The life of Orthodox priest Daniil Sysoev was short. He died at the age of 35, having been mortally wounded by a masked man with a pistol. It happened in the church of the Apostle Thomas in Moscow, where he had served as a priest for several years before. During his lifetime, he was active in missionary and church activities, working hard to spread the Orthodox teaching, of which he was an ardent supporter. He tirelessly talked with dissidents, expounding to them the interpretation of Christian truths and Holy Scripture. The sermons of Daniil Sysoev left a noticeable mark in the hearts of his contemporaries and made a huge contribution to the church life of the country. And his tragic death became an occasion for like-minded people and brothers in faith to ascribe to him the crown of martyrdom and predict his canonization in the future.
Biography
Sysoev was born in Moscow in 1974. At the age of fourteen he became seriously interested in Orthodox ideas, and in 1991 he entered the theological seminary. Soon, having shown great diligence in the studyOrthodox truths and church canons, he was known as a great connoisseur, which was later noted by everyone who listened to the sermons of Daniil Sysoev. It was during these years that he was imbued with the conviction of the truth of Orthodoxy, and until the end of his life he retained the opinion that only the dogmas of this Christian trend are capable of bringing saving truth to believers.
Sysoev's ordination to the deacon took place after he graduated from the seminary in 1995. But even after that, he continued his Orthodox education at the academy, tirelessly raising his intellectual level. He preached, led conversations and debated with dissidents. Soon he was awarded a new spiritual title, became a priest.
Church activities
Priest Daniil Sysoev, whose sermons were not limited to the framework of church services, but continued at the debates organized by him with the Gentiles, on radio and television programs, was ordained to a new spiritual rank in 2001, and then sent to Yasenevo to the church of Peter and Paul as a clergyman. He firmly believed in the Holy Scripture, not allowing liberties in its interpretation, which he tirelessly spoke about in conversations with his audience.
Respecting the prophet Daniel, his heavenly patron, with great respect, Sysoev began the construction of a temple in his honor in Moscow in 2003. Later, a whole church community arose here, icon-painting and singing schools, missionary courses were opened, which continued to operate after the death of the founder. Since November 2006, Sysoev served in the church, consecrated in honor of the apostleThomas in Moscow. In this temporary wooden church (pictured below), Sysoev opened courses for the training of missionaries. It so happened that it was here, on Kantemirovskaya, that he was shot dead three years later.
Missionary activity
The sermons of Priest Daniil Sysoev were not only the most active, but also creative. One of the forms of communication with the audience - street conversation, not entirely atypical for Orthodoxy, has become an important direction in his work. He was engaged in spiritual enlightenment of non-formals, discussed with Muslims, took a cordial part in the rehabilitation of victims of sectarianism and the occult.
Sysoev was extremely negative about yoga. He considered karate, oriental and Latin American dances to be incompatible with true Orthodoxy, and therefore, as a priest, he dissuaded his parishioners from these activities. He actively argued with adherents of the evolutionary doctrine and those of his fellow believers who, wanting to popularize the Holy Scriptures, tried to fit it into various "pseudo-scientific theories" about the spontaneous generation of the Universe. He did not consider it necessary to make new changes to the old biblical ideas, as this distorted their early interpretation and changed their original meaning.
Conversion to Muslim Orthodoxy
In his missionary work, he assigned a special place to the conversion of Tatars and Chechens to Orthodoxy. Since his mother was a Tatar, and his great-grandfather was a mullah, he felt for himself in thisneed. Considering the convictions described above, his stubborn faith in Orthodox dogma, and his purposefulness of character, it is not surprising that he often allowed himself the most harsh statements about Islam. For this reason, for his sermons and lectures, Daniil Sysoev was often attacked, threatened, and sharply criticized by Muslims. According to the most common version, this circumstance was the reason for his murder, because the shooter, according to eyewitnesses, was a “non-Russian”, who spoke with a characteristic accent.
The Chronicle of the Beginning
In the books of Daniil Sysoev, sermons, conversations and interpretations of Christian truths are supplemented and set out in great detail. Of course, his views were uncompromising, which, by the way, frightened off many.
One of his works, which has received wide distribution and caused a lot of fierce controversy, is the Chronicle of the Beginning. The book affirms the creation of the world by God and the inseparability of this fact from true knowledge, once torn apart by numerous misconceptions and "pseudo-scientific mythology." And the author in his work gives the very act of creation an exclusively traditional theological interpretation in its original biblical form, contrary to the assertions of opponents who deny that the world can be created in seven days. But Father Daniel himself saw in this a doubt in the divine omnipotence.
The book declares any evidence of evolution disguised as a lie. According to Sysoev, they are only the desire of supporters of the spontaneous generation of the Universepresent desired facts for reality.
About baptism
Writing the book "Will the Unbaptized Be Saved?" was the result of the author's conversations on this issue with many believers and interested persons he met in missionary practice. This topic invariably arose in the discussions and sermons of Father Daniil Sysoev, which concerned the posthumous fate of all people.
On this issue, he, as a convinced Christian, invariably took an uncompromising position, which was fully consistent with Holy Scripture. Moreover, he argued that all non-Orthodox would no doubt go to hell, which again provoked fierce debate and attacks. Sysoev wrote that having moved away from God, any sinner loses the ability to fight sin. And in order to gain salvation and eternal life, he should accept Christ and be baptized according to Orthodox customs, there is no other way.
In his book, the author condemns secular culture, in the works of which any vice is often justified, human passions rise, and goodness is depicted clumsily and looks far-fetched, artificial. All this happens, as Sysoev claimed, due to people's misunderstanding, their ignorance of true virtue, and the inner evil that resides inside them.
Controversy with Gentiles
The fight against sectarianism and Christian false teachings occupied a prominent place in Daniil Sysoev's sermons. He compared them to a layer of mud that remains in the spring after the snow melts. By applying this comparison, he had in mind the liberationOrthodoxy from the winter cold of communism.
In his work “The Anthropology of Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses,” he sets out in detail his views on the two sects indicated in the title and very common today. In his book, he says that Jehovah's Witnesses and Adventists have neither a talent for systematization, nor even a theological genius. And the facts eloquently testify to the falsity of their teachings: the mediocrity and sins of their leaders, their inability to coherently express their views, and numerous unfulfilled prophecies that predict a new end of the world day by day.
About Islam
Active sermons by Daniil Sysoev were held not only at Orthodox services and on the streets, but also on social networks. One of the topics of his video lectures, distributed on the Internet, was a critical analysis of Islamic dogma. Posthumously, fellow believers of Father Daniel also created a printed version of these preaching conversations, published under the title “Islam. Orthodox view. In his lectures, Sysoev analyzes the life of the Prophet Muhammad from the point of view of real facts, as well as from a mystical angle, shows the beneficial differences between the Christian faith and Islam, trying to speak with reason and support his opinion with numerous quotations and information from various sources.
Continuation of the mission
Orthodox, speaking about the death of Sysoev, which occurred on November 20, 2009, they like to say: since a person was killed, then the word of this bright talentedspeaker, his conversations, sermons and books hit the enemies of Christianity in the most painful place. Yulia Sysoeva, the widow of a clergyman, continued his work after the death of her husband, wishing to complete all his undertakings and projects in charity and missionary work.
The posthumous mission of Father Daniil Sysoev is being accomplished today. His word lives on in books and video lectures. He is called a martyr for the faith. And listening to his voice, a huge number of people join the Christian truths, although not everyone accepts his views. Many priests, inspired by his example, hold Orthodox sermons on the streets, translate his books into other languages, changing people's lives. The photo above shows the participants of one of the meetings of Orthodox missionaries - followers of Sysoev.
