The life of the Orthodox priest Daniil Sysoev was short. He died at the age of 35, being mortally wounded by a gun by an unknown masked man. This happened in the church of the Apostle Thomas in Moscow, where he had served in the rank of priest several years before. During his life, he conducted active missionary and church activities, working hard to spread the Orthodox teaching, of which he was an ardent supporter. He tirelessly talked with dissenters, expounding to them interpretations of Christian truths and scripture. The sermons of Daniil Sysoev left a noticeable mark in the hearts of 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 the faith to attribute to him the crown of martyrdom and predict his canonization in the future.
Biographical Information
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, showing great zeal in studying Orthodox truths and church canons, he was known as a great connoisseur, which was subsequently noted by everyone who listened to Daniel Sysoev’s sermons. It was during these years that he was imbued with the belief in the truth of Orthodoxy, and until the end of his life he maintained the view that only the dogmas of this Christian movement can bring saving truth to believers.
He was ordained deacon of Sysoev at the end of his seminary in 1995. But even after that, he continued his Orthodox education at the academy, tirelessly raising his intellectual level. He preached, conducted conversations and debated with dissenters. Soon he was awarded a new spiritual title, became a priest.
Church activity
Priest Daniil Sysoev, whose sermons were not limited to church services, but continued on disputes with other Gentiles organized by him, on radio and television broadcasts, was ordained to a new spiritual rank in 2001, and then sent to Yasenevo in the church of Peter and Paul as a cleric . He sacredly believed in the Holy Scripture, not allowing liberties in its interpretation, about which he tirelessly spoke in conversations with his audience.
With great respect to the prophet Daniel, his heavenly patron, Sysoev proceeded to erect a temple in his honor in Moscow in 2003. Later, an entire 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 a church consecrated in honor of the Apostle Thomas in Moscow. In this temporary wooden church (pictured below), Sysoev opened training courses for missionaries. So there were circumstances 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 in nature. One of the forms of communication with the audience is street conversation, for Orthodoxy not quite atypical, it has become an important direction in its activity. He was engaged in the spiritual education of informals, debated with Muslims, took a hearty part in the rehabilitation of victims of sectarianism and occultism.
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 discouraged his parishioners from these activities. He actively argued with adherents of evolutionary doctrine and those of his fellow believers who, wishing to popularize the Holy Scripture, tried to fit it into various "pseudoscientific theories" about the spontaneous generation of the Universe. He did not consider it necessary to introduce new changes into the old biblical ideas, since this distorted their early interpretation and changed their original meaning.
Conversion to Orthodoxy of Muslims
He assigned a special place in his missionary work to the conversion of Tatars and Chechens to Orthodoxy. Since his mother was Tatar, and his great-grandfather was a mullah, he felt the need for it. Considering his beliefs described above, his stubborn faith in Orthodox dogmas and purposeful character, it is not surprising that he often allowed himself to make harsh statements about Islam. For this reason, during 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 "non-Russian", speaking with a characteristic accent.
"The annals of the beginning"
In the books of Daniil Sysoev, sermons, conversations and his interpretation of Christian truths are supplemented and set out in great detail. Of course, his views were uncompromising, which, by the way, scared away many.
One of his works, which became widespread and caused a lot of fierce debate, is The Chronicle of the Beginning. The book affirms the creation of the world by God and the inseparability of this fact from genuine knowledge, once torn by numerous misconceptions and "pseudoscientific mythology." And the author of the work itself gives the very act of creation 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 this as a doubt in divine omnipotence.
The book declares any evidence of evolution disguised as a lie. According to Sysoev, they are only the desire of the supporters of the spontaneous generation of the Universe to present the desired facts for reality.
About baptism
The writing of the book “Will the Unbaptized be Saved?” Was the result of the author’s conversations on this issue with many believers and interested people whom he met in missionary practice. This topic invariably arose in discussions and sermons of Father Daniil Sysoev, which concerned the posthumous fate of all people.
On this issue, as a convinced Christian, he invariably took an uncompromising position that was fully consistent with Scripture. Moreover, he argued that all non-Orthodox would no doubt go to hell, which again caused fierce debate and attack. Sysoev wrote that, having departed 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 are elevated, and good is portrayed ineptly and looks far-fetched, artificial. All this happens, as Sysoyev argued, due to the lack of understanding by people, their ignorance of the true virtue, and the inner evil that resides within them.
Controversy with Gentiles
The struggle against sectarianism and Christian false teachings occupied a prominent place in the sermons of Daniil Sysoev. He compared them to a coating of mud, which remains in the spring after snow melts. Applying this comparison, he had in mind the liberation of Orthodoxy from the winter cold of communism.
In his 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 sects today. In his book, he says that neither the talent for systematization, nor even the theological genius, is peculiar to Jehovah's and Adventists. And the facts eloquently testify to the falsity of their teachings: the mediocrity and sins of their leaders, their inability to articulate 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 in the Orthodox services and on the streets, but also in social networks. One of the topics of his video lectures distributed on the Internet was a critical analysis of Islamic creed. A posthumous co-religionist of Father Daniel also created a printed version of these preaching talks, 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 Christian doctrine and Islam, trying to speak reasonably and reinforce his opinion with numerous quotes and information from various sources.
Continuation of the mission
The Orthodox, speaking about Sysoev’s death on November 20, 2009, like to say: since a man was killed, it means that the word of this bright talented speaker, his conversations, sermons and books poured the enemies of Christianity into the most painful place. Yulia Sysoeva, the widow of a clergyman, after the death of her husband, continued his work, wanting to complete all his undertakings and projects in charity and missionary work.
The posthumous mission of Father Daniil Sysoev is accomplished today. His word lives in books and video lectures. He is called a martyr for 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, conduct Orthodox sermons on the streets, translate his books into other languages, changing the fate of people. The photo above shows the participants of one of the gatherings of Orthodox missionaries - followers of Sysoev.