How Patriarch Alexy 2 died: the circumstances of the death of His Holiness

Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II died on December 5, 2008 from a heart attack. Before this, he had already suffered two heart attacks and was seen by a cardiologist. Almost 100 thousand people came to say goodbye to the elder. Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev expressed the idea that the patriarch could have been saved if doctors had been called in a timely manner, but his words were rejected.

At the end of 2008, the death of Patriarch Alexy 2 became a heavy loss for the Russian Orthodox Church. His Holiness was preparing to celebrate his 80th birthday next February and had no intention of dying. Alexei Mikhailovich Ridiger (that was the name of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in the world) took holy orders in the middle of the last century. The patriarch devoted the rest of his life to clergy, and in 2000 he ascended the throne of the Russian Orthodox Church.

A few days before his death, Alexy II returned from Germany, where he was undergoing treatment. What was the cause of death? After all, until the very last minute of his life, the patriarch was in satisfactory condition and did not even refuse interviews to correspondents.

Death message

An hour before noon, on December 5, 2008, the head of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate, Vladimir Vigilyansky, announced the sudden death of the patriarch. The Vladyka’s place of exodus was his own residence, not far from the village of Peredelkino. According to the staff, Alexy II went to the bathroom to wash his face at about 7 am. Closer to 8:00, the patriarch did not come out for the ordered breakfast.

Concerned employees went to check on His Holiness's chambers, but found the doors to the bedroom closed. During the inspection of the chambers through the street windows, it was discovered that the old man was most likely in the bathroom. Alexy does not respond to offers of help.

Security was immediately called, whose employees managed to break down the door. Vladyka was found lying on the bathroom floor. The body was already cooling down. The arriving doctors had no choice but to declare the patriarch’s death from a heart attack.

The death of Patriarch Alexy is a string of state secrets

Modernity is surprising. We even know much more about the death of Buddha than about the death of Alexy 2nd, Patriarch of All Rus'. But before Buddha, like before the stars, we are separated by great times and distances. And the Primate, our contemporary, died in the epicenter of a civilization oversaturated with CCTV cameras and metropolitan people. But he gave his soul to God in such an unusual way that to this day the public is speculating as to who sent him to the next world - illness or a team of killers. At the same time, the most implausible version, as expected in post-Soviet Rus', turned out to be the official version, the most deceitful of all, which stated that the patriarch died of heart failure. The head of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate blatantly lied, as befits the head of one or another officialdom. But even before the scandal began, the intelligentsia was shocked by three astonishing facts: For the first time in the history of Orthodoxy, a patriarch was buried with his face covered. For the first time, the public did not see the medical expert’s conclusion and did not hear the statements of the doctors and close friends who cared for Alexia. It was as if death had befallen not a public figure in the capital, but a lonely Robinson on a distant uninhabited island. For the first time in the history of Orthodoxy, the successor of the Primate, Metropolitan Kirill, spoke joyfully about the death of the head of the Orthodox Church, with undisguised satisfaction. The new patriarch had no doubt that death was not an irreparable loss, but a great success for all Orthodox Christianity.

The great wisdom of Karamzin - “nothing is new under the sun” - failed. There were too many of these unpleasant and mysterious “firsts.” Hardline orthodoxies, on top of everything else, added their own: they believed that under this patriarch the church for the first time turned its face to ecumenism, which it had despised for many centuries.

So, in December 2008, a full member of the Russian Academy of Education passed away, who did nothing for public education, an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts, who did not draw a single picture, a doctor of theology, who could not express himself beautifully and did not create a single worthwhile philosophical treatise. His strange death would have been accompanied by deathly public silence, like, for example, the death of any general secretary of Soviet times, if the silence had not been broken by the cry of Stanislav Sadalsky: “The Patriarch was killed!” This indignation of the famous actor became that fatal pebble thrown from the mountain, which gave rise to an information avalanche. And the famous deacon, Andrei Kuraev, appears again on the public platform, who all his life explained to the inquisitive public “what is really going on in the church.” But in fact there was no heart attack. The deacon voiced his own version, very far from the official one. They say that the old man lost coordination of movements, fell and hit the back of his head on the corner of a chair. And then everything was like in the song about King Henry: “From this blow, blood spurted out of the veins, and the old Primate died as he lived.” Kuraev believed that by falling on a chair, you could cut your wrists. And this version was completely useless. It immediately became clear that the deacon did not have to study biology and compromising materials. Even a child knows that wooden chairs have rounded corners and it is impossible to cut yourself on them. Veins are durable tissues. It is possible to cut the vein only if the patriarch's residence had iron chairs with razor-sharp corners. Which is much more incredible than all the voiced versions. I was also struck by another detail, which was told by the famous theologian: bloody traces from the patriarch’s hands remained on the walls of the room. Apparently, the man fought for life, was in agony, and did not die immediately. And the lies of Vigilyansky, the head of the Press Service, finally became obvious. People don't die from a heart attack in a big pool of blood. The only sad thing was that the truth-loving Kuraev was also little informed. He did not present evidence - photographs of bloody marks on the wall, for example. In presenting his hypotheses, he was guided by rumors, but rumors, apparently, more reliable than those that multiplied in the press. One got the impression that it was not the patriarch who died, but a resident of a foreign intelligence service, killed by someone unknown and when. It's not good to lie. Even atheists will not dispute this. But the desire to look beautiful and majestic gave rise to a diametrically opposite result. The lies of the patriarchate gave rise to many rumors and, most importantly, disrespect for the highest church leadership. People racked their brains over the simplest questions. Indeed, where exactly did Alexy die - in an accident, in the bathroom or in the toilet? In the end they found out: in the toilet. But can't we say this right away? Even a righteous person can die in the restroom; this is not a crime; in Heaven they are judged for other actions. The press service cannot understand that true greatness is not generated by beautiful lies and gold leaf, but by sincerity and the bitter truth. Apparently, the church officialdom long ago forgot how to tell the truth, even under Comrade Brezhnev. But there were other simple questions that remain a sealed secret to this day. When Sadalsky stated that there were as many as three holes in the unfortunate man’s head (according to the assurances of the priests and police officers who trusted him), no one began to refute this. Although it would not be difficult to refute the actor: the press service could publish a high-quality photograph of the deceased, for example. But the patriarchy did not do this. One acted in the diametrically opposite way: she buried Alexy with her face covered. Which was contrary to tradition and strengthened the terrible rumors. It's easy for master make-up artists to disguise three bullet holes. But one got the impression that it was impossible to disguise the damage to the skull, as if they had not shot at the patriarch’s head, but hit it with a sledgehammer. Some people who knew the patriarch well even doubted that Alexy’s body lay in the coffin. They saw that the hands of the dead man were not the hands of the deceased patriarch. They did not have the characteristic freckles, but had dirty, uncut nails, something that a true Primate could not have had. It is unlikely that such statements are true, but it is also impossible to refute them at the moment. It is amazing that the Soviet people were intimidated to such an extent that no one had the courage in Peredelkino: not a single person could approach the dead man to kiss his forehead. This is precisely tradition, not covering one’s face. The church leadership, serving not Christ, but his enemies, has achieved its goal: total fear has turned people into puppets. Kissing on the forehead is not a criminal offense, however, everyone was afraid to commit this gesture. Literary and cinematic masterpieces tirelessly educate, show the heroism of both great heroes and ordinary people who find themselves in a critical situation, but all church and school pedagogy failed: fear turned out to be the winner at this funeral. The Church has reforged people not into servants of God, but into slaves of the emperor and the KGB. And yet, not everyone was able to be intimidated. Stanislav Sadalsky tried to uncover the secret of Alexy’s poor health. It wasn't always bad. The illness began suddenly in Astrakhan. A confidential source from Alexy’s entourage told the actor that during a trip to the Astrakhan diocese, something happened that surpasses any fantasy. Theodosius of Pechersk himself, the same great monk who lived in the 11th century and was one of the founders of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, came to the fully healthy Primate. His words struck like thunder the main church bigwig serving the KGB. Theodosius, looking sternly at Ridiger, declared that he and many of his brothers had long ago stopped serving God and began to serve the devil. That Rus' has long had no rulers, but only crooks. And retribution - fiery Gehenna - is not far away. It was from this moment, according to Stanislav, that “affairs of the heart” began - heart attacks and hospitalization of the patriarch. Everyone is free to believe or not believe the actor. Because it is impossible to refute such information. Anything is possible. But if this information is true, then the patriarch’s behavior is quite understandable. It is possible that Alexy himself began little by little to believe that what he saw was not a hallucination, but a vision of a real saint. In this case, his reaction is predictable: Alexy tried to do something good for the church and the people in order to avoid hellish torment. Religion has ceased to be a fun and profitable game for him, where he needs to be an actor on the church stage: swing a censer and flirt with ghouls. He suddenly felt the terrible breath of hell under his feet. The unfortunate man suddenly felt the approach of inevitable retribution for betrayal, for being a leading cog in political monsters. This undermined his psyche and health. And Alexy made a decision: to do something heroic and holy at least once in his life. Perhaps he tried to return to the Orthodox people the shrines “privatized” by Metropolitan Kirill in July 2008, when journalist Vasily Lipsky in the Kommersant newspaper demanded an account of why no one saw these priceless things after they were removed from the royal treasuries of the Kremlin . But another situation is also possible: we will never know about the true actions that led to death. It is impossible to go over to the side of Christ without pain. Demons don't like defectors. Just like everyone else. There are many secrets in this story. For example, the public has no idea where two people disappeared: a personal driver and a nun who served the monk. Maybe a whole group of people had to be buried. But all the remaining dead were not so famous, and therefore only Alexy was buried in the church.

But no one even hinted at the most important mystery. Who was the capital actually burying: a KGB officer who played the role of the patriarch, or a Primate who was hanging on a hook from the powerful demons? Was he a Patriarch from the point of view of Heavenly Orthodoxy, from the point of view of the holy inhabitants of heaven? This is the main question, the answer to which we do not know. Be that as it may, martyrdom allows one to get rid of a significant portion of the torment prescribed for the sinner. This is a kind of redemption. Let's hope that Alexy will one day reach the heavenly abodes.

Heart disease of Patriarch Alexy II

The official version of the death of Alexy II is a heart attack. Indeed, His Holiness, the bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, had serious complications with blood pressure and the heart muscle. He suffered two heart attacks and was regularly monitored by cardiologists. And literally two months before his death, Alexey Mikhailovich suffered clinical death and cardiac arrest. But German doctors got the clergyman back on his feet.

Actor Stanislav Sadalsky publicly expressed his version of the murder of the patriarch. But his statements were considered seditious and groundless. However, a serious scandal broke out.

House of Poems

maxpark.com/community/4109/content/6779053 “At the beginning of the week, the Russian media reported a message: on October 28, Patriarch of All Rus' Alexy II suffered a heart attack, doctors also suspected a microstroke. He became ill during an archpastoral trip to the Astrakhan diocese. The doctors managed to provide him with qualified assistance, and on Tuesday the patient was transported to Moscow - to the Central Clinical Hospital. Media representatives immediately connected the patriarch’s illness with his experiences of the latest tragic events in Moscow. However, few people know what actually caused the impact.

Information about what actually happened in Astrakhan with the patriarch came to us from a confidential source close to Alexy. Perhaps this information will shed light on the true reasons for Alexy’s sudden illness. Well, who really, of those who know the composure of the patriarch, will believe in the official version.

Let us remember that when the White House was shot up in 1993, Ridiger endured it quite calmly, and he also experienced other equally dramatic events completely serenely. This time, according to our source, the true cause of the attack was a certain vision that visited and shocked the patriarch.

What Alexy saw before he had a stroke, he confessed to several people around him, shortly after the vision, several hours before his health began to deteriorate sharply. Moreover, what struck the patriarch most of all was the supernatural fact itself, for, according to the source, Alexy, despite his high church rank, perceives religion more as a tradition and ritual than actually believes in anything.

However, in a vision that unexpectedly visited the patriarch, a certain handsome old man appeared in a monastic robe, calling himself abbot Theodosius of Pechersk (as is known, this abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, who lived in the 11th century and stood at the origins of Orthodoxy in Rus', was revered by believers during his lifetime as wonderworker, and after his death he was recognized as a saint). Saint Theodosius stood right in front of the patriarch; there was no anger in his bright, piercing eyes, but a cruel reproach was noticeable. Alexy conveyed verbatim what he heard from the elder abbot. “You and many of your brothers have fallen away from God, and fallen to the devil,” said the saint. “And the rulers of Rus' are not rulers, but crooks.” And the church condones them. And you should not stand at the right hand of Christ. And fiery torment awaits you, gnashing of teeth, endless suffering, until you come to your senses, you damned ones. The mercy of our Lord is limitless, but the path to salvation through the atonement of your countless sins is too long for you, and the hour of answer is near.” After these words, the vision disappeared, leaving Ridiger completely numb, who had never experienced anything like this, moreover, he was always skeptical about reports of all kinds of miracles.

Soon after this, the patriarch became ill. Those who provided him with first aid claim that the patient barely whispered: “It can’t be, it can’t be!”...

The official diagnosis that the doctors made at the hospital was: “hypertensive crisis with elements of dynamic cerebrovascular accident.” Just before a critical exacerbation of his health, Alexy spoke about his vision, being in a state of extreme depression. According to the source, later, having come to his senses a little, the patriarch said that he had hallucinated. However, what he had previously told about the appearance of Theodosius to several people indicated that the confused Alexy was trying to find support in someone in a moment of deep mental stupor into which Theodosius’s words plunged him. According to the source, “Alexy will never tell anyone else about the vision. However, the words that it was Theodosius of Pechersk, a half-forgotten saint of the Russian Orthodox Church and other details, as well as the shock that the patriarch experienced, indicate that such a fact existed.”

Let us pay attention to the fact that the saint also spoke about the Church’s “indulgence” in the sins of the “rulers of Rus',” whom he calls “creepers.”

In other words, we are talking about the close connection between state and spiritual power in Russia.

Let us also note that the fate of Riediger itself is somehow mystically connected with the current political system. He was elevated to the rank of patriarch at the end of perestroika, when the outlines of modern absurd Russia were already taking shape, when Boris Yeltsin was already fully declaring his claims to supreme power. The patriarch lived with the regime, rose with its establishment, and at the most critical moments for him acted as a support for the regime.

This is exactly what happened, for example, in the early autumn of 1993, when Russian power seemed to be hanging on by a thread. So isn’t the patriarch’s current illness connected with another difficult period for the political system? It seems that the connection between church and state is truly mystical in nature, but does it come from God in today’s Russia?”

Farewell ceremony

On December 6, towards the end of the day, the coffin with the body of the late patriarch was delivered to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The farewell ceremony began. Divine services and funeral prayers were read for 3 days. All these days the Temple was open to Orthodox Christians who wanted to say goodbye to Alexy II. Order was ensured by the Moscow Central Internal Affairs Directorate.

According to police estimates, the ceremony was attended by over 100 thousand people. In addition to ordinary citizens, state leaders and high-ranking officials were present.

Alexy II was loved and respected, he was an adamant defender of the Christian faith and traditional moral standards. He was an educated man who spoke Russian, Estonian and German. He came from the Russian noble family of von Ridiger, who had Courland roots. His ancestors accepted Orthodoxy back in the 18th century and did not deviate from the faith.

Alexei visited the Valaam Monastery as a child and was an altar boy in the Tallinn church, where his father Mikhail served as a deacon. He graduated from the Leningrad Theological Seminary and then from the Theological Academy. His whole life was connected with the church.

Kompromat.Ru ®

“There are bloody handprints on the walls” of the Patriarch

The press service of the Patriarchate commented on rumors about the murder of Alexy II

Original of this material © Interfax, 09/04/2009

The Patriarchate urges people to refrain from “savoring” the possible details of the death of Alexy II

Kirill: “His Holiness the Patriarch left, protecting our church from this difficult burden”

The Moscow Patriarchate urged not to speculate on the possible causes and circumstances of the death of Patriarch Alexy II. “All this savoring of details, putting forward hypotheses is from the evil one,” priest Vladimir Vigilyansky, head of the patriarchy’s press service, told an Interfax-Religion correspondent on Friday. This is how he commented on the words of the professor of the Moscow Theological Academy, Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev, which were reported on Friday by a number of media outlets. According to Andrei’s father, Alexy II could have died from hitting the back of his head on a chair, as a result of which he broke a vein. However, according to Protodeacon A. Kuraev, no one heard this, since the patriarch’s inner chambers in his residence in Peredelkino near Moscow, which he also locked from the inside at night, were completely soundproofed from the rest of the building. Meanwhile, Father Vladimir stated that he did not know the specific circumstances of the death of Patriarch Alexy. “However, regardless of the specific circumstances of his death, it was a kind of “payment” for the freedom that he “bargained” from those around him,” the priest said. He explained that Patriarch Alexy “was always in sight, surrounded by people, and the only thing he conquered from his entourage was the night.” “He did not allow anyone into his chambers at night (in Peredelkino - IF) so that he could pray and be alone at least at night,” the agency’s interlocutor said. According to Father Vladimir, there was “no panic button” in Patriarch Alexy’s chambers, because the patriarch, as they say, was against it. Alexy II died at the age of 80 on the morning of December 5, 2008 at his residence in Peredelkino near Moscow. In recent years, he experienced heart problems and, shortly before his death, was examined abroad.

***

Why did Sadalsky “kill” Patriarch Alexy?

Deacon Andrey Kuraev

Stas Sadalsky, through the Komsomol press, notifies the country that Patriarch Alexy was killed. Well, okay, this type of press was created specifically for the drainage of this kind of substance. However, among the “arguments” of Sadalsky (and the arguments of the level “the priests I know told me”) there is a mention of one specific source. This honor fell to me. Like, even Kuraev says that “the Patriarch in vain did not tell the true circumstances of the death of His Holiness.” Here, however, Sadalsky has two inconsistencies. First: I said this phrase after his first statement. And my phrase sounded like this: “Afraid to tell the unseemly truth about the circumstances of the death of His Holiness, the Patriarchate received a vile rumor.” Therefore, no matter how my phrase was understood, but, being said in response to Sadalsky, for this reason it could not be either a source or an argument in favor of Sadalsky’s version. The second inconsistency: I did not at all mean the murder of the Patriarch. The official version was that the cause of death was a heart attack. Although in the first hours there was even a rumor about a car accident (“The Moscow Patriarchate denied the rumors that appeared that the cause of the death of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II was a car accident that occurred the day before” - Ros. Gazeta December 8, 2008). The first is partly true, the second is completely false (although the reason for the appearance of such a rumor is understandable). As such, a heart attack would not have killed the patriarch. It just happened in the most inconvenient circumstances for help. It is possible that there was no attack at all. It’s just that an elderly man, during some turn or sudden movement, lost coordination of movements for a second - and fell. But, falling, the back of his head hit the corner of a chair. And this angle interrupted the vein. The Patriarch regained consciousness. I tried to get up - there were bloody marks from his hands on the walls (this is important from a religious point of view: it means that the death of the Patriarch was not instantaneous and he had time not only for the last struggle for life, but also for realizing the inevitability of the upcoming final Transition and preparing for it ). Even with such an injury, he could have been saved. If only someone knew that he needed help. But the matter was in the inner chambers of the Patriarch, which he himself locked from the inside at night. The doors are double, the sound insulation from the rest of the building, where the nuns are bustling about, is complete. No one heard the Patriarch’s groans. Even the guards did not have the keys to his chambers. The Patriarch ordered breakfast for 8 am the night before. When he didn’t come out at half past eight, they began to worry. Knocking and calling brought no answer. They began to look into the windows. And through the bathroom window they saw him lying. The door was broken into. But the body was already cooling down. It is clear that the prosecutors had many questions. Why wasn't there a panic button in the bathroom? Why was the elderly man alone? Why didn't the security have the keys? How could there be non-soft and high-impact furniture next to him? Why didn't the nun-housekeeper immediately inform the guards? It is clear that it was difficult for the Patriarchate to say that the Primate met with death in the restroom. What would be quite ordinary for an ordinary person could be perceived as a scandal when applied to the Patriarch. Yes, both outside and inside the church schismatics would happily lament about the “death of Arius.” Therefore, at first (given the head injury) a camouflaged version of a car accident arose. But no one gossiped about the murder. And even more wild is Sadalsky’s version that the Patriarch was killed because he did not support the Kremlin during the Ossetian-Georgian August War. Political murders must be symbolic and understandable - by whom and for what, so that others will be discouraged. Let's assume that Sadalsky is right, and someone (Ossetian super-militants or Kremlin agents) killed the Patriarch precisely for this. But is the position of the new Patriarch Kirill on this issue in some way different from the position of Patriarch Alexy? Still, the Moscow Patriarchate emphasizes that it views South Ossetia and Abkhazia from the point of view of church law - that is, as a canonical part of the Georgian Orthodox Church. At the same time, attention is drawn to the fact that church and state boundaries do not have to coincide, and the recognition by the Moscow Patriarchate of the jurisdiction of church Tbilisi over these dioceses does not mean our disagreement with the sovereignty of Abkhazia and South Ossetia or with the recognition of this sovereignty by Russia. I wrote about this in detail just before the death of Patriarch Alexy - “The Abkhaz Knot of Church Politics” (Profile No. 47, December 15, 2008). And a completely pro-Kremlin magazine published this article of mine shortly after the unexpected death of the Primate. And even under Patriarch Alexy, the development of external church policy was carried out by Metropolitan. Kirill. So it would be completely strange for the Kremlin: to remove Patriarch Alexy for a “mistake” in foreign church policy and instead allow the author of this “mistake” to be elected. As for the covered face of the funeral primate, this is a church tradition. Those interested can look at the 6th issue of the ZhMP for 1970 - the face of Patriarch Alexy the First is revealed only at the first funeral service in his house. Then at the general church funeral it is closed. “The initial succession of the monks” speaks about the burial of the schema-monks: “Even if there is a great image, covering it with a helmet over the head, and hanging down even to the brad, as if the person could not see its relics” (Monastic Trebnik M., 2003, pp. 135-136). “The face of a deceased bishop and priest is covered with air, which is not removed even during burial” (Bulgakov S.V. Handbook for priests and church ministers. M., 1993, (reprint from 1913) p. 1290). By his cry about this, Sadalsky testifies to only one thing: he is so unchurched that he did not attend the funeral of a single priest. I won’t prescribe a morality tale. You just shouldn’t confuse two things: the death of the Primate of the Church always has a political echo. But the death of the Patriarch is not always a consequence of the policies he pursues.

***

Stanislav Sadalsky

[…]

– On the Internet, you voice what others are afraid to say out loud. For example, about the version of the violent death of Patriarch Alexy. - It’s crazy to me: they killed His Holiness - and they are silent! I want to know the truth about how Alexy’s earthly life actually ended. Familiar priests and the police told me that the patriarch was found with his head broken in three places, that his gaze was fixed on the door. I ring all the bells - no one seems to hear me. Many priests, forced people, began to be afraid to communicate with me publicly - the security service of the current patriarch is monitoring their contacts. The other day, Kuraev was the first to react - he admitted in a blog that the Patriarchate “was embarrassed to tell the unseemly truth about the circumstances of the death of Alexy II.” Dear deacon, I am appealing to you through the newspaper “Interlocutor”: explain to people what kind of truth this is. How did three holes form in the head of His Holiness? Why was Alexy's face covered during the funeral? It’s a lie, according to the Orthodox tradition. When Patriarch Tikhon was seen off, nothing was hidden. Maybe because there was nothing to hide? I don't recognize Kirill. Elections in the church should be the same as those that resulted in the coming to power of my friend, the Bishop of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, Archimandrite George (Stransky). They prepared three notes with the names of the candidates and said: “To whom will God send...” But we are not having elections - they are staged. I like Clement, he’s my neighbor, he’s amazing. I would like it. - Because it's a neighbor? “I watched him - he is a man of prayer, a man without double morals. A real priest. And Kirill is disgusting to me. He says in Sevastopol that we are two fraternal peoples. This is all correct, but I cannot believe him, because he has been lying since the death of His Holiness. I posted on my blog a piece of speech from the “Word of the Shepherd” program, where Kirill responded to Alexy’s departure. This fragment was cut from the air, and my TV friends gave me the recording. Kirill reports the sudden death of the patriarch and says that by his departure Alexy “protected our church from a difficult test, when it is headed by an elderly man and practically no longer capable of governing.” The video is constantly being deleted, but if you try, you can find it on the Internet. […]

Funeral service and funeral

On Monday, December 8th, it was time for the funeral liturgy. 200 priests and bishops took part in it. Then Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople conducted the funeral ceremony.

On December 9, the coffin with the Vladyka was taken out into the street and a religious procession was made around the cathedral, as the deceased himself had bequeathed. At the end of the procession, the funeral procession followed the hearse to the Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhov. There, in the Annunciation chapel, the burial of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy took place.