According to some authoritative researchers, St Hilarion the Schemamonk, whose relics rest imperishably in the Far Caves, is the fifth Metropolitan Hilarion of Kyiv, who in 1051 was made Metropolitan by the Council of Rus‘ bishops at the request of Grand Duke Yaroslav Vladimirovich, and who ruled the Rus’ Church, according to some sources until 1055, and according to others – 1067 And in the catalogue of Rus’ Hierarchs of the Novgorod Sophia Library it is said about Hilarion that he ‘was laid in the Pechersk monastery and for the extreme sake of his virtue was holy and wonderworker prevailed’, and in some other manuscripts he is called a saint, even in the canon to the Monk Fathers of the Near Caves the name of Metropolitan Hilarion is placed in a row with the names of Michael and other saints.

Others claim that the Monk Hilarion the Schemamonk is the same, ‘who wrote books in the cell of our Monk Father Theodosius all the days and nights below, singing the psalter to him with his lips quietly, and spinning waves with his hands, or doing other things’ This seems to be proved by comparing the legend about Hilarion the schema-monk, recorded in the brief hagiography, with what is said about the monk Hilarion in the life of the Venerable Theodosius.

In a brief handwritten biography, the following is said about him: “Venerable Hilarion the Schema-monk practised such abstinence that he ate only once a week and even then only a small amount, emulating Venerable Theodosius, for he lived together with him. He prayed and supplicated much day and night, with prostrations and tears, and pleased the Lord God. His body remains in the cave, but his spirit is in heaven, and he prays to the Lord God for all who venerate his holy relics.”

In the Life of Venerable Theodosius, it is also narrated that the mentioned Hilarion revealed to Venerable Nestor how demons tempted him and how Venerable Theodosius often encouraged him to endure these temptations, eventually delivering him from them through his prayers. It is also noted that the name of Metropolitan Hilarion does not appear in the saintly calendars of the 13th and 14th centuries. However, the tradition that Hilarion the Schema-monk lived alongside Venerable Theodosius seems to have been derived from the Life of Venerable Theodosius. Those who borrowed this account may not have known that Hilarion the Schema-monk was a metropolitan. They may have been unaware that Metropolitan Hilarion was buried in the ancient Pechersk Monastery or, more specifically, in the Far Caves. They may not have known that he was “holy and a wondrous miracle-worker” but only knew of the relics of Saint Hilarion, the miracle-worker, which had been venerated and preserved since ancient times.

The name of Metropolitan Hilarion was not included in the ancient saintly calendars for the same reason that the names of other venerable fathers of the Far Caves were not listed. Their veneration was local. For a long time, the holy relics of Venerable Ephraim, Bishop of Pereiaslav, were considered simply the relics of Venerable Ephraim. The same occurred with the relics of Michael, the first Metropolitan of Kyiv. Having been transferred from the Church of the Tithes to the Cave of St. Anthony in 1103, they remained obscure until 1730, when they were transferred to the main Lavra church. In ancient times, all hierarchs were buried according to monastic rites; often, they took on the schema, and thus, their names were easily confused with those of other saintly monks who did not hold episcopal rank.

According to his Life story, Metropolitan Hilarion is said to have received monastic tonsure from Venerable Anthony. If he passed away in 1067 after taking on the schema, he could have been a companion of Venerable Theodosius. Theodosius, before Anthony’s repose in 1073, was the abbot of the old Pechersk Monastery, now known as the Far Caves. Metropolitan Hilarion could have relinquished his pastoral duties before his death to spend the rest of his days in monastic labours in the place where he would withdraw for prayer when he was still the priest of the village of Berestove and where he took monastic vows—in the Far Caves. Thus, the opinion that the holy relics of Venerable Hilarion the Schema-monk are indeed the relics of Saint Metropolitan Hilarion appears plausible.

The memory of the Monk Hilarion the schemer is celebrated separately on 3 November (21 October according to St. Stanza), on the day of St. Hilarion the Great.