Abbess Philaret Smirnova. Pukhtitsa: an uninterrupted tradition of female monasticism. And then you swam in a completely different direction ...
Protodeacon of the Russian Orthodox Church Andrey Kuraev in LiveJournal told his version of the origin of about 300 million rubles. (approximately $ 4.7 million) personal savings of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) Alexy II (Alexey Ridiger), hung on the accounts of the Russian Vneshprombank, which lost its license.
Alexy died in 2008, and now Abbess Filaret (Alexandra Smirnova) is claiming the money of the deceased. The protodeacon noted that the 37-year-old Metropolitan Alexy met the 30-year-old nun Filareta in 1966, and she was his housekeeper until the death of the patriarch. In 1976, Alexy left all his property to Filareta in his will.
“I suppose the property was not so big then: an apartment and a summer house in Moscow, plus similar property in Estonia. But it began to grow rapidly in the years when Alexy’s personal patriarchate coincided with the years of market life in Russia. There was a lot of money and power. Real estate has become completely different and of a different class," Kuraev wrote.
He suggested that Alexy could have forgotten about the will of 1976, and Filareta did not remind him "of his mortality."
The protodeacon suggested that it was inconvenient for the patriarch to go to banks himself and replenish his accounts, so he could issue a power of attorney for Filaret, who, thanks to this, found out about the presence and condition of some of his assets.
“This does not mean that Alexy really saw in her the heiress of these accounts. And I am convinced that she did not know about all the accounts and did not have access to all (especially to foreign ones). We know that after eight years after the death of the testator, Filareta's accounts in Vneshprombank alone turned out to be over 300 million rubles, but we don't know how much money was in these accounts eight years ago and how much of it Filareta spent or transferred," he stressed.
According to Kuraev, the abbess shared part of the assets of the deceased patriarch with the new head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill.
“I know that Patriarch Kirill had a tough conversation with her immediately after her election. If she stayed in Moscow, it means that she nevertheless shared some of the patriarchal stash she inherited and known only to her.
But Vneshpromtorgovskie accounts, most likely, hid. To transfer such amounts somewhere would mean to light up. Yes, and where? And why? So they lay (moreover, the percentages in 2008 were high). Filareta simply formalized the entry into the inheritance, but did not take the money," he said.
Deacon added that Filareta probably missed the deadlines for compiling "lists of creditors" in the event of a bank failure, which are needed to pay insurance compensation.
“If Filareta received an insurance payment, she would automatically be in the register of creditors. If she is suing for this, it means that she did not go through the authorities for the sake of a miserable millionaire,” he summed up.
Earlier, Abbess Filareta filed an application with the court demanding that she be included in the list of creditors of Vneshprombank. Patriarch Alexy II made a will in 1976, naming Filareta as his heir. Now she is the abbess of the Moscow metochion of the Pyukhtitsky Assumption Stauropegial Convent in Estonia.
Lawyer Stanislav Kravtsov, representing the interests of Smirnova, told Dozhd that he did not know about the origin of the money that was on the accounts of his client. According to him, as part of the bankruptcy case
"Vneshprombank" established the requirement of Smirnova in the amount of about 200 million rubles.
Alexy II was Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia from 1990 to 2008.
In December 2015, Vneshprombank's clients began to experience difficulties in obtaining deposits. On December 18, the Russian Central Bank introduced temporary administration into the financial institution for a period of six months, and from December 22, a moratorium on satisfying the claims of the bank's creditors for a period of three months.
In January 2016, the RBC agency reported that 1.5 billion rubles belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church “hung” in the troubled Russian Vneshprombank.
Nun Filareta: “We believe that the monastery will be reborn in its former glory”
The Nizhny Novgorod Exaltation of the Cross Monastery is one of the most remarkable women's monasteries 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 Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. And for the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery, this is also the patronal feast of its main church. The nun Filareta tells our correspondent about today's revival of the former glory of the monastery, its achievements and difficulties, about what the great feast of the Exaltation means for the sister community and how they celebrate it.
Matushka, tell us what condition the monastery is in today, how is its restoration progressing and what problems do you face?
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 choristers has been built in the cathedral.
The installation of the five domes of the cathedral church is underway, the repair of the roof is 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 finish the work in the near future. There is some particularly good news. Under the very altar of the cathedral of the monastery, in the crypt, is the Church of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God. It has been undergoing restoration for two years, and now it is ready for consecration. Restoring what was destroyed, the sisters set up a children's Sunday school in one of the buildings. The guys study the Law of God, the girls are separately engaged in needlework. An Orthodox medical center has been opened at the monastery, where priests and laity bearing church obedience receive help.
After reconstruction, about 100 nuns and novices will be able to live in the monastery. This requires, if possible, to restore 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 the providence of God our monastery again acquires great shrines. In the cathedral for the worship of believers, a large cross-crucifix 4.5 meters high is exhibited, which in 2005 on Good Friday in Jerusalem was carried by the way of the Savior by a group of Nizhny Novgorod pilgrims led by Bishop George.
The monastery also received another shrine - a cross with a particle of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, presented by Vladyka to the nuns of the monastery on the patronal feast. A glorious tradition has been revived: on Easter Saturday, the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is brought to us from the Oran Monastery for men.
Holy Cross Monastery is located in the city. Perhaps this circumstance causes difficulties in the life of the monastic community?
With the growth of Nizhny Novgorod, the once secluded Monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross found itself in the very center of Nizhny Novgorod, and this, of course, causes difficulties. However, the location is wonderful. At the beginning of the 19th century, Bishop Moses called the place that the monastery now occupies “true” and “blessed”. And indeed, although the bustle of the city is a stone's throw from us, silence, tranquility and prayer reign outside the walls of the monastery.
It is important to note that despite the fact that our sister community moved from the Zachatievsky monastery to the Origin, and then to the Exaltation of the Cross, it everywhere retained its charter unchanged, established by the founder, Blessed Theodora.
This charter constitutes the spirit of our community, no matter what walls we stay in, no matter where we are. Blessed Theodora, whom we revere, is an example for our sisters and for all women in general, an example of humble service to God and people, leaving vain glory and wealth.
The upcoming feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is certainly significant for the Exaltation of the 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 opened to people, and, therefore, the resurrection into 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 sung: “Lord! A weapon against the devil Thy cross gave us." 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 Exaltation of the 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 the lost, therefore on this day we would like to see as many believers as possible in the monastery cathedral.
Particularly gratifying is the participation in the festive divine service of pupils of the medical college and children from the neighboring boarding school. Since I first crossed the threshold of the monastery three years ago, refreshments have been arranged here on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, joy and love reign among the people gathered for prayer.
From the editors: to everyone who wants to help in the revival of the glorious Holy Cross Monastery, we inform the address of the monastery and its bank details.
603022, Nizhny Novgorod, Oksky congress, 2 A, tel.: 433–92–25, 433–76–85
TIN 5262043748 KPP 526201001 account 40703810700820000145
BIK 042202772, ZAO Nizhegorodpromstroybank,
Kanavinsky branch of Nizhny Novgorod, c / s 30101810200000000772
Your version of the origin about 300 million rubles. (approximately $4.7 million) personal savings of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) Alexy II (Alexey Ridiger), hung on the accounts of the Russian Vneshprombank, which lost its license.
Alexy died in 2008, and now Abbess Filaret (Alexandra Smirnova) is claiming the money of the deceased. The protodeacon pointed out that Metropolitan Alexy, 37, met with 30-year-old nun Filareta in 1966, and she was his housekeeper until the death of the patriarch. In 1976, Alexy left all his property to Filareta in his will.
“I suppose the property was not so big then: an apartment and a summer house in Moscow, plus similar property in Estonia. But it began to grow rapidly in the years when Alexy’s personal patriarchate coincided with the years of market life in Russia. There was a lot of money and power. Real estate has become completely different and of a different class," Kuraev wrote.
He suggested that Alexy could have forgotten about the will of 1976, and Filareta did not remind him "of his mortality."
The protodeacon suggested that it was inconvenient for the patriarch to go to banks himself and replenish his accounts, so he could issue a power of attorney for Filaret, who, thanks to this, found out about the presence and condition of some of his assets.
“This does not mean that Alexy really saw in her the heiress of these accounts. And I am convinced that she did not know about all the accounts and did not have access to all (especially to foreign ones). We know that after eight years after the death of the testator, Filareta's accounts in Vneshprombank alone turned out to be over 300 million rubles, but we don't know how much money was in these accounts eight years ago and how much of it Filareta spent or transferred," he stressed.
According to Kuraev, the abbess shared part of the assets of the deceased patriarch with the new head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill.
“I know that Patriarch Kirill had a tough conversation with her immediately after her election. If she stayed in Moscow, it means that she nevertheless shared some of the patriarchal stash she inherited and known only to her. But Vneshpromtorgovskie accounts, most likely, hid. To transfer such amounts somewhere would mean to light up. Yes, and where? And why? So they lay (moreover, the percentages in 2008 were high). Filareta simply formalized the entry into the inheritance, but did not take the money," he said.
“If Filareta received an insurance payment, she would automatically be in the register of creditors. If she is suing for this, it means that she did not go through the authorities for the sake of a miserable millionaire,” he summed up.
On December 4 - 5, 2008, an unprecedented CRIME in terms of cynicism, cruelty and blasphemy was committed in Moscow: a triple murder, including the patriarch of All Russia Alexy II
The people of Russia have every right to know the truth about how their patriarch ended his life, having stood at the head of the Church for 18 years.
Lord Almighty.
In addition to this Icon, the Derzhavinskaya (May 5, 1999, Orenburg region) and Kamyshinskaya (July 5, 2010, Volgograd region) Icons of the Almighty bleed in Russia.
The last Service of the Patriarch in the Donskoy Monastery at the shrine of St. Tikhon.
04.12.2008
BRUTAL RITUAL MURDER. Three servants of the Church were killed: Patriarch Alexy II, his chauffeur, Vladimir Mikhailovich Ivanovsky, and the abbess on duty, mother Filareta Smirnova. The driver and mother disappeared on December 5, 2008. I have not been able to get any information about them for 5 years now. Mother Filareta found Patriarch Alexy in his chambers. The picture was terrible: the walls, icons, floor, furniture were covered in blood. The patriakh was lying on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood with three holes in his head. After that, the abbess herself disappeared without a trace.
After analyzing the facts and carefully considering all available evidence, BEAM recreates the picture of the atrocity as follows. On December 4, 2008, on the Feast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos and on the day of the enthronement of St. Tikhon, Patriarch Alexy II served the Liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, then a Moleben at the shrine of Patriarch Tikhon in the Donskoy Monastery. The Patriarch's state of health was satisfactory; he treated the arrhythmia at the end of November in Munich. On December 5th, his important speech at the Russian People's Council was scheduled.
When returning to Peredelkino (probably around 6 or 7 p.m.), misfortune struck: the patriarch's car got into an accident. As evidenced, a KAMAZ flew into the oncoming lane. This is confirmed by a high-ranking source in the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, whose testimony is cited by Novaya Gazeta journalist Aleksey Golovinsky (see the article "The Patriarch Who Multiplied the Flock" 08.12.2008). As a result of this accident, the driver, Ivanovsky Vladimir Mikhailovich, died. The patriarch himself remained alive, and he was taken to Peredelkino, possibly by ambulance or service car.
THE CRIME IS CAREFULLY HIDDEN from the people and the world community. All films of external and internal surveillance were confiscated by the FSB and have not yet been discovered or made public. All witnesses who could at least know something were destroyed, eliminated, intimidated. Not a single doctor, not a single witness spoke, did not make a single official statement, except for Kirill Gundyaev. Full SILENCE! A complete blockade in the media of any materials on the death of the patriarch, from the very first day of his death, continues to this day. The official representatives of the MP, Vigilyansky and Kuraev, either avoid answering, or openly lie, changing their testimony or claiming that their misunderstood. To say that all this is suspicious is to say nothing; it's all wild, frighteningly wild.
What exactly happened in the chambers of the patriarch after the accident is not known for certain. However, the fact remains: Alexy II was locked up in them, the phone was turned off, cut off from the world and any help, and then killed (presumably with three shots to the head). Perhaps the killers first counted on death or on the failure of the pacemaker battery as a result of an accident on the road. But since this did not happen, the killers broke into the chambers. In the morning at 8.30, after the patriarch did not appear for breakfast, he was found already lifeless and chilled. When death occurred is not known, since everything is classified, and a medical examination and an official conclusion on the causes of death, which were always available and always published even under the CPSU regime, apparently were not carried out at all.
It is emphasized that the patriarch "did not have a panic button." Firstly, this is hard to believe, since he had a pacemaker, which implies round-the-clock medical supervision; secondly, the patriarch had a cell phone, and on December 4 he called and talked with all the members of the Synod. Thirdly, if they couldn’t help in time, then why wasn’t a doctor called to the deceased Patriarch of All Russia to confirm the natural death? There is no information about the call of the doctor and about any medical conclusion. And this is no longer just a mistake, but a crime that speaks of a violent death that they want to hide. In exactly the same way, without any medical examination, on January 16, 2012, Metropolitan of Suzdal and Vladimir Valentin (Rusantsov) was killed in Moscow. He also had a pacemaker installed. knocked out huge electrical current. He was electrocuted.
Only one thing seems obvious: Patriarch Alexy II was martyred and received a martyr's crown. But precisely this fact, which is evidenced not only by people, not only "Actor Sadalsky", but also miracles, appearances, predictions of saints - the most important fact is hidden, actively hushed up, and by whom? figures of the same Church to which the patriarch devoted his entire life. Is it not important for the afterlife of the soul that the people know the truth, know what the martyr had to go through in order to atone for many of our sins? But the Patriarchy presented the death of its first hierarch as “ natural death from heart failure. Which in the case of Alexy II is not just and not only a lie, but also the greatest blasphemy, which is a heavy burden on all believers, on all ministers, on all members of the Church.
KIRILL BEHAVE INADEQUATELY. Not only did he look wild (his eyes wandered, his eyes rolled, his tongue stuck out, his speech was sometimes incoherent) and behaved, but he also spoke wildly about the deceased in a television interview on December 6. Gundyaev was clearly inadequate: either drunk, or so exhausted after some kind of orgy that he did not control his statements. It seemed that he did not understand at all where he was and what he was doing, because LIVE allowed open hate speech against the deceased. This interview shocked everyone with unheard-of cynicism, a "rational" approach to the death of a person and, in fact, was a self-confession and self-disclosure of the killer.
A blasphemous performance was created on the so-called. "The funeral of the patriarch" in the XXC. It was clearly not the patriarch lying in the coffin. The murdered patriarch had a head and legs. The body in the coffin had no head or legs. Hands folded on his stomach, with swollen and dislocated phalanges, with dirt under the nails and without characteristic freckles, did not belong to the patriarch. These were the hands of another person, seriously injured and most likely engaged in physical labor during his lifetime. So, these were the hands of the driver who died in an accident. That is, in the XXC they buried the murdered Ivanovsky, Vladimir Mikhailovich. Berl Lazar, with his entire Hasidic camarilla, defiantly did not show up for the farewell ceremony. Who is who, but he knew exactly whom the FSB officers had planted in the coffin.
MURDERS. MURDERS. MURDERS. And to this day, banditry, vandalism, violence and murder in the so-called. "Churches" controlled by the FSB continue. Dozens, hundreds of priests were killed in Russia. Whole families are killed, houses are set on fire, poisoned, defrocked, brought to death, children are taken into juvenile slavery. Killed 5 nuns of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent. ROAC priest Fr. Alexy Gorin. They also killed the Primate of the ROAC, Metropolitan Valentin Rusantsov. The priest was killed. Daniil Sysoev, a zealous exposer of heterodox wickedness. Actor Andrei Panin was killed for criticizing the patriarchy and Kirill. How many more Orthodox people will be killed by our enemies, who have climbed to the very heights of church and state power? HOW LONG?!
Warning to Alexy II from St. Theodosius of the Caves 5 years before his death.
It happened in the Altar of the temple in Astrakhan on October 28, 2002. The Patriarch intended to serve a Panikhida for the Victims of Dubrovka. Many archpastors, priests, ministers were present. This event has dozens of witnesses. Saint Theodosius appeared directly before the patriarch, with a staff and in a schema. There was no anger in his bright, piercing eyes, but a cruel reproach was noticeable. Alexy himself transmitted verbatim what he heard from the elder-abbot. “You and many of your brothers fell away from God, and fell down to the devil. And the rulers of Russia are not the rulers, but the crooks. And the Church indulges them. And do not stand at your right hand of Christ. And fiery torment awaits you, gnashing of teeth, endless suffering, if you don’t come to your senses, damned. The mercy of our Lord is boundless, but the path to salvation through the atonement of your countless sins is too long for you, and the hour of the answer is near. The patriarch was so shocked that he ended up in the hospital for several days. How he changed his life after this event, what deeds of repentance and mercy he began to do, only God is a Witness.
In any case, Alexy II openly went against the instructions of the FSB: he did not recognize the “found” remains of the Royal Family and did not appear at the “burial” ceremony in the Peter and Paul Fortress (1998). Did not recognize the "identification" carried out in the Pentagon (2008). Throughout Russia he glorified the Feat of the Royal Martyrs and the New Martyrs of Russia. He was not afraid of threats from the godless West and remained on the positions of faith when, at the PACE session in 2007, he declared to the world government: “Technological progress raises the issue of human rights in a new way. And believers have something to say about bioethics, electronic identification and other areas of technology development that are of concern to many people. A person must remain a person - not a commodity, not a controlled element of electronic systems, not an object for experiments, not a semi-artificial organism. That is why science and technology also cannot be separated from the moral evaluation of their aspirations and their fruits.
Phenomenon and. Ferapont of Optina to pilgrims 5 years before the death of the patriarch.
On the night of April 18, 2003, in Optina Hermitage, pilgrims from Tula had a phenomenon and. Ferapont (Pushkarev), one of the 3 martyrs who died on Easter 1993 in Optina. It was the 10th anniversary of their podvina for Russia, for the Russian people. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Feat of the Optina Martyrs, Hieroschemamonk Vasily (Roslyakov), Monk Trofim (Tatarnikov) and Monk Ferapont (Pushkarev). The humble monk entered the bus, in which a large group of pilgrims from Tula rested before the Early Liturgy, filling the bus with fragrance. First, he thanked for coming that very day and promised to pray for everyone. Then he talked about the Church, about the situation in Russia, about what needs to be done for Salvation. He gave the example of an ascetic, schema nun mother Sippora, asked to visit her cell and grave in Klykovo (12 km from Optina). " Handcuffs and shackles, prisons and camps have already been prepared for all believers and the Church today, Solovki has been barred, and lists have been drawn up. 2 days - and the new concentration camp is ready. But the mercy of the Queen of Heaven keeps Russia, " - consoled the monk. At the end of the conversation, he asked me to pray more fervently for Patriarch Alexy II, as he crucify on the cross, is being attacked great martyr. “Russia will shine, will still say its word in the destinies of the world, and a good life is destined for us, childbirth and childbirth” ...
We demand the opening of the so-called. "Tomb of the Patriarch" in the Cathedral of the Epiphany, conducting an examination and investigation.
PUTIN, WHERE DOES THE PATRIARCH DO?!
NOT TO THE RED BEARD - TO YOUR FAVORITE LOCKER?
Putin regime/Mendel/Gundyaev is throne on the blood and bones of the Russian people.
Icon of the Putin regime.
On May 5, 1999, when Putin began to blow up Russia and the KGB seized power again, the Icon began to stream myrrh, and soon the first drops of blood appeared on the face of the Savior.
Also since 2001 in the Voronezh region. the Icon of the Virgin Mary of Valaam (Kostomarov Holy Savior Convent) bleeds, and since 2008 the Icon of the Royal Family in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine (Church of the Royal Martyrs).
Prayer to the Miraculous Derzhavin Savior.
Lord Jesus Christ, on the Cross of Golgotha you endured the Crucifixion and shed Your precious Blood for the salvation of the human race in unspeakable torments, and now from Your Icon in the village of Derzhavino in the center of the Russian State you pour out abundantly. We pray, the All-Merciful Redeemer to ours, with great weeping and contrition, for our sins are innumerable, and our Savior suffers, even to the Blood, to us in reproach and condemnation, but also as a Sign of Mercy, a call to repentance and correction. Let the petrified insensitivity of our hearts be softened by the contemplation of the great terrible Mystery of Divine Suffering and Your Blood, poured abundantly from Your Face on the Icon.
Lord Jesus Christ! The Angels could not look at the Divine Blood that had flowed on Golgotha without fear and trembling: the Sun knew its own west and darkened at the hour when You shed Your Blood for us on the Cross, the earthly firmament shook like a sea, not enduring the weight of Her drops, and The veil of the Temple was torn. Do not let us, sinners, without trembling and shuddering of all our minds, look at this great Miracle from Your Icon in the village. Derzhavino revealed in the last times. Here we are, the servants of the indispensable, before Your Icon we cry: forgive us, sins and iniquities again and again Thee, our Savior, crucifying.
May this Sign be true - in anticipation of their torment in the last times and application of spiritual forces, faint-hearted - strengthening in faith, fallen away - return, not loving You - with love for God and for neighbors in ignition, Our Russian Power - in the promise of reconciliation with God and deliverance from the heterodox yoke. As You prayed to the Father on Golgotha for Your tormentors, saying: “They don’t know what they are doing,” so have mercy on us sinners who crucify Thee with their passions and lusts, but seek forgiveness before this Icon from the heart, and give the Orthodox people the courage of our fathers, understanding and Salvation for souls, the Russian Power in the sin of apostasy from the Holy Orthodox Faith, repentance, forgiveness and deliverance from troubles. May Thy mercy be upon us, Lord God, Thy Father Almighty and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Orthodox, pray to the Almighty,
Yeswill open to the people the location of the body of the murdered Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, AlexyII, martyr.
May God Resurrect and may His enemies be scattered!
Like the smoke disappears, let them disappear!
In Estonia, this is a special place of pilgrimage not only for Orthodox from Russia and the Baltic states, but also from many other countries. People come here from all over the world, regardless of the visa regime and border formalities. They go 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 to work and pray, while others direct their steps to these parts in order to endure a difficult but blessed monastic feat.
The monastery impressed me with its neatness and cleanliness. It was also neat and clean in the pilgrimage hotel, where I was placed for two days. The meal for the pilgrims was extraordinarily tasty and nutritious; I especially liked apple confiture and 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 some of their worries with the nuns.
The Pukhtitsky Dormition Convent was founded in 1891. According to legend, in the 16th century, the Mother of God appeared near the mountain in the village of Kuremäe. Near the place where the Mother of God appeared, the icon of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos was found in the branches of an oak tree. Since that time, local residents began to call the mountain Pyukhtitskaya, translated from Estonian - Holy. The holy righteous John of Kronstadt, the patron and spiritual mentor of the first sisters, played an important role in the formation of the monastery. Since 1891, the Pukhtitsky Monastery has not been closed for a single day; showed significant care for him since the time of the management of 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 monastic life
Since the foundation of the monastery, seven abbesses have changed in it. From 1968 until February 2011, she managed the monastery. The eighth abbess in November 2011 was Abbess Filareta (in the world - Ksenia Viktorovna Kalacheva). She comes from Samara, she entered the monastery in 1992.Mother Philaret says:
- I was born in an Orthodox family, my biography is the most common: school, then the biological department of the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of the 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. Parents every summer tried to take us, children, to the Black Sea. I was seriously engaged in swimming, and these trips to the sea not only brought joy, but also had a positive effect on my health. And somehow I returned home after another such trip, all tanned. Maybe I was in my third year or in my fourth year, I don't remember exactly. After the Sunday Liturgy, I decided to hurry up to the cross in order to venerate and run about my business. And at this time, our Bishop of Samara John (Snychev) preached a sermon.
– Future Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga?
– Yes, from 1969 until July 1990 he ruled the Kuibyshev diocese. Mom was his spiritual daughter, she loved him very much and turned to him for advice. So, on that Sunday, Vladyka was talking about people spending their days senselessly, carelessly wasting their time. He said that they lay on the beach like pigs, burning under the sun. I felt it was said for me. I decided not to approach the cross, quietly walked away and left the church in shame. At home I consulted with my mother: maybe we should go to the monastery, work hard, pray? And we will help the monastery, and it will be good for your soul. Mom answered: "Let's ask the bishop where he will advise, and we'll go there." Vladyka had just been transferred to Petersburg, and he blessed us to go to Pyukhtitsa. This is how my acquaintance with the Pukhtitsky monastery happened.
“In the summer of 1991, after passing the exams, I went with my mother to Estonia,” continues Mother Abbess. - Mom then returned to Samara to work, and I stayed all summer, I didn’t want to leave. I began to ask for a monastery. Mom, of course, understood everything, but she asked me to graduate from the university and get a diploma. I was in a different mood: well, who in the monastery will benefit from my profession - an embryologist and geneticist? What will I do with this diploma? However, Vladyka John also said that his studies should be completed. I asked Abbess Barbara, but her answer was the same: “Finish your studies!” It seemed to me then that the doors of the monastery were closed to me.- Probably, for you it became a big disappointment?
– Yes, a year of bitter expectation and testing has come for me. After all, I really liked it in the monastery, although I immediately noticed what a colossal work the sisters were doing. Everyone worked hard. I helped in the hotel, from morning to night and from night to morning. There was no free time at all. Sometimes they didn’t even have time to attend the service: they had to clean up after the guests, wash, wipe the dust ... Some say that all this is vanity. Of course, in all human affairs, you can’t get away from the bustle, but, despite the constant employment, the sisters never forgot about prayer. And the work was creative, for the glory of God and for the benefit of the holy monastery. As Matushka Varvara said, work can be equated with prayer if it is done with a sense 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 the mowing. The older sisters went to mow, and we left later to dry the hay. You start to stir up this hay (and the places here are damp, the heat is hard to bear), out of habit you get tired not so much from work as because of the heat. In addition, huge gadflies flew in the field and terrified. And in the midst of this heat and frightening insects, a voice sounds: “Sisters, go drink tea!”. This sister-samovar maker has melted the samovar and is calling. Everyone comes tired, sit down to drink tea, make fun of each other, but kindly, without any anger, without sarcasm. Immediately it became easy and good, and even fatigue passed. This captivated me, and therefore I already wanted to work with them, I wanted to stay with them forever. I was subdued by this sisterly love, although, of course, they could quarrel for a while, all the same people. But it was so different from what is happening in the world, everything was different, with a different attitude towards each other. I had never seen such a life before… But alas, I had to return to Samara to study. After Pukhtitsa, everything at home suddenly became alien to me, even my room. Mom, of course, was upset, realizing that I would leave.
“It’s hardest for mothers,” says Abbess Filareta. – They are the first to put this cross on themselves: after all, it is 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 the child to be with him, to support him in old age, console him, strengthen him. Parents go on a feat, letting their child go to a monastery and depriving themselves of consolation, but the Lord will reward them a hundredfold for this.
In Samara, Ksenia Kalacheva successfully completed her last year at the university and received her diploma, as Bishop John and Abbess Varvara had ordered her to. Saying goodbye to her native land, she bought a train ticket and left for Estonia, for Pyukhtitsa, which she loved so much, dreams of which overwhelmed her all the past year. Here Xenia again plunged into monastic life, but not as a pilgrim, but as a full-fledged resident of the monastery, carrying, together with all the sisters, the feat of labor and prayer, which she had chosen for the rest of her life. At first she helped in the monastery hotel, worked in the barnyard, then again there were labors in the hotel and, finally, obedience in the abbot's. Ksenia was tonsured into a cassock in November 1993, and into a mantle in March 2002. In November 2011, nun Filareta became Abbess of the Pukhtitsky Monastery.Who enters the monastery
Now Abbess Filareta is carrying out the hard work of managing the monastery, in which about 120 sisters live (of which about 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 nowadays, with the closed eastern border and the 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, as well as enter the monastery. Those adopted 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,” Matushka Filareta remarks with a smile. “Before, our Pukhtitsky monastery was the only convent in the USSR where a young girl could enter, not counting a few small monasteries that have survived on the territory of Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Moldova. But nowadays there are other problems. Unfortunately, very few now go to the monastery. This is the situation in Russia as well as in other places. I don’t even know what it is specifically connected with, but I suppose that there are many reasons ... Our time is very difficult. A huge country fell apart, the usual ideals were overthrown - all this, of course, was reflected in the new generation. I can’t imagine what we would have become if we grew up in the same conditions. And how much lies, cynicism falls on the youth through the media! Such concepts as fidelity, 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 such a less turnover, due to the visa regime. Among the reasons why few go to monasteries these days is 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 always in the monasteries there were most of all inhabitants precisely 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 speak 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, serving in prisons and hospitals, missionary work and church preaching.
“Yes, the freedom of the Church exists,” Matushka agrees with me. – But look how many sects have surfaced, how many people have gone to the side altogether. 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 the nuns. Thirty young girls stood in front of her, and she said: “No, girl, you don’t have a monastic path, no, you can’t go to a monastery ...” As a result, she chose three or four out of thirty. There were many who wanted to live in the monastery then. What now? For example, in 2011 we were approached by only four girls, three from Russia, and one from the Baltic States. Two had to be refused - one was seriously ill, could not carry out monastic obediences, and the second with small children (divorced). I explained to her that children must first be brought up and put on their feet, and that in the monastery you cannot hide from your duties and sorrows. Of course, many people who come to the monastery see the outward splendor, plunge into grace, but sometimes they don’t quite understand what a titanic work is behind it.“Really, a lot of work,” I thought. “After all, these are not only daily services, cleaning, cooking and taking care of the reception of pilgrims.” The monastery has a large subsidiary farm: 75 hectares of land on which they grow crops, various vegetables and fruits (including apples, from which they then make the confiture that I liked so much). There is a barnyard where cows, goats and chickens live. In May, on the day of St. George the Victorious, before releasing the cattle to the pasture, a water-blessed 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 a sewing, art and bookbinding workshops. In a word, everything in the monastery is aimed at living at the expense of the labor of one's own hands, without excessive help from outside.
“Thank God, everything in the monastery is working well and smoothly,” matushka emphasizes. - Although I will not hide it, we still need an influx of new residents, we need young forces. Moreover, we are the only stauropegial monastery of the Moscow Patriarchate in the European Union.
There are almost always a lot of pilgrims and sightseers in Pyukhtitsa. Estonians, who have nothing to do with Orthodoxy, also come here. I wonder what drives the natives of Estonia, directing their steps into the walls of the monastery: a purely cultural interest, a desire to get acquainted with one of the sights of their country, or is it still a desire to learn about the faith that the inhabitants 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,” Matushka Filareta emphasizes. - 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 all this. And it sounded very sincere.
monastic services
Life in Pukhtitsa, as in any other monastery, is unthinkable without daily worship. The main temple in which services are performed is the Assumption Cathedral. It is in it that the icon of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, miraculously found more than 400 years ago, as well as the miraculous image of St. Nicholas, the Pyukhtitskaya Icon of the Mother of God and other shrines of the monastery are located.Sometimes services are also performed in other churches - in the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, on the top of Pyukhtitskaya 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. Alexis and the Great Martyr Barbara, and also in the cemetery Church in the name of St. Nicholas and the Monk Arseny the Great. Divine services are traditionally celebrated in Church Slavonic, but in some cases, during cathedral services, individual litanies and exclamations may be pronounced in Estonian. Now three full-time priests serve in the monastery: Archpriest Dimitry Khodov, Abbot Samuil (Karask), and Priest Vyacheslav Karyagin.
“Archpriest Dimitry is the senior priest of our monastery, he has been serving with us for more than thirty years,” says Abbess Filareta. – Our second priest, Father Samuil, is an Estonian who converted to Orthodoxy. There is also Father Vyacheslav, a cleric 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 place Kuremäe for citizens of the CIS is behind the veil of the visa regime, people find the opportunity to come to the "Crane Mountain" (as a rule, consular workers are friendly to pilgrims). In addition, Estonia has no borders with the countries of the European Union (members of the Schengen), and after all, several million Orthodox Russians live in the EU, as well as Orthodox of other nationalities. And the doors of the Pyukhtitsa 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 made for the whole world and, of course, for the Estonian land, on which, by the will of God, this amazing and beautiful monastery happened to be.