Anba Kyrillos
Anba Kyrillos¹
In this issue we present a righteous man who lived in our generation, namely:
the Archbishop of Ethiopia.
He was a man distinguished by wondrous calmness, silence and contemplation, tears, deep spiritual prayers, and a life of humility… He was also distinguished by his many miracles.
He fled from his ordination as a metropolitan, and was ordained against his will while swimming in his tears. He was a man of tribulations and pains, and he spent the last years of his life away from his episcopal seat, in a modest dwelling on the roof of the Clerical College in Moharram Bey…
His Upbringing:
He was born in the town of Deir al-Naghamish, al-Balina district, with the name Sideros, and was raised in true Christian upbringing. He studied in the village’s kuttab, learned the hymns, and memorized the Psalms in a way that drew attention. From childhood he inclined toward seclusion and contemplation, and practiced fasting as much as the body of a child could bear.
His Monasticism:
He became a monk at a young age, while still a youth, in the Monastery of Anba Antonios.
Everyone loved him for his pleasant manners, obedience, and silence.
In the monastery school at Bush he studied theological and literary sciences and some languages, and soon was ordained a priest with the name Father Sideros, then elevated to archpriest.
Archpriest Sideros was chosen in 1903 to undertake spiritual duties at the Sultan Monastery in Jerusalem and to oversee the Ethiopian monks there.
He was greatly loved in Jerusalem, but his health did not allow him to remain long, for he fell into a severe illness for two years during which his nourishment was limited to a little milk.
Then he served as steward of the monastery’s endowment in Baghoura, in a quiet cell above the Church of the Virgin. His cell became the goal of souls seeking his blessing.
His Ordination as Metropolitan of Ethiopia:
Finally, he was chosen to become Metropolitan of Ethiopia. Pope Anba Yoannis XIX summoned him for ordination, but he apologized, claiming illiteracy and saying he knew nothing of church rites. When all his excuses were rejected, and the intention was firmly set on ordaining him, he fled several times and hid in a place unknown to anyone.
Eventually he went to meet Pope Yoannis together with Tawfiq (Pasha) Doss and some Coptic notables. They agreed to exert all effort to search for Archpriest Sideros and bring him for ordination.
After a long search, they found him. When he learned the reason for their arrival, he begged them to help him and intercede with the Pope to spare him from this ordination. Tawfiq Pasha promised him that. But as fate would have it, the Pasha injured his finger while opening the carriage door and was delayed to bandage it; thus, the group arrived at the Patriarchate before him.
The intention had been set that once Archpriest Sideros arrived, the Pope would immediately place his hand upon his head, recite the anointing prayers, and complete the initial rites.
This indeed happened, and he was named Anba Kyrillos, Metropolitan of Ethiopia. The saintly monk found nothing before him but abundant tears, and he wept until the Pope and the attending members of the Community Council and notables were moved to tears.
After a few days the ordination ceremonies were completed at the Patriarchate, and four Ethiopian bishops were ordained with him as assistants. On 19 June 1929 all traveled to Addis Ababa, where the king received him and introduced him to the kingdom’s ministers and dignitaries. Great celebrations were held in his honor and he was received with reverence by all.
His Reforms as Metropolitan:
He directed his care toward combating the gravest bad habit widespread among Ethiopians—polygamy and divorce in ways unrelated to religion or its rites.
He addressed the matter through various means: excommunication, frequent sermons, and writing articles explaining that this practice violates the faith.
Though his efforts did not yield complete fruit, they caused a strong shake in the people’s attachment to this habit.
He also fought alcohol addiction. Among his works was establishing a metropolitan residence within walls on land measuring fifteen feddans.
His Bravery During Persecution:
When the Italo-Ethiopian war broke out and Italian forces entered Ethiopia, they pressured the Metropolitan in every way to pacify the people and make them accept Italian rule, but he refused. Persecution only strengthened him.
They demanded he separate the Ethiopian Church from the Coptic Church, promising him aid and granting him ecclesiastical authority. He said:
“This is impossible. I will not betray a trust placed upon my neck, a stewardship preserved by 114 metropolitans before me.”
Marshal Graziani came with a large military force—cavalry, infantry, tanks, and planes—surrounding the episcopal residence. He negotiated with threats for two hours, to no effect.
On another occasion he took him to a frightening forest and threatened him with death unless he acknowledged the Italian Empire and separated from the Egyptian Church. The Metropolitan faced it with courage and rebuked them for threatening an unarmed man, saying to the commander:
“Do what you wish, order my death. But I will not accept what you propose, whatever the consequences.”
When threats failed, they attempted to entice him with material offers, but he refused.
On one occasion a bomb exploded and shrapnel wounded him. He was taken to hospital, and they instructed the German doctor to kill him, but the Lord preserved him.
They then sent him to Rome to negotiate with Mussolini. He insisted on stopping first in Egypt to meet the Pope, but they refused. In Rome he met Mussolini and was invited to the Fascist Supreme Council, where he spoke firmly, holding his ground.
They asked him to meet the Pope of Rome, but he refused because they had not allowed him to meet his own Pope of Alexandria.
Finally they informed him they had no objection to his return to Egypt. He returned and spent the rest of his life in a modest dwelling at the Clerical College in Moharram Bey…
The Spiritual Ascetic Worshipper:
Anba Kyrillos was a spiritual man who loved solitude and quiet, a living image of dignity and serene old age. The eye never tired of gazing upon his pure face.
He did not speak much, for he loved to listen and contemplate. If his lips parted to speak, his words were righteous supplications, precious advice, and sayings filled with wisdom.
He prayed only in remote churches and did not allow announcements of his presence.
He stood through the entire liturgy, never sitting, letting his headcover fall over his forehead and eyes so he would not see anyone around him.
He wept much in prayer, praying with deep reverence that shook the sanctuary, wholly absorbed in prayer with all his senses.
When the liturgy ended, he exited from the sanctuary’s back door whenever possible. Some reproached him for this seclusion and avoidance of people, especially after the liturgy when all longed for his blessing.
Visitors left him filled with spiritual strength. Each year he spent a period in complete solitude where no one knew his location. When he returned, spiritual light shone from his face, reminding people of Moses descending from the mountain.
He was a man of fasting and prostrations despite his weak health.
He bore many hardships quietly, responding to everything said about him with one phrase:
“May God forgive them. Thank God.”
His Humility:
He was a humble and meek man with everyone.
Once, a newly ordained metropolitan called the Clerical College asking for someone, not knowing whom he was speaking to. He said: “I am Metropolitan Anba (So-and-so)… and who are you?”
He answered: “I am Kyrillos.”
The metropolitan asked: “Kyrillos who?”
He replied in humility: “Kyrillos who is on the roof of the Clerical College…”
One day he went to visit some friends. He rang the first-floor bell by mistake instead of the upper floor’s bell. A maid came out and scolded him harshly. At that moment the household expecting the great guest opened their door and came down to receive him, only to be astonished hearing him say calmly to the maid: “Forgive me, my daughter.” Their children wanted to strike her, but he prevented them.
This great man who did not retreat before kings and commanders asked forgiveness of a simple maid…
During liturgies, before vesting in the white priestly garments, he would take the church priest aside, bow before him, and ask for absolution. Some heard him say insistently: “Pray for me in your prayers, our father the archpriest, that God may have mercy on me and forgive my sins.” The priest would stand bewildered, then kiss his hand and ask for his blessing.
He did not allow the church cantor to chant any hymns of praise referring to him.
When someone asked for his prayers, he replied: “You remember me, my son,” or sometimes: “May the Lord remember us all in His mercies.”
God Was with Him:
He once told some Sunday School teachers in Moharram Bey that the Italians once surrounded him until they exhausted him after failing to win him over. Addis Ababa had been turned into flames of plunder and killing. He said: “I was distressed! Distressed! Distressed!” Then he stretched his arms toward an icon of the Virgin holding Christ, fixing his gaze upon it until his soul was calmed.
Then he continued: Christ said to me: “Why are you angry? Have I left you?” I bowed my head murmuring, “No, my Lord.”
Brother Anis Eskaros once asked him in Moharram Bey about his memories during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia. He had seen surgical marks on his legs and holes in his staff.
He said: “I was summoned to meet the Italian commander. As soon as I stepped into the hall, the rapid-fire rifles opened their mouths.” He continued: “The man to my right fell, and the one to my left fell, and my umbrella bearer also fell. Everyone around me and behind me fell. I leaned my head on my staff while bullets rained around me, striking my leg and arm. Then a bullet ricocheted and fell to the ground—it had been aimed at my heart but was stopped by the tin eyeglass case!”
He brought it out from his pocket… The onlookers were amazed how such a thin old tin case prevented the bullet’s penetration. But it was God’s grace.
Various Miracles:
God sometimes granted him reading of thoughts and knowledge of hidden matters…
One person said: “I once intended to ask him about my future when I was blessed to meet him, believing in his piety and holiness. While many were present, I thought to seize the first opportunity to ask my question. As I was thinking, he turned to me and said: ‘Here I am with you now, but I cannot know my own future, for the future is in God’s hands.’ I was astonished.”
Very many are the miracles of healing God performed through his hands. He used the prayed-over water he called ‘blessing water.’
Some of these miracles occurred in Baghoura, some in Cairo, and some for non-Christians as well, for all believed in his holiness and the intercession of his prayers.
Brother Mutawadi‘ Ya‘qub Shenouda of Baghoura told how the saint healed him with blessing water from a severe illness that baffled doctors in Egypt and Nag‘ Hammadi, and how he also healed his son, father, and others.
He also said: The wife of a friend was near death after her nine-month fetus had died in her womb. Doctors determined she would die within hours. The saint hurried to her. As soon as he gave her from the blessing water, the dead fetus was expelled by a hidden power and her soul returned.
Brother Naseef Magla‘ of al-Balina told other healing stories.
People unable to reach the saint would ask him to send some of the blessed water; they drank it with faith and were healed.
He healed a woman from the town of al-Kosheh who had been tormented by an unclean spirit for thirty years.
The gift of healing remained with him until his last night. By his prayer a woman in the Coptic Hospital was healed. He himself was ill there and departed that same night.
His Departure:
The righteous Metropolitan of Ethiopia departed on 22 October 1950, corresponding to 12 Baba 1667, the same day commemorating Saint Matthew the Apostle, who also preached in Ethiopia.
The third day of his departure was the commemoration of Saint Philip, who preached to and baptized the Ethiopian eunuch.
This righteous man was buried in the Church of Abu Sefein in Old Cairo.
A Salute to His Spirit:
In this article we address a salute to his pure spirit from the Clerical College where he spent his last years, and from the Sunday School programs he loved and believed in their mission, about which he said to their teachers:
“Truly, my children, the Church has wide hopes for this flourishing plantation in the field of Sunday Schools. How delightful for me to sit among you and see God’s works with you.”
May God repose his soul with His saints and grant us all benefit from his blessings.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – El-Keraza Magazine – Year Two, Issue Six, August 1966.
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