Cleopa Ilie

Saint Cleopa of Sihăstria
Archimandrite Hegumen of Sihăstria
Born	April 10, 1912 Sulița, Botoșani
Residence	Sihăstria Monastery
Died	December 2, 1998 Vânători-Neamț, Neamț
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church
Canonized	12 July 2024 by Romanian Orthodox Church
Feast	December 2

Saint Cleopa (Ilie) of Sihăstria (Romanian pronunciation: [kleˈopa iˈli.e]; 10 April 1912 – 2 December 1998) was an abbot of the Sihăstria Monastery. He was a well-known spiritual representative of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Archimandrite Cleopa was glorified as saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church on July 12, 2024. His feast day is December 2, alongside saints Paisie (Olaru) of Sihăstria and Porphyrios of Kafsokalyvia.

Biography

Cleopa Ilie (lay name: Constantin) was born in Sulița, Botoșani County to a family of peasants. He was the fifth of ten children born to Alexandru Ilie. He attended the primary school in his village. Afterwards he was an apprentice for three years to the monk Paisie Olaru, who lived in seclusion at the Cozancea Hermitage.

Together with his elder brother, Vasile, Ilie joined the community at Sihăstria Hermitage in December 1929. In 1935, he joined the army in the town of Botoșani, but returned a year later to the hermitage, where he was anointed a monk on 2 August 1937, taking the name "Cleopa" (i.e., "guide") at his baptism. In June 1942, he was appointed to hegumen deputy because of abbot Ioanichie Moroi's poor health.

On 27 December 1944, he was ordained a hierodeacon (deacon-monk) and on 23 January 1945 a hieromonk (priest-monk) by the archbishop Galaction Cordun, abbot of the Neamț Monastery at the time. Afterwards he was officially appointed hegumen of the Sihăstria Hermitage.

In 1947, the hermitage became a monastery and vice-archimandrite Cleopa Ilie became archimandrite on approval of Patriarch Nicodim. Because the Communist secret police was looking for him in 1948, he disappeared into the woods surrounding the monastery, staying there for six months. On 30 August 1949, he was appointed abbot of the Slatina Monastery in Suceava County, where he joined 30 other monks from the Sihăstria Monastery community as a result of Patriarch Justinian's decision.

There he founded a community of monks with over 80 people. Between 1952 and 1954 he was being pursued again by the Securitate and, together with hieromonk Arsenie Papacioc, escaped to the Stânișoara Mountains. He was brought back to the monastery after two years upon Patriarch Justinian's order.

Grave at Sihăstria Monastery

In 1956 he returned to Sihăstria Monastery, where he had been anointed, and in the spring of 1959 he retired for the third time to the Neamț Mountains, spending the next five years there. He returned to Sihăstria in the fall of 1964, as confessor for the entire community and continued to give spiritual advice to both monks and lay people for the next 34 years. He died on 2 December 1998 at Sihăstria Monastery.

Reputation

He was a strong defender of the traditional Orthodox lifestyle and had a strong influence over later developments in the Romanian Orthodox church. The current patriarch, Daniel, was one of his disciples along with other current bishops. He would always portray himself as a worthless person and consistently diminished his deeds and suffering during his life.

He claimed that while in seclusion in the mountains he lived as a king even though the conditions were extremely severe, food was scarce and shelter was improvised. His views on the importance of ecology and the responsibility of man to love and uphold the natural world as the creation of God went a long way ensuring the involvement of the Romanian Church in embracing ecologist views.

He was often sought after for advice by various important persons such as politicians and businessmen which he received together with common folk. He preached meekness and thorough understanding of the Bible and Holy tradition.

It is through his meekness despite his vast power of influencing the church, as well as his vast knowledge, that made from him an emblem of the church revival after the 1989 Revolution.

In March 2021, it was revealed that Father Cleopa Ilie was proposed for canonization in 2025, when the Romanian Orthodox Church will celebrate 140 years of autocephaly and 100 years since obtaining the status of a patriarchate.

Glorification

On July 12, 2024, during the feast day of Saint Paisios the Athonite, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Church antecipated Father Cleopa's glorification. He was added to the Synaxarion under December 2, together with his spiritual father Saint Paisie (Olaru).

Published work

• Despre credința ortodoxă ("About Orthodox Faith", Bucuresti, 1981, 280 pages, republished in 1985, then in Galaţi under the title: Călăuza în credința ortodoxă, "Guide to the Orthodox Faith", 1991, 276 pages);
• Predici la praznice împărătești și sfinți de peste an ("Sermons on Religious Feasts and Saints Over the Year", Ed. Episcopiei Românului, 1986, 440 pages);
• Predici la Duminicile de peste an (Sermons on Sundays Over the Year, Ed. Episcopiei Românului, 1990, 560 pages);
• Valoarea sufletului (Value of the Soul, Galați, 1991, 176 pages, republished in Bacău, 1994, 238 pages);
• Urcuș spre înviere (predici duhovnicești) ("Ascent Towards Resurrection (Spiritual Sermons)", Mănăstirea Neamț, 1992, 416 pages);
• Despre vise și vedenii ("About Dreams and Visions", București, 1993, 270 pages);
• Numerous articles in different magazines and newspapers, sermons in manuscript

Studies

• Bălan, I., Archim. Elder Cleopa of Sihăstria: In the Tradition of Saint Paisius Velichkovsky. Lake George (CO), 2001.
• Stebbing, N. Bearers of the Spirit: Spiritual Fatherhood in Romanian Orthodoxy. Collegeville, MN, 2003 (Cistercian Studies Series).

External links

• Interview with Cleopa Ilie (in Romanian), part 1 on YouTube
• Detailed biographical information in English Archived 2017-05-23 at the Wayback Machine
• Photos & some biographical information in English
• Cleopa Ilie on prayer (in Romanian with English subtitles) on YouTube