Fr. Ilya Fomin, a cleric of the Veliky Ustyug Diocese, died at the age of 31 on March 14, 2019, following a long illness.
Since the death of her husband, Matushka Ludmila is raising their five young sons alone. The youngest was just three months old when Fr. Ilya died.
It’s difficult to imagine raising five boys without a father and breadwinner, and no one can replace the children’s father, but we can all help them get back on their feet.
The boys are growing very quickly and they wear out their clothes and shoes quicker than girls do. They say you can’t save enough for a boy, and all the more so when you have five very active boys.
Besides school, Matushka also has to take all the children to extracurricular activities, including children’s studios, sports, English lessons, etc., which is rather expensive. The older son also goes to see an endocrinologist, which includes expenses for medicine and medical consultations.
The family lives in a small apartment in the northern Russian city of Veliky Ustyug in an old rundown housing stock. The rather harsh climate and expensive living also take their toll on the family budget, which Matushka now has to control down to the very penny.
She works as a choir director at church, and the youngest son is still too young to go to kindergarten.
The family will need help and support for many years to come, without which they won’t be able to get by.
Ilya Ivanovich Fomin was born on August 9, 1987, in the city of Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk Oblast.
When he was 7, his father became a priest, and the young Ilya would help his father in the altar, wanting to become a priest or monk in the future himself. The family had many children and though they were not rich, they lived in harmony. They were always all together and had each other’s backs. This upbringing had a positive influence on the boy, who grew up to be kind and sympathetic.
Ilya and his future wife, Matushka Ludmila, were friends from school. They knew each other for a long time before they got married. After he graduated from the theological school, they moved to Veliky Ustyug, where Ilya was ordained to the diaconate on July 21, 2007.
The family’s first child, Daniel, was born just a few days before the ordination. God blessed Father and Matushka with five sons overall over the course of their marriage. In 2013, after serving for 6 years as a deacon, Fr. Ilya was ordained to the priesthood.
His health problems first began 3 years before his death.
Fr. Ilya had suffered from mild hepatitis as a child. At that time, no one could have imagined that this sickness, which he easily endured, could so terribly affect his liver in the future. The disease didn’t manifest itself in any way for such a long time—apparently his young and sturdy body dealt with it, and they only learned about the problem when it was already too late.
Father worked very hard in his last few years, but he paid no attention to his symptoms and poor health. He had four young sons waiting for him at home, and a large flock in his parishes, and everybody needed their word of comfort and guidance from him.
Despite his youth, he was respected as a wise and experienced priest, which was true. The Lord granted him all the qualities of a good shepherd who cares for his sheep.
Their fifth son, Alexander, was born in December 2018, by which time the lurking disease had already done its deed. Father was already seriously ill and had to undergo regular treatments in a clinic in Moscow, leaving the services, his parishioners, and his pregnant matushka with the children. Everyone hoped the sickness would recede and that his young body would cope.
Fr. Ilya arrived home from the hospital on January 12, 2019, and on January 16, he baptized his youngest son. His joy was boundless, and it seemed he had a long life ahead of him, but Father was already preparing for the possibility that the Lord would soon call him.
He didn’t tell the people everything about his illness. He was in excruciating pain, but he didn’t want to upset anyone. It was very difficult, and he prepared himself for death.
On March 13, he began to get worse again—he was bleeding from his esophageal varices, and on March 14, Father fell into a coma and quietly departed to the Lord.
Matushka wrote: “He left the best moments in my life. He was my life. I know that I will never know such happiness again, but we have five sons, and I will live for their sakes, raising them to the glory of God.”
The Lord granted this wonderful family 13 years of happiness and five sons. The Lord will not forsake them. We believe this as Christians.
