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Reverend Stephen,
Makhrishchi miracle worker

St. Stephen, a great saint of God and a miracle worker, was the spiritual friend and interlocutor of the Monk Sergius of Radonezh, the first mentor of the Monk Cyril of Belozersky, a saint personally known and revered by the Grand Dukes Simeon Ioannovich the Proud and John Ioannovich II (the Meek), whose advice the saint listened to Prince Dimitri Ioannovich Donskoy, to whose tomb Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible made a pilgrimage. Prior to the 14th century, monasteries in the Russian northeast did not yet have their own history, but almost simultaneously within the limits of the Vladimir-Suzdal land there appeared several holy men who laid the foundation for monastic life. Following St. Sergius, they create monastic hostels "Sergius Interlocutors" - St. Sergius of Nuromsky, Euthymius of Suzdal, Dimitri Prilutsky, Methodius Peshnoshsky, Stefan Makhrishchsky, and then their disciples - Roman Kirzhachsky, Abraham Galichsky ...

Vladimir land at that time, far from us, was famous for its huge, impenetrable dense forests, which is why the cities that arose here were called "Pereyaslavl-Zalessky" and "Vladimir-Zalessky". God's chosen ones, seeking salvation not in the vanity of this world, not in splendor and glory, power and wealth, but in contemplative solitude, fasting and prayer, went into the Vladimir wilds covered with legends, sung in epics and songs, and here, zealous for the Lord, established holy houses. So the Makhrishchi monastery was founded by one of God's chosen ones - the Monk Stephen.

Very little is known about the childhood and youth of the future ascetic. He was born in Kyiv (within the Kyiv borders) at the very beginning of the 14th century and labored for many years in the Kiev-Caves Monastery, where he took tonsure with the name Stefan, probably in honor of the first martyr Archdeacon Stefan (the secular name of the Saint remained unknown). Stephen's parents, God-fearing and pious people, in adolescence gave their son the teaching of "reading and writing Divine books", in which he easily succeeded even before entering the Holy Monastery. Having begun asceticism in the monastery under the guidance of experienced elders, Stefan, as the ancient Life says, learned to refrain from passions, unceasing fasting, vigilant prayer and unquestioning obedience, setting an example of a strict monastic life and older monks. He was the first to come to the temple and the last to leave it, at prayer in the church he stood motionless, not moving from place to place until the end of singing or reading, not leaning against the wall, not shifting from foot to foot, having his hands bent, as if condemned . He listened unquestioningly to his mentors and served everyone so meekly and meekly that for his humility he gained the love and trust of the brethren. It is probable that the monk lived in the Kiev monastery for quite a long time and was already known in the southern Russian regions as an experienced ascetic.

St. Stephen's contemporaries were many, glorified as saints, reverends, whose incorruptible relics to this day rest in the Far Caves of the Lavra. Among them - Rev. Silouan the schema-monk, Archimandrite Ignatius, hermits Lavrenty and Rufus, Hypatius the healer, the warrior Titus, Arseniy the industrious, deacon Macarius, canonarch Leonty… The shepherds of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, who labored at the same time, were Saints Dionysius of Suzdal and Arseny of Tverskoy.
In the middle of the 14th century, the Monk Stefan left his native Pechersk monastery and went to Moscow land. Perhaps the reason for the departure of St. Stephen from Kyiv was the general disorder of the southern Church, or the persecution of the Orthodox in the south of Russia that had already begun at that time. The Monk came to Moscow, probably during the reign of Metropolitan Theognost, who blessed the ascetic for the feat of hermitage. Despite the persuasion of the Grand Duke of Moscow, John Ioannovich the Meek (1353-1359), to stay in any of the Moscow monasteries, St. Stephen asked permission to settle in a deserted and secluded place.

the ascetic went to the northeast and, after a long search, chose a quiet place for himself in the wilds of the forest, 35 versts from the monastery of St. Sergius of Radonezh, in the former principality of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, in the Kinelsky volost, near a small river called Makhrishche. Here he erected a cross, built a wretched cell and began to cultivate the land, and soon the surrounding inhabitants began to flock here, in need of spiritual advice and blessing. Heeding his relentless requests, the monk allowed those who wished to share with him the labors and sorrows of the desert life to settle nearby. And soon (no later than 1358) Saint Alexy of Moscow blessed with a letter the consecration of the church in the Name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity and the establishment of a monastic monastery with her, while Stephen himself was appointed abbot of the assembled brethren. From the Grand Duke John, Saint Stephen received a deed of gift for the use of the land and significant donations for the construction of the monastery.

The closeness of the location of the two monasteries and spiritual friendship closely linked St. Stephen and the abbot of the Russian Land, St. Sergius. They visited each other, each time having kind and lengthy conversations with each other, mutually comforting them in earthly sorrows. Once, enduring sorrows from the brethren, the Monk Sergius left his native monastery and came to the Makhrishchi Hermitage. In anticipation of him, the abbot of Makhrishch blessed him to strike the beater and with all the brethren went out to meet him. Bowing mutually to the ground, the ascetics asked each other for blessings, out of great humility not wanting to take on the primacy. As soon as St. Sergius, as a guest, was begged to bless Stephen and the brethren, after which the monks entered the church and, after performing prayer singing, talked for a long time about the salvation of the soul. The Monk Sergius spent several days in the Makhrishchsky Monastery, after which, with the monk of this monastery Simon, who knew the surrounding places well, he went further on his way and in a picturesque area on the steep bank of the Kirzhach River, with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexy, founded a monastery in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, in which he lived for about three years. The Monk Stefan himself accompanied his friend three miles from the monastery. At the source, in the place where they parted, a chapel was later erected, to which every year before the revolution he visited procession from the Makhrishchi Sergius parish church.

St. Stephen also had to endure many sorrows in the matter of organizing monastic life. The peasants of the village of Yurtsovo rudely rebelled against the monk, fearing that he would take possession of their lands. Ignoring the meek exhortations of the monk, they threatened to kill him if he did not leave the Makhrish desert. “God will forgive you, children,” the saint answered humbly, “it’s not you who are malicious, but the crafty devil!” With these words, the monk left the monastery, entrusting the management of it to the holy monk Elijah. Secretly at night, with his disciple Grigory, he left the monastery, going to the North, where, 60 versts from ancient city Vologda, in specific principality Avnezhsky, near the Sukhona River, (about 1370) founded the Trinity Avnezhskaya hermitage. The wealthy local landowner Konstantin Dimitrievich, who was later tonsured a monk by the Monk Stefan with the name Cassian, became a generous donor to the new monastery. The first inhabitants of the Avnezhsky monastery - Gregory and his disciple Cassian were killed by the Tatars in 1392 during the invasion of the Tatar prince Bekhtut, sent by Tokhtamysh to Northern Russia. The relics of the venerable martyrs, discovered in 1524, rested in the parish church of the abolished monastery.

The fame of the newly built monastery spread far and wide and reached the Grand Duke Dimitri (Donskoy), who commanded the Monk Stephen to appear in Moscow and granted land and forest land and lakes to both of his monasteries. The Life also mentions that the Grand Duke called the Reverend many times for spiritual conversations, and their last conversation lasted so long that many of the nobles marveled at such veneration by the prince of the Makhrish abbot.

A well-known ascetic in many Moscow princely houses, the Monk Stefan did not refuse conversations and instructions to those who came to him in faith. By the providence of God, it was arranged so that in a certain person named Kosma, who was seeking spiritual advice, an experienced elder saw the future great ascetic and saint Kirill Belozersky. A pupil and relative of the grand-ducal okolnichy Timofey Vasilievich Velyaminov Kosma was the treasurer of his estate, but from a young age he had a secret desire to retire to a monastery. Kosma was already about forty years old when (perhaps in 1380) St. Stephen arrived in Moscow. Upon learning of this, Kosma sought a meeting with him and with tears asked the abbot of Makhrishchsky to tonsure him as a monk, against the will of Timothy Vasilyevich. Apparently, the Monk Stefan clothed him in monastic robes (in a cassock) without tonsure and proper vows and prayers, but he gave him a new name - Cyril, and presented the case to the adamant guardian as if Kosmas had already been tonsured. The wrath of the roundabout was terrible, apparently, he was not even afraid to offend the monk, and only his God-fearing wife Irina softened the severity of Timofey Vasilyevich. Coming to his senses, he returned Stefan, reconciled with him and, yielding to his request, allowed Cosmas to retire to the holy monastery.

Tefan entrusted Cyril to the Archimandrite of the Moscow Simonov Monastery Theodore, a nephew and disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh, who made him a monastic tonsure. Having accepted the blessing of St. Alexis never to leave the monastery again, the monk returned to the Makhrishchi hermitage, where he served as igumen until the end of his days. He lived, according to the testimony of an ancient life, “struggling about the church dispensation and the hedgehog in the monastery of the copulation of the brethren, and about these salvations, like a father who loves children; teaching them not only in word, but also in deed and disposition, giving them an image in everything: he was meek from youth, and quiet and silent, and by divine scripture not only a listener and guardian, but also a creator. But many who see his humility and meekness, and moreover, the thinness of the vestment, do not crush his rector of the brethren, but one of the last in the brethren. Nikoli, for seeing him when he happened to be furious at someone who sinned, but with quietness, word and humility; be so merciful, as if asking a wretched or strange person to let go of a vain hand. And having heard this virtuous many blessed Stefan corrections around the place of that place, living people of Christ-loving parishioners for the sake of it.

Having reached a ripe old age (at the age of about ninety), anticipating the approach of his death, the monk gave his last instruction to the brethren, entrusting the management of the monastery to the holy monk Elijah. Having put on the great schema, on July 14 (NS July 27), 1406, the Monk Stephen gave up his spirit to the Lord. His honest remains were buried near the wall of the temple he had cut down. The fragrance that emanated from the body of the monk assured the orphaned brethren of the sanctity of their abbot, strengthening in them their zeal and desire to live according to the precepts of the elder who had departed into eternity: to keep the fear of God, to bear the tireless monastic feat, to remember the hour of death, to have unhypocritical love in communion and complete renunciation from the world.

After the repose of St. Stephen, the monastery founded by him experienced the most different times. There were periods of decline and periods of prosperity in its history. But always in this holy place one could feel the presence and grace-filled help of the hegumen of Makhrishchi, St.

The first successors of Saint Stephen - Abbots Elijah and Nicholas - strictly observed the precepts of the saint, and the day of his righteous death, according to the established custom, was sanctified with a special prayer.
In 1408, after the terrible devastation of Yedigeev, only a few monks remained in the ashes, who no longer retained the cenobitic charter. Only under Abbot Theognost (after 1425 - before 1462) did the restoration of the monastery begin.

However, subsequent abbots did not observe in all strictness the charter introduced by Stephen, and the veneration of the memory of the founder of the monastery was no longer so zealous. But even in these years, people came to bow to the grave of the reverend elder, over which, according to legend, three birch trees grew from one root, closed and fused with crowns. This green tent, spread over the resting place of the righteous, was, as it were, a prototype of that Trinity Church, which was erected on this site in the near future. A legend has been preserved dating back to the first third of the 16th century, about the hundred-year-old elder Herman, who spent days and nights in prayer and was awarded a wondrous vision. One night, leaving his cell, the elder saw a burning fire on the grave of St. Stephen, which illuminated the entire monastery with its light. The astonished elder hurried to wake up the abbot, and he, having gathered the brethren in the church, performed prayer singing to the holy Life-Giving Trinity. Soon Arseniy Sukharusov, hegumen of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, visited the monastery, and by his command a tomb was placed over the burial place of St. Stephen, covered with a veil, and on it was a large candle.

Saint Varlaam, who became abbot of the monastery in 1557, with particular zeal collected all the information about the life of the holy founder of the monastery and presented his work to Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow. With the blessing of the saint, hieromonk of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow Joasaph compiled a service and life for St. Stephen, and Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible donated funds for the construction of a stone church in honor of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. During this construction, the relics of the saint were miraculously found. When the coffin was opened, over the relics they found a black leather belt depicting the Twelfth Feasts, similar to which the monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery wore. This belt was invested in a silver cross, from which many began to receive healing.

The relics of St. Stephen were left under a bushel, and a stone church (in honor of the reverend) was soon built over them, which became the northern chapel of the new Trinity Church. The aisle was consecrated in 1558 in the presence of Tsar Ivan the Terrible himself and Tsarina Anastasia, who donated vestments for the throne, shrouds for icons and a cover for the shrine of the saint.

Many healings were performed at the tomb of St. Stephen: over demon-possessed, paralyzed and dumb, who themselves came or were brought to the monastery by relatives. Especially many cases of healing from epilepsy are known. Some of the miraculously healed remained forever in the monastery or came here every year to worship the shrine.
In 1997, a temple in his honor, destroyed in 1942, was restored over the resting place of St. Stephen, and a shrine was placed over the relics resting under a bushel. The memory of St. Stephen

Decided to stop for desert living. From the Grand Duke, he received not only a charter for the use of the found place, but also abundant donations for the construction of the monastery. Stefan spent his time in the wilds in tireless work and unceasing prayers. The rumor about his piety quickly spread among the surrounding residents, a considerable number of people who wanted to settle in his desert began to flow to the saint.

Soon there was a need to build a temple, a refectory, cells, as well as a fence. Through the joint efforts of the brotherhood, all this was built, and Stefan went to Moscow to St. Alexis for a blessing for the consecration of the church he had built in honor of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity.

In the Makhrishchi monastery, as in the monastery of St. Sergius, a cenobitic charter was introduced.

Saint Stephen was cordially received by both the prince and Saint Alexy, who consecrated him to the rank of presbyter and made him hegumen. The cloisters again granted lands and lands. In the capital, the Monk Stefan, at the request of Kosma, a relative of the grand-ducal okolnik Velyaminov, performed a small rank of monastic vows (ryasophore) over him with the name Cyril, and at his intercession monk Kirill was admitted to the Simonov Monastery, where Archimandrite Theodore, the nephew of St. Sergius, was hegumen.

In this monastery, Cyril was soon tonsured a monk, in the future he became a Belozersky ascetic. Upon returning to the Makhrishchi Monastery, Saint Stephen continued his spiritual life, which he had been accustomed to from his youth. The monastery, through his prayers and labors, was in a flourishing state. Having reached a ripe old age and foreseeing the approach of death, the Monk Stephen gathered the brethren and gave them the last instruction, drawing attention to the acquisition of the fear of God, the unceasing memory of death, and especially unhypocritical love, while strict preservation of monastic community. He entrusted seniority in the monastery to Hieromonk Elijah. Himself, having put on the schema, soon gave up his spirit to the Lord. It was July 14, 1406. The monk was buried near the walls of the Trinity Church built by him. Over time, three large birch trees grew over the grave from one root, at the tops they overshadowed the resting place of the righteous with a tent. With the relics of St. Stephen, many healings took place.

The disciples of St. Stephen of Makhrishchi were Reverend Cassian and Grigory Avnezhsky, the founders of the Avnezhsky Trinity Monastery (abolished), 60 miles east of the city of Vologda.

The Monk Gregory, a prosperous landowner, followed the Monk Stephen and took tonsure when the latter was establishing the Makhrishchi Monastery, which he had founded. Together with Stefan, Gregory then retired to the Vologda limits and here in the Avnezh region (in the Totem district), near the river. Sukhona, near the Yuryev stream, they founded a monastery (about 1370). The newcomers were helped a lot with generous offerings by the local wealthy landowner Konstantin Dmitrievich, who later took tonsure in the monastery with the name Cassian. Reverend Gregory and Cassian continued their labors and deeds in building the Avnezh monastery and removing St. Stephen from it, Gregory as rector, and Cassian as a cellarer. In 1392, they died as martyrs during the looting and burning of the Avnezhsky monastery by the Kazan Tatars, who plundered the Vologda borders.

At the end of the XV century. there was a strong fire, the monastery was in extreme desolation.

In 1557, Varlaam became abbot, whose great-grandfather, Hieromonk Serapion, labored at the Makhrishchi monastery, remembered St. Sergius and Stefan and left notes about them. The abbess of Varlaam was the time of a new heyday of the monastery, the number of brethren amounted to more than 60 people. With special zeal, he collected all the information about the life of St. Stephen and the miracles that were from his tomb, and presented his work to Tsar John Vasilyevich the Terrible and Metropolitan Macarius. With the blessing of the Metropolitan, Hieromonk of the Moscow Danilov Monastery Joasaph wrote a life and service to St. Stephen. Apparently, the repeated visits by the tsar to the Makhrishchsky monastery and his donation of 200 rubles for the construction of the stone church of the Holy Trinity on the site of the burnt one are not accidental. During construction in 1557, the relics of St. Stephen were found incorrupt. Upon opening the coffin, a fragrance was wafted. On the chests of the monk was an undecayed leather belt with an embossed image of the Twelfth Feasts. At the behest of Metropolitan Macarius, the belt was invested in a gilded silver cross, from which many began to receive healing. With the blessing of the hierarchy, the relics of the monk were left under a bushel, the Church of St. Stephen was built over them, which became the northern chapel of the Trinity Church. The chapel was consecrated in 1558 in the presence of Ivan the Terrible and his wife Anastasia, who donated vestments for the throne, veils for icons and a cover for the shrine of St. Stephen. The construction of the Trinity Cathedral Church continued for about ten more years. It was a four-pillared one-domed temple with a stone gallery from the west and south and a chapel in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.

In 1570 hegumen Varlaam was consecrated Bishop of Suzdal and Tarusa. He remained at this chair until 1583, when he retired, returned to the Makhrishchi monastery, where he died two years later.

In the Time of Troubles, “from the war of the Lithuanian people and from Russian thieves, that monastery was ruined to the ground” - it is written in the letter of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich in 1615, when the Makhrishchi monastery was assigned to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.

According to the inventory of 1642, in addition to the Trinity Church with side altars of St. which was the refectory. There were no outbuildings in the monastery at that time. But, despite such a meager situation, the monastery, by order of Peter I, was to send young healthy workers with axes, pitchforks and spades from the villages that belonged to him to build a new city of St. Petersburg.

The new rise of the Stefano-Makhrishchsky Monastery is associated with the name of Metropolitan Platon of Moscow (Peter Levshin, 1731-1812), an outstanding theologian and preacher who did a lot to transform theological schools. Vladyka loved the Makhrishchi monastery and summer time spent two or three weeks within its walls. The Trinity Cathedral was built under his care, gate churches Sergius and the Holy Primate Apostles Peter and Paul, as well as a stone fence with four towers (1791-1792, one tower was destroyed in Soviet time).

In 1812, the metropolitan was in Bethany, but when the French troops began to appear in the vicinity of the monastery, then he, already a decrepit and sick old man, was taken away by his relatives to Makhra. The Metropolitan was buried in the Bethany he created. in the Transfiguration Church, destroyed by atheists. After his bodily death, he had the grace to heal children, whom he loved very much during his lifetime. The father of the future metropolitan was a poor rural clerk, his name was Yegor Danilov. The mother of the future saint, Tatyana Ivanovna, as soon as the child began to speak, taught him to pronounce the name of God, and taught him prayers. From the age of 6 they began to teach him to read and write, and at the age of 8 he already read and sang fluently on the kliros, and could alone direct the service on the kliros during the liturgy. He had a pleasant voice, for which he was loved in the village, and later at the academy. By the age of 9, Petr Levshin was sent to the Kolomna Theological School, because. his father by that time had been ordained a priest, but not in the Moscow, but in the Kolomna diocese.

The father insisted that his son be admitted to the best school in Russia at that time - the Slavic-Greek-Latin school, later the academy. During the teaching, Peter Levshin lived in great poverty with his older brother Timothy, the clerk of the church of Sophia the Wisdom of God. He went to school barefoot, and only put on shoes at the threshold. He had a cheerful disposition. He studied very well, he was even transferred through the class, just the one in which they began to study the Greek language. Having no money to buy a textbook, Peter begged a Greek textbook for a loan from a friend. Latin, rewrote it and began to study self-taught. At first he turned to the help of his comrades, and then he began to go to the Greek monastery, listened to the reading and singing of the Greeks, noticed their pronunciation.

Over time, he achieved such perfection that after graduating from the theological academy he was appointed teacher of the Greek language. He also studied geography, history, French and other sciences, all my life I studied something new. Success in studies led to the fact that when a university was opened in Moscow, Petr Levshin was appointed there as a student, but refused, as he aspired to become a monk. According to academic custom, Petr Levshin was entrusted with the duty to interpret the Catechism according to Sundays. For these interpretations, he was called the "second Chrysostom" and the "Moscow apostle." Many people came to the interviews, some with children.

In the room where Peter Levshin talked with the people, the closeness and stuffiness were excessive, so that the young preacher was sweating during a two-hour sermon. The zeal of the listeners inspired him. Subsequently, he said that he had never been as happy as at that time, and he had never been listened to with such zeal and greed, even when he became a bishop. He explained by the fact that “then he was purer in heart,” and with humility said that now his sins had multiplied. A year after graduating from the Theological Academy, Petr Levshin was transferred as a teacher to the Theological Seminary at the Lavra. Soon he was tonsured a monk with the name of Plato, and a year later he was ordained a hieromonk. The archimandrite of the Lavra at that time was Gideon (Krinovsky; later Bishop of Pskov, Izborsk and Narva), a court preacher and a member of the Holy Synod. While living in St. Petersburg, the young man called Hieromonk Platon to him more than once. Sermons about. Plato in St. Petersburg attracted the attention of some dignitaries. He became known to Empress Catherine, who appointed him the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich, and 10 years later, when Plato was already the archbishop of Tver, the bride of the heir, Natalia Alekseevna.

The mother of the bride, the Duchess of Hesse-Darmstadt, insisted on the appointment of Plato, who read in German the work of Archbishop Plato "Abridged Christian Theology". After the death of Natalya Alekseevna, Bishop Platon was also a teacher of the law and the second wife of Pavel Petrovich, Maria Feodorovna. This situation forced the Right Reverend Plato, despite his monastic rank, sometimes to behave like a secular person. He attended receptions in the palace, he even visited the theater, in the large box appointed for the members of the Synod. But he was burdened by court life, and he was glad when he was appointed archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and he could live in the quiet Sergius Compound according to his position. In September 1770, Platon was appointed archbishop in Tver, and in January 1775 he was transferred to Moscow, leaving the archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. But, as a member of the Synod and the teacher of the Grand Duchess, he still had to live in St. Petersburg. Only with great difficulty, referring either to illness or to the need to personally deal with diocesan affairs, did he manage to "take leave" for some time in the Lavra and the diocese. Metropolitan Platon dealt with diocesan affairs with his characteristic energy.

He paid particular attention to theological schools and monasteries. He asked for an increase in the funds of the Tver Theological Seminary from 800 rubles a year to 2,000, he also increased the number of students. He built a hostel (bursa) at the Moscow Theological Academy and brought the number of students from 250-300 people up to 1000. He started small schools at monasteries at the expense of monasteries. He took care of the development of the spirit of true churchness in the pupils, nominated the most gifted to serve the Church. There were a lot of his disciples-hierarchs, and he filled almost all of Moscow and even the surrounding area with learned and respectable priests A strict monk, he built and beautified many monasteries and resurrected in them the spirit of true monasticism, calling for this the disciples of the great elder Paisius (Velichkovsky). Sergius of Radonezh.He composed an akathist to him and throughout his life took great care about the splendor and well-being of the Lavra.

At the beginning of his ministry in Moscow (1778), he richly decorated the Lavra with the 30,000 rubles received from the treasury, making wall paintings and new iconostases in almost all churches (in the Trinity Cathedral - overlaid with silver), arranged the Serapionovskaya and Maximovskaya tents and much more. In 1808, the heads of the Trinity and Assumption Cathedrals, and on the Dukhovskaya and refectory churches were covered with copper and gilded. In the Trinity Cathedral, over the relics of St. Nikon, a silver canopy on pillars was made, at a cost of 20,000 rubles, and a silver shrine. In 1795 the Metropolitan donated to the Trinity Cathedral a silver menorah, a tabernacle weighing 9 pounds of gold and 32 pounds of silver. This seven-candlestick in the form of a branch divided into seven parts with chased leaves is an example of artistic jewelry work and, at the same time, the Christian mood of the donor. On the seven-candlestick there is an inscription: “Yours from Yours, sinful Plato brings to You through Your Bishop, the All-Honorable and Great Bishop in the summer ... like a widow, accept my mite.” Metropolitan Platon founded the monastery of Bethany, in 1779 he renewed the Nikolaev Berlyukovskaya Hermitage, in 1808 he built a church in the name of the Holy Trinity in the Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchsky Monastery. He restored the bishops' chambers in Moscow, destroyed and plundered during the plague revolt in 1771.

The great merit of Plato (then still an archbishop), shortly after his appointment to the Moscow cathedra, was the destruction of the notorious "sacrum" at the Spassky Gates, where priests who were removed from their places, and others who were banned or under trial, gathered. For the smallest price (5-10 kopecks) they were hired to serve Mass. “This was an unbearable temptation, but God helped the archbishop endure all this, so that there was no trace of this, although it continued, perhaps after several hundred years, and although the former bishops tried to do the same, they did not have time.” And not only did they not have time, but just a few years ago, Bishop Ambrose's attempt to destroy this sacrum was one of the reasons that led to the rebellion and his murder, so that, among other things, considerable courage was also required for this undertaking. Metropolitan Platon also reduced the number of house churches, united parishes so that they could comfortably support priests, as he noticed that the poorer the clergy, the more prone they were to various vices. He “did not have much respect” for the then-accepted elections of clergy and clergy by the parishioners, which often led to abuses. At first, many were dissatisfied with this, but then they saw that the priests assigned to them were good and much better than those chosen by them, and they stopped grumbling.

As Plato himself wrote, “in the proceedings, he did not look either at strong faces, or at requests, or at tears, if he found it inconsistent with legal justice and with disorder in the general order of the flock.” When he considered it necessary, he did not take into account the fact that he could incur royal displeasure. This was used by the enemies of the metropolitan, who feared his mind and influence. There was a time when only friendship with Potemkin saved him from royal disgrace. For communication with I.V. Lopukhin and I.P. Turgenev almost accused him of Freemasonry.

It was justified only by N.I. Novikov, a letter from Lopukhin, who wrote that "he could not convince Plato to join their society." Emperor Paul ascended the throne. He loved his former teacher, corresponded with him for 15 years, but he was unpleasantly impressed by the fact that during the coronation, the metropolitan suggested that he take off his sword at the entrance to the altar. Pavel noticeably lost interest in him after Bishop Plato began to protest against the awarding of orders to the clergy.

Meanwhile, the strength of the metropolitan was drying up. Even at a relatively young age, he suffered from severe renal colic (from kidney stones), which sometimes drove him to complete exhaustion. Over the years, the attacks intensified, making him fear for his life. More than once he asked for retirement, but received an answer that he could, when he wanted, live in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, entrusting the affairs to the vicar. In 1805 or 1806 he suffered a blow from which the metropolitan never recovered. His strength was weakening. He gradually handed over the management of affairs to the vicar, Bishop Augustine (Vinogradsky). Finally, in 1811, he was released completely until he recovered.

But after that (already at the very end of his life), Metropolitan Platon had to endure a terrible spiritual shock - the invasion of Napoleon, the capture and fire of Moscow. When the capital already began to empty, its streets were filled only with convoys leaving it or convoys with military shells and the wounded, then Metropolitan Platon arrived from Bethany in last time to look at his beloved Moscow. They say that he wanted to go to the Borodino field or Poklonnaya Hill and with his blessing to inspire the army to the battle for Moscow. Arriving at the Chudov Monastery on August 28, he sat down in an armchair on the entrance porch and looked at the Kremlin for a long time with tears, as if saying goodbye and as if foreseeing his eternal separation from him and his fate. On September 1, Metropolitan Platon returned from Moscow to Bethany, and on September 2, the French occupied the capital. But even after that, the metropolitan did not want to leave Bethany in any way, and only when the enemy began to appear in nearby villages, forced by those around him, he left for Makhrishchi.

Metropolitan Platon was one of the greatest Russian saints of the 18th century and the most prolific spiritual writer of his time. He not only wrote and preached, but encouraged others to do the same. He had the gift of the word both in preaching and in stories. His sermons are not a model of eloquence, but it was necessary to see and hear his recitation - without impulses, always moderate, always worthy of dignity and shrine. His speech was full of life, and if not everyone, listening to his sermons, wiped away tears, then, of course, no one left the church without regret and a desire to listen to him again. Intelligent and educated, possessing a rare ability to distinguish and put forward talented people, he loved the temple and worship, cherished church antiquity and took care of its preservation. The deep sensitivity of his soul manifested itself during worship; almost every time he read the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, he burst into tears from spiritual tenderness; He always approached the Divine Meal with tears. Distinctive properties his noble soul was gratitude, frankness and candor. His memory is reverently honored from generation to generation, and the signs of God's mercy, the healing at his tomb, which take place from time to time, serve as an undoubted herald of the fact that behind the tomb the deceased has found himself a blessed part of those who are being saved.

They talked about Metropolitan Platon, told instructive incidents from his life. This is a sign of love and respect. Once, in the Trinity Lavra, a monk brought him a piece of moldy black bread with a complaint that they were fed with such bread. The Metropolitan, taking this piece, began to eat it, meanwhile started a conversation with the monk, and when he had eaten, he asked, as if forgetting what the monk had come to him with. “Complain about bad bread,” the monk replied. "Yes, where is he?" - asked the Metropolitan. "You were willing to eat it." - "Well, go and do the same as me," the Metropolitan said to him calmly. Abbess Methodius of the Novodevichy Convent loved to remember how the late Metropolitan Platon visited her during it. When he came to her unexpectedly and she asked him to stay for dinner, he would certainly ask: “And the old buckwheat there is? I won't sit down to dinner with you." If there was no old buckwheat porridge in the abbot's cell, then the novices went in search of all the cells and, of course, almost always found the lord's favorite food. Taking advantage of the suspicion of Emperor Paul, court intrigue abused this weakness of a good-natured sovereign.

Envious people, wanting to damage Plato in the eyes of the sovereign, knowing that the emperor was in correspondence with the metropolitan, told him: “Your Majesty, you keep writing to Plato, and he does not appreciate your letters, because he pastes them over (windows. " Pavel flared up, and suspicion sunk in his soul. Arriving in Moscow, he unexpectedly arrived at Plato in Bethany. Plato met him with joy, but the gloomy appearance of the emperor made it clear to Plato, who studied him, that he was going through a painful state. "Take me to your rooms," said the emperor. Plato leads him, and the emperor keeps looking at the windows.

You didn't show me all the rooms!

Sovereign! You have seen everything, Plato answered.

No, not all, - the emperor objected irritably.

And if you are in doubt, sir, take a piece of chalk and mark every door. If you see a door without a mark - well, that means you haven't been there.

Convinced that the metropolitan had told the truth, Pavel, entering the hall, revealed to him the reason for his strange act: “They told me that you paste over the windows with my letters.”

The Metropolitan kneels down and says: “Sire! I begged you and now I beg you: do not believe you slander. It is doubly detrimental to you: detrimental to a person, detrimental to a monarch.”

Touched sincere word his spiritual mentor, Paul threw himself on his neck, as he was on his knees, and began to kiss him. Meanwhile, the empress, who until then had been admiring the laurel from the drawing-room window, suddenly turned to the side of the hall. Seeing how the emperor almost covered the kneeling metropolitan with himself, she rushed there. "What? What?" she cried desperately. The emperor, realizing her mistake, laughed. He raised the Metropolitan and said to him: “Call, Vladyka, your cook and order dinner for him. I will dine with you and stay the night."

The emperor was cheerful, inspected the area and spent the whole day in conversation with the famous saint, and leaving the next day, ordered him to arrange imperial coats of arms in the living room, in memory of his stay and overnight stay. One day Metropolitan Platon was standing in the choir stalls of the chapel of the Transfiguration, and some priest stood next to him, who had never seen the metropolitan with whom he was dealing. Before leaving with the Gospel, the clerk put a candle in the northern door, and he himself, believing that while they were reading “Blessed”, he would have time to run down, ran along the stairs. Meanwhile, the deacon approaches with the Gospel to the northern doors, and there is no one to carry the candle. The Metropolitan, noticing him, says to the priest: "Take a candle, carry it." - “It is not appropriate,” the priest answers, “I am a priest.”

Then the metropolitan goes himself, takes a candle, presents it, and at the entrance of the deacon to the altar stands against royal doors while the priest gave the blessing, then he takes the candle to the south side and, putting it in its place, bows to the priest: “And I am the metropolitan!”

The big is seen from a distance, Metropolitan Platon took his place in the history of the Russian Church, but for his contemporaries, often the little things of life obscure its main content. Vladimir Governor Prince I.M. Dolgorukov, in his notes, expresses dissatisfaction with the metropolitan, precisely in connection with the arrangement of the Makhrishchi monastery: “In the county, we notice the Makhrinsky monastery, beloved by Plato and a deserted place. According to its position in the office of the Bishop of Vladimir, but, having belonged to the Trinity Lavra from time immemorial, it remained under the direct command of the Moscow Metropolitan. Plato especially talks about the beauty of the interior and exterior of the monastery. Built by his labors and his own dependence new temple following the example of his Bethany desert, in two tiers through with choirs and a throne raised on a mountain. The entrance to the church is majestic. It is a pity that the saint put his gray hairs to shame here by undertakings that are completely indecent to his dignity and the house of God. Firstly, the royal doors are made of piece mirrors, in which every object is reflected a thousand times before the praying priest and deacon. I spoke about this with Plato himself, and out of respect for his excellent gifts, I will not say anything here about the seductive jokes with which he answered my notes. Secondly, on the local image of John Chrysostom, the lips of the saint are gilded in order to distinguish the image of the saint from others before the people. Finally, enslaved to the spirit of pride more than many worldly people, Elder Platon erected in the temple opposite the royal doors his own portrait in secular ribbons and honors with the inscription: “The Image of Plato.” Did our God-inspired forefathers and teachers live, feel and think this way?”

In the 2nd half of the XIX century. gates were built in the southern monastery wall. The Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh was built in 1792 over the eastern ones, and over the northern ones - the Primate Apostles Peter and Paul (1806, destroyed in Soviet times). Today the temple has been restored.

The rector's cells and the fraternal building were placed at the northern wall of the fence in 1768-1769. The building received its present appearance in the 2nd half of the 19th century.

In 1807-1808. Trinity Church was rebuilt on the site of a demolished temple of the 16th century. It was consecrated by Metropolitan Platon on August 23, 1808, the day of the Giving of the Feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos.

The sermon was delivered by Vasily Drozdov, a young teacher of eloquence and rhetoric at the Moscow Theological Seminary, the future Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Filaret (canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992), who often visited the monastery with the Metropolitan.

In the Trinity Church, the prototype of which was the Church of the Transfiguration of the Spaso-Bethany Monastery erected by Bishop Platon, the iconostases stood one above the other: below was placed the throne in honor of John Chrysostom, and above it - in honor of the Holy Trinity. Wide stairs led to the upper temple, and it itself consisted of wall galleries on columns. After 40 years, it was supposed to rebuild the cathedral, but the hierarch Metropolitan of Moscow Filaret (Drozdov) pointed out that “everything cannot be changed, perhaps out of respect for the labors of the elder St. Platon internal arrangement, as it is arranged for them, the thrones should not be altered when arranging the floors.

During this repair, a two-story vestibule with vaults was added to the western facade, in which on the second floor there was a sacristy and a library, and from the north a chapel over the grave of the locally revered Bishop Varlaam. On the spiritual life in the monastery at the end of the 18th century. can be judged by the following remark by Metropolitan Platon: “His Eminence found the most worthy of praise, that the brethren work obediently, clean, have a common meal, host strangers, set up a mill, conduct church services carefully, according to monastic custom ... they do everything in harmony and love ... May the Lord grant the builder good diligence, skill and success, especially in the construction of the souls of the brethren.

Until 1833 Hieromonk Gennady was the builder of the Makhrishchi Monastery. He was a cell-attendant at the builder of the Nikolo-Peshnoshsky Monastery, Hieromonk Maxim, famous for his high life. On Peshnosha he successfully held a treasury position. He was transferred as a builder of the Makhrishch Monastery, by the resolution of Metropolitan Filaret of January 13, 1833, from where he was transferred to David's hermitage, on February 2, 1836 he was dismissed from his post with a transfer to the brotherhood of the Catherine's Hermitage, Podolsk district of the Moscow province. He died in 1851 and was buried in the cemetery of the Moscow Intercession Monastery.

In 1850, Hieromonk Varlaam (1854-1865) was appointed the builder of the Makhrishchsky Monastery. He came from freedmen, was tonsured a monk in the Oransky Mother of God Monastery, the Nizhny Novgorod diocese, from 1834 was the builder of the Ostroyezersky monastery, in early 1845 he was admitted to The Spaso-Bethany Monastery, in 1848 he was made the builder of the Gethsemane Skete, in 1849 he was fired from his post due to illness and placed in the Lavra hospital. On July 3, 1853, he was appointed steward of the Lavra and a member of its established cathedral. On July 23, 1854, he was appointed builder of David's Hermitage. He was promoted to abbot on September 2, 1856 by Metropolitan Filaret at the Trinity Compound. He had a golden pectoral cross. Died 11 Jan. 1865, aged 64. According to Archimandrite Pimen, rector of the Nikolo-Ugresh Monastery, Varlaam is "a good-natured and hospitable person." He was buried in David's Hermitage near the St. Nicholas Church.

In the 19th century The Makhrishchi Monastery continued to be improved: in the 1850s. a hotel was built in the 2nd half of the 19th century. refectory.

In 1887-1890, under the rector of the monastery, hegumen Amfilohiy, a three-tiered bell tower was added to the Trinity Church according to the project of a non-class architectural artist Alexander Petrovich Beloyartsev (1858-1892). Equestrian and cattle yards, a greenhouse appeared. In 1900, through the efforts of the builder, Hieromonk Alypiy, a shelter was set up in the monastery for orphans and children of the surrounding residents. There was a parochial school and a large library.

In 1906, the 500th anniversary of the death of St. Stephen was solemnly celebrated. In the center of the monastery there were two churches - Stefanovsky and near it, from the south - Trinity. In the first, the relics of the founder of the monastery rested under a bushel. Repeatedly this temple was rebuilt and at the beginning of the century, according to the project of the architect Alexander Felitsianovich Meisner (1859-1935), it was crowned with a tent.

In 1792, by order of Metropolitan Platon (Levshin), during the construction of the stone fence of the monastery, the Church of St. Sergius was built over its eastern gate with a special entrance to it from the side of the monastery settlement. This church was given to the parish clergy for worship and church services. It was not heated, and in winter there were no services. In 1824 the church was sealed due to dilapidation, the parish was left without a church at all. The parish had no money to build a new one, and the clergy of the monastery settlement turned to Bishop Parfeniy (Chertkov) for guidance. His Grace Parthenius knew the needs of the parish; in 1821 he was traveling through Makhra to Vladimir and stopped to spend the night here. At that time, Archbishop Simeon (Krylov-Platonov, in 1821 moved to the Yaroslavl cathedra, d. 1824) passed through Makhra on his way from Tver to Yaroslavl, Native sister he was married to a Makhrinsky priest. The saints were good friends and spent several days in Makhra, then they went together to Aleksandrov and parted ways there.

Vladyka Parthenius, when he learned about the sealing of the temple, took the most vigorous measures to establish a parish church in Makhra, separate from the monastery. 6 versts from Mahra, in the village. Yam, at that time the landowner Yakovlev built a stone church, in the still strong wooden church that stood in the village, services were not performed. His Grace Parthenius advised the Makhrin parishioners to buy this church, and he himself wrote to Yakovlev, asking him to cede the wooden church to the Makhrin parish. Yakovlev gave up the church with the iconostasis and icons for 300 rubles. For 6 weeks, the temple was transported and assembled in a new place.

In 1857, in the monastic settlement, a stone church of St. Sergius of Radonezh was built with side chapels of St. Nicholas of Myra the Wonderworker and Tikhvin icon Mother of God. The wooden church was abolished.

The clergy consisted of a priest, a deacon, and a psalm reader. Since 1843 priest John Solovyov served at the church. The clergy had their own wooden houses, which stood on church land. In 1873, the county zemstvo in the village opened a school, which was located in separate house built on church land. In 1884, 47 boys and 8 girls studied there.

In Soviet times, the temple was closed, in the 1950s. the rotunda that crowned it, the temple building itself and the upper tier of the bell tower were destroyed. They set up a club in the church.

During the period of persecution of the Church, clergy and clergymen and active parishioners of the church were repressed. Ivan Abrosimovich Zabnin (b. 1869), hieromonk of the Makhrishchi monastery, after the revolution did not have certain place residence, wandered, in 1937 sometimes illegally served in the church with. Mahra, Alexandrovsky district. Arrested 7 March 1937

Anisim Ignatievich Slinko (b. 1877) before the revolution of 1917 was a peasant in the village. Chernigovka Nikolsko-Ussuri district Far Eastern Territory. In 1926 he became a deacon and until 1930 he served in one of the churches in Rostov Yaroslavl region. In 1931 he was arrested and sentenced by the board to three years of exile in the Northern Territory. He served his term of punishment and entered the service as a deacon of the Makhrishchi church. Here he "joined the counter-revolutionary group "The Brotherhood of Secret Monasticism" (an organization invented by the investigation), became one of the leaders of this group, carried out active anti-Soviet agitation among the population", in March 1937 he was arrested and on June 15, 1937 sentenced to exile in Kazakhstan for 5 years. Then he lived in Vladimir region. In 1959, the case against Slinko A.I. terminated for lack of corpus delicti.

Dmitry Andreevich Danilin (b. 1880), from a family of peasants, since 1912 in the city of Kineshma was a regent and teacher of singing in an elementary school. Since 1913 he was in the ranks of the old army in Kostroma. In 1918 he returned to Kineshma and began to serve as a psalmist in various places, since 1926 - in the village. Mahra. Arrested in February 1931, he was slanderously accused of "meeting together with other citizens to discuss methods of fighting against joint events, conducting anti-Soviet agitation and fighting the collective farm movement." Danilin D.A. sentenced July 3, 1931 to deportation to the Northern Territory for two years.

Agafya Nikanorovna Orlova (b. 1869), a native of the village of Vyazmino, Aleksandrovsky District, until 1916 was a peasant woman, then a nun. After the revolution of 1917 she worked in Moscow, in an almshouse. In 1937, without any specific occupation, she lived in the village. Mahra. Arrested March 6, 1937.

Anna Ivanovna Pichugina (b. 1877), a native of the village of Stepkovo, Alexandrovsky District, from the age of 15 was a nun at the Assumption Monastery in the city of Alexandrov.

From 1918 she lived “wherever she could: in the village of Stepkovo, pos. Karabanovo, in the village. Mahra, at the church. In 1929, “for anti-Soviet agitation,” she was exiled to the Rostov district of the Yaroslavl province, where she lived until 1933. In 1937, she was a cleaner in the church with. Mahra, arrested March 6, 1937.

Dmitry Nikolaevich Shikalev (b. 1883), a native of the village of Neglovo, Aleksandrovsky district, where he lived. Served as warden at St. Mahra. Arrested on March 6, 1937. Orlova A.N., Pichugina A.I., Shikalev D.N. were accused of "being active participants in the counter-revolutionary group "The Brotherhood of Secret Monasticism", participating in anti-Soviet gatherings, where they conducted anti-Soviet agitation and spread provocative rumors." A special meeting at the NKVD of the USSR Shikalev D.N. sentenced on July 15, 1937 to a 5-year imprisonment in a forced labor camp, the rest were sent to Kazakhstan for 5 years.

In 1922 the monastery was closed. The buildings housed either an orphanage, or a tourist base, or a pioneer camp.

A modern researcher (T.P. Timofeeva) writes: “In 1923, the bells from the closed monasteries of the Aleksandrovsky district - Stefano-Makhrishchsky, Lukyanova desert and Zosima desert - began to spread over the surrounding villages. On July 31, 1923, the Makhrinsky VIK received a telephone message: “The management department suggests that you urgently notify the villages of the volost entrusted to you: Malinovo, Kamshilovo, Korovino, Stepkovskaya Gora, Kovedyaevo, Stepkovo, Gideyevo, Lizunovo, Afanasyevo for satisfaction with bells from the Makhrinsky monastery according to the applications they have submitted”, there is a whole bunch of such applications; here is one of them, from the village of Afanasyevo, Moscow province: “We hereby ask ... for the sale of two church bells weighing from 1-1.5 pounds from the Makhrinsky monastery or Zosima desert ... In the Stefano-Makhrishchsky monastery in 1925 more the bells remained, the largest ones, because the surrounding villages took away only the smaller ones. On April 24, 1925, at the request of the believers of the Makhrinskaya submonastic settlement to leave them a large bell, the provincial executive committee replied, “that the requested bell, and all other bells of the former Makhrinsky monastery are at the disposal of Gospromtsvetmet (... transferred under an agreement with the provincial executive committee) and the latter are already being taken out for pouring into other products.

In 1943, the churches of St. Stephen and the Holy Trinity were destroyed for rubble for the airfield (which was never built).

In 1993, a memorial cross was erected on the territory of the monastery in honor of the 600th anniversary of the death of St. Sergius, the monastery was renewed as a skete of the Assumption Convent in the city of Alexandrov.

The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was the first to be restored. A wooden bell tower was built next to the apse of the temple.

In 1995 the monastery gained independence. On November 14, 1996, Archbishop Evlogy of Vladimir and Suzdal laid the first stone in the foundation of the church of St. Stephen. E.N. Pozdyshev, the president of the Rosenergoatom concern, which took patronage over the restoration of the Makhrishchi Trinity-Stefanovsky convent, promised to build the temple in a year. On November 25, 1997, guests from many parts of Russia, Archbishop Evlogy, leaders of the Aleksandrovsky district, clergy, monks, and numerous parishioners of various churches came here. The consecration of the temple was led by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II.

A couple of years ago, I accidentally stumbled upon a video report from a nunnery. A rosy-cheeked young face in an apostle, a mobile, open, almost childish look. The nun was clearly embarrassed close attention the cameras and the proximity of the microphone to her: rosy cheeks now and then filled with paint. But also more girl confuse the journalist's questions. In fact, what do you say to a person who looks at you as a loss to society, sighing and groaning:

- Why did you, so beautiful, young, go to the monastery?

The girl opened her eyes in surprise at such a question, smiled and said quietly:

“But I didn’t go to the monastery. I came into it.

In these simple words there was so much wisdom that an experienced and self-confident journalist, armed with a list of questions, was confused.

Many people really consider the monastery to be something like a prison, where girls toil in captivity. They do not understand that this is a completely different life, no less joyful, rich and interesting. Others, on the contrary, romanticize monasticism. One of my acquaintances, a completely churched Orthodox girl, seriously argued:

- I have no suitors. It's time for the monastery.

As if not the brides of Christ gathered behind its wall, but entirely old virgins. My arguments that monasticism is a lot of work and not everyone can do it were ignored.

There are also those for whom the monastery is exotic, and the sisters are like overseas birds: they dress wonderfully, they speak “not in our way”. In general, strange. I will not convince anyone. I'll just tell one story. She may force someone to look at monasticism from a different perspective, or to quickly understand themselves and make an important decision.

“It was a miracle that I ended up in the monastery,” a beautiful nun with the sonorous name Magdalene shared with me with inspiration.

We talked over tea with fragrant jam in the bright, very cozy monastic refectory. If you ever happen to visit the city of Alexandrov, Vladimir region, by all means look into the stavropegic Holy Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchsky Convent. Just a few kilometers from the city, and how much joy you will get! Inside is quiet and calm. It is surprisingly easy to breathe the monastic air, bright thoughts are born in the head by themselves, I want to pray and still unbearably pulls to photograph everything around. After all, even in winter, the nature here is amazingly beautiful.

Monk Magdalene is thirty-two. She came to the monastery as a novice three years ago. And not to say that her life did not work out: a native Muscovite from an intelligent family, two loving brothers, an excellent education.

- I am a musicologist - a specialist in music theory, - she prepared to tell, putting aside her unfinished cup. - Graduated from the Ippolitov-Ivanov Music College. For several years she taught at music school, was engaged scientific activity. I didn't even think about the monastery.

Understanding that this is her path came gradually. As a student I went to pilgrimage to Kyiv. I lived in Pokrovsky for a whole week convent, went to worship and rejoiced. It was then that the thought of monasticism was planted in her soul.

“I always liked worship services,” he recalls. - As a girl, I often ran into the temple for a minute to listen to the choir. And then she herself wanted to sing in the kliros.

She fulfilled her dream in the 80s. I just came to a small temple on Taganka and honestly confessed to the regent: "I don't understand the services, but I really want to sing." She was listened to and accepted. Mad with happiness, the future nun ran to her vocal teacher and announced that she was singing on the kliros. She suddenly closed the door and frightenedly zatsykala at the student: "Just don't even think about telling about it!"

“I could not understand her fear,” says Sister Magdalena, “and awkwardly justified herself: “After all, the service is so beautiful!”

Then it turned out that she herself, and many other teachers, are deeply religious people. Thanks to them, students came to God, many began to work at the temple. So life tied Sister Magdalena more and more to the church. Trips to the monasteries continued. Looking at the monastic life from the inside, the girl’s heart sank every time: “I want that too!” But then she returned to Moscow, plunged into the usual rhythm - and everything was forgotten. Until one day, at the regency course, I met sisters from the Stefano-Makhrishchsky monastery.

“Looking at me, it was hard to guess that I was going to the monastery,” Sister Magdalena smiles. - Looks like a completely secular girl. But one of the sisters approached me for some reason. We got talking. She invited me to the monastery for the patronal feast. Yes, with such love that I realized: this monastery is definitely mine!

And then fears began: how will I go? What will I talk about with my mother? (Previously, the girl did not communicate with the abbesses.) What if nothing happens? But I mustered up the courage and went. In the monastery she was warmly welcomed. Mother turned out to be very wise, insightful and quickly helped to resolve doubts.

The girl did not immediately break with the world. And when she decided, her parents stood up. They had previously disapproved of her ardent desire for the church. And then there's the monastery! It's too much! Family disputes began. Mom reconciled faster, even with time she became interested in Orthodoxy. But the father did not want to hear anything, he tried to reason with his daughter: he went to her monastery, wrote letters to the Patriarchate. In vain.

“Now he’s calmed down and comprehends,” he laughs. - It's just that over time, the attitude of my parents to my choice has changed. Too bad they don't go to church. After all, a person takes the first step towards God when he realizes the need for personal salvation.

The brothers took the sister's decision more calmly. Probably because, the nun believes, they grew up at a different time. In the 80s, faith was no longer considered something indecent. Now she often sleeps at her parents' house. By obedience - the creation of the history of the monastery and the monastery museum - she has to regularly get out to Moscow libraries and archives.

– What was the most difficult in the beginning? I ask her.

The nun thinks for a moment and does not answer right away:

- Leave all your secular life experience beyond the threshold of the monastery and completely entrust yourself to the will of God. At first, in any obedience, one’s “I” got out: this is how it should be done, here it should be done like that. In the monastery they put me on the kliros. It was not easy to get used to a different way of life, voices, to the regent. Sometimes I really wanted to argue. It would probably be easier for me to put up with it, - he thinks, - if I had grown up at the monastery.

For two years she was a novice, and on the third she took monastic vows. Still not quite monasticism, but no longer obedience. Like getting engaged before a wedding: you have made a decision, but theoretically there is still time to think. Monks do not take vows, but they are allowed to wear part of monastic clothes: cassock, apostle, kamilavka or klobuk. The name usually changes. There were times when a monk left the monastery.

“Such a person should never be condemned,” Sister Magdalena is convinced. “Because everyone’s circumstances are different. But I personally remember the words of Archimandrite John (Krestyankin), when he persuaded one novice not to leave the monastery: "If you leave, you will be lost all your life." So in the end it happened. Once you've made your decision, don't look back.

The life of Sister Magdalene is arranged according to a schedule. Rise at six, then worship, breakfast, and after that everyone disperses according to their obediences. In total, there are about 70 sisters in the monastery. Plus hard workers. Beginners usually work on general obediences that do not require personal responsibility: kitchen, cleaning, in the summer - a garden. Sewing obedience is assigned to some sisters. They have their own schedule and daily routine.

“And here we have temporarily located an icon-painting workshop,” the nun leads me to a newly renovated room in one of the buildings. Icons are left on the tables, which are restored and painted by the sisters, brushes, some special devices. By Easter, the nuns paint eggs, bells, and gift boxes. This year the monastery participated in the Orthodox exhibition-fair for the first time.

There are new showcases around the tables, books on the floor.

“God willing, we will soon open a museum,” the sister explains.

Dinner at the monastery at two. The whole second half of the day passes in the works. The sisters are in charge of construction, organize repair work, and run the church shop. They themselves go for products, produce wax candles and prosphora. There is also a library here (in the new building it will be equipped reading room), a boiler room, a vegetable garden, a poultry house and even a dairy kitchen (sour cream and cottage cheese are simply excellent!). The sisters learned many professions already in the monastery.

- We and landscape design we do a little bit of work,” nun Magdalena modestly adds, “we go to specialized exhibitions. We are trying to approach our garden with professional point vision.

Many sisters came to the monastery with higher education. Professional skills come in handy. Teachers and a psychologist now educate in the monastery orphanage 30 girls. professional doctor heads the infirmary. The sister-accountant is in charge of financial affairs.

“Everyone has an individual load,” says the nun. - It happens that a young sister cannot boast of health. And another grandmother in her work will plug a dozen young people into her belt. Mother takes care of everything.

After evening worship, dinner. At eleven - lights out. But the sisters usually fail to go to bed early. After all, you need to read the cell rule, and just get out of the cell.

The day has passed. Obedience done. What is the spiritual meaning?

“In inner rebirth,” says Nun Magdalene. We rarely do what we want in the world. Most of our actions are determined by external circumstances. For example, a boss with his own requirements... And sometimes the choice of work does not depend on us: we need to earn money, feed our families. This is where obedience comes from God. In this sense, monastic life is no different from lay life. Only the Lord knows through what occupation a person will be better prepared for the life to come. The main thing is not to be lazy and do your job carefully, as before the face of God. Then the meaning of obedience becomes great.

Natalia Sosnova,
"ORTHODOSLAVIE.RU"