Old Believer monasteries in Altai - L. S. Dementieva. Different paths, the same ending - the Last Judgment And what are the spiritual dangers in monastic life
Extensive material about the only Old Believer convent in Russia, a citadel of Orthodoxy, located near the city of Uglich, in the picturesque village of Uleyme. About life in the monastery, which takes place in accordance with ancient monastic rules, as well as interviews with its nuns.
Our Mother Church has a precious treasure, little known, living a quiet, inconspicuous life, every day feeding the body of Christ, you and me, with the great power of night prayer. It is located on holy land, abundantly watered with the blood of martyrs - our ancestors, Russian Orthodox Christians. It was founded back in the 15th century by the grace of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. “The grace of God and my prayers will be here,” the saint of God revealed to the God-loving monk Varlaam and glorified this place with his miraculous image, giving countless healings to believers.
This treasure is the only Old Believer convent in Russia, located near the city of Uglich, the citadel of Orthodoxy, in the picturesque village of Uleima. The life of the monastery proceeds in accordance with the ancient monastic rules, which means that the main part of the daily cathedral service is performed at night, instead of sleep, which is so necessary for the flesh.
A great thing is prayer in the dead of night, say the holy fathers.
Kneel, sigh, pray to your Lord to be merciful to you; He especially bows (to mercy) with night prayers, when you turn the time of rest into a time of weeping (St. John Chrysostom).
Believe me, it is not so much fire that destroys rust (of metal), but night prayer that destroys the rust of our sins (St. John Chrysostom).
May every prayer that we perform at night be more honorable in your eyes than all the deeds of the day (St. Isaac the Syrian).
The nuns of the Nikolo-Uleima Monastery, despite their advanced years, diligently perform this angelic work. Truly, the power of God is made perfect in weakness!
The doors of the monastery are open to all pilgrims, Orthodox Christians, who are ready to put aside worldly affairs for a while and taste the fruits of night prayer. The phone number and address of the monastery can be found at the end of the publication. A bank card number is also posted there for those who wish to provide financial assistance to the restoration of the decoration of the ancient Russian shrine.
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Interview with the abbess of the monastery, Mother Olympias
Mother, tell me, for Christ’s sake,
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. How did I end up in the monastery? The question is both simple and complex at the same time. We came here in 2003 with my sister Eugenia, the now deceased nun Eusevia, may she rest in heaven. She was 17 years older than me. As long as I remember her, she worked hard for the glory of God, loved God and cared about true life.
We lived in Siberia, in Omsk, a city of almost 1.5 million people. There has not been a temple there since 1937 - since it was broken down and a bathhouse was built from these bricks. Many Old Believers lived in Omsk; on major holidays we went to Novosibirsk to pray, confess and receive communion to our spiritual father Mikhail Zadvorny. There we met with believing fellow countrymen. Once Father Mikhail blessed me to create a church in Omsk: “ God bless you, Olga Ivanovna, so that you have your own temple in Omsk!».
By profession I am a civil engineer, I worked as the head of a production department in a good place - in the Capital Construction Department of the City Executive Committee. There were many relatives, acquaintances, friends, and colleagues who later diligently helped me in the construction of the temple. And most importantly, there was a great desire to work in such a godly work.
A year later God's help Our only Orthodox Old Believer church in Omsk was consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. We purchased basic liturgical books, learned to read, sing in hooks, and conducted all holiday and Sunday services. All my numerous relatives supported me and helped me. Old Believers from the entire Omsk region began to gather. What wonderful years these were in my life! What kind, God-loving people there were in the parish, led by our confessor Father Mikhail!
Years passed, I buried my parents, whom I had brought to live with me, since they were already elderly. She gave away her daughter down the aisle. I buried my husband. Sister Evgenia also remained a widow. But the Most Merciful and All-Seeing God was with us.
I would very much like to have worthy power of speech and thought, so that the Lord would vouchsafe me to tell in more detail their virtuous life for the common benefit, to reveal their glorious and blissful paths, narrow and thorny, but decisive and unshakable paths - to God. Save, Lord, all Omsk residents - Orthodox Christians.
I once heard that a parishioner from Novosibirsk went to a monastery and lived there for six months. Then I learned about the existence of our Old Believer convent since 1998, about which there was never any information anywhere. I went to her, asked everything and was eager to see everything with my own eyes, although she really dissuaded me.
Traveling alone with my sister Evgenia was not difficult: she was easy-going. Having been blessed by Bishop Siluyan for the trip, we were already at the monastery on Radunitsa. We lived here for 20 days: we prayed, worked, and became acquainted with monastic life. Here I first read books about monasticism, about real ascetics who left everything and everything they had in the world and followed Christ. At that time, the monastery was headed by Mother Barsanuphia, now a schema nun. Three elderly women lived with her at the time.
She “grabbed” me and began to persistently persuade me to leave the world and go to a monastery. For me, such an offer was very unexpected. How can I give up everything, I have such a wonderful temple, a good job, a position, complete prosperity. Three years left until retirement. Daughter, relatives - and give it all up, because no one will understand me...
At that time I could not say anything definite to Abbess Barsanuphia. And my sister Zhenechka was immediately ready to stay in the monastery... But she did not insist, realizing that it was difficult for me to decide to take such a step.
We got on the train. In my head and before my eyes is Mother Barsanuphia with her request to move to the monastery and help her. I understood that I had to step off the train onto Omsk land with a firm decision: Lord, Thy will, I surrender myself into Thy hands, lead me according to Thy providence! I lay down on the shelf and began to remember my entire life: I lived poorly, I lived richly, without denying myself pleasures. At first it was interesting, but then this wealth began to weigh on me. It’s not my thing, it’s not to my liking. The words from the Holy Gospel came to mind not to seek wealth on earth, but to seek the Kingdom of Heaven. As it was written for me. Truly, there are no people closer to destruction and more unhappy than those who do not have a Mentor in the path of God.
And it felt somehow easy and calm for me. I fell asleep and got up with a firm decision - to leave the world and go to a monastery.
Six months later, I accepted the monastic rank - a second birth - with the name nun Olympias. A new life began for me. I described this event in poetry.
tonsure, or rebirth
Temple of the Most Holy Trisvelline Trinity,
Wonderful Temple, nuns pray here.
But for me today it is especially great, -
I am an Angel here accepting the rank.
The lamps are lit, the candles are burning peacefully,
My loose hair covers my shoulders.
I'm standing barefoot, I'm wearing only a black shirt,
From the icon the Lord Himself kindly looks at me.
Prayers are being read, I can barely hear them.
Everything is in a fog, tears oppress my soul.
Give me a sheet, please, O God!
To destroy the sins of my youth.
The Lord saw my sorrow and sent me joy
And he gave tears of repentance.
The Gospel mother barely audibly consoles,
The abbess looks sternly and shakes her head.
Enlightenment has come, I understand and see everything.
I reproach and hate myself for my life in the world.
Maria, a spiritual sister, is standing with me in her shirt.
So that means I’m a twin again!
They put on a kamilavka and cassock.
To the Gospel believing voice:
We ask Your, O Christ, promise
And we ourselves make a vow before You with an answer.
Bishop Siluyan is calm, he knows his business.
He says this so that every word sticks in the soul.
He is in no hurry, he does everything that needs to be done:
And decorously, faithfully and sedately.
So he tonsured my head,
But the main thing is what awaits us at the end.
The Apostle of the Gospel mother put on,
And paramand, as a Shield and Symbol of the Right Faith.
Sandals - for the preparation of the world:
May the foot of pride not come to me, Lord.
Let not the sinner's hand move,
The river of Gehenna will not drown.
And the singers sing, the readers read,
The candle in my hand is already burning out,
I really want to hurry things up!
But passions must be tamed!
The singers sang “Holy God.”
It's finished! Put on the robe!
That is a great betrothal - of the rank of angels,
Clothes of purity, incorruption and joys of the abyss.
And I exclaim in delight:
“O Mother of God, I place all my hope in You,
Don't let me perish in the pit of sin,
But keep me in Your shelter!”
The mothers rejoice with me. I'm very happy!
From now on, I am a nun, Olympias.
They named their twin sister Mother Manefa,
After all, we were tonsured at the same time.
Vladyka Siluyan is pleased: no matter how surprised you are,
With his zeal, two nuns were born.
Holy Bishop, we sincerely thank you for this.
God bless you and have a long summer!
The lamps are dimmed, I invisibly feel the Holy Spirit...
We bow to the abbess on earth.
“It is worthy to eat” ends the chorus,
And with candles they lead us into the seclusion.
How was life here at that time?
There was complete devastation here. The most large building monastery - St. Nicholas five-domed Cathedral. The middle part of the structure - between the temple and the bell tower - was completely destroyed, and what remained from 1609, from the time of the Polish-Lithuanian intervention, was in a deplorable state. Other churches were not in the best condition - the Most Holy Life-Giving Trinity and the Entry Holy Mother of God.
In 1917, the Soviet government closed the monastery, transferring the property to museums. And then here were located: a granary, a school, a prison camp, Orphanage and a psychoneurological boarding school.
In 1992, the authorities transferred this monastery to the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church. While on the outside the buildings still retained the appearance of church buildings, on the inside everything was completely destroyed, rebuilt, and destroyed. There were heaps of broken bricks, glass, stones, and reinforced concrete all around.
Rolling up our sleeves, we began, with God's help, to clear the territory and cultivate a vegetable garden with an area of 1 hectare. They worked from dark to dark with breaks for prayers. Work and prayer, prayer and work - such is monastic life. And the Lord told his disciples not to look for easy ways to salvation.
The most important thing in the monastery is the daily service according to the rules: a full circle of worship with evening and night congregational prayer. According to the holy fathers, great power arises from the place where the prayer of God's servants is offered to God for the whole world. I am sure that the Lord will hear and have mercy on us. This is how we, monks, add our two mites, like the widow of the Gospel, in the hope of pleasing the Lord, Who gives us humility and strength, reason and patience, a crown and joy.
That is, the center of the entire life of the monastery is prayer?
Undoubtedly. The most important thing for a Christian is prayer. Prayer is unity with God, and he who loves it certainly becomes a son of God. Warm, sincere prayer with tears and pure repentance is the remission of sins, love for sorrows and difficulties, suppression of battles, food and enlightenment of the soul, the work of Angels.
That is why Christ invites us:
Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls...
Divine services in the monastery begin in the evening with the four correct canons - this is a daily monastic rule. Additionally, on Friday we pray the canon of Sophia to the Wisdom of God and on Saturday the canon to the Angel the Terrible Voivode. Then we perform Vespers and Vespers. The night prayer sequence consists of the Midnight Office, Matins and the Hours. If the service is with a priest, then the divine liturgy follows, which, unfortunately, is rarely celebrated in our country, only on major holidays. As long as we have lived here, we have grieved so much that we do not have our own permanent priest. After all, with a good shepherd it would be good for us too.
Our monastery nourishes Bishop of Yaroslavl-Kostroma Vikenty (Novozhilov). Kind, God-loving, tireless man of prayer. But his workload is very heavy, so he can only come to us 5-6 times a year for confession and communion. And for this, glory to God, and to Bishop Vincent many, many years of good health and spiritual salvation. About once a month for the twelve holidays, Father Anatoly Nosochkov comes to us from near Yaroslavl.
In addition to the cathedral service and the monastic rule, we would like to pray for all our relatives, for the children we have left in the world - with the Psalter, canons, and lestovkas. The world is the world. It entangles people like a spider's web. So we need to pray and pray... That’s why we are here, this is our main responsibility. The nun must also have some kind of needlework. I personally really like weaving ladders. It's good for your soul to read a lot. Thank God, there is now a lot of literature! A very useful book is “100 Sermons of Metropolitan Cornelius.” Indeed, this is a book for every day, like, indeed, another work by Bishop “Speeches and Articles of Metropolitan Cornelius.” Save Christ, Lord of the Saints!
They say that this place is holy, that during the Time of Troubles, enemies brutally dealt with local residents on the territory of the monastery...
Yes, the place, of course, is holy, it is drenched in the blood of innocent people. Two thousand people - the inhabitants of the monastery and residents of surrounding villages - were buried alive in the St. Nicholas Church when Polish-Lithuanian troops blew it up at the beginning of the 17th century. The thunder from this explosion could be heard ten kilometers around. We are still removing stones from the garden. This is truly holy ground. There is such grace here! And such beautiful temples!
How does the Lord reward a monk for his vigils and labors?
If a monk keeps all God's commandments, fulfills all the rules and sincerely prays to God, tearfully and bowing his head, then he atones for the sins of his relatives to the seventh generation. This is the grace given to a monk! A man came to a monastery, dedicated himself to God, and took monastic vows. He makes a vow to God to hate his parents - father and mother, to hate his children, all his relatives. Hate the world. Only in this case does the monk completely devote himself to God and have fear of the Lord. And over time, this fear will turn into love for the Almighty. Of course, this is difficult and does not come right away. But with God's help everything will come.
It is the world that needs to be hated. This is difficult for a worldly person to understand. This word hurts his ears. But it is said absolutely correctly. You can't find another word. How can you not hate the world? If, when we get up for vigil, we think instead of praying: how are our children doing, are they healthy, have they gone to church? Having gone to the monastery, the monk left both his family and children to the mercy and will of God. Can we, people, do something better than the Lord God, if we have already missed something while we lived in the world?
I left my children in the arms of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. This is our family patron. He saved my parents. They were drowning and their horse and sleigh fell through the ice. And they only remember how they shouted: “Nicholas the Wonderworker, help!” We woke up on the shore. The horse is standing, covered in frost. They are sitting in a sleigh, wet to the skin. Well, who could get them out? They completely went under the ice! Dad regained consciousness first. I touched my mother and she began to move. Alive! The horse was whipped and it brought them home. As soon as they entered the yard, they told us: “Girls, unharness the horse and don’t ask us anything! Take her to the cow to warm up and give her some warm water!” And they immediately went to the red corner, water flowed from them, and they prayed until the morning. Then they told us everything.
So the Lord rewards us sevenfold and a hundredfold according to His mercy. If only we prayed earnestly to God, if only we lived according to His commandments. But the devil tempts, watches, day and night, every hour and every second. So you need to constantly be vigilant, constantly control yourself, pray and protect yourself with the sign of the cross.
Mother, how old are you?
What parting words or advice would you give to young people around the world?
So that the path of every Christian from home to church does not become overgrown. Visiting church, bringing your children to congregational prayer, confessing, receiving communion - this is the most important thing. After all, only sincere confession with great faith and prayer can save a person. We sin at every step. Nowadays, computers are everywhere in the world, the Internet and so on. There is a lot of entertainment. And these are all the devil's snares. Under no circumstances should children be allowed to watch whatever they want. Only programs that are acceptable for a Christian are at the discretion and under the control of parents.
What should one be and what should one do in order to be called an Orthodox Christian and be worthy of salvation?
This question seems to be superimposed on the previous one. If a person goes to church, if he loves his children, gives them communion, and not just feeds them. After all, a sow also fattens her piglets, but she is called a sow. Forgive me for Christ's sake for such a comparison. The love of Christian mothers for their children is certainly greater than this. As the Lord God himself bequeathed, we must live according to the commandments. Pray to God and confess more often. More than once a year. At least in each of the four posts, if possible. And give the children communion more often. Babies - even more so.
Mother, and the last question: can anyone come to the monastery?
Of course, any sensible Old Believer can come to pray and help with the housework. Everyone will certainly receive great benefit from God for the soul if they pray diligently and with faith in the monastery. You just need to notify us of your arrival by phone in advance, otherwise we have an influx of guests that there isn’t even room to accommodate everyone. Welcome!
Interview with the first abbess of the monastery, schema-nun Barsanuphia
Mother, our first question is this: why do people leave the world and go to a monastery?
A monastery is a house of prayer, and people come here lovers of prayer so that no worldly concerns distract them from this work. We pray daily, according to the rules, and the main part of the service is performed at night. You can’t pray like that in the world; night prayer is higher, stronger. Previously, all monasteries prayed at night. The Lord was born at midnight, rose again at midnight and will come at midnight. Therefore, night prayer is a great thing. People go to a monastery to devote as much of their time as possible to God for the salvation of their souls.
And I just had a question: why the main part of the service takes place not in the evening, but at night. Now it is clear.
Yes. Previously, in secular churches they prayed at night, especially during Lent. There is a lot of work in the monastery, so if we sleep at night and come to the temple in the morning, we will not have time to do anything with the housework. And you also need to pray as a rule.
The monks pray a lot: the service, the rule, and the Psalter with canons. Why is it important to pray so much?
How so - why? This is a bit of a strange question for me. How else? The ancient hermits prayed to God day and night. We prayed constantly. And our whole life and activity is spent in prayer. That's why people leave the world - to be able to pray more. Worldly, and especially urban worldly life creates many obstacles for this. In a monastery everything is simpler; here all life has one goal - unceasing prayer.
Why is it important to pray? Because we are temporary residents on earth, we want a future life, and in order to deserve it, we need to beg God for the forgiveness of sins. How do we read the Creed several times a day?
I hope for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century.
That is, I want to be resurrected and receive the life of the next century, and not this life. These words are the meaning of our life. To despise this earthly life for the sake of the future life. Well, for now earthly life did not end until the Lord gave us death, we need to pray a lot for ourselves and people in order to beg God for the grant of eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Often people say the lines “I believe” without thinking about their meaning, but they have a very deep meaning. This temporary life is given to us in order to prepare ourselves for the future life.
When is the best time to come to a monastery if you decide to devote yourself to monastic life?
Any age. Previously, people lived in monasteries from the age of 15. This is how people were raised. At the age of 20-25 they took tonsure. There are still 20-30 year old nuns in the Romanian monastery. There monastic life did not stop, but here in Russia it was destroyed. Until 1998, there was no convent in the Church. How many of them were there in the forests before? They were all closed.
I knew a schema nun who entered a monastery at the age of 20 and lived as a monk during the most terrible years of persecution from the Soviet regime. After the destruction of the monastery, she did not end up in prison or camps, but was taken in as a nanny by a military family. She lived to be 98 years old, having lived in the monastic rite for 78 years!
You can become a monk at any age, from young to the end of your life. Some, just before their death, think about accepting the monastic rank, since tonsure covers all sins, just like Holy Baptism. The monk receives a new sinless life in Christ and a new name. Of course, the sooner a person comes to the monastery, the better, so that he can work hard, atone for his previous sins, and then begin a new, pure life.
The first time I saw nuns was in Altai when I was 20 years old. Their God-loving lives and sincere desire for God fueled my desire to follow their path. But my life turned out in such a way that I took monastic vows only at the age of 54. My husband, Bishop Siluyan, accepted monasticism and became a bishop (Bishop of Novosibirsk and all Siberia Siluyan (Kilin). — Approx. author). Naturally, I cut my hair too. Metropolitan Alimpiy blessed me to come here to head the monastery. And now I have been living a monastic life for 25 years.
Is the monastic path more reliable for the salvation of the soul than worldly life?
Of course, because a person commits fewer sins, he becomes closer to God. IN big city There is a lot of bustle, you run to work, then to the store, when to think about God? All thoughts are occupied with everyday worries. There is no hurry here. Pray, work, read. A Christian cannot live without reading spiritual books. In the morning I read the lives of the saints of this day, a good lesson - I took it as medicine for the whole day. I set myself the right direction of thoughts from the very morning. The soul becomes enlightened, becomes more collected, and remembers God. There were no books before, but now they are available to everyone.
What spiritual dangers are there in monastic life?
If you pray and are obedient, then there are no dangers. If a monk is in a humble state of soul and obedience, then he is saved.
There is an opinion that not everyone needs to go to a monastery. Someone needs to continue the human race, to live a worldly family life?
Monasticism is not for everyone - it is for those who can accommodate it. Choosing family life is also an achievement of heroism. We have to raise children, and this is a lot of work. But if you live a family life and do not give birth, as is now fashionable, and “protect yourself,” then this is a great sin - worse than anything.
We will all come to the same finish line - death. No one has yet remained to live on earth forever, no one. The most direct path to salvation is a monastery. But there are other ways; Yes, someone devotes themselves to family, raising children, this is a roundabout path, through mountains, rivers and ravines. Family people endure everything in life. Someone devotes himself to science, which God does not need. The paths are different, the ending is the same - the Last Judgment. If a person wants to save his soul, then he needs to strive to give himself over to the power of worldly concerns as little as possible, and for this it is not necessary to go to a monastery. And at home you can pray a lot and do good deeds. Only life in the world is structured in such a way that a person often does not even have time to begin to pray before he already has to run to work, earn money to feed his family. And in a monastery, whole life is dedicated to God. In this regard, of course, this path of salvation is more convenient. But again, the finish line is the same, only the paths to it are different. There are different ways to be saved.
I wonder if monasticism is a calling, a talent given by God, or is it available to everyone?
I think that it is available to everyone, if there is a desire to devote oneself to God. Previously, of course, people went to monasteries more, they wanted to be with God more, because they were raised by pious parents, and not by television. The current generation knows nothing about monasticism, and, one might say, there are no monasteries left.
People's faith was taken away. Monasteries were closed and destroyed. I also found the Kazan Convent, which was located in Moldova, in the large Old Believer village of Kunicha. I prayed there during Easter week in 1958. More than 30 nuns lived in the monastery, they had their own priest, Hieromonk Hippolytus, and liturgy was celebrated every day. What beauty there was! White adobe cell houses on the slope, with brick-lined paths between them. Apples, apricots, and cherries were blooming. Everything is white and white! A piece of paradise!
During the Khrushchev persecution of faith, the monastery was destroyed. The nuns dispersed throughout Moldova and Russia, some of whom had relatives where. The church was closed and a rural hospital was set up in it; The adobe houses in which the nuns lived were bulldozed into a ravine. Now this monastery has been restored, but there are only three nuns in it. People don’t go to monasteries, they are afraid of monastic work, everyone is immersed in everyday troubles. There is little faith.
What parting words can you give to modern Old Believer youth?
Pray as much as possible! Read more, fortunately now there are a lot of spiritual books that you should definitely read.
Blitz interview with schema-nun Afanasia
Why did you despise the world and come to the monastery?
Because I finished working and I think: I need to go to a monastery.
Why did they decide this?
But because old age has already arrived. I worked for 40 years, even more, in the Metropolis. How many primates have changed under me! I came to the Metropolis under Archbishop Joseph. Somehow it happened that I visited him, although I was not specifically looking for this meeting. Well, I visited and okay, and left. Then I got married. I had a baby. And suddenly one woman who looked after Vladika Joseph comes to me and says: “ The lord is calling you. Let's go to" And he says to me: “ We need a typist». « Dear Lord, what kind of typist will I be when I’ve never seen a typewriter?“I was surprised. And here comes Klavdia Artemovna. He says: “ Here she will show you" Klavdia Artemovna brought me into the room and said: “ Well, do you see the car? Here, put a piece of paper there. Do you see the letters? Here you go, print it».
So, on the appointed day I came to work. I inserted the sheet of paper into the typewriter and typed out the bishop’s sermons, one after another, with one finger. It took probably a week or two to print the minutes of the Council. That's how I learned over time.
Under Bishop Joseph, I worked in the Metropolis for six years. Then she helped Vladyka Nikodim, Vladyka Anastasy, Vladyka Alimpiy, and Vladyka Andrian. When Metropolitan Cornelius, the sixth bishop in my memory, headed the department, I was already more than 60 years old.
They began to say that Anna Vasilyevna would die here. And I think, no, I don’t need this. I decided that as soon as my mother died, I would go to the monastery to save my soul - that’s why I came here.
I buried my mother. She raised two sons. What can I do? Just go to the monastery.
But only a few go to the monastery, even in old age. In the world, at home, life is easier, more convenient.
What should I do there, in Moscow? Buses and trolleybuses have changed. We used to just get on the bus. Now there are “traps”: you enter only the first door, you only exit through the others, you definitely need special cards. It had a great effect on me, very much. I didn’t issue these cards, I don’t need it. I think I’ll go to a monastery and live here peacefully. To get to the temple in Moscow, I had to wait for transport for at least half an hour, or even an hour or more. Therefore, I can no longer come to the temple every day. I asked Father Victor for his blessing to go to the monastery, in the second year I received it and ended up here, as I remember now, on March 1, 2006. I met Mother Superior back in Moscow, when I visited her in the hospital, where she was lying with a broken arm. She then told me - come to the monastery. He says that on the 5th we will be bringing out two hermits, you’ll see. And after this trip I already had one monastery in my mind, I liked it here so much.
And how old are you?
Why did you accept the schema?
Because my health has deteriorated greatly. I thought I would die today or tomorrow. So I asked both mother and the bishop. They took it and cut it in 2012. But here I am, still living and living. This is the sixth Great Lent since I accepted the schema. The schema-nice must pray incessantly and be in solitude as much as possible. And I have poor health. I had to have surgery. But I try. How will the Lord accept it?
Don't forget God. Go to church, at least on holidays. Not only in church, but also at home to pray, even if only a little, but we must pray so that the Lord does not leave us.
Do not forsake me, O Lord my God, do not depart from me... Come to my help, O Lord of my salvation.
If possible, of course. The world is very rich now. Pulls towards himself. Rarely does anyone live on a small salary; they try to earn as much as possible, perhaps playing a trick here and there. The world is the world, what will you do? But still, you can die in a monastery, and you can be saved in the world. I don’t know how it is with young people now; for example, I had such an upbringing. Mother said: when you walk, say the prayer to Jesus, when you sit, say the prayer to Jesus. Wherever you are, whatever you do. Nowadays, all women in a row wear pants. What is this for? It is better? Under no circumstances should we wear men's clothing. A woman must wear her own clothes. And then she walks, either a man or a woman. Everyone goes without a scarf. I don’t want to brag, but no matter what I am, I never went anywhere without a headscarf when I was married. I always wore a headscarf, always.
I don’t know what other advice you can give to young people? Definitely, don't forget God. Of course, if possible, if a young girl wishes to remain a girl, that would be a great thing. Of course, if there is no temptation. But if you are tempted, then it is better to get married. And to get married, you need to ask God. You can read the Psalter: 40 Psalms or as many as you can. It will be a good thing. Well, if you find one, then it will be one so that he doesn’t lag behind, so that the union is strong. Otherwise, it’s better to endure it. Of course, I know it's very difficult. But St. John Chrysostom writes this: it is good to give in marriage, but it is better if you do not give away. It's hard to say how life will turn out. Moreover, now is such a difficult time. And it will continue to get harder and harder. The Antichrist will come and will not go anywhere. And it is written that people will want it that way. Because the world is completely empty, people do not want to fulfill God’s commandments. So what now? Got up, ate, went. No fasting, no prayer, nothing.
Do not talk to anyone about anything unhelpful. If we speak, then only sensible things. Walk around less. This is completely unnecessary. Try to be in solitude as much as possible. Don't judge. First of all, do not forget God. And the Lord will not forget and will not allow such a person to perish. If you strive only for God and think about salvation, then, of course, the Lord will definitely help. Good deeds need to be done. Work. I got up at home and prayed, thanking God that the day had begun, that you were alive. When you go to work, you pray. At work, don’t be rude to anyone, don’t do anything bad, help. When you return home, you also thank God. And the Lord will help you in everything.
Blitz interview with schema-nun Anna
Why did you despise the world and go to a monastery?
Well, how can I say... I had never thought about a monastery before, although my dad was a priest, he served in Balaki, in Udmurtia (Priest Moses Smolin - Author's note). My mother was hit and killed by a car. This got me thinking. At that time I worked at the temple, first in Izhevsk, then near Izhevsk. And I asked the priest if I could become a nun. He says, why not? Bishop Andrian tonsured me. That’s how I became a nun, because there are many sins. And I heard that monastic tonsure covers them all.
Were you a novice before tonsure?
When I retired, I immediately went to church to work. She lit candles, baked bread, and cleaned the church. And so for 16 years. Therefore, there was not even a conversation about the novice. They cut their hair right away. And then a woman from Volgograd came to us. She suggested going to the monastery. We were gladly accepted, and I have been here for 13 years. In the world I was Anna. When she took monastic vows, she became Anatolia. And when she accepted the schema, she became Anna again. In honor of Anna Kashinskaya.
And how old are you?
Now 89 years old. I'm the oldest one here.
What parting words and advice will you give to our Old Believer youth?
I want young people to come here to the monastery. But they don’t go...
How could it not be better for your soul? We are not laypeople. We pray at night too. It is difficult to get up at night to pray. But we get up and go.
What should one be and what should one do in order to be called a true Orthodox Christian and be worthy of salvation?
You must be an honest, fair person. Don't lie and don't take someone else's.
Blitz interview with Mother Valeria
Why did you despise the world and go to a monastery?
Because I have dreamed about this for a long time. Everything didn’t work out, but the Lord still brought me here, I’ve been here for four years now.
What prompted you to go to the monastery?
I wanted to devote more attention and time to the Lord God. And so our life is “vanity of vanities.”
How old are you?
I am 74 years old.
What parting words and advice would you give to today’s Old Believer youth? Based on my experience.
What advice should you give to young people? Go to church, do not forget the Lord God. Observe all fasts and avoid gluttony. Because from gluttony, from oversaturation with food, all evil comes. And then there are no more tears of repentance. There is no sin that the Lord God will not forgive. There is great angelic joy in heaven when we confess, especially when we confess with tears. And then there will be tears when there is no overeating.
The goal of Christian life is to achieve the salvation of the soul. What should you do for this? What is this path to salvation? How to be an Orthodox Christian in truth?
Serve the Lord God, everyone to the best of their ability. Attend church, observe all holidays, and do not forget to tithe. To fulfill all the commandments of the Lord God. They have everything you need. The Lord is always with us. He is only waiting for our voice. When we say from the heart: “ God help me!“He will always help. It seems like such a simple prayer - “ Alive in help...", and she is saving. How many times do I know that this prayer was saved from death by those who served in Afghanistan, wearing it in their tunic.
Get ready for work, say: “ God bless!"And finished - cross yourself again: " God bless!"The shortest prayers. At least people started with this, and that would be good.
Blitz interview with Mother Augusta (who has now departed to the Lord)
Why did you despise the world and go to a monastery?
I don’t even know how to explain this... I wanted to save my soul, my sins were grave. Because in the world it is very difficult. The abbess of the monastery was a friend of mine and invited me here. I knew that I was a native Christian: both my mother and my grandmother are all Christians. Of course, there was talk that you can save your soul in the world, they pray and work there. But I dont know how. There are many temptations there. Here there is time to pray and the rule, and the Psalter with the canons to read for all of us.
When did you come to the monastery?
I came on the first day - there was no monastery yet. Everything here was broken, collapsed, the buildings were in disrepair. Three of us came from Minusinsk. We worked there in the church of Father Leonty: I baked prosphora. But he didn't let me go. He said that it would be difficult for me here. But for some reason I wanted to. I thought that I had to escape somehow.
What parting words and advice will you give to today’s worldly Old Believer youth?
Be modest, kind, and have no grudges against anyone. Someone offended you, called you names, but don’t react to it, don’t be nervous, just say: “ Forgive me, for Christ's sake!" And we arise... There is nothing to say about the monastery, modern youth cannot stand the severity here. I didn’t even think it would be so hard. We must have our own products, which is why the garden is large. Ten lestovok need to pray at night. I prayed and went to the night service. I rested for an hour, ate, and was off to work, except on holidays. It's hard to get up at night. We are a weak people now.
What should one be and what should one do in order to be called a true Orthodox Christian and be worthy of salvation?
I think it's very difficult. You need to pray a lot, work a lot. Be meek, humble. You can’t even look at anyone with reproach; you can only say good things about everyone. I myself don’t hope for salvation. Sometimes I get offended by someone. Or I’ll have a fight with someone. Thank God that we don’t give up prayer, here we are very strict with this. It’s hard to be saved... Is anyone being saved now...
Blitz interview with Mother Marina (who has now departed to the Lord)
Why did you despise the world and go to a monastery?
Firstly, because at home - in the world - you cannot pray as much as in a monastery, in my opinion. Secondly, there is night prayer here. And at home sometimes you get tired and can’t get up. And here you are already trying to get up. Well, then... They asked me when I was tonsured in Ukraine, in Belaya Krinitsa, in 2004: maybe it was because of your children that you went to the monastery to pray for them? And I answer: at least pray for yourself, for your sins. And for the children too.
What parting words and advice would you give to today’s Old Believer youth?
Pray from a young age. But in old age it’s very difficult. Even since childhood. Even in the womb, if she receives communion, she carries out fasts. The love of prayer should be instilled from childhood, from the cradle, when the little one is brought to Communion. But I don’t know what to do with young people. Young people rarely come to church now. Because it's hard. And disbelief at such and such an age already. And when all this is instilled from childhood, then it’s easier.
What should one be and what should one do in order to be called a true Orthodox Christian and be worthy of salvation?
You must have a great will to force yourself. We are called “needy people” - we must force ourselves. For example, praying sometimes can be such laziness, such weakness. And we must fight this. The most important thing is to cut off your will and force yourself. We must pray and fast—do everything, even if under compulsion. Our body is very demanding. If we work, pray, keep all the commandments and rules, help others, be merciful and humble, then we will be Christians.
Blitz interview with novice Zinaida
Why did you despise the world and go to a monastery?
Because my mother and I lived far from the temple. It sometimes took two hours or more to get there due to traffic jams, using three vehicles. And my mother was already frail and was very worried about me because I was returning late. In general, I have long had a desire to get away from the world, from this bustle. I called my mother, she did not agree. We have earned pensions, but what else should we do in the world? I just wanted to work in the monastery. I still don’t have a goal to cut my hair or devote myself to monastic life, because this is a feat. I just want to help the mothers as a novice, to the best of my ability. I believe that the Lord brought my mother and me here, we did not come on our own. The Lord guides each person and instills desire.
How many years have you lived in the monastery?
We have been here since 2005. On August 10, Bishop Andrian died, and on September 23 we left. I worked for 25 years in the Metropolis as a clerk. I have a medical education, I am a nurse. But I was asked to help Mother Athanasia under Archbishop Nikodim in 1980. And then they asked me to stay.
And how old are you?
I am 63 years old, my mother is 85 years old.
What parting words and advice would you give to today’s Old Believer youth?
Pray, learn church rules, singing. In my time, how difficult it was to find someone to teach you! I wanted so badly to learn hook singing! I was 22 years old then. I'll go to one, then to the other. Nobody can teach me. If anyone taught, it was so that others did not know anything about it. Everything was hidden. For young people, the main thing is to go to church. And the Lord Himself will instruct which way to go in order to save the soul.
What should one be and what should one do in order to be called a true Orthodox Christian and be worthy of salvation? How do you answer this question for yourself?
We haven't achieved this ourselves, how can we give advice? I have so many flaws. What did the Lord say? Keep the commandments. And I break them more. I didn't follow anything, really. We came here to work and pray in the hope of saving our souls.
There are only a few monasteries in our Church. And all of them are sparsely populated. Why do you think?
Because it's not easy here. Not everyone can stand it. And during the Soviet period, faith weakened. People were afraid to wear the cross. There were only pioneers and communists.
Why is salvation in a monastery better than in the world?
We do not know. And here you may not receive salvation, but you can be saved in the world. It depends on how you behave. So it depends not on the place, but on the person. If the nun obeys and does everything that mother says, of course, she will be closer to salvation. And if he condemns or grumbles, then what salvation can there be? Here such a struggle is with oneself... The main thing here is to be obedient to mother, to obey her in everything. There must be obedience in the world too. For example, I worked at the temple and, of course, obeyed. Whatever the priest told us, that’s what we did.
And then, everyone has their own path. When we pray—even if we pray in the world in church—we ask the Lord to have mercy on us. And the Lord shows everyone their own path: some need to go to a monastery, some need to work at a church, some need to work in production. And the Lord can have mercy on everyone, I’m sure of that.
Nuns of the monastery
Up to 15 nuns live in the monastery.
« Today the age of nuns is 50 years and older, says eminent Vikenty, Bishop of Yaroslavl and Kostroma. — There are nuns who are over 85 years old, but all of them, with God’s help, fulfill their Christian duty. I would like to see representatives of the younger generation in the monastery who want to endure the difficult monastic life. The spiritual indicator of Christian society at all times has been the desire of people to devote their lives to God in their youth, and the lives of saints testify to this so richly. If a person has such a desire, then it must be carefully cultivated like a noble tree, so that it will bring a rich harvest in the future, since it comes by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Accepting monasticism in youth is a gracious beginning of spiritual life, because a precious gift is placed on the altar of God - blossoming years of life.
Another side of monasticism is deep repentance for mistakes and unseemly actions committed in life. To be holy is a commandment for all Christians, and in order to fulfill it perfectly, it is necessary to renounce the world and everything connected with it. Only in a monastery with intense prayer is it possible to maintain chastity, forgive grave sins, gain peace of soul and acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit. I urge young virgins and women who have put on their hearts the desire for monastic life to selfless feats within the walls of the ancient monastery, to test themselves in spiritual work following the example of St. Mary's of Egypt, Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Anna Kashinskaya and other saints».
History of the monastery
In a picturesque place at the confluence of the Uleima and Vorzhekhoti rivers, 11 km from Uglich, lies the village of Uleima. Here is the Nikolo-Uleyma Monastery. The fortress-monastery was founded on the road leading from Uglich to the Borisoglebsky settlements and further to Rostov. The first mention of the monastery dates back to the beginning of the 16th century, and it was founded in the second half of the 15th century, in 1460, 200 years before the schism.
According to legend, the monastery was founded monk Varlaam, who brought here the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from the Italian city of Bar. The elder wanderer Varlaam, a Rostov monk, goes to Greece, Palestine and Italy, to the city of Bar, in order to fulfill his cherished dream - to venerate the tomb of St. Nicholas.
During his visit to the city of Bar, he venerated the relics of the saint. After this, the saint of God himself appeared to the monk in a dream and ordered him to buy his image at auction, promising to bestow grace and protection on the monk. With this image, he ordered him to go to Russia and settle with the icon where he would be shown again. The monk did just that. According to the instructions of the saint of God, he went to the auction and actually bought the image for three pieces of silver and immediately set off with it from Bar to his homeland. With great joy, safely under the protection of the miracle worker, the elder arrived in Russia in the city of Uglich on the very feast of the transfer of the holy relics of the saint on May 9, 1460. Here he stopped for several days, and then set off on the road to Rostov.
However, as soon as he had gone 12 versts from Uglich to the Uleyma River, here in a deserted, wooded place he felt very tired, so that he could not continue his journey any further. Then the monk Varlaam stopped, placed the image of St. Nicholas on a pine tree between the branches, and after praying, he lay down on the ground and fell asleep. Waking up after a short sleep, he stood up and wanted to remove the icon from the tree in order to move on again, but as soon as he touched the image, his hands immediately weakened, and the image did not move from the tree.
The second and third time he tried to take the wonderful icon, and all without success. The elder was embarrassed by this and, not knowing what to do, lay down in grief and fell asleep. At night, a new appearance of St. Nicholas occurs to the elder, who hears the words of the wonderworker:
Stop here with my image, I want to glorify this place with my icon, and my monastery will be built in this place, the grace of God and my prayers will be here.
And indeed, as if to confirm the saint’s promise, miracles immediately began from his image.
Not far away, also on the Uleima River, was the village of Dubrovo. His peasants, having accidentally met Elder Varlaam, who had settled near the icon, and having heard from him about the wondrous deeds of the icon, immediately brought many sick people to him, and through the intercession of the wonderworker Nikolas they were all healed.
Residents of the surrounding areas built a chapel on the very road to Rostov, and the image was transferred there.
The fame of miracles from the image of St. Nicholas reached the Uglich prince Andrey Vasilievich. Having joyfully accepted the news of this mercy of God bestowed on his region, the prince himself arrived in a secluded place to the miraculous image to worship it. Here, during a prayer service of thanks to the saint, he was honored to witness that many sick people who prayed with him, through their faith and prayer, became completely healthy. Then Prince Andrei wished that a temple named after the saint be built on this site. He immediately notified the Archbishop of Rostov of his desire. Joasapha.
Attracted by the glory of the miraculous image, the bishop himself wanted to see it and arrived at this place to see the wondrous icon in 1464 and also witnessed many miracles from it. Having honored the wonderful image with a divine service, he joyfully blessed this mysterious monastic place and praised the Christ-loving prince and those who prayed for their diligence in building a monastery on the site of the image.
Thanks to the generosity of many God-loving and wealthy Uglich residents, monastic cells and a fence appeared. A large monastic flock is gathering. Prince Andrei Vasilyevich donates lands, books and other church utensils to the monastery. And the miraculous image of St. Nicholas is decorated with silver, gold and precious stones.
With the beginning of church services, miracles from the image of the saint increased even more. Most of all they occurred during the divine liturgy. And the God-loving monks worked hard and took care of the improvement of the monastery: they dug trenches for the foundations of stone churches, mined clay, cut down forest, and performed many hard jobs.
In 1563, under Prince Georgiy Vasilievich a warm stone church was built in the name of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1589, under Tsarevich Demetrius, a cathedral in the name of St. Nicholas of Christ was built: high, stone, with vaults, cellars, magnificently decorated, where the miraculous image was transferred.
The monastery was surrounded wooden wall. By certificates sovereigns Vasily Ioannovich(1505-1533) and Ioann Vasilievich she owned several villages and hamlets. By the beginning of the 17th century, the Nikolo-Uleima Monastery was in such a flourishing state that the chronicler calls it “wonderful and beautiful.” The location of the monastery on a busy road also contributed to its enrichment and prosperity.
In 1609, terrible trials began for the monastery. Together with the entire Russian land, the Nikolo-Uleima Monastery suffered during the Polish-Lithuanian intervention. According to the chronicle, when, having plundered Uglich, the regiments of the Polish king Zsigmont approached the monastery, the monks and residents of the village of Uleima and other surrounding villages, led by Abbot Barsanuphius, closed the gates, preventing the monastery from being plundered. The brethren and other defenders of the monastery closed themselves in the cathedral church, served the liturgy there and received the Holy Mysteries. Hegumen Barsanuphius, wanting to save the civilians who had found refuge in the temple, went out with 27 monks to the enemies. Having chanted a prayer service and kissed each other, they went out the gate. The monks were in ceremonial vestments, carried icons and banners, and walked singing, wanting to reassure the Poles so that they would spare the monastery and people. The Lithuanians rushed like lions towards the abbot and cut off his head. The enemies broke into the open gates and killed the monks, then tried to enter the cathedral. Embittered by the steadfastness of the monastery’s defenders, the Poles and Lithuanians undermined the walls of the monastery cathedral, under which there were deep basements, and blew up the cathedral. The temple collapsed with a deafening thunder that could be heard ten miles away. Two thousand defenders of the monastery died under the rubble of the cathedral: monks, peasants with their wives and children.
These tragic events are captured in the poem "Old Fortress" local poet V. N. Smirnova:
The light in the lamp flickers.
There are children crying and the smell of candles,
And outside the window it splashes ominously
Effervescent alien speech.
There are representatives of Europe there,
Hard work to do,
They are digging under the church,
Kegs of gunpowder are carried.
The time has come for the unfortunate:
Who is the winner - the debate is over,
A heavy explosion shook the area.
Donkey, the cathedral crumbled.
Calm Ulema flows
From the forest swamp side.
Death stares empty eyesores
Because of the destroyed wall.
The entire region was plundered and wounded.
Enemies tear the living body,
Native Rus' on the battlefield
Names are Pozharsky and Minin.
The most despicable people of Poland and Lithuania came running to this beautiful and wondrous monastery and, having gathered around it, like bees of a hundred and like wolves, the courtyard of this verbal sheep, under compulsion, wanted to take it quickly. The abbot, brethren, and lay people strongly resisted, but a great number of “all-evil enemies” overcame them. Then we went to the cathedral church, performed the Divine Liturgy, confessed, received Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, and prepared for the hour of death. Hegumen Barsanuphius commanded the brethren and all those who were in the church not to be afraid of death, “but rather to rejoice, as they are worthy of martyrdom, and the martyrs will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, as they say, to those who were beaten.” “The curses of Lithuania, who are on guard, rushed like lions towards the monks and cut off the head of Abbot Barsanuphius.” “Polyakov (...) began to chop the swords of the brothers and cut them into pieces twenty-seven times.”
The execution was deliberate: deep ditches around the cathedral church were trenched and the foundation was broken. The monks and the elite of the world, who were in the church, were all beaten by the falling church building. And the ministers who remained in the monastery say that up to fifty monks who remained in the church were beaten by the stone building, while the worldly people were like 2 thousand. Ten miles away in the forest, the Christians hiding in the forest could barely hear the thunderclap of the church, who arrived in time and reliably said: like thunder rang out through the forests and valleys, and the earth shook to its depths.
The monastery was destroyed and looted. Everyone who enters the territory of the monastery today bows their head before the mass grave of their heroically fallen ancestors, Orthodox Christians. During the explosion of the cathedral, the miraculous image of St. Nicholas is carried half a mile away and appears there on three pine trees, indicating the need to restore the monastery churches.
The miraculous image of St. Nicholas was caught up by an invisible hand, having flown through the air to the melting place of the fallen cathedral church, appearing, being found by the faithful and standing in a miraculous vision.
And 10 years later, when the monastery barely had time to recover, a detachment of Pan Mikulsky took it by storm, killing Abbot Jonah and brethren. And only after the final peace was concluded with Poland in 1620, through the prayers of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the monastery began to be renovated and populated.
Construction of the new St. Nicholas Cathedral on the basement of the previous one began in the 1620s, but the cathedral was consecrated only on May 9, 1677 by the Rostov Metropolitan Jonah Sysoevich.
During this period, the monastery was a major feudal lord. He owned the peasants of the surrounding villages of Dubrovo, Nefedovo, Gvozdevo and others. They cultivated the monastery lands and paid rent. In 1799, a mill on the Uleima River was transferred to the monastery. In 1829, the Chistoforovo hermitage was donated. By this time, the monastery had fishing on Ulema, monetary donations and securities.
The largest building of the monastery is St. Nicholas Cathedral. This squat, five-domed cathedral has a cubic volume and is built with two chapels. At the end of the 19th century, a covered porch and a high bell tower were added to it. The facades are almost devoid of decoration, and only the chapter drums have simple decoration. The walls and vaults of the cathedral were covered with paintings.
St. Nicholas Cathedral is now completely under restoration.
Unusual in composition Vvedenskaya Church. It was probably built on the remains of the walls of the first church of the same name, destroyed by the Poles. The building combines: the church itself, living quarters, and a refectory. On the ground floor there was a grain chamber, a kvass chamber, a cookhouse, storerooms and two government chambers for all worldly transfers. Adjacent to the building from the north is an elegantly decorated porch with ramps on two sides. A small but graceful bell tower rises above the western wall, under which in the past there was a “half-hour fighting clock.” From the east it ends with an altar apse.
In the western part of the monastery there is a gate Trinity Church. Residential cells are adjacent to the church and are inseparable from it. There are different information about the time of construction of this building. There are documents that indicate that the gate church with cells was built simultaneously with the fortress walls in 1730.
The stone fence of the monastery dates back to the beginning of the 18th century. To this day it looks like a battle wall with towers.
The monastery's benefactors were many famous people. Boyar Praskovya Naryshkina donated a piece of the relics of St. to the monastery. St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which was presented to her, as the mother of Tsarevich Alexei, by Emperor Peter I. In 1713 merchant Fyodor Vereshchagin in gratitude for the miraculous healing, he built stone walls with eight towers around the shrine at his own expense. He also built and decorated the gate church of the Holy Trinity. The Vvedensky Church was painted at the expense of peasants in 1870 Kozlovs from Uleiminskaya Sloboda. In 1838, at the expense of a St. Petersburg merchant F. Ya. Ermolaeva A wooden porch was added to the Church of the Presentation.
In 1710, parts of the robe of the Lord, the belt and coffin of the Most Holy Theotokos, and parts of the relics of St. John the Baptist and other illustrious saints of God. The ark with these shrines was placed in the cathedral church of St. Nicholas.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Nikolo-Uleima Monastery became one of the most prominent spiritual and cultural centers of the region. He enjoyed great love not only in the surrounding villages and hamlets, but also among the people of Uglich miraculous icon St. Nicholas of Myra, the miracle worker, for the solemn service, for exemplary housekeeping, for the wonderful ringing of bells heard in the city.
There was a school at the monastery, the stone building of which has survived to this day.
Monastery today
On February 28, 1992, the authorities transferred the shrine to the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church. At first the monastery was for men. But due to the prevailing circumstances, since 1998 it began to be revived as a women's one. The given shrine was in a deplorable condition. The main gate to the monastery - the Saints - has been lost; residential buildings and vegetable gardens are located in front of them. The modern entrance to the monastery is located in the eastern wall of the monastery fence - through the Water Gate.
Having entered them, we find ourselves in the far part of the monastery territory - the eastern one, and not in the main one - the western one. At the same time, you can very well take in almost all the monastery buildings. From the gate, passing an alley of centuries-old linden trees, you will find yourself in the main square of the monastery. You can also get here through an alley of young birches, going around the Vvedenskaya Church on the right.
Daily prayer services are held in the gate church Life-Giving Trinity. The interior of the church has been completely rebuilt. The cell building has also been improved. In addition to the cells, on the ground floor of the building there is a kitchen and utility rooms. Not far from the western wall of the Church of the Presentation there is a cross and a mass grave of victims of the Polish-Lithuanian intervention. Almost the entire main square of the monastery is a flower garden, the main decoration of which is roses of various varieties and colors.
A lot of work has been done on the restoration of the Church of the Presentation. The interior of the church itself, the refectory, some of the cells, and the entrance to the living quarters with a staircase on both sides were rebuilt. You can climb up the bell tower using a staircase in the wall.
The monastery has been undergoing a rapid revival since 2002 through the labors of its God-loving trustee Lyubov Leonidovna Belomestnykh. On the territory of the monastery there are two wells that supply the monastery with water. The left part of the monastery is a subsidiary farm, which provides the monastery, thanks to the work of the nuns, with the necessary vegetables, berries and apples. Potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, cabbage and other vegetables are carefully planted on an area of 1 hectare. Two large greenhouses were built. There is also a small poultry house here.
The day in the monastery begins at 15.30: in the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity the correct canons, Vespers and Vespers are read. After the evening service, the nuns work in obedience, perform household chores, and then perform the cell rule until 21 o'clock. From 21:00 to 1:30 there is rest, after which the night service is held until 6:30: Midnight Office, Matins, Hours. From 6.30 - morning rest until 8 o'clock. At 9.00 - lunch. After lunch until 13:00 - chores. Then - cell prayers before the start of the cathedral evening service at 15.30.
There is also time for handicrafts: weaving ladders, sewing, restoring liturgical books. In the forests surrounding the monastery there are a lot of mushrooms, from chanterelles to porcini, as well as berries: blueberries, lingonberries, cranberries. A lot of time is required for household work: gardening, in the flower garden, in the poultry house, on the territory and in cleaning the premises. Each nun bears obedience. It is obedience that leads to one of the highest monastic virtues - humility. Humility attracts God's help. It’s good to get away from all worldly temptations and vanity in this holy place.
Through reading the books available in the small monastery library - the Holy Scriptures, as well as patristic and church writings - the truth of spiritual life and wisdom is learned. From God in the heart of man comes spiritual strength and spiritual consolation. Not only do nuns beg for their own salvation, but also their living and deceased relatives, according to legend, right up to the seventh generation.
The days of the nuns’ name days are not forgotten either. The monastery is spiritually nourished mainly by the Bishop of Yaroslavl and Kostroma himself. Vincent. Metropolitans of Moscow and All Rus' came here repeatedly. Priests come from everywhere and those who want to visit the monastery - to help in any way they can, and simply to set foot on such a sacred monastic ground, watered with the martyrdom of Orthodox Christians.
The article touches on the existence of monasticism in the Old Believers, the ascetic feat of monasticism, the conditions of existence of Old Believer monasteries and monasteries in Tsarist Russia after the schism and before the revolution, as well as in Soviet times. The Old Believers Pomeranian women's monasteries that existed in Altai are considered: the Beloretsky monastery and the Ubinsk monastery.
At the very beginning of 1914, the All-Russian Congress of Old Believers took place in Moscow at the Rogozhskoe cemetery, at which, among other things, the issue “On monasteries and monasticism” was discussed. In the Old Believers, the problem is relevant to this day, because not everyone and not suddenly, the bishops believe, can be blessed for monastic feats:
“Monasticism is virginity and abstinence from all earthly pleasures,” wrote the Old Believer magazine.
Ideas about the benefits of desert living, about the need to escape from the sinful world into the saving “desert,” which retained this name even when it turned into a crowded monastery, spread already in the first centuries of Christianity and were developed in the works of the greatest early Christian writers. Two types of monasticism are known: hermitage, the founder of which is the Monk Paul of Thebes, and the community life, founded by Anthony the Great and the Monk Pachomius the Great, who was also the author of the first written rule of monastic life.
The entire Christian preaching of desert living is based on general ideas: human life on earth is an arena of struggle between the forces of good and evil, God and Satan; The “sensory” world is hostile to God, because is filled with satanic networks, so a fight against it is necessary. In an effective way The struggle was recognized as an ascetic feat, the most acceptable for resisting the passions generated by the devil's machinations, since it was the communion with God of a soul not clouded by worldly thoughts. The main paths of the ascetic were prayer, fasting, i.e. the duty to work for the benefit of one’s own soul and body. At the same time, bodily well-being was valued very low, the hermit worked not so much for his own feeding, but because “physical labor done intelligently serves as a path to humility”, “physical labor brings the soul into humility”, “physical labor is done by spiritual virtues”, and also for the opportunity to give alms to the needy. The life of the desert-dwelling community was to be built on the same basis. And although history knows very large monastic farms, preference was often given to a small monastery, especially “in conditions of constant persecution from the state and the church”: then “the most viable secret monastery was precisely a small monastery, which in times of danger could quickly move, and in case of defeat, it easily regenerated in another place.”
Initially, “Σκήτις” was a hermitage desert in Egypt, generally a hermit’s refuge or several cells located at a distance from Orthodox monastery. The skete, like the monastery, had its own charter, which, compared to the general monastery, was more strict.
The emergence of monasticism and the establishment of monasteries in the ancient Russian church dates back to the time of the adoption of Christianity. Moreover, as Russian historical sources show, in the affairs of monasteries, along with the monastic brethren, lay people also took part.
The desert lifestyle of the Old Believers had its own characteristics. These are such large associations as Vyg, Starodubye, Vetka, Irgiz, Kerzhenets, Belaya Krinitsa, etc. But this is also a small Old Believer monastery, a monastery itself, especially in the provinces, primarily in Siberia. The monasteries were outside the official church and did not obey it. They did not depend on the state, but were persecuted by it, however, to a lesser extent than by the “official” church. As a rule, Old Believer Siberian monasteries found sympathy and support among local peasants from nearby and even distant villages. It is no coincidence that already in 1698 there was a ban on the construction of Siberian monasteries in general, although in Siberia, according to official data, there were already 37 of them [b, p. 101]. Since the reign of Nicholas I, Old Believers were categorically forbidden to “start” monasteries and monasteries, as well as to call themselves monastery hostels, hermit-dwellers, etc.
“For establishing a monastery or other kind of dwelling, the criminal law subjected the perpetrators to punishment: imprisonment from 8 months. up to 1 year and 4 months, and everything arranged - to be destroyed and sold in favor of the local order of public charity or institutions replacing it."
Even at the dawn of the “golden period,” the attitude towards Old Believer monasteries, monasteries and monasteries was quite contradictory: on the one hand, the establishment of Old Believer monasteries was permitted by the Highest approved regulations of the Committee of Ministers of April 17, 1905 and the Highest Decrees of October 17, 1906. On the other hand , the same Highest acts allowed only the clergy of the Old Believers, registered with the communities, to be called by the name adopted at the time of tonsure, i.e. the question of Old Believer monasticism was kept silent. And if the third The State Duma found it possible to recognize monasticism for all Old Believers in general who bear this vow, with the right to exempt them from military service, then the State Council also agreed to recognize monasticism for Old Believers, but only at the age of thirty, without the right to exempt Old Believer monks from military service.
As we can see, the well-known palliative in solving the problems of the Old Believers continued to be preserved in the so-called “golden period”. And yet the monasteries existed, often arising and existing in the strictest secrecy.
What was it like? monastery of Siberian Old Believers? According to the descriptions of academician N.N. Pokrovsky, this is a very small hut, for 3-4 permanent inhabitants, who in them “were saved from the Antichrist and from the bosses or from the “Antichrist bosses”. The location of such a hut, sometimes several dozen miles from the nearest village, was not an obstacle to fairly close and frequent communications between them, especially in cases of extreme need, for example, the help of a mentor, an elder experienced in spiritual affairs, who could live at a considerable distance. Necessary for the religiously minded peasant world, these monasteries were a bone in the throat of the official church and state, therefore they were constantly persecuted and ruined, and their inhabitants were sent to hard labor or “Nikonian” monasteries “for correction.” In 1735, an order appeared “to send monks and nuns to Siberian monasteries to admonish schismatics living near factories and, if they do not reform, to employ them in monastic work, and fugitives and other ranks of schismatics living in forests, to be employed in factory work, placing them in such a way that they have no communication with others." It is clear that all this was not an accident, because, wrote F. Melnikov,
“Old Believer monasteries and monasteries had a huge spiritual, educational and leadership[em. me. - L.D.] significance for the entire Old Believers."
N.N. also writes about the role of the mentor’s personality in the Old Believer and peasant environment. Pokrovsky:
“The famous Old Believer elder immediately occupies...a fairly prominent, in a sense, even leading position in this democratic environment, especially since he himself is very close to it in origin and way of life. His secret cell...already plays a significant role in the life of the first Russian inhabitants of the wild land.”
The monastery of nun Afanasia on the river. Ube
Another type of Old Believer monastery-monastery, more consistent with the traditional one, was described by G.D. Grebenshchikov in one of his essays. This Convent of Pomeranian Bespopovsky Concord, founded in 1899 on the bank of the river Uby in the Bukhtarma Valley . At first, 8 nuns lived in it, separated from the Pomeranian community of Art. Vyazovaya, Ufa region, who “bought a loan and began to live, and in a separate hut they made a prayer room and worked.” A few years later they built a more spacious hut with a small cell for the abbess, and only in 1908 a new chapel was built with a bell tower of 6 bells and a small dome.
By the summer of 1910, i.e. by the time G.D. visited there. Grebenshchikov, there were 40 sisters in the monastery of different ages- from 14 years and older: 24 schema-nice, one who took a vow “to work for Christ all her life”, several novices and “...guests who have not determined their position and can leave the monastery, get married, etc.” Some of them came from the “official” Orthodoxy.
The nuns lived in cells - huts, of which about twenty were built. At the monastery there was a hospital, a sewing workshop, a cellar (storeroom), also known as a kitchen. There was also a cemetery: “...over the 11 years of the monastery’s existence, 16 black crosses managed to grow on the hill.”
The life of the inhabitants was arranged by their with my own hands, their hard work. Each had certain responsibilities, but most of the most menial work was taken on by the abbess - Mother Iraida, who lived in the monastery for 45 years, from her youth. This is how he describes a day at the monastery G.D. Grebenshchikov:
“This woman, getting up in the morning at 2 o’clock, works until 11 o’clock at night, sleeps, therefore, 2-3 hours, and the rest of the time she is at work. Rising at 2 o'clock, at three she goes out to the chapel, where matins begins, ending at five, then after a short conversation right there, the hours begin and end at seven. After this, everyone goes to their cells, and there, having changed into work clothes, to the refectory, where, having had breakfast, they go to work, at 1 o'clock lunch, and at five - vespers, and after that, at eight o'clock, when everyone comes from work, dinner and everyone goes to their cells, working for themselves or praying. The old nuns have only one job - to send orders for prayers for the health of those who feed and for the repose of the dead.”
“The tireless work of the abbess herself is evidenced by the fact that all 40 beds, the same number of chairs, tables, all the benches, plank partitions, various shelves - all this was made by her hands without a single blow with an ax from anyone else. Moreover, each bed, table or chair has a comfortable and spacious drawer inside.”
Purity and simplicity reigned in all rooms of the monastery. Unbleached walls and unpainted floors were washed until they were white. In the church, the walls were painted pink and the ceiling blue. The writer also noted the rich iconostasis - in five tiers. We further quote: “In front of the iconostasis there is a dais and a throne, next to which is an expensive Crucifix, entwined in a blue shroud, on the sides there are icons, and on the table there is a handwritten Gospel, bound in velvet with silver embossing, and on both sides there are unquenchable lamps.” As Grebenshchikov notes, “...everything is designed in the Old Russian style.”
As usual, the main work of nuns is prayer. 7-8 hours are devoted to general prayer in church. Those who accepted the schema prayed especially:
“...we must do...1500 bows, which are counted along the ladder. Of these, at least 300 are terrestrial and 700 are belt. The rest may be mild.”
Life passed in the monastery “peacefully and comfortably.” The friendly nuns were loved, and “the surrounding Old Believers... tenderly protected their colony.”
It is unknown what happened to this women's monastery. Perhaps the serene life of the sisters was short, because “with the granting of religious freedom, the former significance of these spiritual centers was, if not completely lost, then in any case reduced.” Most likely, gradually fading in the 20s. of the last tormented century, the monastery shared the fate of many like it. And the nuns? Hard to say. This territory is now one of the “near abroad” - Eastern Kazakhstan. In the essay by G.D. Grebenshchikov preserved the true names of those with whom he happened to meet: mother Iraida, mother Apollinaria, mother Irina, mother Mokrida - but what were their names in the world? There was a 6-year-old girl there, “...the daughter of the Ust-Komenogorsk prasol and Old Believer Iv. Nikiforovich Fedorov..." What fate awaited these women?
Another of the Old Believer monasteries in Altai, also for women, of Pomeranian consent. He was located in the Sentelek volost in the Boshchelok district - “ Beloretsky Pomeranian monastery on the Belaya River", as he was called. The place where the monastery was located was made secluded by impassable mountains and forests, and even by the right tributary of the Charysh - the river. The white one he was standing on. Necessities were brought there only in winter, because... In summer it was impossible to travel by cart - only on horseback. Rumors about the monastery are surrounded by legends, especially since not only the inhabitants of the monastery are no longer alive, but those who knew them are also leaving us.
Founded, according to some sources, in 1912, according to others - in 1908, and perhaps even earlier, through the labors of nuns and voluntary assistants, the monastery was destroyed in 1930. By this time, 23 people lived in it, aged from 20 to 103 years . Human memory, as well as archival documents, cite the names of some of them: K.I. Gileva - “senior cowwoman”; HE. Plotnikova - “chebotar”; A.P. Bobrovskaya, G.D. Boronova, N.P. Sokolov worked in the spinning mill; A.E. Ludyakov and V.L. Gileva - grooms; VC. Gileva is the senior baker. Kelarsha was A.I. Kruglova, charterer - P.P. Aulova. The abbess of the monastery was called Ustinya Petrovna Bobrovskaya.
Ill. 1. Beloretsk monastery on the river. Belaya, a tributary of the Charysh
These women, marked by a “spark of holy attraction to heaven,” cut down both the church building and the rest of the monastery buildings from the local forest. The architecture of the church uses the basic principles inherent in Russian temple construction, but the forms are simplified. Such treatment of form, its interpretation, which tends to be somewhat schematic, are also characteristic of temple construction at the beginning of the 20th century, when even the Old Believers were guided by standard projects: a simple one-story log house under an iron roof (“21x6 arshins”), on the eastern side of which there was a small flat dome, decorated with a low tent (in the photograph it looks more like a truncated cone) with an eight-pointed cross on a spherical base. On the western side of the roof stood an octagonal hipped bell tower, topped with a narrow and low, rather symbolic drum base, ending in a bulb with an eight-pointed cross [Ill. 1, p. thirty]. The structure is half-covered by dense crowns of trees, in the background there is a fairly steep rocky mountain slope, overgrown with grass, bushes and sparse coniferous forest. The monastery was guarded “so that strangers or intruders would not appear” by the residents of the village. Families lived there, “but they had no relations with the monasteries.” Probably, this phrase, uttered by our narrator, was supposed to protect the prayer books from the inevitable gossip and rumors, which nevertheless leaked into the official document - “conclusion on the liquidation of the Beloretsky Convent.”
The territory of the monastery, according to an eyewitness, was fenced with a high plank fence, which, apparently, was built later than the photograph was taken. For convenience, a plank sidewalk was laid, and cells were located along it. “On the left side of the church there was a house where the abbess lived, old woman Ustinya. At the end of the row of cells there was a food warehouse. He was guarded by an angry dog. There was a kitchen, a cook, a dining room where they (the nuns) ate.”
As in the case described by G.D. Grebenshchikov, the nuns of the Beloretsky monastery consisted of two groups: the elderly and the “ordinary young”. The clothes of both were black, their headdresses were different: the young wore headscarves, and the elderly wore “solid robes fastened in front with a pin” [Ill. 2, p. 32].
Ill. 2. Old Believer nun
The monastery was located, as it were, in a ring of villages and hamlets, the population of which was predominantly Old Believers. The village of Ogni constantly kept in touch with the monastery. Even after the “monastery was dispersed,” many nuns went to live there and in the village. Mikhailovka. Village Zagrikha, Vershina Baschelak, Bolshoi Baschelak, village. Aba, Mashenka village, Kedrovka village - “the monastery was surrounded by Old Believers all around,” “Old Believers lived everywhere and kept in touch with the monastery.”
There was a subsidiary farm. There was little bread, its shortage was made up for by purchasing flour at the fair in Charysh, but there was enough milk and honey not only for the monastery inhabitants. During the period of dispossession, the organization of nuns’ labor was set as an example for collective farmers. The achievements were not accidental. As in the Uba monastery described by G.D. Grebenshchikov, the Beloretsk nuns worked, leaving no time for rest; in the Old Believers, any work is asceticism, the key to future spiritual salvation. These “practical conclusions of religion” (the expression of S.N. Bulgakov) have already been discussed above. Let us only note that there is no prospect of comparing the Old Believers with Protestants in their “secular asceticism,” the apotheosis of which among the Protestants was the “spirit of capitalism,” embodied in a rational approach to business and, as a consequence, excellent development of the economy. In this regard, it is appropriate, in our opinion, to compare the Siberian Old Believers with the Siberian Cossacks, about whom one of the articles says the following: “... the “spirit of capitalism” put forward by M. Weber and defined essentially as “inner-worldly asceticism” is not can be successfully and quickly extrapolated into Russian society because of Orthodoxy.” The Old Believer Orthodox community as a social organism has much in common with the Cossacks: both were forced to survive by adapting to extreme conditions; For both of them, the traditions of community and conciliarity turned out to be viable; among both of them there may be passionate individuals, “freedom-loving, seekers of truth and justice,” who have a philosophical attitude towards understanding success in life.
The monastery served as a spiritual center for both residents of nearby villages and villages located far from it. Of these, parents sent their children to the monastery for obedience. A similar detail is noted by G.D. Grebenshchikov, speaking about I.N.’s six-year-old daughter. Fedorova:
“The girl was given away by her parents two years ago, when she was four years old, and became so accustomed to the monastery that she did not want to go home...”
At the Beloretsky monastery village it operated school, in which, in addition to the Law of God, they taught reading and writing, primarily in Church Slavonic, which was necessary when performing divine services and when reading.
With the advent of Soviet power, life in the monastery could not help but change. According to a circular dated August 16, 1921, the monastery was “nationalized” by transforming it into a labor artel, so that the fruits of the active energy of the nuns would not pass by the Bolshevik mouths. The inverted government acted at its own discretion with religious organizations “separated from the state”, at its own discretion and ceased their existence, but at the same time tried to maintain the appearance of legality. What is the wording of one of the points of the document that liquidated the monastery worth: “In connection with deviations from the circular of the NKVD, NKYU, NKZ, RKI dated 16.VIII-21 on the use of former. monasteries by labor artels, the Beloretsk group of believers, which called itself the “Beloretsk labor artel”, in accordance with the resolution of the group itself, on the basis of paragraph 60 of NKVD instruction M 328... to be liquidated.” And just above it was said: “... the existence of the Beloretsky Monastery, clothed, due to historical conditions, in a religious form under the flag of “Artel”[Ed. me. - L.D.], but changed its content towards communist aspirations, and continued to preserve the monastic way of life...,” - cause, effect - everything is mixed up! It turns out that “...legally, the existence of the Artel is not formalized anywhere,” it turns out that the monastery “... used state fund lands,” “that this group, living in isolation from the population, does not find any support in the latter,” “there is no support among the population there is, since the skete-Old Believer bias of the monastery differs from the surrounding dogmatic Orthodoxy." At the same time, it is still noted that in 1927 the “artel” was “issued a certificate of commendation for the cattle presented at the exhibition,” and further: “the economy, in connection with the taxation of the group as dispossessed since 1928, began to fall: from 29 cows left 9, from 46 sheep - 16, etc.” . Cynicism is no less shocking than the former imposition of a double capitation salary for the right to practice ancient Orthodoxy.
But the “discrepancies” do not end there. According to eyewitnesses, the decoration in the church was “extraordinarily beautiful, rich, decorated with gold”; “...the icons and gold were stolen, stolen, and buried here.” - “There are no “honored shrines” in the monastery”, “cult property in the temple included in the inventory should be distributed to the state fund and to the closest groups of believers.” “...2. Resolution of the RIK in connection with the group’s petition to transfer the monastery for cultural purposes[em. me. - L.D.] to satisfy. 3. The building of the monastery with all services should be transferred to the disposal of the RIK. ...Cultural property should be liquidated...”
According to the stories of V.S. Serdtsev, somewhere in the vicinity of the monastery, liturgical books were hidden in the ground (the Old Believers knew a secret so that the books buried in the ground would not rot, a woman from the village of Bobrovka, Pervomaisky district, told about this: their books were perfectly preserved for several decades). They tried to find these books, but the grass, the undergrowth, the forest - everything had grown very much since then, and no one could remember the place.
On Russian soil, monasteries have always been considered conductors of truth. There were many of them - large and small monastic communities. They were famous not only for the hard work of their inhabitants, but also for their prayer life. Therefore, they hurried to them from the most distant villages for prayer and performed processions of the cross, sometimes overcoming a difficult and long journey along mountain paths. Back at the beginning of the 20th century. monasteries were the center of culture, literacy and book education. Peasants from surrounding settlements brought their children there to study and develop a love for their father’s antiquity. Everything changed after 1917, almost everything was ruined or destroyed, only human memory and surviving archival documents preserve us evidence of them. As we see, the analysis of archival documents that are not always objective, but purely reflect a certain ideological position, must be combined with oral history, which becomes difficult to do, because Not all of the older generation who managed to tell the story leave, and the method of interpreting oral information involves working with a legend on a particular topic: the more storytellers, the more difficult it is to establish the truth.
Notes:
- 1. Report of the Council of Congresses of the XIIIth All-Russian Congress Old Believers // Church. No. 2. 1914.
- 2. Avva Dorotheos. Teachings, messages, questions, answers. Reprint. M.: Aktis, 1991 // Our venerable father Abba Dorotheus has soul-helping teachings and messages with the addition of his questions and answers to them from Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet. Kozelskaya Vvedenskaya Optina Pustyn. Ed. 7. Kaluga: Printing house of A.M. Mikhailov, 1895.
- 3. Zolnikova N.D. Traditions of hesychasm in the hermitages of the Urals and Siberia of the 20th century. // Cultural heritage of medieval Rus' in the traditions of the Ural-Siberian Old Believers: Materials of the All-Russian. scientific conf. Novosibirsk, 1999.
- 4. Macarius (Bulgakov). History of the Russian Church. T. Sh. St. Petersburg, 1878.
- 5. Shcheglov I.V. Chronological list of the most important dates from the history of Siberia: 1032-1882. Surgut, 1993.
- 6. The Old Believer “church and social magazine “Church” for 1914 cites a number of government and later Duma documents regulating the organization and activities of Old Believer monasteries and monasteries, for example, Art. 49 “On the prevention and suppression of crimes” of the Decree on Punishments, ed. 1876; Art. 206 “Penal Code”; Regulations of the Committee of Ministers, Supremely approved in 1905, paragraph 6, section 11; Decree of April 17, 1905, paragraph 9; Regulations of the Committee of Ministers, Supremely approved, dated April 17, 1905, paragraph 7; Decree of October 17, 1906 Art. 31, section 1; Article 51 of the bill of the Third State. Duma, etc.
- 7. Pokrovsky N.N. Peasant escape and traditions of desert living in Siberia in the 18th century. // Peasantry of Siberia XVIII - beginning. XX century". (Class struggle, social consciousness and culture). Novosibirsk, 1975.
- 8. It is amazing how strict, constant and intense the secrecy was: only by some special secret signs were people found who knew the “place” where to find a “literate old man.” Of course, there were traitors [See: 7].
- 9. Melnikov F.E. A brief history of the Old Orthodox (Old Believer) Church. Barnaul, 1999.
- 10. Grebenshchikov G. D. The Uba River and the Uba people. Barnaul, 1911.
- 11. Decree of April 17, 1905 “On the principles of religious tolerance.” Melnikov F.E. A brief history of the Old Orthodox (Old Believer) Church. Barnaul: Publishing house. BSPU, 1999.
- 12. TsHAF AK. FR. 690. Op. 1. D.21.
- 13. Thanks to the memories of V.S. Serdtsev, who died several years ago, through the efforts of the staff of the Charysh Museum of Local Lore, in particular N.V. Khromenko, and the late local history journalist N. Morozov, the history of the monastic monastery has not sunk into eternity. Evidence of the monastery has also been preserved in Old Believer literature: in the “Acts of the First All-Russian Council of Pomeranian Christians accepting marriage, which took place in the reigning city of Moscow in the summer of May 7417 (1909) from the creation of the world on days 1 to 11” there is a mention of it .
- 14. In the museum's funds p. Charysh contains a photograph transferred from the Altai Museum of Local Lore, which depicts the monastery church. Photo dated 1907. Indicated
- 15. According to V.S. Serdtsev, there were 26 inhabitants, ranging in age from 14 to 80 years.
- 16. We are talking about Professor P.S. Smirnov.
- 17. To a woman of the Old Believers // Church. 1914. No. 36. P.826-827.
- 18. TsHAF AK FR. 690. Op.1. D.21. L.6.
- 19. TsHAF AK. FR. 690. Op.1. D.21. L. 12. Published: Documents on the history of churches and religious associations in the Altai Territory (1917-1998). Barnaul, 1999. P.216-217.
- 20. Bulgakov S.N. Two hail. A study on the nature of social ideals. St. Petersburg, 1997.
- 21. Dorofeev N.A. The evolution of the spiritual forces of the Cossacks in the process of developing the historical consciousness of the Russian nation // Slavism at the junction of centuries and worldviews. Part I. Barnaul, 2001.
- 22. In Maly Baschelak - Vvedenskaya Church (belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church); Panteleimonovskaya in Sentelek; in Charysh - Our Lady of Kazan. Only in the village The top is the “Kerzhatsky cathedral”, and the population of the surrounding area is mainly the “Kerzhatsky element”.
- 23. TsHAF AK FR. 690. Op.1. D.21. L.12, 12 rev.
- 24. Khromenko N.V., researcher at the local history museum of the village. Charysh.
- 25. TsHAF AK FR. 690. Op.1. D.21. L.12 vol.
- 26. TsHAF AK FR. 690. Op.1. D.21. L.1.
- 27. The late S.I. Pirogov said that in Barnaul, behind the yeast factory, where the strange lopsided street-path named after. Shtilke (who did so much for Barnaul and received nothing better!), under the mountain, under the territory known as Morozova Dacha, there was an Old Believer monastery. An Old Believer himself, Sergei Ivanovich could not be mistaken. And ten years ago, local children, among the abandoned apple orchard that was still there, under the Morozovaya Dacha, found characteristic crosses. There is no other information about this monastery.
History of Irgiz Old Believer monasteries.
I.V.Polozova.
“Old Believers: history, culture, modernity” issue 13 Moscow 2009
Irgiz - the largest Old Believer center of the late 18th century half of the 19th century centuries. It is known that intensive settlement of this region began in the 18th century due to the publication of government decrees in 1716, 1718 and 1727. about the colonization of the Volga lands. It was at this time that the first Old Believer settlements appeared on the banks of the river. Big Irgiz. The manifesto of Catherine II of December 4, 1762 was important for the development of these lands by the Old Believers. It promised freedom of worship and some other benefits to the Old Believers who migrated from Russia from the policy of brutal persecution of “dissidents”: “We allow and encourage subjects who have fled from their fatherland to return , that even though according to the laws punishment should have been inflicted, we nevertheless forgive all of them for this crime, hoping that they, having felt these maternal generosities shown to them, will endeavor, having settled in Russia, to live in peace and prosperity for the benefit of your own and that of the whole society." As a result of these promising prospects, in the second half of the 18th century. There is an active resettlement of Old Believers to the territory of the Volga region. A significant part of the arriving Old Believers develop lands along the river. Bolshoi Irgiz, as a result of which Old Believer settlements were formed here, including the settlements of Balakovo, Mschetnaya (now the city of Pugachev), Kamenka, Krivoluchye, Preobrazhenka, etc.
Most of the settlers arrived to Irgiz from Vetka, where in 1764, by order of Catherine II, a campaign called the “second expulsion of Vetka” began (3). It was immigrants from Poland who founded the Old Believer monasteries on Irgiz. Already in
1762 The first Old Believers from Vetka settled here and founded their monasteries. So, in
In 1763, the Avraamiev monastery was formed (from 1786 - the Nizhne-Voskresensky Monastery), in 1764 - Pakhomiev (from 1788 - the Sredne-Nikolsky Monastery) and St. Isaac's (from 1783 - the Vsrkhne-Uspensky Monastery, in 1804 . transformed into the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery), in 1765 - Magharitin skete (from 1782 - Verkhne-Pokrovsky convent), in 1783 - Anfisin monastery (later the Sredne-Uspensky convent).
The Irgiz region could not be more suitable for the closed and isolated life of the followers of the old faith: dense impenetrable forests, the winding course of the Irgiz, untrodden paths, and also a large distance from large settlements allowed the Old Believers to distance themselves as much as possible from the bustle of the world and supervision from the government and the dominant church.
Nizhne-Voskresensky Monastery (1763-1829). Avraamiev Skete was founded by a native of the village. Sadovka, Volsky district, Saratov province. Monk Abraham, who settled in the Statist settlement on Vetka, after the manifesto of 1762 returned to his homeland with his comrades, where he organized a hostel and built a chapel. In 1786, the Church of the Ascension of Christ was created here on the site of the chapel and the monastery was converted into a monastery. In 1795, the Old Believers built another winter church in the name of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary with the limit of the Apostle John the Theologian. On July 27, 1829, by decree of the Synod, the monastery was converted to Edinoverie and received the status of a third-class cenobitic monastery.
Sredne-Nikolsky Monastery (1764-1837). The Pachomiev monastery was located somewhat higher along the Irgiz, opposite the Mechetnaya settlement. It was also substantiated by a native of Vetka, Hieromonk Pachomius. In 1790, the St. Nicholas Church was built here, and the monastery was converted into a monastery. In 1798 the Church of the Intercession was built. In 1837 the monastery was converted into a male edinoverie.
Verkhne-Uspensky, or Spaso-Preobrazhensky, monastery (1764-1841). Isaac's monastery was founded by a settler from Vetka, holy monk Isaac. In 1764, the Intercession Chapel was erected here, to which an altar was later added. In 1783, the second, Assumption Church, was consecrated. In 1798, there was a fire in the monastery, as a result of which all the monastery buildings burned down. However, immediately after the fire, the Old Believers erected a new Transfiguration Cathedral, and in June 1804 the consecration of the newly built wooden church in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord. In 1841 The monastery converted to Edinoverie and received the status of a third-class cenobitic monastery.
Verkhne-Pokrovsky convent (1765-1836). The founder of the monastery was nun Margarita (Matrona Matveevna Ilyina, daughter of a Simbirsk merchant), who lived for a long time on the territory of Vetka. She organized one of the largest Old Believer monasteries. The women's monasteries on Irgiz did not have churches, and with the help of the Old Believers, one spacious wooden chapel was built here in 1782. In 1836 The monastery, which refused to accept the same faith, was closed by imperial decree.
Sredne-Uspensky Monastery (1783-1837). Its founder, nun Anfisa, and her sisters also moved from Poland. The nuns founded a monastery, and in 1796 a chapel was built here in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1815 the monastery completely burned down. After the fire, the nuns moved to a new place, not far from Sredne-Nikolskoye monastery, and the chapel was built again. In 1837, after the monastery nuns refused to accept the same faith, the monastery was closed.
During the period of the birth and development of the Irgiz monasteries, the population of the monasteries grew with amazing intensity. So, according to the census of 1762-1765. 17 people lived in the Avraamiev skete, 29 in Pachomiev monastery, 37 in St. Isaac's. By 1797, according to official information, 165 people already lived in the monasteries; according to the seventh revision of 1827, 209 men and 154 women. In reality, there were significantly more people living in the monasteries, so not all residents of the monasteries had documents that should have been presented to the official scribes: there were always much more “blind”, that is, without passports, in Irgiz than “faced”.
The statistical information provided by the government was clearly underestimated; according to other sources, in 1827, 128 nuns and 147 novices, and a total of 302 people, lived in the Sredne-Uspensky Monastery; in the Upper Intercession Monastery there are 20 schema nuns, 300 nuns and 200 belitsa, a total of 502 people. According to N. Popov, only in the Nizhne-Voskresensky monastery the number of all residents with visiting Old Believers living reached 300 people, in Verkhne-Pokrovsky from 50 to 400, in Sredne-Nikolsky from 500 to 700 monks and novices, in Sredne-Uspensky - up to 600 nuns and novices. In 1828, there were 87 cells in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, 100 courtyards and 200 cells in Verkhne-Pokrovsky, 145 cells in Sredne-Uspensky, and 61 cells in Sredne-Nikolsky. In addition, each monastery had separate buildings for a library, a common meal, abbots, etc. The number of monastics also increased, which in individual monasteries ranged from 100 to 700, and in total reached 3,000 people.
It should be taken into account that also in geometric progression The number of Old Believers in the surrounding villages also increased. Almost the entire population of the area turned to the Irgiz monasteries for correction of their needs. As it appears in the notes of a contemporary, up to 25,000 Old Believers of the Beglopopov consensus lived in the district. This information seems all the more truthful because the official church did not pay the necessary attention to the region until the 1830s. Often New Believer churches were located 70 km from each other. Therefore, in many villages near Irgiz, believers lived in marriage without a wedding, died without repentance, and were buried without a funeral service. As a result, since the settlement of these places by the Old Believers, most of the Orthodox have accepted the old faith. We find numerous evidence of the transition to the Old Believers of the inhabitants of the surrounding villages in archival documents. At the end of the 18th century. “Residents of various provinces, who began to move to this uninhabited region, had neither churches nor priests to correct Christian needs, therefore, of necessity, they had to address their needs to the Irgiz monasteries.” Almost all the villages of the Nikolaev district, where the Irgiz monasteries were located, were “seduced to schism”: Bolshoy Krasny Yar, Davydovka, Kamenka, Natalino, Porubezhka and many others. Let us present only some of the available facts about the residence of monks and nuns from Irgiz in the cities and villages of the province: p. Davydovka, Puzanovka, the village of Bolshoi Kutum, the city of Volsk, etc. Thus, the Old Believers were the closest, and often the only, religious denomination in the study area and, therefore, had a significant ideological influence on the local population.
In 1780, the rector of the Verkhne-Uspensky (later the Spaso-Preobrazhensky) Monastery, Sergei Yurshev, received official permission to conduct worship here according to the old rites. From this time on, the active public activities of the monasteries began to nourish the Old Believers' flock, not only of the Beglopopovites of the Saratov province, but also of many other territories inhabited by Old Believers.
In October 1782 and May 1783. The First was held in the Assumption Monastery, and in December 1783. Second Council. At these “general meetings” one of the most important issues for the Old Believers was resolved: the legality of accepting fugitive priests from the mainstream
churches through confirmation and leaving them in their former rank. As a result of the active and competent actions of the Irgiz monks, by council resolutions of 1783 and 1792, Irgiz achieved a monopoly on the reception and “correction” of fugitive priests. From this period, the Beglopopov Old Believer communities of Russia accept only priests who received “correction” in the Irgiz to fulfill church requirements. Thus, Irgiz won the sole right to appoint priests for Old Believers throughout the country, thereby significantly strengthening his authority in the eyes of adherents of the old faith.
In the early 1790s, corrected priests and regulants began to be sent out from Irgiz monasteries, who could perform daily services, baptize, confess, and even administer communion. At the same time, up to 40 priests lived in the monasteries, some of whom were in constant service in the monasteries, others fulfilled the requirements by visiting the Old Believers of neighboring counties and provinces, and still others underwent corrections and learned the traditions of Old Believer worship.
According to the information of the Edinoverie Archimandrite Plato, in the Nizhne-Voskresensky Monastery alone, under the abbot Prokhor, there were about 50 fugitive priests, “of whom all, by right, were sent to different places Russia to the schismatics."
Priests from all regions of the Volga region lived and “corrected” on Irgiz, the main group of whom were priests who arrived from the Saratov, Simbirsk and Kazan provinces. In addition, a significant number of fugitive priesthood came from other regions of Russia: Astrakhan, Vyatka, Kaluga, Kostroma, Penza, Syzran, Tambov, Chistopol, Yaroslavl, etc.
Historians give numerous examples of requests from Old Believers of the Saratov province for permission to accept “corrected” priests from Irgiz. Thus, in Volsk, the Old Believers invited “two priests and a deacon” from Irgiz, who in 1817 they served openly and even performed solemn religious processions with bells ringing”; in 1828 parishioners of the village. Sukhoi Spur, Kormezhka, the settlement of Krivoluika and the village of Bolshoi Kushum petitioned Prince Volkonsky for permission to correct the requirements of the priests of the Irgiz monasteries; in 1851, the priest of the dominant church in the city of Volsk reports: “there are rumors that the needs of the Beglopopovites are corrected by a Volsky tradesman who came from the former schismatics of the Irgiz monasteries, calling himself Fr. Isaac." In addition, the teachings of the Irgiz Old Believers also reached remote villages of the province: Saltykovo in Atkarsky district, Alekseevka, Boltunovka in Khvalynsky district, etc.
Old Believers different regions Numerous requests were sent to Irgiz with a request to send them corrected priests. In 1803, such a petition was received from residents of the city of Gorodets, Nizhny Novgorod province, in 1811 from the Old Believers of the Yaroslavl province, in 1812 and 1816. - Vladimir province, in 1818 - Ekaterinburg, Orenburg, Tobolsk and Tomsk provinces. Irgiz missionaries often traveled from Irgiz to the Don and back. “Fugitive priests from Irgiz were sent in droves to the Perm province, and Irgiz tonsures established monasteries and chapels.”
Quite quickly, the role of Irgiz monasteries in the world of the Old Believers became very significant, which gave rise to researchers of the history of the Saratov region to compare these monasteries with famous Orthodox centers such as Kyiv and Athos. “The news of formal permission for Irgiz to worship according to the old rite quickly spread throughout Russia. From the Urals, Don, Volga, from distant Siberia, from the proud Neva - strings of pilgrims reached here from everywhere. Some went to worship the shrines, believing the legend that the places for the construction of Irgiz monasteries were indicated to the founders by God himself and that the incorruptible relics of ascetics rest on Irgiz, as well as on Kerzhenets; others came here to receive spare gifts.” The heroes of the novel by P.I. Melnikov speak about the Irgiz monasteries as the capital of Orthodoxy: “Just as after the fall of piety in old Rome, Constantinople became the second Rome, so after the fall of piety in the holy Mount Athos the second Athos appeared on the Irgiz... Truly, there was a kingdom of monks... They lived carefree and abundantly in everything...”
The monasteries maintained close contacts with the entire Old Believer world of Russia. Thus, for the consecration of the newly built wooden church in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery on June 9, 1804, guests from different provinces of the country arrived: “hieromonks 2 and 2 hierodeacons, 10 priests, 6 deacons and Old Believers of various ranks, namely: Ural troops of foremen with headquarters and chief officer ranks 27; 500 ordinary Cossacks, 10 elders of the Don Army, 35 privates; Siberian merchants: Catherine - 27, Perm - 30, Irkutsk - 20, Kazan - 35, Samara - 45, Saratov -260, Volsky - 120, Khvalynsky - 80, Astrakhan - 30, from various provinces of agricultural peasants and other ranks of males up to 4000, and a total of 5537 people.” If you trust the figures indicated in the document, then a significant number of monastery guests testifies not only to the extensive contacts of the Old Believers, but also to the impressive authority of the monasteries. Influential and powerful patrons of the Old Believer monasteries made a lot of efforts to ensure that the glory of the Irgiz monasteries not only did not fade, but, on the contrary, increased.
The flourishing of the Irgiz Old Believer monasteries and their significantly increased influence on the inhabitants of the province and all of Russia could not help but worry the official authorities. In this regard, repeated attempts were made to limit the growth of their authority. On August 2, 1828, the highest decree was issued on the subordination of these monasteries to the provincial authorities and their preparation for the transition to the same faith. After the transfer of the Irgiz monasteries to the jurisdiction of the provincial authorities, the admission of new monks into them was prohibited, and those who lived there before the revision of 1827 were prohibited from free movement of monks throughout the territory of Russia.
The reorganization of the monasteries led to the fact that most of the Old Believers, not wanting to accept the same faith, were forced to leave their monasteries. The bulk of the Irgiz inhabitants were sent to their places of registration, and the rest of the Old Believers were forcibly expelled to remote regions of the country. Thus, after the transition of the Nizhne-Voskresensky Monastery to Edinoverie in 1829, from among the almost 60 inhabitants who opposed its acceptance, some were sent to be soldiers, others were exiled to Siberia. Some of the monks of the reorganized monasteries went in search of best places for living, where they could follow their customs and rituals without close supervision of the authorities. “The majority of the population of the Irghiz monasteries after their conversion immediately scattered not only throughout the Middle Volga region, but throughout the provinces of all of Russia, mainly in Moscow, Tambov, Tver, Vyatka, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Smolensk, Orenburg, etc. So great was the moral attraction of the Irghiz communities “that they were receiving diverse and almost powerful forces of split from all parts of Russia.”
The wandering Irgiz monks received great feeling from the population; “they were considered martyrs for the faith, had intercourse with them and revered them.” Thus, the government not only did not contribute to the fight against the Old Believers, but, on the contrary, unknowingly helped them spread the old faith and “sow the weeds of schism” throughout the country.
This strange place with a confusing history is located five minutes from the not-so-remote Moscow metro station. At the same time, it is little known, in any case, my husband, who lived in these parts for a long time, knew about it at the level of “yes, there seems to be something there.”
I have no enthusiasm for a full historical reference, and my level of knowledge in religious matters is low. Therefore, please forgive me if I confuse something slightly.
This place is one of the centers of the Moscow Old Believers. First there was a cemetery, which appeared here in 1771 during the plague epidemic. Under the pretext of plague quarantine, almshouses were created. All this was organized and financed by the Old Believer merchant Kovylin. At the turn of the century, male and female Old Believer monasteries appeared (with a cemetery between them), houses, shops, factories were located around: the community numbered about 10 thousand people.
In the mid-19th century, a new round of persecution of Old Believers began. They left only the former convent. It was closed under Soviet rule, but then was restored (though part of the territory of the former monastery is occupied by the Preobrazhensky Market); Entrance there is closed to outsiders (you can get there with a guided tour).
And on the territory of the former monastery, the St. Nicholas Monastery of Edinoverie was created (the fellow believers retained the old rituals, but recognized the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church). It existed until 1923. IN last years its churches belong to the Orthodox parish, but it shares the main church with the Moscow Pomeranian Old Believers community.
This is such a confusing story. Having understood it in a first approximation, you can finally take a look (shooting in mid-April).
The most beautiful and harmonious thing we saw was the chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker at the Preobrazhenskoye cemetery. Built in 1805, the architect was supposed to be Bazhenov (and it’s not surprising - the style is similar, and the hand of an extraordinary master is felt), but the authorship belongs to Fyodor Sokolov. This is the style of “Russian Gothic”; it was believed that the design of the Tsaritsyn Palace served as a model. The chapel was restored in 2002, is now in good condition and belongs to the Old Believers.
As I already said, there is almost no access to the current Old Believer monastery; you can only admire the fence with turrets (early 19th century).
And the second half of the territory is available for visiting.
The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was built in 1784-1790. The architect is also Fyodor Sokolov, although Bazhenov’s hand was also assumed here.
The second church - the gate church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross - was built in 1801, also by F. Sokolov. Under Soviet rule, all five chapters of it were broken. In post-Soviet times, they were restored; now there are icon painting and restoration workshops here.
And finally, a very beautiful bell tower. Built in 1876-79. received the unofficial name "Preobrazhenskaya candle". It was restored during the Soviet era, but there are no bells on it.
This is such a strange place. It seemed gloomy, but beautiful and unexpected. So much luxurious “Russian Gothic” in one place, I don’t know if there is anywhere else in Moscow
And this is what it all looked like in 1882 (photo from Wikipedia)
In the third part we will talk about Old Believer churches of other consents. In the first and second parts, I talked about the churches of the Belokrinitsky consent, the largest among the Old Believers. Their spiritual center on Rogozhskaya was founded in 1771 in connection with the plague epidemic. In the same year and for the same reason, the Preobrazhenskaya community of Fedoseevites arose. A special role was played by one of the courtyard people of the Golitsyn princes, the merchant Ilya Alekseevich Kovylin, who organized an almshouse and sponsored large-scale construction. And since Kovylin was a Fedoseevite (one of the largest confessions of non-priesthood), the Preobrazhenskaya community became the center of this confession, and indeed of non-priesthood in Russia in general. In 1784-1811, according to the design of the architect F.K. Sokolov (with funds and under the leadership of the merchant Kovylin), large complex buildings (which included male and female monasteries) in imitation of the Vygoretskaya Hermitage.
Fedoseevsky Monastery, later Nikolsky Edinoverie
In and around the cemetery, Ilya Alekseevich Kovylin gradually built houses, shops, factories and chapels. IN early XIX century there were about 10,000 parishioners here. And in the surrounding shelters there were up to 1,500 people. Thus, the community became the largest charitable institution in Moscow.
“To limit the activities of schismatics,” on the orders of Emperor Nicholas I, on April 3, 1854, the Assumption Church was transferred to co-religionists (that is, Old Believers who recognize the power of the Moscow Patriarchate). In 1866, the men's courtyard was moved to the women's courtyard, where the Old Believer community was preserved, and the St. Nicholas Edinoverie Monastery was opened on the territory of the former men's courtyard. At the Preobrazhenskoe cemetery there was a rich library of works on the schism, collected by the merchant A.I. Khludov; ancient icons were kept (including 1,300 icons collected by E. E. Egorov), works of ancient Russian art. In 1920, all Fedoseev chapels, except for the Exaltation of the Cross, were closed, and those in need were evicted. In the early 1920s. Nikolsky Edinoverie Monastery is closed. Khludov’s library and part of Egorov’s collection were transferred to the State Historical Museum, ancient icons were also transferred to the Historical Museum, from where some of them later ended up in the Tretyakov Gallery and a small amount in the Kolomenskoye Museum. In the 1920s A labor school was opened in the building of the former monastery school and in the cells of the monastery, and later various institutions were located, for example, a dormitory for the Radio factory.
The entrance to the monastery is through the Gate Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, rebuilt in 1854 (the domes were added) from an Old Believer prayer house (i.e. prayer house) built in 1801.
Old Believer (Fedoseevskaya) Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Opposite the Holy Cross Gate is the oldest church of the Transfiguration community: St. Nicholas Church of the Assumption. The temple was built in 1784, and was originally dedicated to the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The St. Nicholas Church was reconsecrated in 1854, at the same time it was rebuilt, including receiving an apse unnecessary for the Bespopovites. The architect of the cathedral was previously supposedly considered to be V.I. Bazhenov, but according to the latest, most reliable research, the project was F.K. Sokolov. Nowadays, in the church building there are two churches of different faiths, separated by a blank wall: St. Nicholas Church of New Believers in the western part, and the Assumption Pomor Church in the eastern part. Actually, an unprecedented case!
Old Believer (Pomeranian) Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Nicholas Church
Eastern, Old Believer part of the temple
The bell tower, built already under the co-religionists, in the 1870s, although designed in the same style as the original buildings, is slightly different from them:
Initially, not a single temple of the Transfiguration community was called a “church” - there were either prayer rooms or chapels. The Assumption Chapel became a church, apparently only with fellow believers, receiving an apse, and then this name spread throughout the entire community.
After the Great Patriotic War, “Preobrazhenskoye” became the de facto center of all Russian non-priesthood; the spiritual centers of three concords were located there - the Old Pomeranian (Fedoseevsky), the Marriage Pomeranian (DPTs) and the Filippovsky.
The Preobrazhenskoe cemetery next to the monastery was for a long time exclusively Old Believers. There are many merchant burials in the cemetery. During the Great Patriotic War active civil burials began. At the military site there are graves of more than 10 thousand soldiers and commanders of the Red Army.
Old Believer (Fedoseevskaya) Chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker "On Nine Crosses" at the Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery
Old Believer (Fedoseevskaya) Chapel of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at the Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery
Another one Fedoseevskaya gravestone chapel at the Preobrazhenskoye cemetery
Fifty meters north of the Nikolsky Monastery, there is Preobrazhensky Old Believer (Fedoseevsky) almshouse. In the usual sense, this is a monastery. Now it is called the pilgrimage center of the Pomeranian Old Believers named after Archpriest Avvakum. The architectural ensemble of this part has been preserved almost unchanged since its construction, and the women's part itself was more extensive and orderly. Nowadays it all belongs to the Fedoseevites - the second in time of origin (1706) and the largest current of priestlessism, which broke away from the Pomeranians due to the fact that they collaborated with the “power of the Antichrist” - for example, they prayed for the Tsar. Fedoseevtsy (or Staropomortsy) - a more radical wing, they retained only 2 Orthodox rite(Baptism and Repentance), rejected marriage, and their principled position was rejection of any existing authority.
Vozdvizhensky Cathedral
Prayer room of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Prayer room of the Transfiguration of the Lord
Prayer service of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Prayer of the All-Merciful Savior
Prayer room of the Prophet Elijah
In addition to the Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery, there are several other Old Believer sites in Moscow that I did not talk about in the first two parts. ABOUT Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Zamoskvorechye already discussed in the second part. It was consecrated on September 26, 1910 as Belokrinitsky. Closed in the 20s. And in 1990, the temple was transferred to another denomination of the Old Believers - the Ancient Orthodox Church (DOC).
The first Old Believer church of the Pomeranian community, built immediately after the release of the Tsar’s manifesto on religious tolerance in 1905. The idea of building the temple belonged to long-time and close employees of V. E. Morozov and his sons: I. K. Polyakov, director of the board of the V. Morozov Manufactory Partnership with sons,” as well as I. I. Anufriev, a member of the board of the partnership. Built in 1907-1908. in the ancient Pskov style with the introduction of features of Pomeranian architecture, which was expressed not only in the absence of an altar, but also in the severity and modesty of architectural forms and interior. On the pediment of the belfry were placed the figures of two angels supporting the icon of the Savior (not preserved). In 1930 the temple was closed. It housed a children's theater, a library, a factory... Since the 1960s. The church was occupied by the workshop of the Cosmos garment factory. Active restoration is currently underway.
Photo from 1991 (by aj1972)
Housed in a former transformer room Fedoseevskaya prayer house on Semenovskaya
And now a little about the buildings in which there were Old Believer churches or prayer houses.
Anyone driving along Baumanskaya Street could not help but notice what remained of the former bell tower Old Believer Church Catherine the Great Martyr. It was located in the house of the merchant of the 2nd guild I.I. Karasev since 1872, on the second floor. In 1915, according to the design of N.N. Blagoveshchensky, the same free-standing bell tower was built. The church belonged to the Nikolsko-Rogozhskaya Old Believer community (the so-called “Beglopopovskaya”). It is believed that top part The bell tower is a miniature copy of the bell tower at the Rogozhskoe cemetery. In 1979, Karasev's house, where the Church of St. Catherine was located, was demolished, but the bell tower was preserved.
Not far from the Kursky railway station, in Podsosensky lane, building 21, building 3, there was Old Believer (Pomeranian) prayer house in Morozov's house
In Zamoskvorechye, on Bakhrushin, in a building that is now equipped and has a cinema in it, in former house Lubkova was House Old Believers (DOC) Kazan Church
Above I mentioned fellow believers. Edinoverie cannot be called Old Belief in the literal sense. Although they recognize the ancient liturgical rites (two-fingered, service from old printed books, etc.) and the way of life, BUT they also recognize the hierarchical jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Still, I will tell you about their Moscow churches.
I talked about the Nikolsky Edinoverie Monastery above. I’ll tell you about three more temples.
On Taganskaya street, lom 20a is located Edinoverie Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, on Studenets. It was built as a “New Believer” in the center of Semyonovskaya Sloboda in 1672-1673. (according to other sources 1699-1702) on the site of a 16th century temple. Rebuilt in 1712 (architect O. Startsev). The temple was closed in the 1920s. It was destroyed and remodeled. The factory dormitory was located here. In 1965, they were going to destroy the church, but this was avoided thanks to numerous public protests. In 1966-1969. restoration was carried out. The church was returned to believers in 1992. It was reconsecrated in 1996 as the center of the Moscow Edinoverie community.
In Lefortovo, on Samokatnaya there are two large churches nearby. Trinity and Vvedenskaya churches. They were built, and until the 1930s of the last century they were of the same faith. In the 1990s, they were transferred to the “New Believer” community for restoration. United Faith Church of the Life-Giving Trinity at Saltykov Bridge was built in 1817-1819. like a summer temple. A little later, in 1829, a winter (warm) Church of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple was erected next to it. The church belonged to the Trinity-Vvedenskaya (Newly Blessed) Old Believer, Edinoverie community. In 1931, the temple was closed. The temple building was successively occupied by housing, a warehouse, premises of a scientific institute, and a production workshop. Worship services were resumed in 1992.
, was located near the Rogozhskaya outpost, on the Vladimir highway (now the Entuziastov highway, the territory of the Hammer and Sickle plant). It was founded at the Newly Blessed Edinoverie Cemetery in 1862 in memory of the liberation of peasants from serfdom. It was finally established in 1866. In 1922 the monastery was closed. The territory was included in the Hammer and Sickle plant (former Goujon plant), the churches were destroyed in 1934. The only surviving building is the one founded in 1873 St. Nicholas Church(Shosse Entuziastov, no. 7).
Currently disfigured and devoid of signs of the temple. Located at the intersection of the Third Ring Road and the Enthusiasts Highway. St. Nicholas Church was privatized in the early 1990s and is used as an office building.
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