Father Hippolytus Rylts Biography

The eldest sons died at the front, and Sergey was the youngest. He graduated from high school, then a pedagogical school, and after serving in the army he worked for several years in the world. Sergei constantly read spiritual books, especially the Holy Scriptures, and gradually realized that he wanted to become a priest, although he did not externally give out his spiritual dispensation.

In the year, Sergey came to the Glinsky deserts for a blessing to study at the seminary, but remained in the monastery as a novice. And a year later, the young novice was transferred to the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, where Metropolitan John Razumov first tonsured him into monasticism with the name Hippolytus in honor of the Schmch. Hippolytus Roman, and then ordained a holy dignity.

In the Pechersk monastery, Father Hippolytes spiritually became close to three elders.

These were Jeroschimona Simeon Zhelnin, counted in the year of the saints, and the last Valaam elders, who lived at that time in Pechora: Ischimonon Mikhail Pitkevich and Schimona Nikolai Monakhov. With love and great gratitude, the priest later recalled about these elders. Especially about the father of Mikhail, who for some time he was a cell. According to the father of Hippolytus, with the elder Mikhail they were spiritually very close and confessed to each other.

And, apparently, the future elder Hippolytus from the Pechersk ascetics learned a lot. In the year of Hippolyta’s father, several monks to Athos were sent with several monks, since the inhabitants of the Russian Holy Panteleimon monastery on Athos were less than a dozen. On the Holy Mountain, Father Hippolytus sang on the Church, worked on the ground. He lived in a cell, where the elder Siluan Athos previously launched and prayed.

On the Holy Mountain, Father Hippolytus spent 18 years. In the year, the elder became seriously ill and went to be treated to Russia. He returned first to Pechora. Here he was erected to the rank of Archimandrite. In the year, Father Hippolytus received a referral to his native Kursk diocese, where he had to restore several rural temples from the ruins. In the Nikolaev Rylsky Monastery, Father was sent by the abbot in the year.

It was almost from scratch to restore the monastery and revive the monastic life in it. Soon, people began to go to the old man. The priest possessed the gift of comfort, insight, healing. In addition to the revival of spiritual and economic life in the Rylsky monastery, the elder founded five more monasteries in the nearest villages, as well as two monasteries in Ossetia - male in Beslan and Women's in Alagira.

The elder died on December 17, and buried him on December 19 - on the day of memory of the St. Nicholas the Wonderworker so beloved by him. The father of Hippolytus was buried at the altar of the Nikolaev temple restored by him.