan, to visit your parents... Where can you get money from?” Let me bring it to you?

- No need! - he begins to deny, but, seeing that I am pressing: “You’d better buy a scarf for your mother, and a shirt for your father,” he says, “get it.”

I even tried to carry out the assignment, turned and turned, and returned:

“Father, I’m so stupid, I can’t figure out what to buy.” What are the sizes, this and that... Let me still give you some money?

- Okay, go ahead if you can. Only you,” he suddenly explains, “give it to me, not here, not on the steps of the temple, but there, at the fraternal building...

I didn't understand at first. Then it came. How many times have I seen the picture: how the priest is not given access by those asking for passage. They will beg and he will give it. I remember the priest was walking, and such a strong man stood in front of him: he was saying something and saying something, Father Daniil answered him thoroughly, he didn’t back down, then the priest gave his bag to someone to hold, and he himself – his movements were so slow were - he takes one note out of his pocket, takes out the money, gives it to this petitioner, puts the note back in his pocket, then takes out the next one, gives the money again, and so on - note after note, note after note... Everything he could give, he gave - and went . People knew he was reliable.

This is our father. A man from God.

Father Daniel was interested in spiritual acquisition, so that God would be pleased from our gathering. What can we do to have the Holy Spirit touch our heart? Everything in the Church is for this purpose. And also: read a little book written in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit will work on you through it. You need to recruit saints as friends.

And also, when the funeral service was held for His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, there was no invitation card for the priest to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and during the entire funeral service, for several hours, he stood at the wall of the church in the drizzling rain, paying tribute to memory, love and respect for the deceased. In the villages of the righteous, Lord, bring them about.

“Thank you, Lord, that he left her!”

Once we were with the priest at the Savvinsky spring, which is near Zvenigorod. We got some water, let's go back. Father walked forward, and I followed. I see some women standing there. As I understand it, they didn’t know him.

- Oh! Some priest is coming, now he’s going to bless us - they’re so happy, they’re frisky, they’re waiting.

And he is sedate.

- Well, well, of course, you can bless...

He gave his blessing and left. And while I was climbing over the fence, I came up a few minutes later, and these women were still standing, their hands still held as they were folded for a blessing. One woke up:

- And who is it?

- Well, how about who? Father... Archimandrite Daniel,” I say.

- Oh, sorry...

And that’s all - we didn’t have any conversation, they just remained standing in some kind of silence.

Or there was another case. The priest was confessing, and suddenly - a cry... They were leading some woman by the arms, she was sobbing, screaming... The priest jumped up:

- What's happened?

I still stood and thought: “What would I do in this case. I wouldn’t find a way to calm her down...”

“Father, ah-ah,” she yells directly, “my husband left me!” I have four children. I don't work anywhere. How will we live? We will die of hunger... - the whole temple shouts.

He is silent. I prayed and prayed. Suddenly he raises his head, as if he has found a way out:

- Did he beat you?

She was surprised. So I was silent, silent, and thought:

- Yes, he did.

- Did he let you into the temple?

- He didn’t let me in. He categorically did not let me in.

– Did he let you pray?

- What are you talking about, father, he threw away my prayer books! - etc.

Father Daniel turns to the iconostasis:

- Well, thank you, Lord, that he left her! - and he says to her: “God will not abandon you.” And people will help you.

Confession without Communion is like working without a salary

Sometimes you think: “Yes, this probably shouldn’t be said at Confession, so,” you pause, “I’ll say it just in case...”. And he, on the contrary, clings to it:

- Whoa, whoa! This is the most important thing!

It seemed to me that this was nonsense! But he looked at everything completely differently. I am spiritually weak, unreasonable, but as soon as he begins to develop - this, it turns out, is a whole problem! This is what you need to pay attention to! Work with this. This kind of priest is a master of his craft.

I saw how Father Daniel himself confessed to the now also deceased schema-abbot Raphael (Shishkov). He's on his knees, pale as paper. He, of course, did not have such sins as we confess. But he confessed very seriously, with a feeling of excitement.

Father was extremely sensitive to the sacrament of Confession

Father was extremely sensitive to the sacrament of Confession, if he confessed, and even one of the fathers came more or less close, he immediately took the cross, the Gospel and went somewhere with the confessor - God forbid someone else heard the word : Confession is only in the presence of God and the priest receiving Confession.

Father told me:

– You should confess and receive communion more often. If you go to confession and don’t take communion, it’s like a person works but doesn’t receive a salary.

One day, a priest from somewhere at Father Daniel’s parish was confessing for a very long time; he had been standing for about 40 minutes, expressing something emotionally, waving his arms. Our Danilovsky deacon swooped in, couldn’t stand it and let him reprimand in front of everyone:

- Yes, how much is possible?! The people are waiting over there. And you keep talking and talking...

Pilgrimage to Valaam, 1990. Fathers Daniel and Raphael (Shishkov) on the deck of the ship. But the most amazing thing was that Father Daniel took a step to the side, bowed his head and, just as humbly, without interrupting, as he listened to the verbose Father Confessor, he now listened to what seemed like his ward (the father was the confessor of the Danilov brethren) Father Deacon. Here it is: “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2)! The priest had such humility.

One Yaroslavl priest told us this:

– You are lucky, you have such an old man in the monastery.

Christians like Father Daniel are rare phenomena in our apostasy times. This, they say, was somehow a vision of the demonic underworld to an elder - our contemporary; he later admitted:

– I saw hell, it’s practically empty.

- How is it empty?!

– All the demons are here, on the surface, in people...

Through sins, a person attracts evil spirits to himself, and if he confesses somehow and from time to time, it is said: “When the unclean spirit leaves a person, it walks through waterless places, looking for peace, and does not find it; Then he says: I will return to my house from where I came. And, having arrived, he finds it unoccupied, swept and put away; then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and entering they live there; and for that person the last thing is worse than the first” (Matthew 12:44).

“Don’t pray now, please!”

Regarding prayer, I heard Father Daniel once just laugh! It seems like this happened only once...

We have such a guy among our father’s children, he helped Father Daniil until the very end, he is very educated, he knows several languages, including the most difficult ones: Japanese, etc. I remember that he took blessings from the priest for their study. “Why do you need this one?” - Father will be surprised. - “Yes, that’s necessary.” - “Well, okay, - bless, - teach.” And then one day he was left without a job. Do you need to live on something? He started looking for a new job. He chose something more profitable: they said, he would solve the housing problem. Once he went for an interview, he was not hired. This is with his knowledge! The second time - again a refusal. Going to the third interview, he came to Father Daniel with this atypical request:

- Father! You prayed, they didn’t take me there, they didn’t accept me there. Don't pray now, please! I'm going to an interview again...

Father laughed so hard!

There was cheerfulness in him. One day we were traveling on a bus. Thunderstorm, rain, poor people running around with umbrellas, gusty wind.

“People are there in the rain, but here we are warm and kind.” We must thank God even for this. The trees are so green, clean, the sky is so beautiful, like in a painting,” the priest admired the generally typical view... “We must thank God for every moment.”

We must thank God for every moment

Such thanksgiving is always the fruit of prayer experience.

I remember once at the altar he called:

- Come here!

I'm approaching.

– About health: ... (says my name, then my spouse, then the names of our children). - Further…

So that, they say, he lists the names of his relatives. I'm so confused! And he waited patiently. He didn’t even reproach me with a glance until I came to my senses and began to simply squeeze out the names of my loved ones.

Then he also says:

- About repose...

And then he gave this prosphora to me.

In your family, no matter what you say, everything will even out later

The enemy always fights against the family, trying to split it. “And you say: oh well! - the father instructed. “Whatever you say in your family, everything will even out later.”

As the head of the family, he instructed me:

- You are a father, your sons are looking at you. As you do, so will they.

He also said about children:

- Never hit! Mother can. Don't touch it.

Father knew what should not be violated, so that connections between people would not be broken, and what should be done to restore community.

We have one parishioner in the Danilovsky Monastery, her daughter, who is already grown up, seems to go to church, but it seems she doesn’t go anymore. I listened to some criticism of the clergy. Mom needed to take a blessing for her vacation.

- You are leaving? - Father Daniel approaches them.

“Yes, father, I’m leaving,” mom answers.

- Have a safe trip. Thank you for your efforts. For everything good... etc. – I don’t remember further now, but I said some very simple and kind words to her, blessed her and left.

The daughter opened her mouth, she saw him for the first time then, and looked after him:

- Yes, that’s the kind of priest I would go for...

In an instant - one meeting changed anger to mercy.

Somehow life goes by unnoticed, children grow up. But what I once noted to myself: the children did not fight off the priest. Look, he was only just a little baby, and Alyoshenka is already two meters tall, but just as he went to see his father when he was not yet taller than the lectern, he still walks. He will come up, get down on his knees, and confess. We always warned all newcomers:

- Get on your knees!

They look at us... But the fact is that if you don’t kneel down, the priest will never sit down himself. And his legs, like all mostly middle-aged priests, are sick.

Father, by the way, despite all his workload, always went to the last to console the brethren of those who were sick and in bed. The priest gave them communion, unction, and simply came in to cheer them up. I went to hospitals.

Waiting, praying, hasn’t left...

Father Daniel lived a hard life. What temptations he endured! This, of course, is inevitable: “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). He had a very hard time.

Hard worker. Believer. A person of deep spiritual life.

I didn't like to stand out. How to read the canons with the brethren - it becomes a row. Not the first, but somewhere in the middle it got squeezed in. He taught everyone by example. Was condescending:

- Well, it’s okay, young man, he’ll improve soon. Well, as long as he does what he can...

I remember Father Daniil talking to a guy with Down syndrome after the service.

“Father, say: peace to everyone,” the boy turned to him out of the blue.

They sang troparia together. Someone felt sorry for the priest:

- Father, tell me without babying, is it boring to communicate with him?

- What are you talking about! - answers. - This is a pure soul! He has no guile. He understands as he speaks.

Or once, for a very long time, I remember, my mother diligently led her son to Communion. He walked reluctantly, but still obeyed, stood in front of the Cup... And - suddenly he turned around and ran away! Runs and cries. Mom is behind him. And they were the last to arrive...

Without exaggeration, the mother spent about 20 minutes persuading her son - this is a huge pause for the liturgy. And the priest stands so patiently on the pulpit with the Chalice, waiting, praying, and has not left. The whole temple is tense. Father is praying. No indignation - no one. The air is definitely charged with the prayer of Father Daniel.

Everyone is already standing and just hoping: if only he took communion! And indeed: suddenly the boy begins to walk and walk so quietly, as if surprising himself, he approached so simply, his mouth opened, his father: one! - and gave communion! Everyone's joy was indescribable! The scene will be remembered for the rest of my life. I saw this mother and son at the farewell to Father Daniil. How many people are grateful to him!

Everlasting memory.

"The First Monk"

July 27 is the day of remembrance of Archimandrite Daniel (Voronin) - six months from the date of his death. Today, the abbot of the Danilov Monastery, Bishop Alexy of Solnechnogorsk, celebrated a requiem mass at the grave of Father Daniil in the monastery cemetery in the monastery courtyard in Dolmatovo. The monastery brethren and numerous spiritual children of Father Daniel were present at the service. Archimandrite Daniel (in the world Viktor Alekseevich Voronin) was born on November 9, 1952 in Ryazan into a family of workers. After school, he studied at a construction college, then served in the missile forces in the Arkhangelsk region. He worked in Moscow in production, in 1979 he entered the Moscow Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1983. In August 1983, he entered the newly opened Danilov Monastery and remained faithful to it until his death. This is how Metropolitan Evlogy (Smirnov), who was the abbot of the Danilov Monastery in those years, remembers him in his book “It Was a Miracle of God”: “Once, when I was leaving the Trinity Cathedral of the Lavra and thinking about who was first will be a monk of the new Moscow monastery, Viktor Voronin, who had just graduated from seminary, a very simple and modest young man who firmly decided to follow the “straight and narrow path” in life, deeply believing in a future blissful eternity, came up to me. “Father Governor,” he said, bowing low in front of all the honest people, “I want to ask you, in Danilov, to bless me to become a monk?” “God bless! It's a good deed. If you submit a petition, you will be the first inhabitant of the monastery,” I answered him.” In 1984, Victor was tonsured into the ryasophore with the name Daniel - in honor of the holy noble prince Daniel. Together with schema-hegumen Rafail (Shishkov; †2018), they became the first tonsures of the Danila monastery. In 1985, he was tonsured into a mantle with the name Daniel in honor of the Venerable Daniel the Stylite. On July 6, 1985 he was ordained hieromonk. In 1989 he was elevated to the rank of abbot, and in 1990 to the rank of archimandrite. He passed the obediences of a prosphora maker, a cellarer, a steward, a treasurer, and headed the publishing activities of the monastery. From 1989 until his death he was the confessor of the Danilov Monastery. The lines and dates of this monk’s life are sparse, a life filled with prayer and obedience, a life given to his spiritual children. Father Daniel cared for not only the brethren of the Danilov Monastery, but also clergy from other monasteries and churches. People from all over Moscow and other cities came to him for advice. In the monastery square he was often literally not allowed to pass. If a group of people moved from the refectory to the fraternal building, everyone knew that it was the priest who was surrounded by his children. Archimandrite Daniel, regardless of his time, always listened to everyone carefully and patiently. Neither his state of health, nor his preoccupation with his own affairs, nothing turned him away from his main obedience—clergy. For the last six months, the priest had been seriously ill, his death was not unexpected, but despite this, the news of the departure of his beloved priest literally shocked everyone. Eternal memory to the ever-remembered Father Daniel!

Never refused advice and help

Hegumen Hermogenes (Ananyev)
I came to the monastery in 1992. Already at that time, Father Daniel led a spiritual life in the monastery. He was especially attentive and deeply immersed in the life of the monastery. Father Daniel was generally one of the first inhabitants of the monastery. Those two first brothers whom Bishop Eulogius brought into the monastery at the dawn of its restoration were precisely Schema-Abbess Raphael, who had died a year ago, and the newly deceased Father Daniel. The Cover of God was truly felt over both of them.

Archimandrite Daniel (Voronin) was the confessor of the monastery, that is, the one who confessed, instructed and consoled all the brethren until the last day. He was a very famous, or rather popular, person in Moscow, to whom confessors lined up. Despite this, at any moment you could approach him and ask for spiritual advice, sometimes even financial help. He almost never refused, he was always ready to respond.

Modest, inconspicuous, he himself did not highlight his personality, yet his presence and prayer were always felt in the monastery. He really occupied a big place here.

It must be admitted that Archimandrite Daniel really did not like to talk about himself. And if he did tell, it was in passing and rather about how the monastery began, what the first services were like, how miraculously the relics of St. Savva, who blessed the life of the monastery, ended up here. He recalled these events, but only on occasions when, for example, in 2003 and 2013 we celebrated the twentieth and thirtieth anniversary of monastic life. It was then that I first heard that he came to the monastery in the 80s, essentially as a layman, a seminarian. He was the very first brother who rose from novice to archimandrite, which made him different from schema-abbot Raphael, who came to the monastery as a priest, and then took monastic vows and became a hieromonk.

Father Daniel recalled with great warmth those years when monastic life was getting better and the brethren gathered. He outlined many stories in books that were published several times. On my own behalf, I will add that in the monastery I was a cellarer ( the head of the monastic table, supplies - editor's note.

) twelve years, from 1992 to 2005, and observed how many traditions, for example, the prayer rule in the refectory, during which all the cooks prayed, and a certain way of life in the monastery were established by Father Daniel, who was engaged in cellar service, all these years. Those who lived through these times still carry the memory of Father Daniel and his instructions with great love.

Back in June 2022, he was cheerful, on his feet, and there was no sign of trouble. He was active, served a lot, prayed, confessed, and went to church. Suddenly he felt unwell, went to the hospital for examination, where it turned out that he had a blood clot in his lung. Treatment began. Alas, it was not possible to avoid a stroke and Father Daniil ended up in intensive care...

At every liturgy we prayed for him, but we could not even imagine that his condition was so serious. We were connected by spiritual and brotherly relations and I grieve over this death.