Pyukhtitsa Monastery

Throughout the centuries-old period of existence of monastic communities, reflections have continued on what obedience is. Everything seems to be clear, but in each individual case questions and confusion arise. “The Lord loves an obedient soul,” points out the Monk Silouan of Athos. Abbess Philareta (Kalacheva) of the Pyukhtitsa Assumption Stauropegial Convent reflects on what obedience is and whether monks in the modern world always understand it correctly.

Cutting off the will

“Obedience is higher than fasting and prayer,” says spiritual wisdom. These words came from the lips of an old nun, whom the dean of the monastery, Mother Photina, had appointed us, then young pilgrims, to help. We heard them for the first time, and one of us asked, not without mockery: “I haven’t read something like that in the Gospel. Where is this written? The nun did not answer anything, but in the evening she brought the Bible, opened it and said to the questioner: “Read...” We read and seemed to see the light: And Samuel answered the people: are burnt offerings and sacrifices really as pleasing to the Lord as obedience to the voice of the Lord? Obedience is better than sacrifice and submission is better than the fat of rams (1 Samuel 15:22).

Why is monastic life built on the cornerstone of holy obedience? For an Orthodox person, especially and primarily for one who has taken monastic vows, obedience is, first of all, the fulfillment of the will of God. Obedience to the voice of the Lord is nothing other than knowledge of God, without which it is impossible to prepare oneself for what awaits everyone beyond earthly existence. Let us also say after the holy fathers: obedience is an expression of piety. St. Anthony the Great writes: “To be pious is nothing other than to do the will of God, and this means to know God.” The Holy Fathers say that the will is the only thing that truly belongs to us, and everything else is gifts from the Lord God. Therefore, renunciation of one’s will is more valuable than many other good deeds.
And yet: not everyone and not always fully understands the most important meaning of obedience.
Let's think about it. Let's listen. Let's get into it.
Obedience.
Disobedience.

Isn’t it true, what familiar words, familiar from childhood! And when we pronounce them, we sometimes do not think about the diversity of content contained in them. But if we talk about obedience, then these are four interrelated concepts: 1) the corresponding virtue; 2) disciplinary and educational principle; 3) duty or position; 4) one of the methods of spiritual nourishment.
For people who have firmly connected their lives with the Church, the main thing here is the virtue of obedience with its special meaning, which is revealed only in church and especially monastic life. Here is the cutting off of one’s will, and boundless trust in the mentor, the spirit of love that strengthens and revitalizes the subtlest human relationships. Without it, church discipline loses its saving significance, degenerating into a worldly phenomenon in spirit (dutifulness or obedience). It happens that spiritual care turns out to be unhelpful, and even harmful, if obedience as a virtue disappears in it and a rigid mentor, a “young old man” appears, obscuring the entire horizon of faith, including the image of Christ.

Mistrust of God

But what is disobedience anyway?
Divine Revelation speaks of the first act of disobedience. Lucifer rebelled against God and carried away with him some of the angels who, through pride, had fallen away from the unity of Divine love.
Then the fall of the ancestors. Let us remember where their disobedience begins? From an internal, initially involuntary, dissatisfaction with the commandment, which slipped into the wife’s answer to the serpent’s crafty question (cf. Gen. 3:2-3). She keeps the commandment not for the sake of love for God, not for the sake of devotion to Him, but only out of fear... After this answer from our foremother, the devil begins to directly slander God.
Let's think: to whom (God or her husband) does she disobey by eating from the forbidden fruit, if the commandment was given to Adam before her creation, and from him she already received it as a sacred tradition? This is disobedience to God through the husband. Likewise, disobedience in church matters to a person higher in the hierarchy is disobedience to God through disobedience to the one whom He appointed to rule.

Our foremother is not convinced that she is right, but she is not confident either in God, who gave the commandment, or in the husband who passed it on. And although the serpent’s words were not rejected by her, they were not accepted on faith either as contradicting what she knew until now. However, her doubt in itself already carries within itself a kind of wormhole, if not sin itself, then, of course, the grain of sin, for it contains distrust of God. Not finding support for herself, she looks for it in herself and begins to look at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as if with a “gaze free from prejudice.”

That’s right: a person’s disobedience begins with distrust of God. However, mistrust alone cannot be the basis of life. And it is replaced by trust in yourself as God; doubt develops into unbelief. This kind of unbelief is characterized not by the denial of the existence of God, but by the conviction that, even if God exists, one should live not by faith, not by the commandments of God, but by a different standard: according to customs, one’s own laws and morals.

Our forefathers do not deny the existence of God, but seem to ignore it. The wife does not turn to God for advice when she hears the blasphemous slander of the serpent and when she does not detect outward signs of danger in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She does not ask her husband, who told her God’s commandment, anything. She does not reject her husband, does not declare non-recognition of his dominant role; Eve simply disregards the divinely established marital hierarchy. And he, who was appointed by God to dominate his wife, in other words, to bear responsibility for her, instead of admonishing and saving her, calling on God for help, or at least asking Him what should be done, he, too, does not seem to hear his Heavenly Father, does not hears His commandments.

Murmur instead of shame

The first obvious consequences of the Fall occur only when the entire human race, represented by both of our first parents, falls away from God (cf. Gen. 3:7). While the wife herself tasted the fruit, nothing catastrophic had yet happened, but when her husband supported her in sin, then the whole person fell.
God takes one step after another towards man, providing him with opportunities for free repentance, but he cunningly persists (cf. Gen. 3:8-13).

Adam and Eve not only do not repent of disobedience, they also take root in it! They are no longer simply disobedient through weakness and not just victims of temptation and deception; now they not only passively yield to the devil’s temptation, but strenuously resist the God who saves them, resist from within their now fallen being, because the evil they have known has ulcerated and littered the ineradicable image of God in them. They chose to remain rigid in their disobedience, and even though it was false, the shame was replaced by a murmur: The wife whom You gave me... (Gen. 3:12). If St. Basil the Great says about Adam: “Adam soon found himself outside of paradise, outside of the blessed life, having become evil not out of necessity, but out of recklessness,” then what can we say about Eve? Only later will Adam suffer and weep, but not so much, notes the Monk Silouan of Athos, because he regretted paradise so much, but because “he lost the love of God, which insatiably draws the soul to God every minute”1.

This is how disobedience arose and took root in the human race, the atheistic essence of which remains unchanged for thousands of years, only the external forms of its manifestation, means of covering and methods of justification change.
Cain's disobedience differs from his parents' in form and in the degree of evil. God warns Cain about sin lying at the door (Gen. 4:6-7), but Cain, instead of ruling over sin, follows its lead and commits the first murder. The root is the same disobedience, because any, the most powerful passion can be curbed with God's help - you just need to bow your heart under the yoke of obedience... However, Cain makes a different choice.

Fratricide here is not only revenge out of envy, but also an atheistic action. Abel prevents Cain from developing the land of exile; interferes with his very existence, he silently denounces Cain for his fight against God. Abel, with the obedient aspiration of his heart to God, reminds his elder brother of the lost paradise, that the only meaning of their expulsion from there is the restoration of godlike human dignity through repentance in anticipation of the One who will erase the head of the serpent (Gen. 3, 15). He is inconvenient for his older brother, preventing him from creating a civilization, the achievements of which should compensate for the lost bliss.
Cain is a symbol of the world, which lies in evil (1 John 5:19) and at all times persecutes those who are not of this world. If he turns to God, it is only for the sake of worldly goods, and he recognizes only such “useful” religiosity. The godliness of Abel’s service exposes the godlessness of Cain’s heart. There is no place for Abel in Cain's world.

There's even a grave for the hunchback
won't fix it

Using examples from the history of the Old Testament, we can conclude that spiritual collapse awaits anyone who tries to build a life on disobedience, or even worse when disobedience becomes (has become) the norm of life for people. With pain in my heart, I will give one example from the history of the Pukhtitsa Monastery. Abbess Ioanna (Korovnikova) appointed a certain sister A. to serve as a steward in the Gethsemane monastery, where elderly nuns lived. She refused, citing poor health. Then another reason was found: in Gethsemane the Divine Liturgy was served only once a week, which could not satisfy her spiritual needs. Mother Abbess asked Bishop John (Bulin) to talk and reason with Sister A., ​​but the conversation with the bishop did not awaken the nun from the madness of disobedience. She soon left the monastery, wandered around the world for a long time, but, knowing the kind hearted dispensation of Abbess Ioanna, she asked her for forgiveness and returned to the monastery. And after a while, again, refusal of obedience.

They say that the grave will correct the hunchback, but, alas, not in this case. Before her death, A.'s mother suffered a spasm that twisted her body into an unnatural, crooked position. Even death did not straighten the muscles of the back, arms, or legs. She had to be buried in a specially made box; it was impossible to place her in any coffin. Was it only disobedience that caused such a painful death? No one can definitively answer this question. But something prompts us to think that the sin of disobedience, an unrepentant sin, could well have led the unfortunate mother A. to similar suffering.

Service for Holy Obedience

In the “Creed” we confess the Church as one, holy, catholic and apostolic. Obedience protects our unity in God and establishes a strictly canonical framework for the church hierarchy. It introduces one to the holiness of God, contributing to the sanctification and purification of a person’s soul and body. Obedience ensures the conciliarity (integrity of centripetal unity in Christ2) of our collaboration with God (cf. 1 Cor. 3:9); represents and preserves the hierarchical principle of the structure of the Church as a theanthropic organism, “a God-established society of people united by the Orthodox faith, the law of God, the hierarchy and the sacraments”3.

In order to avoid organizing church life in a worldly spirit, the Lord very clearly gave us a guideline for the church-hierarchical principle of relations, saying: You know that the princes of the nations rule over them, and the nobles rule over them; but let it not be so among you: but whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant; and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; since the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His soul as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:25-28). The Lord came to serve, which means that the main sign of power in the Church is service for holy obedience. And the closest and best example for us, the Pukhtitsa sisters, is the fate and service of schema-abbess Varvara (Trofimova), who ruled our monastery for forty-three years. She did not want to leave the Vilnius Mariemagdala Monastery, her mentor, the abbess of the monastery, Elder Nina (Batasheva), to whom she was attached with all her soul. But His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II told her: “You will be an abbess for holy obedience,” and she went to Pyukhtitsa. The Orthodox people of our Fatherland named her the Abbess of All Rus'. Isn't this the highest assessment of her work? Is this not recognition of the duty of holy obedience that she fulfilled to the end?

"Obedience from Above"

It is not in vain, not for the sake of a catchphrase, that in the church environment, duties performed (from the simplest one-time assignments to patriarchal service) are usually called obediences. The high meaning of obedience is that any work in the Church, any service is directed to God in fulfillment of His will. And the most important active obedience is leadership at any level.
Obedience is a reciprocal process. “Lord, I called to You, hear me,” we turn to God. “Hear me, Lord... Hear the voice of my prayer.” We want the Lord to hear and listen to us. At the same time, we understand that one of the conditions to be heard by God is obedience to Him by fulfilling His commandments and entrusting oneself to His will, including through obedience to hierarchically superior persons. It's right. However, we must not lose sight of this detail: God, hearing and fulfilling our prayers, shows us a kind of “obedience from above.”

The Lord listens to us and hears: are we ready to show obedience to our neighbors, those lower on the hierarchical ladder? How we sometimes lack the ability to hear those who cry “from below”! How important it is sometimes to simply hear and understand a person.
In order for the virtue of obedience to produce godly fruits, the one to whom obedience is given by position must, for the sake of Christ, precede his obedient with love and humility, lovingly, but without a shadow of man-pleasing, listening to him and, thus, giving room to God to act.

“If you are the superior of the brethren,” writes Abba Dorotheos, “take care of them with a contrite heart and condescending mercy, instructing and teaching them virtues in deed and word, and more in deed, because examples are more valid than words.”4

Extremes of the neophyte

Our time is characterized by a combination of incompatible things. Not only newly converted Orthodox Christians, but also novices seeking monastic life, sometimes combine incompatible and seemingly impossible phenomena: on the one hand, they show a painful thirst for complete submission, mistaking it for zeal for obedience, and on the other - unbridled willfulness, alien to elementary discipline, slyly interpreted as seeking freedom in Christ.
It is always difficult for a person to overcome extremes, especially when we are talking about the extremes of a neophyte, inevitable and natural at a certain stage. But when beginners combine opposite extremes: the desire to completely abandon their own will and the lack of basic skills of discipline and self-control; when, it would seem, they long to achieve humility and are ready to water a dry tree, but meanwhile they show immodesty, insolence, intemperance, quarrelsomeness, and quarrelsomeness, then serious problems arise.

In this situation, more than ever before, it is important to understand the concept of obedience as a virtue addressed to God and carried out for His sake. From here the atheistic nature of disobedience becomes clear as the desire of the fallen soul “to become some kind of separate, independent, superior being, for which everything else must exist.” And if obedience with humility “are the eradicators of all passions and the planters of all blessings”5, then disobedience with pride is exactly the opposite.

As mentioned earlier, the word “obedience” has several meanings: it is a virtue, a disciplinary and educational principle, a range of responsibilities, and a specific form of spiritual care. The trouble with modern monasticism is the confusion in connection with this homonymy. This became especially relevant a quarter of a century ago, when books by holy ascetics began to be published little by little. The deed is undoubtedly good, and one can only thank God that both the Holy Scriptures and the patristic heritage have become publicly available. But the problem is that the revival of religious publishing went spontaneously from the very beginning, like many other things in the late 1980s. There was (and could not be) any coordinated system organized that would ensure a logical sequence of educational activities in the field of Orthodox book publishing. As a result, many neophytes have a rather unsafe mess in their heads. It has become not only possible, but also a typical situation when, at first glance, it may seem that a person asking to join a monastery has already reached spiritual heights and his/her “enlightened” state remains only formally recognized and approved by tonsure into the great schema, who, as it were, due to some bureaucratic misunderstanding, there must be preliminary stages of a life of obedience.

I remember one young and “well-read” girl who came to the Pyukhtitsa monastery in search of “fasting life,” who quoted impressive fragments from the Monk Simeon the New Theologian from memory. When I asked her if she knew any poems by A.S. by heart. Pushkin, she was taken aback, as if I had desecrated her hearing and insulted her in the most pious feelings.

Here it is appropriate to remember that St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), in his book “An Offering to Modern Monasticism,” warns against haphazard reading of spiritual literature, advising, first, to limit oneself to a careful study of the New Testament (text and patristic interpretations). To do this, it is also necessary to live according to the commandments: then problematic situations of moral choice arise, prompting us to see new aspects of Christian morality and to better understand the ethical concepts contained in the text being studied. And only then, “having made the teaching and fulfillment of the Gospel commandments the rule of life, without getting carried away by the directions provided by the various writings of the holy fathers, can one begin to read them for the closest and most accurate acquaintance with the monastic laborious, much painful, but not joyless feat.” For the formation of virtues, gradualness is important, the violation of which is fraught with the destruction of spiritual life. St. John Climacus warns against striving for virtues that are unusual at a certain stage as a devilish temptation that teaches beginners to prematurely strive for higher virtues, so that they “do not receive them in due time”6.

Niche in the system

Particular harm comes from confusing the concepts of obedience as a form of spiritual nourishment and obedience as a disciplinary act - these concepts are close and intersecting, but not identical. Another danger is in identifying the concepts of obedience as a virtue and as a form of spiritual nourishment.
Meanwhile, it often happens that a convert, inspired by reading ascetic literature and jealous of holiness, rushes in search of spiritual nourishment along the lines of what he envisioned for himself based on what he read about ancient monasticism. His fantasies require fulfillment and lead him to a monastery, where he hopes to find an experienced leader. But it is precisely these same fantasies that prevent him from both choosing a mentor and being mentored by him, because the newly minted zealot seeks to squeeze him into the Procrustean bed of the Abba, whom he invented for himself.

And then either he is disappointed, not finding the holiness and insight he was looking for, or he is enchanted by finding a mentor who willingly responds to the beginner’s willingness to trust him completely.
Another version of the development of events is also possible, when, having become disillusioned with himself, with his mentor, with modern monasticism, etc., a person does not fall away from the faith, does not leave the monastery (if he has been tonsured), but is looking for a convenient niche in the system so that, being inside it, living according to your own will. He begins to “pull” into these plans everything he can find in

Holy Scripture and patristic tradition. When it is necessary to use his neighbor, he resorts to patristic instructions about cutting off the will and refusing to take any care of himself; when you need to justify yourself before your conscience for avoiding an unwanted burden, uncomfortable duties or an unpleasant assignment, or when you don’t want to accept reproof or advice from the abbot, then you also remember what the fathers say about reason and freedom as the main features of the image of God in man , and that today there are no spirit-bearing elders and it is impossible to live by obedience. In essence, this is latent disobedience to God. This is a silent but conscious refusal to follow the ideal, from serving virtue, from zeal to follow the narrow path of the cross of the commandments of Christ, about which the Lord Himself says: And whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me (Matthew 10, 38).

Through thorns and thistles

There is no obedience as a discipline without obedience as a virtue. But there is no other way to acquire this virtue other than through its selfless disciplinary and educational implementation. Obedience is an expression of love. We learn this truth long before entering the monastery: even in our infancy, from personal experience. How else can a child express his love for his parents? Of course, feelings are also expressed in tenderness in response to them, but the expression of a child’s active love for his parents is obedience (as on the part of parents, the purposeful education of obedience in a child is a manifestation of parental love, which takes care of the formation of a virtuous soul in him). The virtue of love is formed in labor over the soil of one’s soul, which at first brings its worker entirely thorns and thistles (Gen. 3:18).

The principle of forming virtue is simple. If it does not exist, it must be implemented as if it were. “If you find that there is no love in you, but you want to have it,” the Monk Ambrose of Optina instructs us, “then do deeds of love, although at first without love. The Lord will see your desire and effort and put love in your heart.”7 This applies to both the highest virtue - love, and any other, and, first of all, its first manifestation - obedience as a disciplinary and educational principle, without which there is no monastic life.

Reference

Abbess Filareta (Kalacheva), abbess of the Pyukhtitsa Assumption Stauropegial Convent (Estonia), was born on March 20, 1968 in Kuibyshev. She was baptized in infancy in the Intercession Cathedral in Samara. In 1992, she graduated from the Faculty of Biology of Samara State University with a degree in embryologist and geneticist. In the same year, she was admitted to the number of sisters of the Pyukhtitsa Assumption Convent. She passed obediences in the hotel, on the choir, was a photographer of the monastery, served as the senior cell attendant at the abbot’s house for many years, carried out the orders of the abbess for the construction and repair work of the monastery, and took part in the publication of books on the history of the Pukhtitsa monastery. On November 7, 1993, she was tonsured into the ryassophore, and on March 21, 2002, into the mantle and named in honor of St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow. By the decision of the Holy Synod of October 5, 2011, she was appointed abbess of the Pukhtitsa monastery. She was elevated to the rank of abbess by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on November 19, 2011.

Notes:
1 Sophrony (Sakharov), archimandrite. Elder Silouan. Life and teachings. M.: Resurrection; Minsk: Universitetskoe, 1991. P. 401.
2 “Imagine a circle, the middle of which is called the center, and the straight lines going from the center to the circumference are called radii. This is the nature of love: to the extent that we are outside and do not love God, to the extent that everyone is removed from his neighbor. If we love God, then as much as we approach God through love for Him, we are united by love with our neighbor; and as much as we unite with our neighbor, so much we unite with God” // Abba Dorotheos, St. Soulful teachings. M.: Rule of Faith, 1995. P. 105.
3 Philaret of Moscow, St. Long Christian Catechism of the Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church. M.: IS ROC, 2006. P. 61.
4 Abba Dorotheos, St. Soulful teachings. M.: Rule of Faith, 1995. pp. 213-214.
5 Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet. A guide to spiritual life, in answers to questions from students. M.: Donskoy Monastery Publishing House, 1993. P. 166.
6 John Climacus, St. Ladder. M.: Rule of Faith, 1999. Degree 4: On blessed and ever-memorable obedience. P. 125.
7 Ambrose of Optina, St. Soulful teachings. Publishing house of Vvedenskaya Optina Pustyn, 2009. pp. 152-153.

Nun Philareta: “We believe that the monastery will be reborn in its former glory”

Nizhny Novgorod Holy Cross Monastery is one of the most remarkable convents in Russia. Before the Soviet era, it was widely known not only in our country, but also abroad; its walls saw many famous people and the highest government officials.

On September 27, the entire Orthodox world celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. And for the Holy Cross Monastery this is also the patronal feast day of its main church. Nun Philareta tells our correspondent about today’s revival of the monastery’s former glory, its achievements and difficulties, what the great Feast of the Exaltation means for the sister community and how they celebrate it.

Mother, tell us what the condition of the monastery is today, how is its restoration progressing and what problems are you facing?

First of all, it is necessary to restore the material base of the monastery. Everything here is dilapidated: the floors in the buildings are rotten, the sewage system does not work, all communications need to be updated, and this requires a significant amount of time and money. To date, the territory of the monastery has been cleared of debris, a flower garden has been laid out, the monastery buildings have been whitewashed, and a new balcony for singers has been built in the cathedral.

The installation of five domes of the cathedral church is underway, and roof repairs are being completed. Now, perhaps, this is our most serious problem, because with the onset of autumn the rainy season is approaching and it is necessary to complete the work as soon as possible. There is particularly good news. Under the very altar of the monastery cathedral, in the crypt, there is the Church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. It underwent restoration for two years, and is now ready for consecration. Restoring what was destroyed, the sisters set up a children's Sunday school in one of the buildings. The boys study the Law of God, the girls do handicrafts separately. An Orthodox medical center has been opened at the monastery, where priests and lay obedients receive help.
After reconstruction, about 100 nuns and novices will be able to live in the monastery. This requires, if possible, restoring the monastery within its historical boundaries. The authorities of Nizhny Novgorod promised to resolve this issue positively and help return the buildings that previously belonged to the monastery.
But the main thing is that by God’s providence our monastery again acquires great shrines. In the cathedral, for the worship of believers, a large crucifixion 4.5 meters high is displayed, which in 2005, on Good Friday in Jerusalem, was carried by a group of Nizhny Novgorod pilgrims led by Bishop George in the way of the Savior’s cross.

The monastery also received another shrine - a cross with a particle of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, donated by the Bishop to the nuns of the monastery on the patronal feast day. A glorious tradition has been renewed: on Easter Saturday the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is brought to us from the Oransky Monastery.

The Holy Cross Monastery is located within the city. Perhaps this circumstance causes difficulties in the life of the monastic community?

With the growth of Nizhny Novgorod, the once secluded Holy Cross Monastery has found itself in the very center of Nizhny Novgorod, and this, of course, causes difficulties. But still, the location of the monastery is wonderful. The place that the monastery now occupies was called “true” and “blessed” by Bishop Moses at the beginning of the 19th century. And indeed, although the bustle of the city is two steps away from us, silence, calm and prayer reign outside the walls of the monastery.

It is important to note: despite the fact that our sister community moved from the Conception monastery to the Origin monastery, and then to the Exaltation of the Cross, it always maintained unchanged its charter, established by its founder, Blessed Theodora.

This charter constitutes the spirit of our community, no matter within what walls we reside, no matter where we are. Blessed Theodora, whom we sacredly honor, sets an example for our sisters and for all women in general of humble service to God and people, abandonment of vain glory and wealth.

The upcoming Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is certainly significant for the Holy Cross Monastery. How do you celebrate it?

“The cross is the guardian of the entire Universe, the cross is the beauty of the Church, the cross is the power of kings, the cross is the affirmation of believers, the cross is the glory of angels and the plague of demons,” this is how one of the church hymns explains the meaning of the cross. Through the cross, the Kingdom of Heaven was revealed to people, and therefore the resurrection to eternal life.

The pages of the Old and New Testaments repeatedly report on the saving effect of the cross; since ancient times the Church has chanted: “Lord! Weapons against the devil You gave us Your Cross.” Our entire monastery and its main temple are dedicated to the historical events that formed the basis of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. For the Holy Cross Monastery and its sister community, this holiday, like the day of an angel for every person, is comparable to the Resurrection of Christ and the hope of salvation. In pre-revolutionary times, many people flocked to our monastery for the Exaltation, the service was performed with special solemnity, and after the liturgy a festive dinner was organized for all those who came. Today we strive to revive what was lost, therefore on this day we would like to see as many believers as possible in the monastery cathedral.

Particularly gratifying was the participation in the festive service of students of the medical college and children from the neighboring boarding school, which has become a tradition. Since I first crossed the threshold of the monastery three years ago, there has always been a treat here on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and joy and love reign among the people gathered for prayer.

From the editor: we inform everyone who wants to help in the revival of the glorious Holy Cross Monastery the address of the monastery and its bank details.

603022, Nizhny Novgorod, Oksky congress, 2 A, tel.: 433–92–25, 433–76–85
INN 5262043748 KPP 526201001 r/s 40703810700820000145
BIC 042202772, CJSC "Nizhegorodpromstroybank",
Kanavinsky district of N. Novgorod, contract number 30101810200000000772

In Estonia it is special place of pilgrimage not only Orthodox from Russia and the Baltic states, but also from many other countries. People come here from all over the world, regardless of visa requirements and border formalities. They travel alone and in groups, for a long time and for one or two days. Someone comes on an excursion to get acquainted with the life of the monastery, someone goes for work and prayer, and others direct their feet to these regions in order to undergo a difficult but blessed monastic feat.

The monastery itself is located in the small village of Kuremäe, which means “Crane Mountain,” in northeastern Estonia, about 30 kilometers from the Russian border. Twice a week (on Mondays and Fridays) there is a direct bus from Tallinn to Kuremäe (the journey usually takes about three hours). On other days, getting here is also easy: you can take an intercity bus to the city of Jõhvi, and from Jõhvi you can take a commuter bus to Kuremäe (on weekdays there are 7 - 8 trips a day, on weekends buses run less often).

The trip from Jõhvi to Kuremäe took me about an hour. I got off at the last stop, near the grocery store. A wide road led up to the monastery gates, with pretty birch trees bordering it on both sides. Approaching the gate, I crossed myself and walked inside with reverence. “What a blessing that I finally managed to come to Pyukhtitsa,” I rejoiced when I stepped onto the grounds of the monastery.

I didn’t know the road to the abbot’s house, there were no signs at the entrance, and I couldn’t find the guards on duty either. Following the instructions of the nun I met, I went out to three identical houses located opposite the entrance to the largest temple - the Assumption Cathedral. After additional questioning, we managed to find out that the abbess’s house is the one in the middle.

It turned out that I entered the monastery through the utility gate. The Holy Gates are located near the Assumption Cathedral, and, of course, there is a duty officer there, ready to help a visiting pilgrim.

The monastery pleasantly surprised me with its neatness and cleanliness. It was also neat and clean in the pilgrimage hotel where I was accommodated for two days. The meal for the pilgrims was unusually tasty and nutritious; I especially liked the apple confiture and the monastery cottage cheese and sour cream. Of course, behind all this beauty, splendor and neatness lies the painstaking daily work of the sisters and those pilgrims who come to the monastery to share part of their concerns with the nuns.

Pyukhtitsky Assumption Convent was founded in 1891. According to legend, there was an apparition of the Mother of God near the mountain in the village of Kuremäe in the 16th century. Near the place where the Mother of God appeared, an icon of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary was found in the branches of an oak tree. Since that time, local residents began to call the mountain Pyukhtitskaya, translated from Estonian - Saint. He played a major role in the formation of the monastery holy righteous John of Kronstadt , patron and spiritual mentor of the first sisters. Since 1891, the Pukhtitsa Monastery didn't close for a single day; Patriarch Alexy II has shown significant concern for him since the time he ruled the Tallinn diocese. Since June 1990, the monastery has been stauropegial, that is, it is directly subordinate to His Holiness the Patriarch.

MOTHER FILARETA ABOUT HERSELF AND ABOUT MONASTERY LIFE

Since the founding of the monastery, there have been seven abbesses. From 1968 to February 2011, the monastery was ruled by Abbess Varvara (Trofimova). The eighth abbess in November 2011 was Abbess Philareta (in the world - Ksenia Viktorovna Kalacheva). She is originally from Samara and entered the monastery in 1992.

Mother Philareta tells:

I was born into an Orthodox family, my biography is the most ordinary: school, then the biological department of the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Kuibyshev State University. I really love the city where I was born, the Volga, central Russia. This is my homeland, and you always treat it with reverence - after all, it is impossible to forget the place where you spent your childhood, those people with whom you grew up. Every summer my parents tried to take us children to the Black Sea. I was a serious swimmer, and these trips to the sea not only brought me joy, but also had a positive effect on my health. And then one day I returned home after another such trip, all tanned. Maybe I was in my third year or fourth year, I don’t remember exactly. After Sunday Liturgy, I decided to quickly approach the cross to venerate myself and run about my business. And at this time our Samara ruler John (Snychev) was preaching a sermon.

- Future Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga?

Yes, he ruled the Kuibyshev diocese from 1969 to July 1990. Mom was his spiritual daughter, loved him very much and turned to him for advice. So, on that Sunday, Vladyka said that people spend their days meaninglessly, waste their time carelessly. He said that they lay on the beach like pigs, burning under the sun. I felt that this was said for me. She decided not to approach the cross, quietly walked away and left the temple in shame. At home I consulted with my mother: maybe we should go to a monastery, work hard, and pray? We will help the monastery, and it will be beneficial for our soul. Mom replied: “Let’s ask the bishop where he recommends, and we’ll go there.” Vladyka had just been transferred to St. Petersburg, and he blessed us to go to Pyukhtitsa. This is how I became acquainted with the Pukhtitsa Monastery.

In the summer of 1991, after passing the exams, I went with my mother to Estonia,” Mother Abbess continues. - Mom then returned to Samara to work, and I stayed for the whole summer; I didn’t want to leave. She began to ask to enter the monastery. Mom, of course, understood everything, but asked me to graduate from the university and get a diploma. I was in a different mood: who in the monastery would benefit from my profession - embryologist and geneticist? What will I do with this diploma? However, Bishop John also said that his studies needed to be completed. I asked Mother Superior Varvara, but her answer was the same: “Finish your studies!” It seemed to me then that the doors of the monastery were closed to me.

- This was probably a big disappointment for you?

Yes, a year of bitter waiting and testing has come for me. I really liked it in the monastery, although I I immediately noticed the colossal amount of work the sisters do. Everyone worked. I helped at the hotel, from morning to night and from night to morning. There was no free time at all. Sometimes we didn’t even have time for the service: we had to clean up after the guests, wash them, dust them... Some say that all this is vanity. Of course, in all human affairs there is no escape from vanity, but Despite being constantly busy, the sisters never forgot about prayer. And the work was creative, for the glory of God and for the good of the holy monastery. As Mother Varvara said, work can be equated to prayer if it is done with a feeling of gratitude to God and is perceived as serving the Lord.

- Which is probably not easy, especially if the work is exhausting and hard...

I remember how we went to mow. The older sisters went to mow, and we left later to dry the hay. You start turning this hay (and the places here are humid, the heat is hard to bear), and out of habit you become tired not so much from the work as from the heat. In addition, huge gadflies flew into the field and caused terror. And among this heat and frightening insects a voice sounds: “Sisters, come and drink tea!” It’s the samovar sister who lit the samovar and is calling. Everyone comes tired, sits down to drink tea, makes fun of each other, but kindly, without any anger, without sarcasm. It immediately felt easy and good, and even the fatigue went away. This captivated me, and therefore I already wanted to work with them, I wanted to stay with them forever. I was captivated by this sisterly love, although, of course, they could quarrel for a short time, they are still people. But that's how it was not like what's happening in the world, everything was different, with a different attitude towards each other. I have never seen such a life before... But alas, I had to return to Samara to study. After Pyukhtitsa, everything suddenly became foreign to me at home, even my room. Mom, of course, was upset, realizing that I would leave.

It’s hardest for mothers,” says Abbess Philareta. - They are the first to lay this cross on themselves: it’s not easy to bless your child on the monastic path, give it to the Lord and not regret it. Although, I think, a mother’s heart will always grieve. Every parent wants their child to be with them, to support them in old age, to console them, to strengthen them. Parents go to great lengths, sending their child to a monastery and depriving themselves of consolation, but the Lord will reward them for this a hundredfold.

In Samara, Ksenia Kalacheva successfully completed her last year at the university and received a diploma, as Bishop John and Abbess Varvara ordered her. Saying goodbye to her native land, she bought a train ticket and left for Estonia, to her much-loved Pyukhtitsa, dreams of which had filled her all last year. Here Ksenia again plunged into monastic life, but not as a pilgrim, but as a full-fledged nun of the monastery, carrying out, together with all the sisters, the feat of work and prayer that she had chosen for the rest of her life. At first she helped in the monastery hotel, worked in the barnyard, then again there was work in the hotel and, finally, obedience in the abbot's room. Ksenia was tonsured into the ryassophore in November 1993, and into the mantle in March 2002. In November 2011, nun Philareta became the abbess of the Pyukhtitsa monastery.

WHO ENTERS THE MONASTERY

Now Abbess Philareta bears the difficult task of managing the monastery in which she lives about 120 sisters(of which approximately 90 are nuns and nuns, and the rest are novices). Before the collapse of the USSR, the monastery was mainly replenished with sisters from Russia. And these days, with the closed eastern border and visa regime with the CIS countries, this has probably become difficult. I asked Mother Superior about this.

Of course, it has become more difficult due to the closure of borders. People have to apply for foreign passports and obtain visas, but, as before, Those who wish have the opportunity to come to the monastery and also enter the monastery. Those accepted as sisters eventually receive a residence permit in Estonia. So even today the monastery is replenished mainly with sisters from Russia and the CIS countries.

In Russia itself, many monasteries have opened in recent years, so there is a lot of competition,” Mother Philareta notes with a smile. - A Previously, our Pyukhtitsky monastery was the only women’s monastery on the territory of the USSR, where a young girl could enter, not counting the isolated small monasteries that remained in the territory of Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Moldova. But nowadays there are other problems. Unfortunately, very few people now go to the monastery. This is the situation in Russia, and in other places. I don’t even know what exactly this is connected with, but I assume that there are many reasons... Our time is very difficult. A huge country fell apart, customary ideals were overthrown - all this, of course, affected the new generation. I can’t imagine what we would have become if we had grown up in the same conditions. And how much untruth and cynicism falls on young people through the media! Concepts such as loyalty, constancy, devotion are being erased... People are becoming more and more fickle. If such people come to the monastery, they do not stay, but move from one place to another. And this is also a problem. True, we have less such turnover, due to the visa regime. Among the reasons why few people go to monasteries these days, one can also mention the fact that today few young people live in rural areas, and after finishing school, many of them try to move to the city. But the monasteries always had the most inhabitants from the peasant class, who knew how and loved to work on the land.

Listening to Mother Filareta and largely sharing her opinion, I still talk about the positive aspects of the fall of the communist regime. After all, it was thanks to the collapse of the totalitarian Soviet system that the Church finally gained freedom. There were no obstacles to opening new parishes, holding services in prisons and hospitals, missionary work and church preaching.

Yes, there is freedom of the Church,” Mother agrees with me. - But look how many sects have surfaced, how many people have gone to the side. I don’t know how to explain this, but, despite the period of church revival, not so many young people began to go to church, and a small proportion of them choose monastic life.

I remember how Abbess Varvara used to choose nuns. Thirty young girls stood in front of her, and she said: “No, girl, you are not on a monastic path, no, you can’t go to a monastery...” As a result, out of thirty, she chose three or four. There were many people then who wanted to live in the monastery. What now? For example, in 2011, only four girls contacted us, three from Russia, and one from the Baltic states. Two had to be refused - one was seriously ill and would not have been able to carry out monastic obediences, and the second had small children (divorced). I explained to her that the children must first be raised and put on their feet, and that in the monastery you cannot hide from your responsibilities and sorrows. Of course, many people who come to the monastery see the external splendor and are immersed in grace, but sometimes they do not quite understand what titanic work is behind it.

“Indeed, this is a lot of work,” I thought. “After all, this is not only daily worship, cleaning, cooking and taking care of receiving pilgrims.” The monastery has large subsidiary farm: 75 hectares of land on which grain crops, various vegetables and fruits are grown (including apples, from which the confiture that I like so much is then made). There is a barnyard where cows, goats and chickens live. In May, on the day of memory of St. St. George the Victorious, before releasing the cattle to pasture, a water prayer service is served in the barnyard (according to the monastic tradition, colored bows are tied to the horns of cows on this day). The monastery also has sewing, art and bookbinding workshops. In a word, everything in the monastery is aimed at living off the labor of one’s hands without unnecessary outside help.

Thank God, everything in the monastery functions well and is debugged,” mother emphasizes. - Although I won’t hide it, we still need an influx of new nuns, we need young forces. Moreover, we are the only stauropegic monastery of the Moscow Patriarchate in the European Union.

There are almost always a lot of pilgrims and sightseers in Pyukhtitsa. Estonians who have no connection with Orthodoxy also come here. I wonder what motivates the native inhabitants of Estonia who direct their steps to the walls of the monastery: purely cultural interest, the desire to get acquainted with one of the sights of their country, or the desire to learn about the faith that the nuns of the monastery profess?

I think Estonians love the monastery as an architectural monument, as one of the most beautiful places in their country, they are proud of it, they love to come here and bring guests; they love the monastery,” emphasizes Mother Philareta. - They respect the way of life that we adhere to. More than once I was told that all this is very high and beautiful, and one can admire it all. And it sounded very sincere.

MONASTERY SERVICES

Life in Pyukhtitsa, as in any other monastery, is unthinkable without daily services. The main temple in which services are held is the Assumption Cathedral. It is in it that the icon of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, miraculously found more than 400 years ago, is located, as well as the miraculous image of St. Nicholas, the Pukhtitsa icon of the Mother of God and other shrines of the monastery.

Sometimes services are performed in other churches - in the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, which is on the top of the Pyukhtitsa Mountain, the Refectory Church in the name of St. Simeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess, in the house church in honor of St. Alexy and the Great Martyr Barbara, as well as in the cemetery Church in the name of St. Nicholas and St. Arseny the Great. Divine services are traditionally performed in Church Slavonic, but in some cases, during cathedral services, individual litanies and exclamations can be pronounced in Estonian. Now there are three full-time priests serving in the monastery: Archpriest Dimitry Khodov, Abbot Samuil (Karask), and Priest Vyacheslav Karyagin.

Archpriest Dimitri is the senior priest of our monastery; he has served us for more than thirty years,” says Abbess Philareta. - Our second priest, Father Samuil, is an Estonian who converted to Orthodoxy. There is also Father Vyacheslav, a clergyman of the Estonian diocese, but he has a secular job (he works as a road engineer), so he has the opportunity to serve in the monastery only on Saturday and Sunday.

Well, through confessors and the Sacrament of Confession, the Lord heals the souls of the nuns of the monastery, as well as the souls of those who go to the monastery for spiritual nourishment. And although the town of Kuremäe for CIS citizens is behind the veil of a visa regime, people find the opportunity to come to the “Crane Mountain” (as a rule, consular service workers are friendly towards pilgrims). In addition, Estonia has no borders with the countries of the European Union (part of Schengen), and yet several million Orthodox Russians live in the EU, as well as Orthodox Christians of other nationalities. AND The doors of the Pukhtitsa monastery are open to everyone, where under the Protection of the Mother of God and at the intercession of St. righteous John of Kronstadt, a great prayer is performed for the whole world and, of course, for the Estonian land, on which, by the will of God, this amazing and beautiful monastery fell to be.

Interviewed by Sergey Mudrov

The Orthodox Church is a hierarchical and conservative structure. Management functions in it have always belonged to men - primarily to the episcopate and the clergy. And yet, in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church, women have played and continue to play a very definite role.

. Text: "Tatiana's Day"

On the eve of March 8, we tried to compile something like a list of those women who, if they do not take part in the decision-making process in the Russian Church, then at least perform some managerial functions.

This material is compiled based on data from open sources and does not take into account a number of factors that affect the degree of influence of a particular candidate. We deliberately do not use the word “rating” as a term that contradicts the church’s understanding of the ideas of hierarchy and service, which is based on the words of the Apostle Paul: “Everyone remain in the rank in which they are called”(1 Cor. 7:20).

In addition, we deliberately avoid analyzing the influence of women in church circles - the spouses of prominent government officials who take an active part in the work of various charitable organizations, provide support for church social projects, etc. A striking example of such influence can be, for example, the wife of the head Russian government Svetlana Medvedeva.

Also left out of our attention will be women who undoubtedly influence the agenda in the church community, but do not belong to official church structures. Such persons include, for example, famous journalists Elena Dorofeeva (ITAR-TASS) and Olga Lipich (RIA Novosti), specializing in religious topics, editor-in-chief of the website “Orthodoxy and Peace” Anna Danilova, former editor-in-chief of “Tatiana’s Day” , journalist Ksenia Luchenko, as well as Olesya Nikolaeva - poetess, writer, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.

This could also include the leaders of the “Union of Orthodox Women”, a public organization established in 2010: Nina Zhukova and Galina Ananyeva, who are also members of the Bureau of the World Russian People’s Council, as well as Marina Belogubova, head of the Department of the Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in Central Federal District.

We will deliberately limit ourselves to the official church governing bodies and consider the candidacies of those women who are members of these bodies.

In general, the degree of influence of a particular woman in the structures of church governance can be assessed from two points of view. Firstly, from a strictly hierarchical position. For a female nun, the highest career achievement is being abbess in a stauropegic (directly subordinate to the Patriarch) monastery. Therefore, automatically all the abbess of stauropegic monasteries were included in our list. Secondly (and this approach seems more correct), this assessment can be made from a purely functional position, that is, from the point of view of a woman’s involvement in the actual activities of the administrative or advisory structures of the Russian Orthodox Church. And it is for this reason that the list is not limited to the abbess of large monasteries.

The opportunity to personally consult with the Patriarch on a particular issue is a privilege enjoyed only by the most authoritative women in the Church. Photo Patriarchia.ru.

In the latter case, the main indicator will be the participation of women in the work of the Inter-Council Presence - “an advisory body assisting the highest ecclesiastical authority of the Russian Orthodox Church in preparing decisions concerning the most important issues of the internal life and external activities of the Russian Orthodox Church”(see Regulations).

In accordance with the Regulations, “The Inter-Council presence is called to discuss topical issues of church life, in particular those related to the sphere of theology, church administration, church law, worship, shepherding, mission, spiritual education, religious education, diaconia, relations between the Church and society, the Church and the state, the Church and others confessions and religions." That is, the range of issues discussed includes almost all aspects of the life of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In light of the steps to reorganize the system of church governance initiated by Patriarch Kirill in recent years, it is participation in the real process of discussing topical issues of church life (which, according to the Patriarch’s plan, should take place within the framework of the activities of the Inter-Council Presence) can be an indicator of the actual influence of one or another persons.

Let us note once again that the sampling results for these two parameters do not always coincide, i.e. the abbess of the largest stauropegial monasteries are not necessarily members of the Inter-Council Presence. Among the 11 women currently included in this body, five are abbess of monasteries (and only three of them run stauropegial monasteries), one nun and five laywomen.

It is worth noting that in addition to the Inter-Council Presence, a structure created not so long ago, the Russian Church currently maintains a system of synodal departments. By analogy, which is clear to the secular reader, synodal departments, committees and commissions are usually equated to “civil” ministries. The structures of these departments also include women—mostly abbess of monasteries. The practice that has developed in recent years - when the commissions of the Inter-Council Presence and synodal departments deal with the same issues of church life, and sometimes are called almost identically - introduces a little confusion into this study. For example, several female abbesses of monasteries are members of the “profile” commission of the Inter-Council Presence, which is called the “Commission on the Organization of the Life of Monasteries and Monasticism”; and in parallel, almost all of them, plus several more abbesses, are members of the Collegium of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism.

But even a superficial glance at the composition of both structures indicates that the participation of women in the work of the Inter-Council Presence is undoubtedly much more representative and active than their work in church “ministries”. Therefore, we will build primarily on this indicator.

In terms of formal status within the framework of the activities of the Inter-Council Presence, the greatest weight has Abbess Juliania (Kaleda), abbess of the Moscow Conception Monastery: she is the only nun who is a member of the Presidium of the Inter-Council Presence. In addition, she acts as secretary of the Commission on the Organization of the Life of Monasteries and Monasticism, and is also a member of the Collegium of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism.

Abbess Juliania (Kaleda)

In the world - Kaleda Maria Glebovna. Born in 1961 in the family of geologist Gleb Kaleda, later a priest, and Lydia Kaleda (nee Ambartsumova), daughter of the holy martyr Vladimir (Ambartsumov). She belongs to a famous priestly family, two of her brothers are priests.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of May 5, 1995, she was appointed abbess of the Conception Convent in Moscow.

Taking into account the official functions assigned to it, a special place is occupied by Margarita Nelyubova- Secretary of the Commission of the Inter-Council Presence on the organization of church social activities and charity and a member of four Commissions at once: on issues of spiritual education and religious enlightenment, on issues of organizing the church mission, on issues of interaction between the Church, state and society, on issues of attitude towards heterodoxy and other religions .

Margarita Nelyubova has been an employee of the Department for External Church Relations and the head of the program “Round table on religious education and diakonia (social service) of the Russian Orthodox Church” for many years. In fact, she is a leading church specialist in the field of social design, and she is very familiar with foreign experience in organizing church social ministry.

Margarita Nelyubova

Born in 1962 in Moscow. In 1984 she graduated from the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. Since 1992, he has been directing the program “Round table on religious education and diakonia (social service) in the Russian Orthodox Church.” Since 2001, he has been coordinating the program of participation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the prevention and fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

He is also a member of four commissions of the Inter-Council Presence Abbess Seraphima (Sevchik), abbess of the Odessa Holy Archangel Michael Monastery. It is worth noting: Abbess Seraphim is undoubtedly a bright and versatile personality. She is the only woman in the Moscow Patriarchate who heads the synodal department. True, this is the synodal department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - “Church and Culture”, but in any case, so far this is the only precedent of this kind. In addition, Abbess Seraphima is a deputy of the Odessa City Council.

Note that the generally accepted prohibition for the Russian Church for clergy to participate in the work of government bodies and political parties in this case does not matter, since abbess is not a priestly rank, but a position held by a nun.

Abbess Seraphima is a member of the Commissions of the Inter-Council Presence on issues of worship and church art, on issues of organizing the life of monasteries and monasticism, on issues of interaction between the Church, state and society, on issues of information activities of the Church and relations with the media. At the same time, the Odessa monastery is not stauropegial, and in the formal table and ranks, the abbot of this monastery would not distinguish the abbess there too much from a number of others, if not for the fair workload in church administrative bodies.

Abbess Serafima (Sevchik)

Born on March 25, 1963 in Cherkasy region. Seraphima came to the monastery at the age of 17. Since 1995 - abbess of the Holy Archangel Michael Convent.

Deputy of the Odessa City Council, holds the position of deputy chairman of the commission on spirituality and culture.

In 2007, the abbess was awarded the “Woman of the Third Millennium” award. A year earlier, “Best Christian Journalist of 2006.” Author of 15 books (mainly on the history of Orthodoxy and spiritual culture of Ukraine). He considers his main work to be researching the history of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. At the same time, as she herself admits, she does not have a higher education.

Abbess Seraphima is one of the founders of the all-Ukrainian public organization “The Path of the Orthodox named after the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir.” She founded the only museum in Ukraine - “Christian Odessa”.

Stands apart on our list nun Ksenia (Chernega). She is not a member of the Inter-Council Presence and does not participate in the work of synodal institutions, but by virtue of her position - she is the head of the Legal Service of the Moscow Patriarchate and at the same time the head of the Legal Service of the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society - she has significant weight in the administrative structures of the Church. In addition, she is a member of the Audit Commission of the Diocesan Council of Moscow.

Nun Ksenia (Chernega)

Even before taking monastic vows, K. Chernega, acting legal adviser of the Moscow Patriarchate, took part in the development of many documents with which the Church acted in dialogue with state authorities. There were property issues and problems related to the legal regulation of the status of religious organizations in Russia, concerning the system of church education, issues of interaction between the Church and museums, as well as many others.

The two commissions include the only nun among the eleven female members of the Inter-Council Presence who is not the abbess of the monastery: nun Photinia (Bratchenko). Mother Photinia is a member of the Commission on issues of organizing the life of monasteries and monasticism, as well as the Commission on issues of church governance and mechanisms for implementing conciliarity in the Church. In the first years of the patriarchate of Patriarch Kirill, nun Photinia held the position of head of the office management service, being the personal assistant of the Patriarch (order of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' dated April 1, 2009).

Four more abbess are members of the “profile” Commission on the organization of the life of monasteries and monasticism: Abbess Sergia (Konkova), abbess of the Seraphim-Diveevo convent, Abbess Elisaveta (Zhegalova), abbess of the Stefano-Makhrishchi monastery (Vladimir region), Abbess Moses ( Bubnova), abbess of the Holy Ascension Monastery of Olives in Jerusalem, and abbess Theophila (Lepeshinskaya), abbess of the Mother of God Nativity Hermitage in the village of Baryatino, Kaluga Region.

At the same time, only Abbess Elisabeth rules the stauropegic monastery.

Abbess Sergia (Konkova), the abbess of the Seraphim-Diveevo convent is undoubtedly an influential and authoritative figure. The Diveyevo monastery is currently one of the unofficial “forges of personnel” for convents in Russia. Abbess Sergia runs the largest convent of the Russian Church today: there are about 500 nuns in the monastery.

Abbess Sergia is also a member of the Collegium of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism.

Abbess Sergia (Konkova)

In the world - Alexandra Georgievna Konkova. Born on May 26, 1946. She graduated from the Dental Institute and worked as the head of the dental department of a hospital. In 1981, she entered the Riga Trinity-Sergius Monastery, a year later she was tonsured into the ryassophore, and in 1984 into the mantle with the name Sergius in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Soon she was transferred to obedience to the dean at the skete of the Riga monastery - Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya hermitage. On November 17, 1991, she was installed as abbess of the revived Diveyevo monastery.

— abbess Holy Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchi Convent. In the monastery - with the first days of the revival in 1993. She was elevated to the rank of abbess in 1997. In 2004, the monastery was given the status of stauropegy. Abbess Elisaveta is also a member of the Collegium of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism.

Abbess Elisaveta (Zhegalova)

Born in Dmitrov, Moscow region. Pukhtitsky Assumption Convent. November 25, 1997 Patriarch Alexy II elevated to the rank of abbess Holy Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchi Convent.

Abbess Moses (Bubnova)- Abbess of the Ascension of Olives Monastery in Jerusalem. The monastery houses the Spiritual Mission of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

Abbess Moses (Bubnova)

Born in Germany during World War II, she grew up in Belgium. She was brought up under the influence of Archbishop John (Maksimovich), from the age of nine she sang and read in the choir. Since 1975, in obedience at the Gethsemane Monastery in Jerusalem. In 1977 she was tonsured into monasticism, and in 1992 into the mantle. Since 1997, abbess of the Ascension of Olives Monastery in Jerusalem.

Known for her literary talents, she is the author of the famous books “Be of Dare, Daughter!”, “The Cry of the Third Bird,” and “Rhymes with Joy.”

Abbess Theophila (Lepeshinskaya)

The Inter-Council Presence also included a well-known publicist and socio-political figure, President of the Foundation for the Study of Historical Perspectives Natalia Narochnitskaya and President of the All-Russian Association of Public Organizations “National Anti-Drug Union” Yulia Pavlyuchenkova.

Natalia Narochnitskaya, as stated on its official website, is an “Orthodox ideologist.” However, for church management structures she is an “external” person, an independent expert who does not belong to synodal or patriarchal circles. Although, of course, her voice in the Inter-Council Presence cannot but be listened to: few of the members of the Presence can compare with Natalia Narochnitskaya, Doctor of Historical Sciences, author of many serious scientific works, in terms of intellectual baggage and scientific basis.

Natalia Narochnitskaya

ON THE. Narochnitskaya made a significant contribution to the creation and activities of significant scientific and socio-political movements, organized with the direct participation of the Russian Orthodox Church and having a significant impact on public life - the World Russian Council, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, the Foundation for the Unity of Orthodox Peoples, the Russian World Foundation.

Yulia Pavlyuchenkova Graduated from Moscow Humanitarian University (former Higher School of Art). Candidate of Political Sciences. President of the All-Russian Association of Public Organizations "National Anti-Drug Union", Chairman of the Board of the Charitable Foundation for Support of Orthodox Initiatives, Youth Programs and Projects. Mother of six children.

Yulia Pavlyuchenkova

Ekaterina Orlova- the second, along with Abbess Juliania (Kaleda), a woman - a member of the Presidium of the Inter-Council Presence. She is a member of three commissions: on issues of organizing the church mission, on issues of information activities of the Church and relations with the media, and on issues of countering church schisms and overcoming them. Despite the fact that Ekaterina Orlova joined the Presidium of the Inter-Council Presence, apparently, her participation in the work of this body is quite formal: the editor of the Danilovsky Evangelist publishing house of the Moscow Danilov Monastery is a not so well-known figure throughout the Church.

Ekaterina Orlova

5.

Most of the women nuns presented in the list can be seen on major holidays at patriarchal services in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. If the place on the right side of the sole is reserved for secular V.I.P. persons, then the left side at such services is traditionally occupied by holders of abbot's crosses.

At a service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Photo Patriarchia.ru.

Abbess Georgiy (Shchukina), abbess of the Gornensky monastery in Ein Karem (near Jerusalem). He enjoys great spiritual authority and has been running the Gornensky monastery for more than 20 years.

Abbess Georgiy (Shchukina)

Born on November 14, 1931 in Leningrad. During the Great Patriotic War she survived the blockade and the loss of her parents. In 1949 she entered the Holy Dormition Pyukhtitsa Monastery, where she served as treasurer and choir director.

In 1955-1968. - nun of the Vilna Monastery in Lithuania. She took monastic vows on April 7, 1968 in Pyukhtitsy, where she labored until 1989. In 1989, she received an appointment to restore the monastery of St. Righteous John of Kronstadt on Karpovka in St. Petersburg.

On March 24, 1991, she was elevated to the rank of abbess. In 1992, she was sent to abbot’s obedience to the Jerusalem Gornensky Monastery.

Abbess Raphaila (Khilchuk), abbess of the Holy Trinity Koretsky Monastery (Rivne diocese of the UOC) - member of the Collegium of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism. This is the second representative of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on our list. The Koretsky Monastery traces its history back to the 16th century. The monastery received stauropegic status in 1984, back in the days of state atheism.

Abbess Raphaila (Khilchuk)

In the world - Khilchuk Lyubov Ivanovna. Born in May 1953 in the village. Kogilno, Vladimir-Volynsky district, Volyn region. At the age of 22, in 1975, she entered the Koretsky Monastery as a novice. In 1978 she was tonsured into the ryassophore, and in 1983 she graduated from the regency department at the Leningrad Theological Seminary. In 1991 she was tonsured. She was elevated to the rank of abbess on July 26, 2006.

Abbess Philareta (Kalacheva), abbess of the stauropegial Holy Dormition Pyukhtitsa Monastery (Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate). She is part of the Collegium of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism.

Abbess Philareta (Kalacheva)

The late Patriarch Alexy II had a special place in Pyukhtitsy; memories of his youth were associated with the monastery of the Patriarch. In Soviet times, Pyukhtitsy - one of the few convents that did not close - supplied abbesses for convents for the entire Russian Orthodox Church.

A graduate of Samara University, Abbess Philareta is also a woman of diverse talents: for example, last September an exhibition of her photographs “Monastery” was held in Tallinn.

Abbess Seraphima (Voloshina), abbess of the stauropegial Ioannovsky Monastery (St. Petersburg). The monastery on Karpovka is the only stauropegial convent in St. Petersburg. Moreover, the monastery received stauropegy almost the first among other women’s monasteries that opened or reopened in post-Soviet times - in December 1991.

Abbess Seraphima (Voloshina)

Born in 1956, she began her monastic life in Pyukhtitsy. Since April 29, 1992 - abbess Ioannovsky stauropegic convent.

Abbess Feofania (Miskina), abbess of the stauropegial Pokrovsky convent (Moscow). Without any exaggeration, the Intercession Monastery can be called the most visited monastery in the capital: the relics of the Holy Blessed Matrona of Moscow, who enjoys great veneration among the people, are kept here.

Abbess Feofania (Miskina)

In the world Miskina Olga Dmitrievna. Pupil of the Holy Trinity Diveyevo Monastery. She was appointed abbess of the Intercession Monastery, which was renewed in 1994, on February 22, 1995. She was elevated to the rank of abbess on April 4, 1998.

Abbess Afanasia (Grosheva), abbess of the stauropegial St. John the Baptist Convent (Moscow).

Abbess Afanasia (Grosheva)

Born on July 28, 1939 in the city of Shcherbinka, Moscow region, in 1973 she entered the Holy Dormition Pukhtitsa Convent, since 1998 the dean of the Holy Dormition Pukhtitsa Convent, since 2001 the abbess of the St. John the Baptist Monastery.

On September 11, 2007, Patriarch Alexy II elevated nun Afanasia (Grosheva) to the rank of abbess.

Abbess of the stauropegial Mother of God Nativity Monastery, one of the oldest convents in Moscow (founded in the 14th century).

Abbess Victorina (Perminova)

In the world Elena Pavlovna Perminova. Born in 1954

Abbess of the stauropegial Holy Cross Monastery of Jerusalem (Moscow).

Abbess Ekaterina (Chainikova)

In the world - Chainikova Ekaterina Alekseevna. Born in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, s. Tashtyp. In 1976, the family moved to the Pskov region, to the city of Pechory. In 1986, she entered the Pyukhtitsa Holy Dormition Convent as a novice.

In 1990, along with other sisters, she was sent to Moscow to carry out obedience at the patriarchal residence in Chisty Lane. Appointed to the post of commandant of the Moscow Patriarchate. She supervised the restoration and construction work at the patriarchal residence.

In 1991 she took monastic vows. In 2001, she became a monk with the name Catherine.

Since 2001, she has been appointed abbess of the Holy Cross Exaltation of the Jerusalem Stavropegic Convent.

Since 2006, in addition to her obedience, she has been appointed abbess of the Compound at the Church of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God behind the Intercession Gate in Moscow, with the responsibility for the speedy reconstruction of the destroyed temple.

Abbess of the stauropegial Khotkov Intercession Monastery (Moscow region).

Abbess Olympiada (Baranova)

In the world - Natalia Vladimirovna Baranova.

Abbess Faina (Kuleshova), abbess of the stauropegial monastery of the Trinity-Odigitria Zosimova Hermitage (Moscow).

Abbess Faina (Kuleshova)

In the world - Svetlana Vladimirovna Kuleshova. Born on April 1, 1968 in the village of Mebelny, Sterlitamak district, Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1995, she entered the Holy Trinity Belopesotsky Convent as a novice in the city of Stupino, Moscow region.

On April 8, 2008 she was tonsured a monk. On June 8, 2011, she was appointed acting abbess of the Trinity-Odigitrievskaya Zosimova Monastery of the Kuznetsovo settlement, Naro-Fominsk district, Moscow region.

By the resolution of the Holy Synod of October 5-6, 2011, she was appointed abbess of the Trinity-Odigitrievskaya Zosima Monastery. On October 16, 2011, she was elevated to the rank of abbess.

Abbess of the stauropegial Boriso-Gleb Anosin Monastery (Moscow region).

Abbess Maria (Solodovnikova)

Abbess Antonia (Korneeva), abbess of the stauropegial Nikolo-Vyazhishchi Monastery (Novgorod).

Pukhtitsa monastery student. Since June 30, 1990, abbess of the Nikolo-Vyazhishchi Monastery. The monastery received the status of stauropegia in October 1995. The monastery is small; today it has a dozen nuns.

In March 2012, by decision of the Synod, a collegium was established under the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism, which includes several more abbesses of women’s monasteries.

Abbess Varvara (Tretyak), abbess of the Vvedensky Tolgsky convent.

Abbess Varvara (Tretyak)

Abbess Evdokia (Levshuk), abbess of the Polotsk Spaso-Ephrosyne Convent (Belarusian Exarchate).

Abbess Evdokia (Levshuk)

Abbess of the Mother of God of Smolensk Novodevichy Convent in Moscow. The monastery is not stauropegial; it houses the residence of the Patriarchal Vicar of the Moscow Diocese, Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna.

Abbess Margarita (Feoktistova)

Abbess Paraskeva (Kazaku), abbess of the Paraskevi Khinkovsky convent, representative of Moldova.

Abbess Sofia (Silina), abbess of the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent in St. Petersburg.

Abbess Sofia (Silina)

The list does not include the abbess of the stauropegial monastery of the Kazan Ambrosievskaya Women's Hermitage, because after the death of Abbess Nikona (Peretyagina) in 2012, the monastery still has only an acting abbess.

6.

There are several more people on our list.

Abbess Nicholas (Ilyina), abbess of the Nikolsky Chernoostrovsky convent. The monastery in Maloyaroslavets is known for its work with children: since 1993, the monastery has operated the Otrada boarding house for girls from families with drug and alcohol addiction. It houses 58 pupils. The Otrada shelter became a kind of exemplary social project, implemented by the monastery with government support and the active participation of major benefactors.

A rare case for a diocesan monastery: it was visited not only by both of the last Primates of the Russian Church - Patriarch Alexy II (twice: in July 1999 and in August 2005) and Patriarch Kirill (in October 2012), but even by Patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria — in 1998

Abbess Nicholas (Ilyina)

In the world - Ilyina Lyudmila Dmitrievna. In May 2012, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, for her great contribution to charitable and social activities, she was the first in the country to be awarded the newly established Order of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine.

According to the statute of the order, it “is awarded to citizens of the Russian Federation and citizens of foreign countries known for their high spiritual and moral position and mercy for their outstanding contribution to peacekeeping, humanitarian and charitable activities, and the preservation of cultural heritage.”

Nun Olga (Gobzeva) . In the past, a famous actress of Soviet cinema is currently the chairman of the coordinating council of women's charitable organizations under the department for church charity and social service of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Nun Olga (Gobzeva)

Elena Zhosul is an adviser to the chairman of the Synodal Information Department, head of the department of journalism and PR at the Russian Orthodox University of the Apostle John the Theologian. A professional journalist, E. Zhosul was a correspondent for Interfax news agency for a long time, specializing in religious topics. Having moved to work in church structures, he actively participates in the formation of the information policy of the Russian Orthodox Church, and manages the program of regional training seminars for employees of diocesan press services.

Elena Zhosul

In recent years, the activities of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service have significantly intensified. Therefore, our list includes several of his employees who are in key positions and in one way or another coordinating social activities throughout the Russian Orthodox Church.

Marina Vasilyeva— Deputy Chairman of the department, coordinator and one of the organizers of the Orthodox volunteer service “Mercy”.

Marina Vasilyeva

Yulia Danilova is the head of the Publishing and Information Sector in the department of Bishop Panteleimon (Shatov) and the editor-in-chief of the “Mercy” website.

Yulia Danilova

Polina Yufereva is the head of the organization of assistance in emergency situations of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service, coordinator of the “Mercy” service. After the events in Krymsk, where the Church took an active part in providing assistance to the victims, Polina Yufereva was awarded the medal of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations “For the Commonwealth in the Name of Salvation” - “for the contribution of the sisters of mercy in providing humanitarian assistance to the population caught in emergency situations, as well as popularizing the profession rescuers and firefighters."

Polina Yufereva

Evgenia Zhukovskaya- specialist control and analytical service Administration of the Moscow Patriarchate. Graduated from the department of church journalism of the Russian Orthodox University. John the Theologian, currently a graduate student at MGIMO. He has been working in the Administrative Department since 2009, coordinating a whole range of issues related to interaction with the dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, including, in cooperation with the Synodal Information Department, issues of information activities of the dioceses. Member of the Union of Journalists of Russia.

Evgenia Zhukovskaya

7.

To summarize our research, we repeat: it is not comprehensive and rather formal. For example, such a factor as a person’s media status was not taken into account. In our case, this parameter in the vast majority of cases tends to zero, since the predominant nuns and abbess of monasteries on the list are not looking for PR, do not try to get into the frame once again, coming to the fore only when necessary. However, the same can be fully applied to the laywomen named in the list.

Yes, women in the Church are in secondary roles. But they fulfill these roles with dignity. It remains to wish them to preserve and increase the wealth of experience, knowledge and talents that allowed them to take the place where each of them performs their ministry.

Mother, you come from the city of Samara, you grew up there on the Volga and graduated from university. When did you first learn about the Pukhtitsa monastery and decide to connect your life with it?

While studying at the university, during the holidays, my mother and I decided to go to some monastery, spend a month of rest usefully, work hard, and pray. We asked our bishop, Metropolitan John, for his blessing and advice on where to go, and he suggested Pyukhtitsa. That's how I came here in the summer of 1991. I thought it would be for a month, but my heart remained here forever.

The desire to be a monastic appeared in me only after I visited Pyukhtitsa, met the sisters, saw how they live, and was surprised at how they work. I had never been to any other monastery before. I studied at the biology faculty of the university, at the department of embryology and genetics, went in for sports, and thought about going to graduate school. It was interesting, of course, but when I came here, everything turned upside down. I asked Mother Varvara to accept me, but she said: “When you finish university, get a diploma, then you’ll come.” I did so.

- Always want to understand why this happens?

This is the work of the Lord - this is the calling. He takes the heart. Something happens inside, and what is in the world becomes meaningless and unnecessary to you.

- How did your parents react to your decision?

Mom was a very religious person, but she never forced us children to go to church. If we can, we go, but if we can’t, I took it calmly. Mothers are good teachers, they know: in order not to break faith, not to make the church coercive, you need to be very tolerant and gentle.

My mother treated monastics with great respect and love. She said that she was very happy with the path I had chosen, but she said this with tears in her eyes. It was joy mixed with sorrow. Every feat of a monastic begins with the feat of his mother. Judge for yourself: a child is born, he must be imbued with affection and tenderness for the rest of his life, so that he grows up in love. You need to raise, feed, take care of him, and in the end all this is not for you, she must give all this to God. Of course, it’s hard... Therefore, I understand all the tears of mothers that I see when their daughters come to the monastery very well and sincerely sympathize. But in any case, mothers do not need to grieve, because all this will be rewarded a hundredfold. The Lord will never leave this sacrifice without reward.

Dad didn’t immediately understand my decision, but he didn’t forbid it either. Then, a few years later, he said: “What a feat this is, monasticism.” Unfortunately, due to illness, he was unable to come to Pyukhtitsa, where I think he would have liked it, but my mother came when she was alive. The sisters live in Samara and also come here.

My older sister was an ideal for me, I imitated her in everything. We are five years apart. She goes to the photo studio, and at the age of 6 I run after her, asking her to at least carry the camera box. As a result, she taught me how to take photographs. I was her chief laboratory assistant, preparing solutions. Then, when they bought her a new camera, her “Smena” was transferred to me.

- Previously, you could often be seen with a camera, you have many wonderful photographs, an exhibition of them was even organized in Tallinn. Do you find time to take pictures now?

I don’t remember the last time I picked up a camera. I miss him, and he probably misses me. It's in the closet. You can photograph the monastery at any time of the year or day, choose the angle and you will get an amazing photo. The place, of course, is fertile, there is always something to shoot, but now there is no time.

- This is understandable, because the abbess is responsible for the entire monastery.

Having lived for a long time next to Mother Varvara, I saw how worried she was about the monastery, how many worries she had. But the fact that this cross is so heavy, how much responsibility lies on the abbess, I began to understand only now. Mother was a workaholic by nature; work never ended for her. One job was completed and another began in parallel. It was a tough regime, her regime.

- Do you continue to support this regime?

It’s not for me to judge how I work, but in any case, we must try to stay within the framework that mother set for the monastery, for its internal and external life.

- In the last years of Mother Varvara’s life, you were her right hand. When did she say that she would like to see you as abbess?

This happened during her illness, in early November 2010, when she began to say that it was time for her to retire. And then mother turned to His Holiness the Patriarch for permission to appoint me as acting abbess of the monastery.

- How did the ceremony of initiation into the dignity of abbot take place?

This happened in Moscow in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, on the eve of the anniversary of His Holiness the Patriarch. At the same time, the belt of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought from Athos, and there in the Temple are the relics of St. Philaret of Moscow. I bear the name of this saint in monastic vows. All these events came together, and for me it was a huge celebration. On Saturday, November 19, at the end of the all-night vigil, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' elevated me to the rank of abbess in the Throne Hall of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

- It is known with what love Patriarch Alexy II, who had been here since childhood, treated Pyukhtitsa. Is it true that Patriarch Kirill also visited the monastery as a child?

He also loves our monastery, and indeed came here as a boy, when he lived with his parents in Leningrad. Our old sisters remember him well. His father was the famous archpriest Father Mikhail, an amazing preacher. Abbess Georgia said that during the war she listened to his sermons, and all the parishioners cried, because it was impossible to remain indifferent to his words.

During our personal meeting, Patriarch Kirill asked about many sisters by name. And for Mother Varvara, his attention, one might say, extended her life. She was seriously ill, and after being tonsured into the schema, we thought she would leave us. She refused food, even water. I didn’t eat anything for three days. And then - a call from His Holiness the Patriarch. She was already hard of hearing, so the speakerphone was on, and I was nearby and I remember how warmly and sincerely he congratulated her on accepting the schema - the great angelic image. After this call, mother simply came to life - and began to eat, and stayed with us for another month and a half. This is what simple human attention means. But this is the Patriarch! But he found the time and congratulated. How dear and pleasant it was to Mother Varvara!.. And we will remember this all our lives, we will never forget his fatherly attention.

- How does Pyukhtitsa live today?

The same as before: we work, we pray. We hope that the Queen of Heaven will strengthen us so that we can continue to live like this. Sisters come to the monastery in order to be saved, to serve God and people, and this way of life must be preserved.

- Mother Varvara said in one of her interviews that some come to the monastery to live, while others come to be saved. How do you explain this?

If a person goes to a monastery because he has nowhere to live and nothing to eat, that’s one thing. And the other leaves everything in order to truly save the soul, to serve God. And for him, every test is only a special providence of God for him, so that he can know himself more deeply, heal his mental illnesses... But the first ones who go to the monastery in order to live more comfortably without worries, it is very difficult here, and, as a rule, they They can’t stand it and leave.

- Are there any mandatory conditions for accepting a person into the monastery?

We ask who is the confessor, who gave the blessing to go to the monastery - and specifically to Pyukhtitsa, because there are confessors whom the whole world knows, and usually people turn to them to find out the will of God. They have great spiritual and life experience. And if there is the blessing of such a confessor, then the possibility of error regarding the choice of a person’s life path is reduced to a minimum.

The person is also given a probationary period. When talking, I always say: “Come, stay, we’ll look at you, you’ll look at us.” After all, monastery life is not easy, let them try themselves. And, of course, a person should not be bound by family obligations, because it is known that spouses have a certain obligation to each other and to young children. And when entering a monastery, a person devotes himself entirely to serving God and the Church.

- Some people think that a monastery means peace and quiet.

They see the external splendor and are seduced by it, not realizing that behind this lies enormous human labor. The sisters really work like bees, tirelessly. The whole of Pyukhtitsa stands thanks to their efforts.

- Are there many people now who want to come to your monastery and stay here? Where are these people from? If from other countries, how is the issue of obtaining a residence permit resolved?

Not as many as before, when they came mainly from Russia. Many monasteries there were then closed. And now hundreds of monasteries have opened in Russia. So today they mostly come to us from the Baltic states. As for obtaining a residence permit, with God’s help in this regard, all issues are successfully resolved, we are heard and understood.

- You said that the monastery lives an ordinary life. But the modern world certainly brings into it something that was not there before. For example, can sisters have a mobile phone today?

It is not forbidden to have it, but many sisters themselves refuse it as unnecessary. This is unnecessary fuss. If you need to call your family, I always allow you to use the office phone. The nurses responsible for certain jobs have mobile phones, and when I need them, I can quickly find them to make the necessary orders or discuss something.

- What about radio, TV, Internet, newspapers, magazines?

Some sisters listen to the Radonezh radio station, where they broadcast very interesting spiritual programs, but, unfortunately, we don’t always get it well. But there is no TV in the monastery, it is of no use here, and there is simply no time to watch it. A monk’s life is busy, scheduled, one might say, minute by minute. The day begins early and ends late: service in the temple, obedience, in addition, you need to take care of yourself - clean your cell, do the laundry, read the prayer rules. So there is a lot to do, and on short winter days you won’t always be able to get it done. Is there Internet in the office, as now without it, e-mail? Someone joked that the Internet is man's friend. This is true if you use it for good.

We subscribe to magazines and newspapers to keep abreast of events, but many sisters are not tempted by them. Young people may still be interested in reading, but those who are older may not. All this distracts from prayer. When Mother Varvara asked me to make a selection of the most interesting articles for her, I remember that it took a lot of time.

- But now the sisters of the monastery have much less manual labor in the fields and meadows, and should have more free time?

Of course, there are tractors, mowers, and special devices for chopping wood. All this helps, but it is impossible to do without manual labor. Over time, the farm became larger, not smaller, and a farmstead was added in Vasknarva. Yes, time brings its own adjustments to the life of the monastery, modern technology, but this is all external, it does not relieve us of the necessary burden of obedience. The most important thing for us is to preserve the main thing, excuse the tautology. More precisely, so as not to radically change or break the inner core of monastic life.

My friends were quite surprised when they talked about how, while driving near the monastery, they saw sisters playing badminton. This probably wasn't allowed before?

Mother Varvara looked at such things condescendingly and with a certain amount of humor. The young sisters found badminton somewhere and played. In extreme heat, for example, mother would let us all go to Lake Peipus to relax for a while. And the water refreshed their strength so that the next day the sisters could again obey in the heat. The sisters swam and played ball. We are all living people. A monk is not a person in a case, he also needs rest, a change in activity, and we must remember that monasticism is determined not by the external, but by the internal state of a person.

- What do you think is the significance of monasticism for worldly people?

St. John Climacus wrote: “The light of monks is Angels, and the light for all people is monastic life.” Today, monastics, like a hundred years ago, serve God and people, and monasteries, as we know, are the guardians of the Orthodox faith and monastic traditions. This is a place where prayers are offered for the whole world, and through prayer the monks participate in all human problems. After all, the greatest power that the Church used in transforming the world was the power of grace-filled prayer, prayer to God for everyone and for everything. This is why we need monasteries. And it is no coincidence that monasteries have always been the focus of the spiritual life of the Church, and the spiritual well-being of the entire Church largely depended on the condition of the monasteries and the spiritual health of the monastics.

The influence of monasteries on people's lives largely shaped the image of piety. According to the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov: “Acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved,” and the very fact of the existence of the monastery serves spiritual enlightenment - after all, people are always drawn to the active monastery, and the consecrated places influence people, elevating their souls, giving them the opportunity to escape from worldly vanity and think about the Eternal.

Nina Voropaeva "North Coast"