On 28 March 1971, he was shorn a monk by Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad and Novgorod; he was consecrated a hierodeacon in April of that same year and was consecrated a hieromonk in April 1975. From 1972 to 1975, he was personal secretary to Metropolitan Nikodim. In 1978, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and was part of the Russian Orthodox Church's delegation at the funeral of Pope Paul VI and the inauguration of John Paul I; he was with the Metropolitan when Nikodim collapsed and died during an audience with the Pope.