[Preegovesem]

My wife was told by her mother this evening that two days ago a priest was shot dead by masked gunmen. They entered his church which is in the south of Moscow in the evening and shot him dead and injured the choirmaster who is in re-animation (intensive care). The attack has been blamed on Muslims who condemned the priest for attracting converts from Islam to Orthodoxy. I looked on the internet and this has been widely reported.

[Peterli]

Russian Priest Killed in Church

By SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY

Published: November 19, 2009

MOSCOW — The Rev. Daniil Sysoyev, a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church who was known for promoting missionary work among Muslims, was shot and killed in his parish church late Thursday night, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Father Sysoyev, 35, died at a Moscow hospital of gunshot wounds to the head and chest, RIA Novosti said. The Web site of the Moscow patriarchate confirmed his death. The parish’s choir director was wounded in the shootings at the Church of St. Thomas by the unidentified assailant.

A Moscow Patriarchate official called Father Sysoyev a “talented missionary” whose work among Muslims, including Tatars, might have been the motive for the shooting. “I don’t exclude that the murder is connected to the fact that he preached among and baptized those who belong to Muslim culture,” the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk with the news media, said in a telephone interview. Father Sysoyev had spoken out in opposition to Islam and had warned Russian women against marrying Muslim men.

Anatoly Bagmet, an official of the prosecutor’s office, said there was reason to believe that the shooting took place “on religious grounds,” the news agency reported. Kirill Frolov, a prominent Orthodox missionary activist, said that Father Sysoyev had said that he had been receiving threats for several years. “Over the course of two, three years Father Daniil, who was famous for his active missionary work, periodically received e-mails stating that if he didn’t stop his theological polemics with Islam, then he will be dealt with like an infidel,” Mr. Frolov told the Interfax news agency.

Missionary work and outreach to young people and non-churchgoers has become a keystone of the Moscow Patriarchate since Patriarch Kirill I became its leader 10 months ago. The church has been organizing rock concerts and trying to reach out to people through blogs.

Officials of the Russian Orthodox Church have complained in recent years about violence directed against churches and priests.

[Giselle]

New martyr Daniil, Pray to God for us.

[xsexymasterix]

Just a few days before that happens he comes to the Serbia.

Eternal Memory.

[SpecialOFFER]

This is very, very sad and disturbing. Father Daniil is a martyr. May his missionary efforts and may the blood of his murder for the sake of Christ, bring forth much fruit.

May the Lord forgive him all his sins and grant him eternal rest.

May the blessed Virgin Mary, for the sake of this martyr for Christ, watch over, take care of, comfort, and aid his wife and three children for the rest of their years on this earth.

Kyrie Eleison!

[CHEAPPoem]

My wife was told by her mother this evening that two days ago a priest was shot dead by masked gunmen. They entered his church which is in the south of Moscow in the evening and shot him dead and injured the choirmaster who is in re-animation (intensive care). The attack has been blamed on Muslims who condemned the priest for attracting converts from Islam to Orthodoxy. I looked on the internet and this has been widely reported.

This was on NY Times also. And if you know Russian you can view some videos of him on YouTube.

Martyred IN the church. What a martyrdom!

[Preegovesem]

Patriarch Kyrill has urged people not to bear hatred towards Muslims because of the murder of Fr Daniil. (Strangely enough, my wife's brother had planned to be in Fr Daniil's church that evening but his plans changed.) It now appears that Fr Daniil was hearing confession at the time the killer burst in. It has also been said that apart from his mission to Muslims, Fr Daniil worked to draw people away from sects.

[Smittoh]

Upokoi, Gospodi, dushu raba tvoego ubiennogo iereya Daniila i sotvori emu Vechnuyu Pamyat.

Give, Lord, rest to a soul of killed priest Daniel and make him Memory Eternal.

Alexander

[Giselle]

We know Fr. Daniil was murdered for the faith and by definition this makes him a martyr. Does his local veneration begin immediately and if there is to be universal veneration for him does this take a generation or more to come about? If by definition he is a martyr, why the delay?

Paul

[ButKnillinoi]

We know Fr. Daniil was murdered for the faith and by definition this makes him a martyr. Does his local veneration begin immediately and if there is to be universal veneration for him does this take a generation or more to come about? If by definition he is a martyr, why the delay?

Paul

I'm not sure all the facts are yet known, and besides, remember who you are working with here, we're Orthodox! It is not a "delay", things just happen slowly. A generation is really a short period when you measure time in millennia.

Herman the slow-moving Pooh

[Preegovesem]

My mother-in-law said this evening that Patriarch Kyrill himself served the funeral of Fr Danill. I don't yet have details. My wife's brother has collected his impressions from the media coverage in Moscow, and has also translated for me the account of Fr Daniil's matushka. I can do no other than just share my wife's brother's email to me with you. Somewhere in this tragedy, one can catch a sense of the Lenten 'joy-creating sorrow'. Yet, to be sure, the tears flow.

Dear Andreas,

Let me share my own impressions and everything I know from TV news about the martyrdom of Fr. Daniel Sisoyev, Dean of the Church of Apostle Thomas in the south of Moscow. On Thursday, the week before I met Mr. Maximov in this church, I attended a lecture on Biblical studies led by Fr Daniel and I saw him alive for the first and, alas, for the last time on this earth. The audience was waiting for him about one hour because he reportedly just landed (apparently in Domodedovo airport, the road to which goes near this small log church perched on a high bank of a small, muddy river meandering along a wooded ravine next to a vast and dull residential area in the south of Moscow, near metro station Kantemirovskaya, far away from the center). At long last, Fr. Daniel showed up, very cheerful, outgoing and full of energy, with no trace of fatigue after a long flight; he blessed the audience with the grace of all the Serbian saints and holy places. He had just arrived from Serbia. Presumably he was there to attend the funeral of the late Patriarch Paul. Fr. Daniel went to his parish church straight from the airport. After a prayer the lecture began. It was recorded on video as usual. The topic was the Book of Isaiah. Fr Daniel pointed out that in this Book God showed through Isaiah that a righteous man is physically taken away from the sinful people in order to be placed in His presence, to be delivered from sorrows of a mundane life and to be rewarded eternally for his ministry to his people on behalf of God. Thus, for a righteous man such as a prophet, to be severed from sinful people is the ultimate good, whilst for the sinful people left on the earth it is a punishment. God always takes away the last righteous man from the sinful people before judging this people. For example, Lot and his family were removed from Sodom before God’s wrath fell upon it. Fr Daniel also said that this example applied to Moscow as well. He said addressing the audience: ‘Why do you think Moscow is still standing? It stands only thanks to some righteous people still inhabiting the city. Once they are removed the city will collapse…’ His manner of addressing the audience was altogether uninhibited, colloquial, even peppered with good humour. To illustrate the truths of the Scripture he used examples from everyday life. His speech was absolutely informal and vivid, free-flowing.

Now I realize that late Fr Daniel was one of the few righteous ones still protecting Moscow and Russia from the imminent wrath of God. And the fact that God took him away from us is alarming signal to me. To my knowledge, Fr Daniel was very active preaching Orthodox faith among the homeless, drug addicts, alcoholics and even immigrants from Central Asia. He was hated and frequently threatened with death by Islamic radicals for his ministry among traditionally Islamic people and by Russian extreme nationalists (fascists) who could not stand his preaching among Eastern immigrants. Many times Islamists promised to behead him, cut open his belly and let loose his intestines… The last threat like this was voiced the day before his murder. He was gunned down late in the evening on Thursday before last weekend, after his regular Bible study session. If I had not bought my ticket for Thursday, I could be there… Someone telephoned him on his mobile that evening presumably asking for confessions. The killer wearing an anti-flu mask (which is commonplace now in Moscow due to the epidemic) rushed into the church shouting ‘Where is Sisoyev?’ while the church choir director followed by Fr Daniel went downstairs from the attic of the church where they have a hybrid of a warehouse and book publishing office with two very old computers. Without asking more questions the killer took out a pistol and fired a shot at the choir director. He was badly wounded and rushed to an emergency ward but his state was reported as almost hopeless. I don’t know whether he is still alive. They say that Fr Daniel rushed towards his killer after he called his name but the killer first gunned down the choir director and then fired three shots at Fr Daniel, one bullet hitting him in the heart and another in the head. Fr Daniel was rushed to emergency but soon died in hospital. He left his wife with 3 children. Even an Islamic opponent of Fr Daniel expressed his condolences. Among other forms of ministry, late Fr Daniel prepared hundreds of volunteer preachers; he travelled on his missionary trips extensively across Russia and beyond, as far as Central Asia. His funeral service was in the church of SS Peter and Paul in Yasenevo (residential area across the Bitsa forest to the south of Chertanovo), where his father, also a priest, is the dean. Incidentally, the church of SS Peter and Paul belongs to the metochia of Optina Pustyn. Years ago I visited there a number of times, having walked all the way through the forest (about 5 -7 kilometers) from Chertanovo and back home. Reportedly, Fr Daniel was bored by hearing numerous death threats but he was not scared and never gave up.

Here is the testimony of his matushka.

"My dear ones, thank you for your support and your prayers. This is unspeakable pain. This is the pain suffered by those standing by the cross of the Saviour. This is unspeakable joy, which was shared by those who came up to the empty Tomb. Death, where is your sting? Fr Daniel foresaw his death years before the murder. He always wished to be martyred and the Lord gave him the martyrdom. The killer and those behind him wanted to spit again in the face of the Church, as their predecessors spat in the face of Christ, but they arrived nowhere because it is impossible to spit in the face of the Church. Fr Daniel ascended his Golgotha in his church which he built and to which he contributed all of his time and efforts. He was killed as an ancient prophet between the altar and the sanctuary and he was truly martyred. He died for Christ Whom he served with all of his strength. He would often tell me that he was running out of time and was afraid to be short of time to accomplish so many things. He was in a hurry. Humanly speaking, he would err and go sideways, go to extremes and stumble; but he was never mistaken in the main thing; his life was fully dedicated to HIM. I did not understand why he was in a hurry. Over the last 3 years, he officiated without any holidays and days off. I would murmur because I wanted at least sometimes to enjoy simple happiness, to have my husband and father of my children to be around. But his way was different.

He said that they would kill him. I asked him, ‘who will take care of us’, i.e. me and our three children. He answered that he would place us under reliable care. "I will entrust you to the Mother of God and she will take care of you". These words were forgotten for a while but I recall them now. In his will he described his funeral vestment. When he said this I joked that it was too early to discuss this matter because nobody knew then who will bury whom. He said that I would bury him. Once we talked about funeral services; I don’t remember the whole conversation but I said that I never attended a funeral service for a priest. And he answered that I would attend his funeral service. Today many of his words are recalled and their meaning became clear. Now I am clear and understand all the points that lacked meaning before this happened. We did not say farewell to each other in this life, we did not ask each other for forgiveness, we did not embrace each other. It was an ordinary day; he left home for the Divine Liturgy and I never saw him again.

Why I did not go to the church in order to meet him there? I was thinking about this but then I decided that I had better cook the dinner and put my children to bed. It was because of the children that I did not go there – the Hand stopped me from going there. And the day before, I went to the church and met him there, and I sensed the dark clouds becoming denser around him. During our last days together I tried to spend more time with him. During the last week I was thinking only about death and life beyond death. I failed to come to terms with either. On that day this phrase was spinning in my mind, “I feel the breath of death behind my back”. I was under great pressure during the last week; it felt like tons of cargo fell upon me.

I am not broken. He supports me, I feel him by my side. During this time we have said more tender words to each other than ever before in our lifetime. Only now I realise how great was our love for each other.

The commemoration of forty days since the death of Fr Daniel will coincide with his name day and the patron feast of the new church – December 30th , which is the feast day of prophet Daniel. According to prophecy of a starets, this new church will be erected, but, he foretold, Fr Daniel will not officiate there; the second part of this prophecy has already fulfilled."

In Christ,
Andrei.

[CHEAPPoem]

Wow, Andreas, thank you!
It is really moving and bittersweet! Wow! Fr. Daniil's words about the righteous taken and the sinners living before God judges them, are so enlightening. He was so outspoken and one can tell that he longed for martyrdom. It reminds us about the example of many neomartyrs we have, who willingly walked in the path of martyrdom. And such a faith! To entrust his beloved family to the Theotokos.
The words of your brother in law convey the same energy and hurry which Fr. Daniil's Matuschka speaks about. It is amazing! TY

[Wsjltrhe]

Will there be a fund for his wife and children?

[xsexymasterix]

Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Yuliya Sysoeva: “My Husband had a Premonition of His Death”

Yuliya Mikhailovna Sysoeva, the widow of Fr Daniil Sysoev (1974-2009)

According to the widow of Fr Daniil Sysoev, he knew about the impending attempt on his life. Fr Daniil had prepared himself for death at any moment. He constantly received death threats at his home. “He received threats by both phone and e-mail, ‘Sysoev, we’ll kill you!’”, his now-widowed wife Yuliya Mikhailovna said, with tears in her eyes. “I knew about this”.

On that fateful evening, Yuliya Mikhailovna was waiting for her husband to come to dinner and she had laid the table. 40 minutes before the shooting, she phoned him on his mobile. “He said that he’d come soon, told me to wait and not to worry, but, after a while, I decided to phone again, but, only heard beeps”, his wife recalled. “Then, the investigators phoned me and said what had happened was something terrible”.

When he was alive, in spite of everything, Fr Daniil always preached Christianity. “I do not know with whom he talked. He talked with so very many people. I don’t know whether they threatened him in person or not”, Yuliya said. “He met so many people and he had debates with the leaders of extremist groups. However, many of his efforts bore fruit. Why, he even baptised a fellow who had been a terrorist”.

After the assassination of Fr Daniil, his three daughters were left orphaned. “14-year-old Iustina and 9-year-old Dorofei cry, they know that they lost their father. But, little Angelina, she’s only two, she doesn’t understand what happened”, Yuliya said. “I feared the worst, both he and I did… we both knew that it would happen sooner or later, he would be killed. However, he could not leave his mission. He went to a martyr’s death; he suffered for Christ. It is an altogether brazen thing… to kill a priest in church, right at the altar. Well, was he supposed to hide out and wear a helmet and flak jacket?!”

Fr Daniil left many unfinished manuscripts and papers at the time of his death, but, so far, the detectives are keeping them confidential whilst they look over them.

20 November 2009

Lifenews.ru

As quoted in Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=radio&div=1209

[xsexymasterix]

Interview with Fr. Daniil Sysoyev on His Apologetic and Missionary Activity in Russia

Below is an interview with Father Daniel Sysoev, the Moscow priest who was engaged in evangelism among Muslims as well as others of various beliefs and philosophies, and was shot dead last Thursday by a masked gunman:

Fr. Daniil Sysoyev's Autobiography

I'm Daniil Alekseyevich Sysoyev, a priest, born 12th of January in 1974 in Moscow, in a family of drawing-masters. My father, Aleksey Nikolayevich Sysoyev, a priest, now the senior priest of St. John the Evangelist Cathedral and the Classical Orthodox grammar school and the priest in charge of St Peter and Paul church in Yasenevo. My mother teaches Bible classes at the same school.

I was baptised on the 31st of October 1977 in Trinity Church at the Vorobyovy Hills by the priest Yevgeniy. Since that time we've been regular parishioners of St. Nicholas Church in Kuznetsky sloboda. Then we visited the small Cathedral of Donskoi Monastery, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe of the Holy Virgin, Shabolovka. When my father was a sacristan at the Beheading of St. John the Baptist Church, I helped him in the altar and sang in a choir. In summer of 1988 I took part in restoration work at resurrecting Optina Monastery. In the period of the Church of All Saints I also sang in a choir and its senior priest recommended that I enter Moscow Seminary.

After leaving secondary school in 1991, I entered Moscow Seminary. While studying there I had the obedience of choir singer and senior choir singer of a mixed choir. On the 19th of December 1994 His Eminence Rostislav, bishop of Magadan and Chukotka, ordained me reader.

On the 22th of January in 1995 I married Iuliya Mikhaylovna Brykina. The Holy Mystery of Marriage was celebrated in St. John the Evangelist Cathedral by the priest Dionisiy Pozdnyayev. In the same year my first daughter, Iustina was born.

On the 13th of May 1995 His Eminence Yevgeniy, bishop of Vereiskian ordained me deacon. I graduated from Moscow Seminary on the 14th June 1995.

Interview

Father Daniil Sysoyev, senior priest of Saint Thomas the Apostle Church and the initiator of a growing community in honor of Daniel the Prophet. We met on the occasion of the opening of the mission site in honor of Saint Thomas the Apostle. Olga Kurova talked to Fr.Daniil.

- Fr. Daniil, we meet on the occasion of the opening of a mission site. There are no prizes for guessing, there has been great preliminary work. Tell us please the way it all began.


- Recalling just the very beginning, let me see...it was 1993, when I used to be a missionary in the street. And from August of 1996 I have been blessed by His Holiness Alexis II Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to conduct official discourses at Krutitsy Patriarchal Metochion. First these discourses were intended for Protestant conversion. Later more and more occultists and victims of different "sorcerers" appeared. And at last I turned to Moslem conversion. So, our center is open for paranormalists' victims, young people who want to learn the basics of Christianity as well as for non-Christians.

- What are your goals?

- Not so long ago we dedicated a temporary church in honor of Saint Thomas the Apostle. A large missionary church in honor of Daniel the Prophet with a chapel of Saint Thomas the Apostle is being built now. This chapel is already functioning, though as a separate church. One of our goals is the conversion of non-Christians, most of which aren't Russian. The Kantemirovskiy district of Moscow, where the church is situated, is a district of different expatriate communities. It is a place where different religious sects are very active. Right next to the church there is a large Mormon centre, there are Baptists, Adventists, and occultists. But there were no Orthodox until quite recently.

We opened a catechetical school about the basics of Christianity. Every five weeks we conduct a course of five catechetical discourses for those who want to be baptized or just to know more about Christianity. The community of Orthodox Tartars is already functioning in the church and the Informational agency of Saint Akhmet is starting its activity.

Very soon we are planning to have an Open Day; we'll paste up notices around the district saying that all those who wish may come to the church and ask the priest any question. Later we'd like to have such days every three months.

We work with the youth. Beside our church there is the Moscow Engineering and Physical University. Curiously enough, we were the first ones to hold a service before students' exams. Services before the beginning of the academic year have already become traditional in all Orthodox churches, although exams are a more strained period for students; somehow students don't go further than lighting candles. Anyway, we hold services before the exams after the Liturgy and invite all the students.

- Oh, how can you alone cope with all you have to accomplish? Have you got assistants, any initiative group?

- Yes, we've got an initiative group; it has been already formed at Krutitsy Patriarchal Metochion. In addition there is the Tatar Orthodox community, which has existed since 2003. And certainly many different Christians of different nations take part in our mission. After the feast of Holy Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ we hope to open missionary courses. Perhaps, later, we'll create a missionary institute based on it, and it will prepare preachers of the New Testament. Preaching will be different: on the internet, in the street, in universities. We want to deprive conventicles of their weapon.

- And how do you work with expatriate communities? Let's take the Azerbaijani, who live near Kantemirovskaya, for example. How can you enter their community? What can you talk to them about?

- I can't say anything about the Azerbaijani, because I haven't formed contacts with them yet. But I can say a lot about the Tatar expatriate community. I have appeared time and again in a Tatar cultural center, went to Kazan. Tartars are the third largest national group in Moscow. And our work is quite successful: many Tartars, especially young ones are becoming Christians. Since 2003 I have held services in Tartar about the whorish conversion. [meaning not clear - I queried the translator]

Our task is to break down the barriers that can be found in the culture of different nationalities and prevent them from accepting Orthodoxy. The information that Orthodoxy is ecumenical, universal, and is destined to accept all nationalities is still considered to be shocking.

- And how should a true young missionary behave talking to someone of the same age?

- A missionary should be the first one to start the conversation about God, otherwise he is not a missionary. But at the same time, he should check his own knowledge and skills. He should be aware of the basic questions his counterparts usually ask about Christianity. He should remember that attack is the best form of defense. He should never bow and scrape with each listener. But at the same time, he must not injure somebody's pride in order to prove his case. Jesus Christ died for everyone. A missionary should not think of people primarily as deluded, but that people should be esteemed. He should tear away falsity, but love a man as well.

It's difficult for a teenager to swim against the current, to become a black sheep, but it's essential to take the plunge. Previously, in the time of my youth, it was considered prestigious to differ from others. I believe we should restore hat tradition. A black sheep is a noble animal. A real Christian should be aware of it. And if he fails, he should ask God for help. A young missionary should certainly be prepared or his words to arouse indignation. But he shouldn't be afraid of that. Our mission is to say unpleasant things. Have you noticed that when reading the Bible you feel uncomfortable? The Book judges you! But that doesn't mean that the truth should be kept away. God Himself said: "Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets."

One more mistake that can lure a missionary is to attempt to direct the mission to some definite group of people: there appeared a mission for children, a mission for the youth... Many clever young people don't adopt it. Why so? That's because when we talk to young people using their own language, as if condescending to them, we fix them at this level. But we should elevate them, teach them wisdom and not leave them at the level they have probably grown out of. It's even better to talk to children as if they were grown-ups. Do you remember Makarevich singing in a very Christian way; "It's not worth dancing to someone's tune"? That should be a motto not only for the missionaries, but for all Orthodox Christians.

And certainly we can't forget about prayers and going to the church, because sometimes invalid missionary outreach can enthrall a man so that he doesn't pray and go to church.

- And why should we go to the church on Sundays?

- Because Christ gave us such a commandment: "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work." He can demand us to return part of our time as our sacrifice. And the second thing: we should remember about our Heavenly Lord and about our Heavenly Motherland.



http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2009...astery-as.html

[Acrogeokickic]

Will there be a fund for his wife and children?

Money transfer details can be found on the church web site on the top of the page.
http://www.daniilhram.info/hotnews.html

[Wsjltrhe]

Money transfer details can be found on the church web site on the top of the page.
http://www.daniilhram.info/hotnews.html

Father,
My Russian is good enough to recognize this paragraph as the donation information but not good enough to understand how to use it.

Thanks again,

Steve

[Liabmeasez]

One speaks the Truth openly, day after day, to anyone who will hear him, knowing that he is hated and there are those who seek his life.

The other wears a mask, and does not speak. He simply murders.

Seldom does one see the work of God and that of Satan so manifest, the former in its glory and power, the latter in its ugliness and weakness.

[ugosanchezo]

New martyr Daniil, Pray to God for us.

Kyrie eleison. Memory eternal.

[D6Ri5u13]

We know Fr. Daniil was murdered for the faith and by definition this makes him a martyr. Does his local veneration begin immediately and if there is to be universal veneration for him does this take a generation or more to come about? If by definition he is a martyr, why the delay?

This is something which will happen spontaneously among the people who knew him and spread out from there. I have no doubt this will happen quickly, as he traveled widely - my priest when I lived in China knew him well from seminary days, and officiated at Fr Daniil's wedding.

For the time being however, we are still in the 40 day period after Fr Daniil's murder. Traditionally someone who is died is commemorated on the third, ninth, and fortieth days after their repose. The ninth day after Fr. Daniil's murder will be this Sunday, so I think it would be excellent if people reading could give his name and his wife and children's names to their priest when they go to the Divine Liturgy so he can be remembered there in the chalice. As was mentioned above, the fortieth day will be December 30th, which will be the feast day of Holy Prophet Daniel in the Russian church, and Fr Daniil's name day.