Cyprian (Kern)

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Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern) was an Orthodox Christian scholar, writer, and professor at St. Sergius Theological Institute in Paris, France during the middle of the twentieth century.

Life

Fr. Cyprian was born Constantine Eduardovich on May 11, 1899 in St. Petersburg, Russia. His father was director of the Imperial Forestry Institute. Constantine received his basic education at the Alexander Lyceum in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1917, he left Russia during the Bolshevik revolution, traveling to Belgrade, Serbia where he settled and worked as a lawyer. Turning to theology to continued his education, Constantine entered and graduated from the Faculty of Orthodox Theology at the University of Belgrade.

After his graduation he took monastic vows in 1927, receiving the name Cyprian, and began teaching at the seminary in Bitole, then in Yugoslavia. In 1928, Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky elevated him to the dignity of archimandrite and appointed him to lead the Russian Mission in Jerusalem. In 1931, Fr. Cyprian returned to Serbia and remained there until 1936, when he was asked to join the St. Sergius Theological Institute in Paris.

In 1937, he joined the faculty of St. Sergius, first as Professor of Liturgics, and then, in 1940, as Professor of Patristics. While teaching at the institute, Fr. Cyprian served as the rector at the Church of Ss. Constantine and Helen in Clamart, near Paris. During the 1940s, Fr. Cyprian was succeeded as Professor of Patristics by Fr. Georges Florovsky.

Fr. Cyprian reposed on February 11, 1960 in Clamart, France

Writings

  • Flowers of Prayer (Essays in Liturgical Theology) (1928)
  • Archimandrite Antonine Kapoustine, Head of the Russian Mission in Jerusalem (1936)
  • The Eucharist (1947)
  • Anthropology of St. Gregory Palamas (1950)
  • Pastoral Ministry (1957)

Sources