Kyrillos of Koutloumousiou

Saint Kyrillos of Koutloumousiou, a venerable monk, was born in 1884 at Agrinio in Aetolia-⁠Acarnania, with the name Constantine Matosopoulos, the son of Athanasios and Chrysavgi. As a child he went to Egypt, then to Jerusalem, and in 1900 he was clothed in the cassock at the Monastery of Saint Sabbas. In 1901 he came to Athos, to the Skete of Saint Panteleimon of Koutloumousiou, to the Cell of the Entrance of the Theotokos, to the elder hieromonk Panteleimon, a man endowed with the gift of foresight. He was tonsured a monk in 1902. After the elder's death he did not lessen his struggles but increased them with prayers, fasts and vigils. He fell gravely ill with tuberculosis and spat blood, but Saint Panteleimon, the protector of the skete, healed him miraculously. In 1936 he was ordained deacon and priest.

Father Paisios stayed for a time near him and often went to ask his counsel. He tells that, before he said what troubled him, the elder answered his question, for he received word from God that he was coming. Sometimes he said nothing but pointed to a mark in a book. He also had the gift of casting out demons. When he read the Gospel he could not hold back his sobs and covered his face with the Gospel. He did the services with the prayer rope and cultivated the prayer of the heart. In 1958, against his will, he was elected and installed abbot of the Koutloumousiou Monastery. Administrative matters wore him out, but he bore them. In his last years a wild animal struck him and left him bedridden; the animal fell dead after the blow, and the fathers understood the holiness of the elder. He reposed in the Lord on Christmas Day itself, 25 December 1966 (in 1968, according to Paisios). He is honoured by the faithful, without synodal canonization.