Schiegumeniya famar. Georgian princess and shegegumenia Tamar (Mardzhanova)

I once had a wonderful dream,

A dream of unusual beauty

With trees with emerald foliage

And all the flowers... flowers... flowers...

And there were so many, many

Luxurious lush those flowers.

Drowning like a road in them,

There are no words to express their beauty!<…>

And I believe - in the country of heaven,

In the land of goodness and beauty,

In a truly wonderful country

I will see those flowers again...

Schiegumenia Tamar

We (a small group of Puchkov parishioners) were lucky on January 27 this year. to get to the Serafimo-Znamensky Skete (the village of Bityagovo, 30 kilometers southeast of Moscow) for the patronal feast - St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina. This day is always celebrated in the skete in a special way; Orthodox brothers-Georgians come with their choir. And whoever has ever heard a divine service in Georgian knows that it is extraordinary, elevating the soul to the Creator. But this day was also special for another reason: on December 22, 2016, the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church canonized Tamar, the founder and first abbess of the skete, as a saint. On January 27, after the Liturgy, the first prayer service in the monastery was performed for her.

After the service, Matushka Innocentia, the current abbess of the monastery, invited everyone to a festive meal. There were many wonderful Georgian and Russian songs. And at the end, they all sang “Grape Seed” by Bulat Okudzhava together. One father very well said that Mother Tamar connected Russians and Georgians: she, a Georgian princess, founded a hermitage in Russia. Now she has been glorified in Georgia, and we will pray to her in Russia as well.

Schiegumenia Tamar (1869-1936), in the world - Princess Tamara Alexandrovna Mardzhanishvili, came from a rich and noble family, received a good upbringing and education, was preparing to enter the Moscow Conservatory, rotated among the maids of honor of the imperial court. But having lost her father and then her mother, the young girl decided to enter the monastery of St. Nina in Bodbe, initially causing desperate resistance from relatives. In 1902, for her deeds of prayer, the height and purity of her spiritual life, and her penetrating mind, she was appointed abbess of this largest monastery in Georgia, where about 300 sisters labored.

Righteous John of Kronstadt exerted a significant influence on Matushka in those years, having developed in her zeal for God with instructions and prayerful fellowship. He, more than 20 years later, predicted her tonsure as a great schema and abbess in three monasteries (St. Nina in Bodba, the Pokrovskaya community of sisters of mercy in Moscow and the Serafimo-Znamensky Skete).

It is especially valuable for us that the outstanding contemporaries of Matushka from her closest circle of contacts were subsequently glorified as New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. These are Metropolitans Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky) and Macarius (Nevsky), Bishop of Serpukhov Arseniy (Zhadanovsky) and Archimandrite Seraphim (Zvezdinsky), Sheikhumen Herman, Fr. Alexy Mechev, Hieroschemamonks Anatoly Optinsky and Alexy Zosimovsky, Schema-Archimandrite Gabriel Sedmiezersky.

The main patron and helper in the life of the mother was the Monk Seraphim of Sarov. She said: "My whole life is in the hands of the Monk Seraphim." Through prayers to the saint in front of a small wooden icon consecrated on his relics, she was saved from death. Many healings took place in the monastery from this icon.

When matushka was abbess in Bodbe, the revolutionaries sent her threatening letters. Somehow they even attacked her crew on the way to Tiflis. Shooting started. The abbess pressed the icon of Seraphim of Sarov to her chest and prayed. Suddenly, a Cossack patrol appeared on the road, and the attackers fled. Despite the fact that there were many bullets on the floor of the carriage, none of them hit either the abbess or the sisters. Because of the obvious danger, the abbess, by decision of the Synod, was transferred to Moscow. There, Mother Tamar became very close to the Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna. She asked Mother Famari for the miraculous icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov for the patient with hemophilia, Tsarevich Alexei. No matter how hard it was for mother to part with the shrine, she could not refuse. This icon hung in the bedroom of the heir to the throne, but what happened to it after 1917 is unknown.

Mother did not pass the confessional cup of sorrows and trials - prisons and exile. But even from a remote village near Irkutsk, borough Tamar cheered up her loved ones. “I am glad,” she wrote, “that the cup of torment was harder for me than for my children.” She had the amazing power of prayer. “Do not be afraid, I am praying for you,” she said to the suffering, and the person soon felt relieved. Shortly after her release, mother reposed peacefully in the circle of close people. Shegumenia Tamar was buried in Moscow near the grave of St. rights. Alexy Mechev.

I strongly advise everyone to read a book about mother: “My beloved children ... Scheigumenia Tamar. Letters. Poetry. Memories". Commemoration of Sheikhumene Tamar - June 23 (N.S.). And the next patronal feast in the skete - the locally venerated icon of the Mother of God "Covering" (mother's cell icon) - March 19.

Kalinicheva Galina

Not much is known about Mother Famari from the Serafimo-Znamensky Skete in Russia. A small book about her, containing memories, letters... And her portrait by artist Pavel Korin. Her story is amazing, as an example from the first centuries of Christianity: a Georgian princess, she left the world and followed Christ, becoming a confessor of the Russian Orthodox Church.

At the station

The last place where mother found shelter was a small village near the Pionerskaya station of the Belarusian railway. In a small house, she sometimes still received her spiritual children and loved ones.

In a modest and ascetic atmosphere, the same habits were noticeable as many years ago: impeccable cleanliness, the predominance of white, freshness ... In a simple wooden chair, she met those who came and each time tried to treat them better, to give them attention.

There, in her "cell", separated from the rest of the space by a partition, among the icons, she passed away to the Lord on June 23, 1936, leaving those who knew her with a feeling of orphanhood and sadness.

Tamara - Juvenalia

In her youth, an accident changed her whole life. During a trip to the Bodbe Monastery in the Caucasus, Tamara Mardzhanova suddenly felt that her place was here. She entered under the arches of the monastery as a secular beauty, and left as a nun.

Nothing kept her in the world: she and her sister lost her parents, and she had no personal obligations. However, her relatives, who did not want to part with her, set to work, and in order to get back to mother Yuvenalia, who gladly accepted her as a sister, Tamara had to escape "from custody".

No matter how hard her relatives fussed, she did not return to the world, and what could they change, when in the theater, during the performance, where they took her out to distract her, she slowly sorted out the rosary?

Abbess Yuvenalia took her under her care and taught her reading, church singing and all the rules of monastic life.

Their only desire was not to part even when Tamara was tonsured with the name of Yuvenaly, and her mother received a new assignment - to the Moscow Nativity Monastery. The gathering was short-lived, but immediately, in 1902, a new decision followed - to appoint the young Juvenalia as abbess of the Bodbe monastery.

They did not want to part, but neither written petitions nor appeals to high-ranking friends helped: they had to accept the abbot as an obedience, as an expression of God's will.

He then strengthened the young Georgian mother, Fr. , who singled her out from among those who came to him, and laid on her one after another three hegumen's crosses. The meaning of this prophecy was revealed later: she was expected to be abbess in three monasteries. The blessing of the righteous elder, as mother recalled, gave her energy, strength, relieved her of depression and longing.

In the pre-revolutionary years, a circle of people spiritually close to her was formed. Among them were the Grand Duchess, who received her at her Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, Saints Gabriel of Sedmiezersky and Alexy Zosimovsky, Bishop Arseny (Zhadanovsky).

The Lord kept her even during the years of the first Russian revolution, when the highlanders, irritated at her - mother gave shelter to peasants who suffered oppression from them - literally riddled her carriage. At the moment when the shooting began, the abbess prayerfully raised the icon above herself and the sisters accompanying her, whom she greatly revered, and although the horses collapsed under a hail of bullets, the cab was killed and the stalled carriage became the target, the nuns were not injured. After this episode, in 1905, by the Decree of the Synod, against her will, she was transferred to Moscow, and was appointed abbess of the Pokrovskaya community of sisters.

Three years later, during a pilgrimage trip to Sarov, while praying at the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”, mother received, as it were, a command from the Queen of Heaven - to found a skete for a more solitary life in prayer, however, in order to bring benefit to neighbors.

Not daring to act on her own, Abbess Yuvenalia turned to several well-known elders for advice: Fr. Anatoly (Potapov) from Optina Hermitage, Fr. Alexy from Zosima Hermitage and the governor of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Fr. Tobias. And in all cases she received a blessing for the arrangement of the skete.

For two years, starting in July 1910, construction went on. On questions of internal organization, mother turned to Vladyka Areseny (Zhadanovsky). In 1916, he became a confessor for the sisters, and a year before that, he was tonsured Abbess Tamar to the schema.

Everything in the Serafimo-Znamensky skete - from the elements in the architecture of the temple, to the routine - had a symbolic meaning, reminded of the life of Christ, the saints and the call to Eternity. Nothing superfluous, well-being and order in everything, the desire to live according to the example of the ascetics, however, no severity in the treatment between the sisters. Mother watched this especially: without blessing idle talk, carrying out secret deeds, she, according to the memoirs of her contemporaries, retained both femininity and kindness, which was seen in every look of her big black eyes, in every gesture, and she supported the same spirit of peace and mutual love inside communities. For years she slept on boards covered with a snow-white blanket, but she was always sensitive to the condition of other people and knew how to take care of everyone, like a mother.

Great angelic image

After the revolution, the abbot Tamar had to go through a lot. In 1924, the skete was closed and devastated, the inhabitants dispersed to different places. And mother with nine sisters settled in a small house in the village of Perkhushkovo and lived there until her arrest in 1931.

In conclusion, she maintained an amazing calmness and presence of mind. Her kindness extended to all her cellmates without exception, and among them were criminals. She shared with them what was passed to her from the outside, pacified the violent, calmed the weeping. Before she was sent to Irkutsk by sentence, believers and non-believers, her neighbors took turns approaching her for blessing.

... Three years of exile in a difficult climate for her, with the need to periodically "check in" at the local commissariat, the lack of medicines, warm clothes and shoes, the onset of tuberculosis of the throat, and at the same time - peace in her soul, which disposed to her not only the people around her, the owners, neighbors, but also employees of the commissariat ...

Among the inconveniences, sorrows and worries about the closest people whom she could not help in any way, she also wrote poetry. They were about a dream in which mother was given to see the peace that awaits in the future for her patience here in temporary life:

I once had a wonderful dream

A dream of extraordinary beauty

With trees with emerald foliage

And all the flowers... flowers... flowers...

And there were so many, many

Luxurious lush those flowers.

Drowning like a road in them,

There are no words to express their beauty!

white lily heads

On long slender stems

And a mass of sweet fragrant roses

With dew on fresh petals

Hydrangea caps like foam

Nasturtium bright lights

And golden kupena

Blossomed along the river<…>

And I believe - in the country of heaven,

In the land of goodness and beauty,

In a country truly wonderful

I will see those flowers again...

24.02.2018

In Orthodox Christianity, many days are dedicated to the memory of saints, as well as to great icons. One of them is the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God. This is one of the greatest Christian relics that have survived to this day. February 25 is the feast of the Iberian Face of the Mother of God, in honor of which our special correspondent Margo Asatiani-Hauksson prepared a report about Sheigumeniya Tamar.

Scheigumenia Tamar is the founder of the Serafimo-Znamensky Skete in the Domodedovo district of the Moscow region. Mother Tamar (Tamara Marjanishvili, 1868-1936) lived a difficult life at the junction of historical events in Russia and Georgia. A representative of a princely family, already at the age of 20 she lost both parents. In 1889, Tamara entered the Bodbe Monastery of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nino, and in 1902 she became abbess of this monastery.

Being the abbess of the Bodbe monastery, mother Tamar paid much attention to the education of the local population and works of mercy. This caused dissatisfaction with the local revolutionary forces, who organized an assassination attempt on ig.Juvenalia (in the great schema-shegemony Tamar), three months after the murder of the Holy Righteous Ilia Chavchavadze, who was close to the Marjanishvili family. This circumstance was a turning point in the fate of St. Tamar.

In 1907, by the Decree of the Holy Synod, Matushka was sent to Moscow, where she was appointed abbess of the Intercession Community of Sisters of Mercy. Rev. Tamar accepted with dignity the difficult cross of service to society, but her soul yearned for monastic life, which led Ven. Tamar to the Royal Skete, not far from Sarov, to Her heavenly confessor - St. Seraphim of Sarov. She thought to stay in Sarov, but God's Will was different. It was there that an amazing event happened to Mother.

While praying in front of the miraculous “Sign” icon, Mother heard a voice, as if from the Queen of Heaven herself, with an appeal to arrange a new skete not only for herself, but also for others.
Thus began the path to founding a new skete, in this difficult task Mother Tamar was assisted by many of God's chosen ones (Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, Hieromartyr Seraphim Zvezdinsky, Bishop Arseny Zhadanovsky, Fr. other well-known spirit-bearing fathers.Thus, the abbess predicted by St. John of Kronstadt in three monasteries was fulfilled for her.)

In 1910, the construction of the Skete began according to the project of the famous architect Alexei Shchusev, who also designed the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent. In the construction of the Skete, Mother's plan to recreate Heavenly Jerusalem was realized. Construction lasted two years. In 1912 the monastery was consecrated by the Metropolitan of Moscow Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky). The altar of the upper church was consecrated in honor of the Icon of the Sign and St. Seraphim, and the altar of the lower church was consecrated in honor of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina. In 1916, mother Tamar was tonsured into the great schema.

But a revolution broke out, in 1924 the skete was closed, and in 1931 matushka was arrested and exiled to Siberia. The link ended after 3 years thanks to the petition of Mother Tamar's brother Konstantin Marjanishvili, a famous director, founder of the Georgian theater. (In Tbilisi, one of the central streets was given the name Marjanishvili, at the location of the famous theater named after Kote Marjanishvili, not far from which the famous Russian Temple of Alexander Nevsky is located, in which the Glin elders labored in Soviet times, who were canonized in 2017 by the Russian Orthodox Church as Saints. They managed not only to preserve the monastic tradition, but also to pass it on. In this Temple, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II was tonsured a monk).
However, mother returned from exile seriously ill with tuberculosis, and 2 years later she died. Sheigumeniya Tamar is buried at the Vvedensky German cemetery.

In 2016, the Monk Confessor Tamar was canonized by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Georgian Patriarchate, and in 2017 the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church included the name of the saint in the calendar (commemoration of June 10/23).

In the Soviet years, there was a hospital in the monastery, only in 1999 Seraphim-Znamensky
the skete was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. At the moment, about 15 nuns live in the skete, each of them feels the invisible presence of Mother Tamar within its walls. “Georgia is an adornment of the Christian world, and Georgians should be proud that such heavenly flowers as Mother Tamar have sprouted on Georgian soil,” says Abbess Innokentia (Popova), abbess of the Serafimo-Znamensky Skete.

With the blessing of His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II, Anna (in the world Diana), a representative of the Georgian diaspora, temporarily resides in the skete. Anna recalls that His Holiness calls on all Georgians to return to their historical homeland, to their origins and roots. “To return means to start from scratch, and this is very difficult, since a person has already assimilated and has family, friends, work here. To decide on cardinal changes, you need the strength of the Spirit and, of course, Love, that is, the fulcrum must be in God and in His Saints. This is what Mother Tamar and our other Saints give us, They strengthen us in our bearing of the Cross.”

Anna also recalls the responsibility of the Georgian people before God: “We need to know ourselves, our roots, our saints and rely on them, imitate them in our life. Iveria - God-given Destiny of the Most Holy Theotokos. On our land there is the Chiton of the Lord, the Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos and many shrines, but this is not a reason for pride and neglect, but a measure of our responsibility to God and neighbors. Therefore, we must become worthy children of God so that Georgia is spiritually reborn and restored within its historical borders.”.

And the sisters and parishioners of the skete are waiting for the most significant event - the acquisition of the relics of St. Famar Marjanishvili, who prays intercedes before God for Georgia and Russia, for our unity in Christ.

Text prepared by Margo Hauksson

Sheikhumenia Tamar, in the world Tamara Alexandrovna Mardzhanova, lost her parents early, first her father, and then - at the age of nineteen - her mother.

Tamara Alexandrovna stayed with her younger sister in her family estate. Possessing a beautiful voice and musical abilities, she was preparing to enter the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and in general she was outlined the path of social life. But from the Lord man's feet are corrected. So it was with her.

Once her own aunt, the mother's only sister, having not seen her nieces for a long time, invited them to her place. She wrote:

You have forgotten about us and do not want to visit; then, at least, come and see the opened Russian convent near St. Nina; nuns were sent here from Moscow.

This news attracted young well-behaved girls. They quickly gathered and two days later were already with their relatives, who lived in the town of Signy, two versts from the aforementioned monastery.

On the second day after their arrival, both sisters hurried to go to the monastery for Vespers. The service was going on in a small house church; three nuns sang; The newly appointed abbess Yuvenalia read the canon. Tamara Alexandrovna never had to be in such an environment and in such a society.

As soon as she entered the church, the thought instantly came to her: “And I will enter the monastery.” Some kind of sudden upheaval took place in the soul of the young girl: she was going to a secular monastery, and returned home as a nun in her mood.

During the service, Tamara Alexandrovna quietly sang along with the choir. The abbess drew attention to the young pilgrims who arrived. First of all, she asked why they were in mourning. They explained: “Our mother recently died.” Then, quite surprised at their almost childish appearance, she asked the question: “Where do you study?” - and received the answer: "We have already completed the course."

So, Tamara Alexandrovna returned from the monastery with the firm intention of getting there without fail. She was afraid to tell her relatives about this, because they, being secular people, could hardly understand her desire; she did not dare to speak to the abbess, thinking that a large contribution would be required from her.

But some time passed, and the girl, rushing to the monastery, had a favorable opportunity to come closer and get acquainted with the nuns.

Once, her relatives gathered in a large company to bow to Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina, and at the same time take a walk. The warmly received guests with the abbess and elder sisters walked around the monastery and admired the beauties of nature. Tamara Alexandrovna was also here. Having seized a moment, she expressed her desire to the clerk who was present here, asking him to tell her mother about her, and she expressed regret that at the moment, due to her minority, she herself could not manage the money for contributions to the monastery.

The good results of this conversation showed up very soon. On the same day, Tamara Alexandrovna received an answer from the abbess that her admission was highly desirable, even without any contribution. Immediately followed by a personal explanation with the abbess, who caressed a young girl striving for God. The latter only had to go home, put things in order, and then finally move to live in the monastery, but this was not so easy to fulfill.

When Matushka Yuvenalia was negotiating with Tamara Alexandrovna, two of her brothers stood nearby and heard everything - a brother and a cousin, boys of fourteen years old. Returning home, they announced that Tamara was going to enter the monastery. At first, everyone turned this into a joke, but, noticing a big change in the girl - a serious attitude to this issue, a constant desire to attend church services, a tendency to solitude, an unwillingness to appear in society, they strongly protested and tried in every possible way to persuade Tamara Alexandrovna to refuse what she had accepted. solutions; even her acquaintances considered it their duty to dissuade her.

With all this, Tamara Alexandrovna showed complete independence and firmness. Having arranged household chores, in October 1889 she went to the monastery with the intention of finally staying in it.

Relatives did not doze, not sympathizing with such a step in her life. They sent her a business letter, saying the following: “We have nothing against your admission to the monastery of St. Nina, but first you must personally appear in Tiflis to a notary to draw up a power of attorney for the transfer of inheritance rights.”

Tamara Alexandrovna, believing her relatives, quickly packed up and left for the city, where she soon became convinced that she had fallen into a trap: she was called not so much on business as to distract her from the monastery.

The life of Tamara Alexandrovna was now so arranged that she not only could not return to the monastery, but also could not have any relations with her, since all her letters were intercepted.

At the same time, Abbess Yuvenalia, without receiving any news from her new novice for a long time, asked a Tiflis acquaintance, whose daughter lived in the Bodbe Monastery, to find Tamara Alexandrovna and find out what had become of her. She, having fulfilled the order, told mother about the state of siege of the girl and offered to make her an intermediary in the transfer of letters.

The matter soon ended with the fact that our young ascetic finally broke free from the shackles of guardianship unnecessary for her.

One fine day, the person mentioned above drove up to the house where Tamara Alexandrovna lived, with the goal of taking her with her. The warned captive, dressed, was waiting for the conditional moment and only for a minute ran in to say goodbye to her sleeping cousin. She, frightened, jumped up, wondering what had happened, and Tamara Alexandrovna, kissing her and saying two words to her: “Goodbye, I’m leaving,” quickly ran out of the house, got into the carriage and rushed to the monastery.

Telegrams and letters were sent after the departed; new persuasions began, but nothing could bring Tamara Alexandrovna back - she remained forever in the monastery.

Of great importance in the life of Tamara Alexandrovna was the Abbess of the Bodbe Monastery Yuvenalia, who became for her not only a spiritual mother, but also replaced her own, recently lost.

The old woman placed the young novice in her cell, took her under strict guardianship and kept her, like a kind of dove, “more than the apple of her eye”, gradually accustoming her to various obediences - choir, clerical and other, and at the same time introducing her to monastic affairs, clearly seeing capable and energetic new resident of the monastery her future successor. For the same purpose of preparing Tamara Alexandrovna for the office, she took her with her when she traveled to the capital.

But then Tamara Alexandrovna began to disappear for whole hours. At first, Abbess Yuvenalia thought that her novice was delayed in rehearsals or other classes. When the disappearance became suspicious, it was decided to follow her. And what did it turn out? Tamara Alexandrovna, having picked up accomplices for herself, ardent sisters like her, started digging caves with them in the mountains adjacent to the monastery with the intention of moving there to live and escape.

Measures were taken to stop such a hobby. Requests were sent to allow the work begun to be completed, abundant tears flowed, but the wise boss insisted on her own and forbade her young spiritual children to continue their dangerous feats.

Tamara Alexandrovna lived for twelve years under the care of the old woman Yuvenalia, and during this time she managed to take a cassock, and for about thirty years - a mantle, at the insistent desire of His Grace Flavian, Exarch of Georgia, who personally tonsured her with the name of Yuvenalia.

The young nun thought not to be separated from her spiritual mother until the end of her life, but “man proposes, but God disposes”...

In 1902, the Mother Superior of Bodbe was transferred to Moscow as abbess of the Nativity Monastery. Our mother, as the closest to her, was also going to go. Things were already packed and the day of departure was scheduled. I wanted to do everything quietly, imperceptibly, but rumors about the impending change still spread throughout the monastery. All the sisters gathered in the abbot's room, called our mother and, bowing to the ground, began to beg her to remain their abbess. Thanking them for their love and trust, mother resolutely refused to accept such obedience, consoling the nuns of the monastery with the fact that an experienced abbess would be sent to them from Moscow.

This, however, did not end the matter. Soon, from St. Petersburg, from a high clergyman, the following telegram was received addressed to the old woman Yuvenalia: “I congratulate you on the fulfillment of your desire, on moving to Moscow, and young Yuvenalia on her appointment as abbess of the Bodbe Monastery.”

This news struck both abbesses like thunder, violating their plans and taking away peace of mind. They immediately began to think about how to change and remove the unexpected appointment; several telegrams were sent to St. Petersburg with a refusal, and the next day the younger Yuvenalia left for Tiflis and submitted an official application to the Exarch of Georgia about the same.

The latter at first persuaded and reassured the visitor, and when she categorically refused, he threatened that he would not let her out of the Bodbe monastery and, for disobedience, would leave her in it as an ordinary nun.

Returning home with nothing, mother with great bitterness told her spiritual mother about everything. New plans were launched to get out of the current situation. They thought to rely on high clergymen, friends and patrons, but it was they who insisted on the need to accept the proposed appointment. Telegrams were received one after another.

M.F. from St. Petersburg reported: “I know that it is difficult, but, as a nun, you need to submit to the will of God.”

Following this he sent a long letter to K.<онстантин>P.<етрович>P.<обедоносцев>(?), citing various arguments why it is desirable to detain the young Juvenalia in the Bodbe monastery. The latter once again went to the Exarch, but to no avail.

Seeing in the accomplished heavenly desire Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina, our mother calmed down somewhat and stopped all sorts of troubles. Soon after, the Exarch of Georgia, Archbishop Alexy, deliberately arrived from Tiflis, and on October 12, 1902, he elevated the younger Juvenalia to the abbess, and the eldest began to prepare for the journey.

Before her departure, my mother did not experience the change so hard, but when she saw the old woman to Bodby and returned to the monastery already as abbess, she was seized by such melancholy that she could not find a place for herself, did not eat anything and did not sleep. But the Lord helped His chosen one. Some time passed, and the new abbess with honor began to manage the Bodbe monastery with its many different institutions.

Father John of Kronstadt also had a significant influence on my mother, an example of a gracious mood, and most importantly, prayerful communication and instructions, which greatly contributed to the development in her of a spirit of zeal for Bose.

For the first time I saw Father John in the St. Petersburg Resurrection Monastery, where we constantly stopped, arriving in the capital on various business, and in this case with a special purpose - to thank the Kronstadt lamp for the attention he showed to our monastery.

The fact is that the Bodbe Monastery, converted from male to female, at first was in dire need of material resources. Sometimes, there was not enough money or provisions, but they did not give a loan. And then one day, when there was a shortage in everything, my mother and I, mournful, went to the temple to pray for help from above. We stand and cry ... Suddenly, a sister going to the post office submits a summons for two hundred rubles for certification. The money turned out to be from the father of Father John, who wrote to mother: “Accept, I send, my dear, two hundred rubles for extreme needs.”

This happened all the more unexpectedly, since until now we had neither acquaintance nor correspondence with Father John. Obviously, he himself foresaw in spirit that somewhere far away in the Caucasus, in a newly formed convent, the sisters were in poverty, and sent his mite to support them ...

After this, Abbess Yuvenalia, on her very first trip to St.<в 1892 году>I decided at all costs to see the good all-Russian shepherd and personally thank him for his participation.

So, my mother and I are in the Resurrection Monastery, sitting in a cell and thinking about how to make a trip to Kronstadt. As soon as they had time to map out the route, the cells came running from the abbot’s cell with the news that Father John had come to them and, if we wished, we could immediately receive his blessing. We hurried there, and my heart was beating fast. In agitation and spiritual awe, I asked myself: “Will I really have to see that Father John, about whom I heard so much in my childhood from my relatives, who enthusiastically called him a great miracle worker and seer?”

When we entered the living room, the great shepherd was sitting on the sofa and talking animatedly about something. First my mother received his blessing, then several nuns; Finally, with another of our novice, I also came up.

At the words of my mother: "Father, bless - these are my cell Ksenia and Tamara" - Father John crossed me, kissed me on the head and said: "Tamara-Tamara, I chose the good part." I was like in a dream from the received grace-filled consolation. Batiushka presented himself to me as an unusually cheerful, joyful and not a simple priest, which we are used to seeing, but spiritual, unearthly ...

Soon everyone moved to the dining room. Here, by the way, he turned to the abbess of the Bodbe monastery with the following demand: "Give me your crosses." She took off three crosses and gave them to him, and he began to put them on my neck, and, holding me by the shoulders and turning in all directions, he jokingly said: “This is what an abbess I have - look at her!”

From such words of the priest, I was embarrassed, and he kept repeating: “Well, look at her!” Looking at the cheerful mood of Father John, I myself became somehow joyful.

Joking, caressing and blessing everyone, the Kronstadt shepherd "flew" from us. I say “flew away”, because it was so: like an angel, like a meteor, he did not walk, but truly “flew”, bringing everywhere a heavenly, bright stream ...

For a long time afterwards we sat around the dinner table, remembering every word of the dear shepherd. At my expense, everyone said: “It’s not for nothing that Father John put crosses on you - to know, to be an abbess for you, and you will carry three crosses,” which really happened many years later: I had to be the abbess of three monasteries and thus raise three difficult feats.

My mother and I were not satisfied with our meeting with Fr. John in Petersburg, but went back to Kronstadt and stayed in a room at the House of Labor. Early in the morning, in "sheer darkness", we went to St. Andrew's Cathedral, where a lot of people had already gathered. We were led behind bars to the altar and placed on the salt. We stand and wait in trepidation, when suddenly “flies in”, rubbing his hands, father, quickly stands at the lectern prepared against the royal doors and begins to read the canon.

His reading was special: he seemed to demand from the Lord and the Queen of Heaven pardon for himself and others ... It was terrible to be near such a great prayer book ...

Before mass he offered a general confession. Something unimaginable, indescribable happened here: everyone was shouting, crying, there was a rumble and groans in the temple, and as I fell on my knees, I did not dare to raise my head until the end of this popular cry to God ...

At the liturgy, which was held in the same spiritually uplifted mood of those praying, we took communion. I remember that the priest did not allow someone to reach the Holy Chalice, someone raged and raged, someone sobbed loudly ...

At the end of the service, we tried to quickly get through the crowd to the exit, as there was a rumor that Father John would come straight to us from the church. And so it happened: we had barely had time to prepare everything for the blessing of water and set the table for tea, when the priest had already “arrived”.

Having greeted everyone cordially, he abruptly declared: “I will serve a prayer service briefly due to lack of time.”

Batiushka's short but fervent prayer took our breath away; It seems that one never had to experience such moral satisfaction as during this prayer service.

Letting us kiss the cross and sprinkling us with holy water, Father John took off his epitrachelion, sat down on the sofa, took out several letters from his side pocket and began to read them, after turning to mother with the words: “Forgive me, I will quickly look through, sometimes it is very necessary.”

Ksenia and I, having served cups, stepped aside. Batiushka noticed this and said: “Dear sisters, sit down, take pity on your legs.” Then, having hidden the letters, he proceeded to the meal. He ate very little, and talked more with mother about the monastery and various affairs, but he gave me the following instruction: “Tamara, write down the address of your monastery.” Having quickly done this, I handed him a note, and he, looking through it, smiled and remarked: “You write well, but I can’t make out what you have: “g” or “h”, Signakh? Come on, rewrite it again." I copied it out, and this time Fr. John cheerfully declared: "Well, now it's clear."

We did not have time to come to our senses, as the father's visit had already ended. He got up, prayed, blessed and began to leave, saying: “And you, Tamara, hold my hat until I go around some rooms, I need to visit someone,” and immediately walked down the corridor with quick steps, and I, picking up under his arm, rushed after him. We turned into some room, from where a frantic cry could be heard - then a woman was raging, cursing, fighting, spitting and making inhuman sounds. As soon as the priest crossed the threshold, she found herself at his feet; Father John bent down, clasped her in his arm, lifted her up and, holding tightly, began to read aloud: "May God rise again."

The words: “And let them run, and let them run,” he repeated many times, more and more strengthening his voice ...

Sasha - that was the name of the suffering one - in the hands of the blessed healer became gradually calmer, until she completely calmed down, as if having lost her senses ... The good shepherd carefully lowered her to the floor, crossed her and gave the following order: "Cover the sick woman and do not touch."

When all this was happening, I stood in the doorway facing Father John, I saw how he, saying: “Let God rise again,” raised his eyes to heaven and was completely transformed. The whole scene gave me a fever...

After going through several rooms, blessing and consoling everywhere, Father John, on the way back, once again went to Sasha, who was already praying on her knees and every minute commemorated the dear name of her wonderful doctor. Batiushka, having treated and rewarded the healed woman with money, went to the exit.

At the stairs he stopped, looked in my direction, raised his head high, smiled and said: "Now put a hat on me." I, small in stature, and even being one step lower than the priest, began to use every effort to fulfill his demand, and could not, but he, seeing my impotence, continued to smile and say: “Well, put it on, what don't you wear?" I continued to stretch without success. Then Father John bowed his head, thanks to which it was easy for me to fulfill my obedience.

“So I put it on,” the priest declared victoriously. After such an innocent joke, my soul felt so joyful, as if I had been transformed into a small child ...

We saw, further, the departure of Father John - this is also something rare, unprecedented. Quickly running down the stairs, the priest, as it were, "flew" into the cab, where the psalmist was already waiting for him. It was necessary to move, but the surrounding crowd would not let them in: some grabbed the wheels, others rushed to the carriage to catch the hands of the departing shepherd, others ran ahead with the intention of blocking the road. The coachman barely stopped the frightened horse; at last he managed to break through the dense formation of the assembled people and put the cab into full speed.

Father John left, and we and many of us stood for a long time and looked into the distance, until the great lamp of faith completely disappeared from our eyes.

Two years later, my mother and I again went to St. Petersburg and again were honored to pray during the service of Father John in the church of the Leushinsky metochion.

I was already wearing a cassock and had just received one heavy news that plunged me into great sorrow to the point of nervous breakdown. An authoritative voice was needed to calm the soul. We found out about Batiushka's arrival too late, and therefore we could not see him the day before and tell about ourselves.

In the morning, with the blessing of Father John, I had to briefly confess to Father Alexy, his nephew, to whom I did not even have time to tell the usual sins. So, with embarrassment and a constricted heart, I stood for the whole mass, even thinking that the priest would not allow me to receive Communion.

In an instant, the liturgy passed… The royal doors opened, the communicants went. With trepidation, I approached ...

Suddenly, the priest suddenly threw a glance at me and, as if answering my thoughts, cheerfully said: “God is merciful, God is merciful, God will forgive everything.”

From these words, my heart somehow became joyful at once, and I felt that the great shepherd read me a permissive prayer; Tears poured from my eyes in a hail - gracious tears that calmed my troubled soul.

After mass, Fr. John went out into the abbess's quarters, and there we again became participants in the consolation that was granted to all who came into contact with the Kronstadt lamp.

He sat and drank tea, pouring others from his glass into saucers, immediately blessing the mothers with children and various people who came up to him every minute, and answered the sorrows and questions expressed by them with edifying words.

And surprisingly, nothing seemed to escape his penetrating eyes. My mother, Mother Superior Ekaterina of Lesna, and I were sitting at the table without taking part in the meal. Batiushka noticed this and, paying attention, handed us his plate of pie.

Having eaten, Father John went to his room; On the way, I turned to him with a request to accept me. He did not refuse, he took it with him, sat him down, sympathetically asked what was bothering me so much, and as soon as I told him everything - instantly the burden rolled off my soul, all anxiety disappeared ...

Reassured and joyful, I asked him to sign his photographic card for me. He lovingly agreed and began to write: “For the blessing of the novice,” but suddenly stopped, looked at me and, smiling, said: “No, you are not a novice, but neither a nun, nor a schemer.” At these words, the priest crossed out what was written “to the novice” and indistinctly drew a small “s” - “to the nun”, but in general it turned out to be “schema-nun”.

Many years later, when, by the grace of God, I had to take great vows, I accidentally drew attention to this inscription and saw in it the undoubted clairvoyance of Father John, who for more than twenty years predicted the schema for me, while I was still only a novice.

This time we lived in Petersburg for about two months; in our presence, the priest was summoned to Livadia. When he returned, he personally to all of us and B.M. He spoke about the last days of the life of Alexander III, and he wished to serve a memorial service for him himself and was all the time sad and concentrated as never before ... We also escorted him to the Palace for the blessing of the young royal couple. I even had a chance, along with others, to put orders and insignia on him.

By the way, Mother of the Resurrection, worrying whether everything was done so, dared to ask him to look in the mirror, and he turned his back to him, which amused us a lot.

Yes, and everything with the dear father came out at ease.

So, for example, I did not hesitate to ask him: “Where is the icon with which you will bless?” And the good father John simply answered: “I don’t have it with me - they will give it to me there.”

After that, I did not see the priest for several years, until my appointment as abbess of the Bodbe Monastery. I was elevated to the abbess on October 12, 1902, and in February 1903 I already needed to go to Moscow on business of the monastery. Just on the day of my arrival, Mother Rozhdestvenskaya, with whom I was staying, received a note from the Ascension Abbess with the following content: “If young Juvenalia has arrived, then come both tomorrow to mass, Father John of Kronstadt is serving with us.”

I considered such a pleasant surprise as the mercy of God, since it was extremely comforting for me, upon accepting the abbess, to pray the first Liturgy in Moscow in the presence of the great all-Russian pastor, especially since, on the occasion of separation from my mother, the state of my spirit continued to remain dejected, depressed.

Having finished the service, Father John undressed, kindly greeted everyone and, turning to those around him, loudly declared: “Call the Caucasian abbess to me.”

Everyone rushed after Matushka Rozhdestvenskaya, as the priest and the Muscovites knew her by that name.

The old woman approached and Father John carefully asked her: “Well, my dear, are you satisfied that you have returned to your homeland?” I talked with her a few more, and then said: “Call the young Caucasian abbess too.”

From the church, all the guests went to the abbess’s cell and settled in the large dining room, while the priest was prepared separately in the abbess’s room, where we also entered.

Honorable persons took their places near Fr. John, and I, with several Moscow abbesses, sat down to one side. Suddenly the priest looks around in the direction of us, waves his hand and, as it were, calls someone. No one guessed, or rather, did not dare to accept this invitation personally.

Then the old cell of the Ascension Monastery, Elizabeth, wanting to get the priest out of the difficulty, simply asked: “Who are you calling, father?” “Yes, here is a little Caucasian abbess,” he replied.

I immediately approached.

Batiushka seated me next to him; the waitresses wanted to put a device for me, but Father John said: “No need, we will eat from the same plate,” and immediately moved his own.

When they served sweets, I remember - mousse, he, taking a portion, divided it into three parts: he left two for himself and me, and gave one to Mother Rozhdestvenskaya, while looking at us, he remarked: “To live sweetly apart.”

Almost all the time of dinner, the lamp of God spoke to me, and in order not to arouse envy in others, he loudly declared: “You need to support the young mother; We have a lot to talk about with her." And dear father really asked me about everything, giving various advice, and predicted what would soon come true.

So, thanks to the meeting with Father John in Moscow, my first steps in managing the Bodbe Monastery were successful, happy. He took away grief, breathed in energy, joy, and with his blessing and prayers, my whole [subsequent] trip to St. Petersburg on business went off with great benefit for me and the monastery.

The last time I saw Father John up close was in the Nativity Monastery in 1906, where he also celebrated the Liturgy. There were a lot of people, as always. At the end of the service, we hurried home to meet the priest. I stood at the window and watched as the great shepherd was led out of the church. It was something indescribable. I thought - they would tear the priest to pieces: someone caught his hand, someone dragged him by the cassock, someone squeezed his whole body towards him, making a crush. Father John was brought with his collar unbuttoned, without a hat, all wet with sweat ...

I saw him in this form and exclaimed: “My God, how frightened I was, it seemed that you would be completely torn to pieces.” And he, smiling, took me by the head, kissed my forehead and said: “Oh, you are my silly one, because love will never do harm. They crowd me, they also protect me.

At the meal that was then offered, the priest was unusually joyful, cheerful and friendly with everyone. After dinner, he went into the office and signed his large portrait for me, raising me to Juvenalia II, in contrast to Juvenalia I, the Nativity abbess. This name stuck with me."

“Dear father,” our mother often prayerfully calls out, “during your lifetime you loved me, caressed, understood and encouraged my aspirations, do not leave your devoted daughter with your help even after death. I need patronage and spiritual support. Be my guide and inspirer until the end of my earthly wandering.

Not only Father John, but also other high clergymen valued Matushka for her seriousness, efficiency, strictly ecclesiastical Orthodox direction and impeccable monastic life. Metropolitans Flavian, Vladimir, Macarius, the elders - Schemagumen Herman, Hieroschemamonk Anatoly Optinsky, Alexy Zosimovsky and others - knew her and treated her with deep respect.

But the main patron and, so to speak, the "ideal" in the life of the abbot Tamar was the Monk Seraphim. The biography of the latter was the first book of spiritual and moral content that she read in the monastery. The appearance of the old man made a charming impression on her, and she developed an extraordinary love for him.

Soon after entering the monastery, mother saw in a dream: he was running towards her and Abbess Juvenalia along some long corridor; having caught up with them, he separates them from each other, raising the right half of his mantle, and, bowing, says: “Mother abbess, bless.”

Our mother was terribly frightened and amazed at how the holy elder so calls her, still a young twenty-year-old novice. Thinking that the father was mistaken, she pointed to the old woman Juvenalia with the words: “Here is mother,” and he again separated her with a mantle and, bowing, quietly repeated: “Mother abbess, bless.”

With this dream, the Monk Seraphim predicted to her the abbess in twelve years.

On July 19, 1903, as is known, the relics of the marvelous ascetic were unveiled. Mother herself could not be at the celebration, but sent her nun Agnia to Sarov so that she would pray for the whole monastery at the shrine of the newly-minted miracle worker. The sent one diligently fulfilled the task and brought back the icon of the saint of God, which then revealed many amazing signs. Here, for example, is one of them.

Nun U was dying in the monastery. Four fathoms of firewood fell on her and so damaged her body that she, paralyzed, lay motionless for two months and even stopped talking. Doctors recognized her situation as hopeless, as pulmonary edema and a gradual reduction in breathing began. The inhabitants of the monastery have already said goodbye to her.

As a last consolation, the mother sent the aforementioned image of the Monk Seraphim so that it would be placed on the bosom of the suffering. Not even half an hour had passed after that, when the novice, who had gone to the sick, ran into the courtyard and went to the hegumen's room, excited.

Everyone who met her asked: “Well, did she die?” And she answered: “Not only didn’t she die, but jumped off the bed herself as healthy.”

What turned out? Some time after the icon was brought, nun U. saw the blessed elder who approached her and said: “Go wash yourself in my spring and you will be healthy.” It was so real and tangible that she rushed out of bed to the great saint, falling on her knees, began to pray to him and immediately spoke. Thus, a sudden healing of the condemned to death took place, which was also testified by the doctor who treated the patient, who was purposely called to ascertain a phenomenon unprecedented in medicine.

An even more amazing miracle from the same icon was with the mother. The latter had to ride horses to Tiflis, which was a hundred miles away from the Bodbe Monastery, on business of the monastery. This path was considered quite dangerous, as the travelers were often attacked by robbers, mercilessly robbing everyone. Once, on our return from Tiflis, our mother suffered the same misfortune. It should be noted that on the journey she usually took with her the image of the Reverend, who always, and especially this time, marvelously guarded her.

It happened on November 27, 1907. In the morning, at about eight o'clock, a carriage drawn by four horses left the Bodbe women's compound. A coachman, a conductor and a servant were sitting on the goats, a mounted guard accompanied the carriage on the side, and the passengers were the mother with her daughter-in-law, who was carrying two children - girls of five and seven years old, and the novice El.<ена>AT.<ачнадзе>.

The travelers stayed on the road for fifteen or twenty minutes, when suddenly, while climbing the mountain, they heard sounds like shots. Matushka pulled back the curtain of the carriage, looked out and saw several people running with revolvers and shooting directly at the carriage.

Terrified, she shouted to the coachman: “They are shooting at us, drive the horses!” But, as soon as the order was executed, a hail of bullets rained down, falling through the broken doors of the carriage from all sides to the feet of the riders.

Under such shelling, the carriage flew for several more minutes, drove out into the street and stopped, as all four horses fell dead at once and the coachman, the conductor and the servant fell together with the goat. The shooting continued into the motionless carriage.

Mother, assuming that the assassination was directed specifically at her, wanted to go out, wanting to save her companions by this, but they restrained her.

As soon as the shooting started, mother took out the icon of St. Seraphim that was on her chest and loudly with boldness began to cry out: “Rev. Father Seraphim, save us.”

The attacked stood in a dangerous position in the middle of the street for some time, when suddenly a patrol of soldiers appeared with an officer at the head.

The officer ran up to the carriage, opened the door, and, seeing people still alive there, in bewilderment asked the question: “Nuns, were they shooting at you? What does it mean?"

At the same time, the attackers stopped firing and fled along the nearest alleys. With the help of the travelers, they got out of the carriage and were taken to some kind of courtyard, and everyone had to hardly jump over a pile of dead horses. A large crowd of people gathered...

Mother asked to quickly pick up the people lying on the ground, trying to give them medical assistance, but of them the coachman and the mounted guard with the horse were killed, and the conductor and servant were seriously injured; the latter were immediately sent to the hospital, where mother herself went after them.

Thus, all those traveling suffered, except for those sitting in the carriage, who escaped by an extraordinary miracle. And in fact: the carriage was positively riddled with bullets, which lay in abundance inside, the windows were smashed to smithereens, sixty-seven bullets were picked up along the ill-fated rise. And how many got stuck in dead horses and people!

The described incident immediately became known to the whole city, and on the same day more than a hundred people stayed with my mother, who expressed their sympathy to her. The next day, many telegrams were received, and among them was one from St. Petersburg, extremely comforting, signed by Metropolitan Vladimir, E.G. and His Grace V., who reported: "Be of good cheer, you will be transferred to Moscow," which ten days later was fulfilled: mother was appointed abbess of the Intercession Community of Sisters of Mercy.

After such a great miracle, mother’s heart was kindled with even greater faith and love for the Monk Seraphim, she is now completely spiritually related to the great saint of God.

It is touching to observe this faith and love from the outside! Here is an example of how deeply one can feel Heaven and its inhabitants: the holy ascetic for mother is a truly living, real person, his name is always in her soul, in her thoughts and never leaves her lips. She talks with him, consults and receives instructions, instructions, suggestions. The Reverend helps her in difficult circumstances and protects her from dangers.

In order to get closer to the saint and, under his grace-filled patronage, finally indulge in the feats of prayer, at the end of June 1908, mother went to the Seraphim-Ponetaevsky Monastery with the intention of settling in the Tsar’s Skete, which belonged to the specified monastery and was located twelve miles from Sarov.

She frankly told Abbess Nektaria, whom she already knew, about the purpose of her visit, and she lovingly agreed to give her a choice of one of the skete houses. After staying for several days in the monastery, on July 1, on the eve of her Angel, matushka arrived at the Tsar's Skete, from here on the same day she walked to Sarov, which for her with sore legs was a great feat. There she strenuously asked the Reverend to arrange her close to her and, without delaying for a long time, but only after confessing to the rector, hegumen Hierotheus, she returned to the skete, where on July 2 she took communion.

On the same day, something so significant happened that destroyed all the plans of our mother and led her to create her own Seraphim-Znamensky Skete.

When, after mass, she fervently prayed before the miraculous icon of the Sign of the Mother of God, famous in the Ponetaevsky Monastery, so that the Most Blessed One would confirm her in the skete, she heard, as it were, a voice from the Queen of Heaven: “No, you will not stay here, but arrange the skete yourself not only for yourself, but also to others."

This suggestion was so clear that mother's excitement ran all over her body and tears poured from her eyes ... She stayed here until July 10, and every time she approached the image, the voice was repeated.

Despite this, mother, taking everything that had happened for a simple temptation, began to seriously think about the implementation of the plan. When leaving, she instructed to repair the chosen house, for which she left money, and upon returning to Moscow, she began to put things in order for delivery to the community.

Fearing, however, to take such an important step without the advice of an experienced confessor, on October 24, 1908, she went to Zosima Hermitage to the recluse Father Alexy to talk with him about the work begun and accept the blessing, quite sure that Father Alexy would approve her intention.

But it was not there. The elder, after listening to his mother, resolutely opposed her desire to retire. No matter how much she tried to convince the elder, saying that from the very first days of monasticism he was striving for solitude, the hermit remained adamant.

Matushka spent two days in the Zosima Hermitage, talked with the elder three times for two hours, and, not having received his consent, became extremely embarrassed; it was difficult for her to give up her cherished dream - to live and be saved near the Reverend.

Just before leaving, mother again went to Father Alexy and, falling on her knees, with tears asked him not to refuse the blessing. Here a change took place in the father: he threw back his head, fixed his gaze somewhere, and said: “Here’s what I can bless you for: arrange your own skete somewhere in the forest. You will move away there from time to time, and then you will move completely. ”

This news shocked her mother. She remembered the voice of the Queen of Heaven: "Arrange it yourself." Here only she told the elder about everything that had happened with her at the icon of the Sign.

The latter, as it were, seized on this and with great enthusiasm began to explain that the matushka was even obliged to create a skete, since the Mother of God called her to what should have been told from the very beginning about the miraculous call.

But no matter how convincingly Father Alexy argued, our mother stood as if knocked down: she did not want to part with her cherished intention and change her decision to the point of heartache. She could only say one thing: “Father, where and how? I have no place, no means, no spiritual strength to start such a complex business.

“The Queen of Heaven,” answered the elder, “she will choose the place herself, and she will give means, and arrange spiritually. You will only be Her servant, an instrument ... "

Inspired by her dream, mother rode to the Zosimov Hermitage, and now, broken, she returned to Moscow; it seemed to her that everything in her life was taken away from her, and she even regretted that she had disturbed the elder. Wouldn't it have been better to act without outside advice?

Returning home, she found a consistory paper on the table, in which it was proposed that the abbess, together with the dean and the engineer, go to the farm belonging to the Pokrovskaya community to study the soil of the land intended for sale.

It must be said that the community had two forest dachas: one eighty-two acres called "Khutor" in Podolsky district, thirty-six miles from Moscow, near Vostryakovo station, the other - sixty-eight acres - in Serpukhov district. Mother only knew about their existence but planned, but she never went there, since these plots were of no interest to the community.

And on the first section, the Administration of the Ryazan-Ural Railway looked after one of the hills of seven acres for the removal of sand and started a case with the community on this subject, which was then submitted for consideration by the Spiritual Consistory, which ordered to check on the spot how profitable such a deal was.

Having received this decree, mother with the above-mentioned persons immediately went to the Farm, where there were two small wooden houses - a gatehouse and a small shed for a cow.

Despite the last days of October, the weather was very warm, and the whole country with the yellowed forest seemed most attractive and picturesque. When the members of the commission climbed the hill, handed over to the railway for operation, our mother, giving them freedom of action, stopped in place as if rooted to the spot - she was greatly struck by the sight of a wonderful, charming corner. It was as if a hammer hit her in the heart, and the thought instantly appeared: “Here, arrange a skete.”

A new test has begun for mother ...

How to realize what you want when the chosen place was considered already sold out? It would seem that there was nothing to think about, but a whole swarm of ideas swirled in my mother’s head: she began to draw both the appearance of the skete and its internal routine ... And all the time that the satellites were diligently engaged in drilling the earth in order to determine how deep the sand was Mother stood motionless, lost in thought.

They made measurements, went down to the Farm and wrote an act stating that the sale of the site was beneficial for the community. Everyone signed up; my mother added her signature. The dean took the drafted paper with him for transfer to the Consistory.

The case seemed to be over, but for our mother it was just beginning, and in a completely different direction - in favor of the skete she was designing. She firmly decided to create it in this place.

A day later, after returning to Moscow, mother again went to the Zosimov Hermitage, told Father Alexy in detail about her last experiences. He listened to the interlocutor, who ideally developed the whole plan for arranging the skete on the hill, somehow especially, childishly rejoiced, despite the fact that mother immediately added that this dream was unrealizable, since it had already been decided to give the land to the railway.

However, the elder gave his blessing to immediately send a report to the Administration of the Ryazan-Ural Railway that the land being alienated was necessary for the needs of the community, and therefore could not be transferred, and at the same time recommended drawing up drawings for the future skete, even preparing bricks and timber ...

Mother did just that: they sent a refusal and invited an architect, who, having accepted all the tasks from the builder, began to develop a plan. For some reason, the railroad also stopped. Considering the case with the last failed, mother from February 1909 already ordered the delivery of materials.

Having prepared everything in this way, at the beginning of May she went to the Farm with the treasurer and architects in order to finally choose a place and bless the start of work. They measured the required space and immediately began to dig ditches for the foundation, and it was suggested that the laying itself be done on May 20.

Suddenly, a week before this date, a strict paper arrived in the community, in which it was reported that the Administration of the Ryazan-Ural Railway considers the planned plot of seven acres near the Vostryakovo station to be its own, and if the abbess does not voluntarily concede it, then alienation will follow by the Highest command. Following this, on the second day, the mother of the treasurer arrived from the Farm and said that a commission had already been there, examined everything and demanded the cessation of work, pointing to the agreement that had taken place earlier.

With such news, our mother experienced both grief and joy: she was upset because her serious plans for the construction of the monastery were being destroyed, and at the same time she was ready to come to terms with what had happened, thinking that the Lord was taking her away from such a serious matter and showing her the previously chosen path. - live in prayerful solitude near your Heavenly patron.

With a confused soul, she again went to Father Alexy and told him about everything.

The elder listened and calmly said: “Well then? It is impossible for us in that place - create in another, because the forest is great, but it is imperative to arrange. Let your sisters go around the whole grove and outline several suitable points, then you yourself will go and choose any of them. “And if it pleases the Reverend, then the selected place will return,” the recluse added prophetically.

The suggestion of Fr. Alexis, however, did not in the least reassure Matushka, who, as we said, from the very first time decided to build the skete only in a place chosen by her heart, or else to completely abandon such a difficult task.

One mind, they say, is good, but two is better; and mother, wanting to test herself once again, went to the Optina elders in order to find out their opinion and hear a decisive word from the spiritually wise fathers.

She told each of them separately about her case, with special emphasis that everything she had experienced finally convinced her of the need to leave the independent organization of the skete and return to her former intentions - to retire. And what? All the elders, as if by agreement, rejected the second and advised to start the first, "for the Queen of Heaven herself wants this."

Father Anatoly, revered by the people, was absent from the monastery at that time, and mother did not even regret that she had not found him, since she was not satisfied with the answers of the Optina confessors. She was about to leave, as they announced the return of the elder. The cell sisters began to beg their spiritual mother to go to Father Anatoly even for a minute, and she, yielding to their request, went, but decided not to say anything about her business. Imagine her surprise when Father Anatoly himself started talking about all the questions that confused mother and, like Father Alexy Zossimovsky, began to convince her to fulfill the order of the Queen of Heaven without fail.

Having then presented the rare visitor with many sacred objects, and, by the way, handing over the picture of the Last Supper as a keepsake, the seer let her go home in peace.

Returning to Moscow, our mother decided to obey the general voice of the spiritual fathers and a few days later sent a treasurer to Khutor so that she, along with other sisters, on the advice of Father Alexy, went around the whole forest and outlined several places suitable for building a monastery.

The order was immediately executed, and soon the mother herself went to the Farm for an inspection. It was as if a whole commission gathered from people close to her, among whom was a strict confessor from Old Athos - Father Jesse. Everyone opted for a pine forest near the village of R.<едькино>. Having made a prayer, the named elder buried here in the ground, as a basis, the Jerusalem cross.

So, the question of choosing a place was decided, and our mother went with a report to Father Alexy. In a conversation with him, she continued to express regret that it was impossible to build a skete on a hill. Consoling the saddened mother, this time the recluse hinted even more strongly at the possibility of returning the site given to the railway.

He said: "Pray more earnestly - the place, perhaps, will return to you, but if it is not so, do not grieve, all the same, you need to arrange another one."

Not reassured, but even more upset, mother returned home. Approaching the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, she suddenly decided on the train to make the last check of her searches - to stop by to pray to the Monk Sergius and go to the vicar, Father Tobius - what else would he say. Probably, mother reasoned, being businesslike and reasonable, he would not insist on construction, but as a strict monk he would rather advise solitude and prayer. So thought the mother, obviously continuing to look for an elder who would agree with her thoughts and feelings and would reject the creation of the skete, blessed by all.

Having venerated the relics of the Reverend, she went to the chambers of the viceroy's father. The latter received the Moscow guest with love, listened attentively to a long story about all the questions that troubled her soul, and when she had finished, silently, as if afraid of objections that might follow, got up, went into his office and left with an icon in his hands, saying: “Well , mother, let us pray, I will bless you: you must arrange the skete yourself - this is the will of the Queen of Heaven. If you don’t like one place, look for another, in spirit, but by no means refuse: it should suit you. Mother could not help but feel the imperious and subduing power of the words of Father Tobius. While all the other elders only advised, this one, without any reasoning, proceeded directly to the matter - blessing, inspiring those interlocutor with determination and energy.

Instructed by such a firm word, mother returned to her cheerful and immediately wrote a weighty paper to the Administration of the Ryazan-Ural Railway - that the disputed land is necessary for the needs of such a well-known charitable institution in Moscow as the Pokrovskaya community, and if the Administration thinks to alienate from the Highest permission, then the Community will apply the same procedure.

Less than a week later, a telegram was received with the following content: "The Ryazan-Ural Railway forever refuses to exploit sand near the Vostryakovo station in the area belonging to the Pokrovskaya community."

Such a turn of affairs could not but be recognized as an expression of the will of God, and mother, having thanked the Lord and the Queen of Heaven for the miraculous help, having asked for blessings from the Monk Seraphim, now humbly agreed to begin the construction of the skete.

A day later, she went with the architect to the Farm and ordered to re-measure the previously planned site. And what did it turn out to be? If the construction of the fence had continued according to the previous measurement, then the altar would have fallen not to the east, but to the northeast. The mistake was immediately corrected, the foundation was redone and completed on July 27, 1910.

On the appointed date, at three o'clock in the afternoon, the laying of the skete took place. As you know, according to church reckoning, another day begins at this time and the service is sung the next day, and since on July 28 there is a feast in honor of the icon "Tenderness", which was in the cell of St. Seraphim, and the memory of his worldly Angel, the Apostle Prochorus, consequently, the bookmark was made on a significant day for the skete.

The skete was built from July 1910 to September 1912. All plans for his external and internal routine, mother confided to one of her high spiritual friends, from whom she received support and approval.

Metropolitan Vladimir also showed great sympathy for the work begun, who himself expressed a desire to consecrate the newly created monastery, which happened on September 23, 1912.

During the celebration, the Primate, among other things, said: “Today, dear sisters, I consider myself the happiest of people, because the Lord led me to consecrate a wonderful church and visit a corner that resembles an earthly paradise. Your temple calls to God, and from the skete it breathes such blessed peace and tranquility that the soul rejoices, forgetting all bitterness and adversity.

These unforgettable words served as a covenant for mother, who made every effort to create an environment for the sisters in which it would be easy for them to be saved in the Lord and gain peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

And it must be said that the external and internal arrangement of the skete fully corresponded to this, which we will now discuss.

The appearance of the skete

Znamenskaya Church of the Serafimo-Znamensky Skete (1980s)

The whole skete is surrounded by a fence for thirty-three sazhens in a square in memory of the thirty-three years of the Savior's earthly life. In the center stands a temple of a pyramidal shape in the style of the 17th century in honor of the Sign of the Mother of God and the Monk Seraphim, with a tomb and a throne below in honor of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina.

From the outside, the temple has twenty-four ledges according to the number of twenty-four apocalyptic elders and is crowned with one head, signifying the Lord Jesus Christ; the iconostasis in the temple is oak, the bowls with the device are wooden, Karelian birch; everything else - banners, lecterns, icon cases - in the same style.

On the right and on the left side there are temple icons of the Sign of the Mother of God and St. Seraphim of wonderful Ponetaev work.

According to the number of twelve apostles, twelve small houses are located in the fence, each of which is under the patronage of one or another apostle, and therefore is called John the Theologian, St. Andrew's, and so on, and has on the outer wall, which is part of the fence, the image of its patron. The day the Church glorifies the apostle is, as it were, a temple holiday of the house, the inhabitants of which are charged with honoring their apostle, always praying to him and imitating his exploits. One of the houses served as a common refectory and kitchen.

Only thirty-three sisters can live in a skete, again corresponding to the number of years of the Lord's earthly life. In front of the skete, just in the middle, against the wall, there is a large image of the Savior with an inextinguishable lamp. It is visible from almost everywhere, and the sisters should look here as often as possible so that their thoughts never leave the Heavenly Bridegroom.

Above the holy gates there is a belfry with a fine selection of small bells. It also serves as an observation post. The ringing is made according to the ancient Rostov motif.

There are four towers at the corners of the fence; archangels with trumpets, fashioned from plaster, are fixed on them, as if preparing to announce the Coming of Christ, which the wanderers should constantly remember.

In addition to the holy gates, there are additional ones: on the right side for household needs, and on the left side there is a small “forest gate”, so named because it opens directly into the grove. From here, a smooth path was laid to the mound, near which there is an image of St. Seraphim, made on zinc, walking with an ax and a knapsack behind his shoulders. It can be seen from the gate itself, and anyone who opens it gets the impression that the Sarov ascetic directs his steps into the skete. This is a favorite place of mother and sisters, where they trust the saint, as if alive, all their thoughts and feelings.

There are no other, so to speak, "draft" buildings inside the fence - all this is outside the skete; he himself, overgrown with pine and birch, with flower beds in places, with extraordinary cleanliness, is like an earthly paradise and should remind its inhabitants of the longed-for heavenly paradise.

When the Commission for the Protection of Monuments of Art visited the skete, they were struck by the lofty idea invested in it, and issued a special letter to the abbess, which read: “The Serafimo-Znamensky Skete, in its individual, original internal and external structure, deserves special attention and must be preserved as rare church monument.

The interior of the skete

If the skete is so beautiful from the outside, then it is no less remarkable in its internal structure, for which, in fact, according to the builder, all its symbolism is calculated, which should elevate the spirit of the inhabitants to the heavenly. Mainly, the following rules of the skete hostel help to develop the spiritual dispensation of the sisters.

None of the strangers, especially males, except for the serving clergyman, is allowed into the skete and the temple.

Those who have entered the skete stop all contact with the world and do not go home to visit relatives, and even more so to arrange any economic affairs: all this must be done before entering the skete.

In the cell, the sisters cannot receive anyone, even their mothers, but for a meeting with relatives - exclusively with relatives - a room in a hotel is allotted.

It is also not allowed for sisters to go to other people's cells, make any kind of acquaintance and visit the homes of worldly people, even for field work, reading from the dead, and for other plausible reasons. They go outside the fence of the skete, to the hotel and to the Farm, if there is a need for that, with a blessing.

Non-possessiveness, complete renunciation of one's will, obedience and work for the common good are put at the forefront. In fulfillment of this, the sisters should not consider anything their property, should not have money or things, nor should they engage in work for personal gain.

External neatness and accuracy are strictly required in everything, and there must be unconditional cleanliness in the cells.

It is commanded to maintain chastity or purity of life in all respects. This is achieved by carefully testing oneself, rebuking and revealing thoughts to the smallest details to the spiritual father or spiritual mother - in a word, it is required to live with an open soul, that is, to bring all internal ulcers out, not to hide any sin, no filth.

Every sister must always observe silence, especially in the morning before the service and in the evening after the prayer. In general, it is forbidden to talk idle, speak loudly, insolently, in a raised voice and laugh. It is prescribed:

• to have self-control, seriousness, good manners in everything;
• develop patience: never grumble at elders and sisters, never condemn food, clothes, or cells;
• to bear in oneself the fear of God, that is, the fear of upsetting God and neighbor with something bad, sinful;
• to try in every possible way to acquire meekness, humility, quietness, love and peace with everyone;
• it is also recommended to observe the following testament of the spiritual mother: “Do not offend anyone, forgive all offenses, desire nothing for yourself, send thanks to God for everything.”

Sisters are obligated to go to church without fail, in fulfillment of the words of the Savior: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this (necessary in earthly existence) will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). With this rule, all obediences are performed only in the intervals between services. With the first summons, the sisters stop work and go to the temple.

In addition, all the nuns must constantly say the Jesus Prayer and not part with it on obediences, while the common work is accompanied by the quiet singing of psalms or the reading of akathists. All this in order to constantly be sober, spiritually awake and not depart with thoughts and feelings from the Savior.

The order of worship is distributed as follows.

At eight o'clock in the morning - service of the 9th hour, vespers, compline with three canons, alternate akathist and commemoration.

On Sunday and on the days indicated by the Charter - an all-night vigil at six o'clock in the evening; it is also performed on Saturdays - alternately the Sign, the Monk Seraphim and the funeral.

On those days when there is no Vespers, the Midnight Office is served at twelve o'clock at night. The Midnight Office is held in this order. At half past eleven, alarm clocks walk around the skete with a beater and sing in a singsong voice at each house: “It’s time for vigil, it’s time for prayer, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.” The sisters gather about ten minutes before the start of the service and sit silently, as if waiting for the coming of the Heavenly Bridegroom. When the clock strikes, they get up, light the candles and sing: “Behold the Bridegroom is coming at midnight,” after which the candles are extinguished and the rule of St. Seraphim begins with bows, followed by the Midnight Office itself.

Before the dismissal, the choirs and all the sisters converge below at the icon of the Savior, and here a general confession is offered according to a formula worked out, read by the abbess or, at her appointment, by one of the senior nuns.

The nuns aloud, word by word, contritely confess their human infirmities, and then for some time they are in silence, remembering the sins in which they convict every conscience, and mentally repenting of them.

Once a week, on Fridays, the Midnight Office takes place according to the Athonite Rule: twelve psalms are sung. Everything ends with the singing: "Oh, sweet and all-bountiful Jesus." Without uttering a single word afterwards, the inhabitants of the skete disperse to their cells for rest.

At five o'clock in the morning the sisters get up, and at five forty-five minutes the morning prayers, matins and liturgy begin.

In addition to the indispensable attendance of worship, the wanderers must fulfill the following cell rule:

• thirty-three bows to the earth in memory of the number of years of the Savior's earthly life,
• twelve earthly bows to the Mother of God,
• twelve prostrations to the Monk Seraphim.

meal it happens in the following order: after the liturgy, common tea, at one o'clock in the afternoon - lunch, at half past three - tea, at five o'clock - dinner, after which it is no longer necessary to eat anything and drink water; if it is necessary to take medicine, then only with a blessing.

Satisfied with a common meal, the sisters can neither cook nor have anything edible in the cells, nor, on the contrary, impose an unauthorized fast on themselves.

To top it all off, under no circumstances should succumb to despondency, sorrow, should not be upset by anything, they should always maintain a fresh, cheerful, joyful mood, which, however, naturally comes with the fulfillment of all the above rules.

Rejoicing in the Lord, the nuns of the skete must communicate the same joy to all those around them and those who come into contact with them.

A table of these rules is given to each sister for constant reading and guidance, and is placed by her in a cell in a conspicuous place.

Living according to the rules of the skete hostel, each sister must check herself daily, in other words, test her conscience, devoting some time to this before going to bed, approximately asking herself like this:

How did you spend the night? Did you fall asleep with prayer? Didn't you dream while lying in bed? Cheerfully or lazily got up for Midnight Office and Matins?

How did you stand in the church? With attention to reading and singing? Did she whisper and look around? Didn’t she relax while standing, and didn’t she grumble about the duration of the service, didn’t she sit down under the pretext of fatigue and malaise?

How did she sing and read: with reverence, humility, zeal, diligence, or hastily, distractedly, with pride and a high opinion of her abilities?

How did you get out of the temple of God? Did she leave earlier than the appointed time or the end of the service?

Did she talk to the sisters along the way, sharing not the holy impressions received in the church, but discussing the shortcomings, mistakes of singers, sisters, outsiders, and so on?

When you entered the cell, did you cross yourself and thank the Lord, who honored you to be in the temple? How was your day?

In the refectory. Did she sit, listening to the reading of the lives of the saints, or was she immersed in food, feeding herself with extraneous thoughts?

Didn't she look into someone else's plate, didn't she judge her sister for polyphagy and didn't she try to take the first and best piece for herself?

Have you eaten to satiety?

Did you grumble at the scarcity and monotony of the meal?

In prayer before and after meals, did you thank the Lord for the food, asking Him to make you worthy of what you received?

On obedience. Did she fulfill her obedience with zeal for the sake of the Lord, the sisters, the holy monastery, and out of love for work, or did she wish to do more quickly, more and better than others only out of vanity, ambition, trying to show herself to her elders?

Was she not lazy, cherishing her peace and neglecting the benefits of the monastery?

Have you not sinned in common obediences with idle talk, negligence, laughter, talkativeness, irritation, murmuring during difficult work, reproaches and contempt of sisters for laziness, inability, and failure in business?

Did she pray during her obediences, did she avoid distraction of the mind, or did she give scope to vain and sinful thoughts?

Staying in a cell. Did you try to walk in the presence of God and do everything with a cheerful heart and a sober mind? Did she deal kindly, with love and patience with her co-workers?

Did she allow herself secret eating, reading forbidden secular books, correspondence, and in general anything reprehensible?

Didn't she receive someone without blessing in the cell and didn't she herself go to strangers?

Have you complained about the scarcity of clothes, the lack of warmth, the tightness and other inconveniences of the room?

Did you buy unnecessary and unnecessary things?

Did you clean the cell at the right time, or did you allow sloppiness and slovenliness?

When passing the secret rule. Did she pray with tenderness, did she read the Holy Gospel, the Apostle, the Psalter with attention, did the centurions pass with the fear of God, as if standing before the Lord Himself, or did she do all this distractedly, with dryness of heart, hastily, only formally fulfilling the prescribed?

Did she miss the rules due to negligence about salvation, excusing herself with a lack of free time, fatigue, illness, or justifying herself with other occupations of a supposedly higher order?

On the contrary, didn’t she impose on herself, without blessing, extra prostrations and other feats, giving them room for self-will?

What was the general condition of your heart during the day? Did she follow herself, or did she indulge in the chaotic flow of thoughts and feelings, being transported by thought to her former worldly life and so on?

Didn't you take offense?

Have you offended anyone yourself?

Did you thank God for everything?

Did she treat her sisters equally, or did she prefer one over the others, forgetting that an excess of love for one reveals a lack of love for others? Did you embarrass the sisters in any way?

Didn’t she allow herself free treatment with them, from which the saving fear of God is destroyed in us?

Was she not indulged in despondency and excessive grief? Was she spiritually alert and joyful? Is there anything else on your mind?

In addition to the general rules that must be followed without fail, the sisters are recommended, with the blessing and appointment of the abbess, to devote every day of the week to the exercise in a certain virtue in order to acquire skill in it. So, for example, there may be such a schedule.

Monday- a day of silence. Keeping feelings from any external impressions, self-deepening, which, however, should not be accompanied by isolation that is unpleasant for others, but complacency in everything.

Tuesday- a day of meekness and humility. Walk and stand in the temple with your head bowed, observe silence in all actions; in the cell, do nothing according to your own desire, but first find out the opinion and desire of the sister living together; the first to come and the last to leave from obedience; the last to sit down at the table and touch the meal; bow to the waist, and if you happen to upset someone with words or actions, immediately ask forgiveness from the offended with a bow to the ground.

Wednesday- day of self-reproach. Check your thoughts and deeds for the last days; to go through the Jesus Prayer not with the ending “sinful”, but with names corresponding to perfect errors and struggling passions; remember all the sisters by name and, having determined the distinctive good qualities of each, ask the Lord, for the sake of their holy prayers, to grant you progress in the virtue inherent in this or that sister.

Thursday- a day of prayer. Determine the time and place for solitary prayer; come to worship according to the first agenda; to memorize a few lines from the Holy Gospel, the Apostle, the Psalter, or from your favorite akathist.

Friday is the day of fasting, contrition, crying! To refrain from pleasant food, treats and supper; to deepen one's thoughts into the sufferings of the Savior on the Cross to such an extent as to cause weeping over one's sins.

Saturday- day of good deeds. In his free time, between lunch and evening, help at the meal, kitchen, regular housework, or do something for a sick, infirm, and elderly sister; especially to diligently pray for benefactors and persons who have fallen into various kinds of misfortunes, for whom the monastery is instructed to pray.

Sunday- a day of joy. Try to focus on the blessings and mercies of God. Walk with a feeling of thanksgiving and glorification of the Lord, listing in your mind the individual facts of His earthly life and cases of God's mercy from your past and present; pass the rosary with joyful greetings to the Savior, the Mother of God and the saints instead of the usual prayer for salvation and mercy; find words of comfort for the grieving and discouraged sisters.

So, by the grace of God, the Seraphim-Znamensky Skete settled down. According to the charter, thirty-three sisters settled in it, not counting those who had obedience and accommodation on the Farm.

Mother began to closely follow the life of the wanderers, often checking them and showing in everything an example of strict hermitage. She soon sealed her ardent love for the Savior and monasticism by accepting the schema, which she decided not of her own free will, but on the advice of the elders, recognizing tonsure into the great angelic image as a high honor for herself and considering it incompatible with the obedience of the abbot.

The most loving Schema-Archimandrite Gabriel, who labored for many years in Kazan monasteries, was the first to offer the schema to mother; the same was confirmed by the disciple of the famous elder Father Iliodor, the Glinian spiritual father Clement, who in this respect had such an influence on the mother that she, returning from him, submitted a petition to Metropolitan Macarius for tonsure, however, strongly doubting the success of her request.

But it turned out against her expectations. Wise with spiritual experience, the Saint wrote a resolution with approximately the following content: “I welcome the good desire of the abbess Juvenalia to accept the schema; as for the time, the Lord Himself will indicate it. The tonsure is entrusted to His Grace Arseniy.”

The latter, having received from the matushka a notice of the result of her petition, the expression of Metropolitan Macarius: “The Lord Himself will tell the time,” he understood in the sense that there is no need to hurry with tonsure. The same opinion was held by his friend, Archimandrite Seraphim, who looked at the schema as a type of monasticism in which all connection with the world should cease.

“For a monk,” he said, “the words of the Apostle Paul are applicable:“ ... for me the world is crucified ... ”(Gal. 6:14), that is, a monk is like a dead person lying in the house; they look at him, they kiss him, they fuss around him, but he himself does not feel any of this - for him the world does not exist.

The schemnik, on the other hand, is dead, already buried in the grave, having broken off all, even purely external, communication with the world. It refers to the second half of the same saying: "...and I for the world" (Gal. 6:14). The schemnik and the people should be forgotten, left alone, remembering that he ended all earthly calculations.

However, the slowdown with the schema plunged mother into a languid state. Being in the Zosima Hermitage, she, testing herself, told all the elders - Father Herman and Father Alexy, and they, considering the indicated delay a test, advised to persistently seek tonsure. But, wanting to wait for such a serious matter and experiencing a bitter feeling of abandonment, matushka prayed fervently at one liturgy, asking the Lord, the Queen of Heaven, and St. Seraphim to give her a clear sign. And after that, something amazing happened: as if by special inspiration, without even having time to rest from the road, Metropolitan Macarius, who had just returned from Tobolsk, where he opened the relics of St. John, unexpectedly visited Matushka.

In a conversation, the venerable Archpastor spoke in detail about his impressions received during the glorification of the newly-appeared saint, and, among other things, said that he had met a priest in Tobolsk, to whom Father John of Kronstadt predicted the discovery of the relics of St. John many years ago.

To this priest, Vladyka noted, the great shepherd gave the following advice regarding his son, when he, after graduating from the Seminary, did not want to go to the spiritual department, but decided to be a sailor: “Do not interfere with his path - we do not know where he will please God more, at sea or in sacred rank."

In the last words, mother saw, as it were, an answer for herself. She fell on her knees in front of the Saint and said: “And you, Holy Lord, do not obstruct my path ...” “Are you talking about the schema?” asked the Archpastor. - "Yes, Vladyka, Father Clement constantly reminds me of this in his letters, saying that I, an indispensable slave, am postponing my salvation." - "Well, apparently, the hour has come for you, let's pray."

Following this, they went to the prayer room, where the Metropolitan, having taken from the mother the word not to leave the rector's obedience, laid both his hands on her head, said a prayer, blessed and left.

On the evening of the same day, His Grace Arseniy, while reporting to Vladyka, received confirmation that the matushka had received the final blessing for tonsure, which took place on September 21, 1916, the feast day of St. Demetrius of Rostov.

Everything good brings joy, and what the sisters and we experienced in the Serafimo-Znamensky Skete was accompanied by great spiritual consolation, obviously because the whole atmosphere there was bright and holy.

The consecration of the skete and the temple takes place. Metropolitan Vladimir performs the divine service, speaks a heartfelt speech, calls on the blessing of God on the newly built monastery, and the grace of the Lord, through the prayers of the great hierarch, descends on it and spreads to all corners of the holy place, filling the hearts of the sisters with unspeakable joy.

The throne is consecrated in honor of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina. There are no outside pilgrims - only wanderers and clergymen. The church resembles catacombs, as it is located in the dungeon. Quiet, blessed here. Everyone experiences the feeling that Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina herself and the Monk Seraphim are present at the celebration, and, I think, it was so, for where there is love, there is God ... Where there is sincere heartfelt veneration and glorification of the saints, where pure prayer is filthy - there Heaven is connected with the earth ...

In the small temple of the Serafimo-Znamensky Skete, with the high religious enthusiasm of the builder and sisters, there was a great attraction and concentration of grace-filled power. Here the Lord Himself overshadowed those assembled, here the Queen of Heaven touched the hearts of those who prayed, and especially those who sang; here, near everyone, rejoicing and having fun, was the Guardian Angel - that is why the consecration of this wonderful little church was so deeply imprinted in the memory of the inhabitants of the skete.

Mother is being tonsured into the schema. The mood of the wanderers is as if they are waiting for an unprecedented event for them. But not sad, as, for example, with the loss of a loved one, and not a holiday accompanied by spiritual triumph, but an event that forces you to go inside yourself, inspires strict seriousness and prayer tenderness.

Hour after hour goes by, the all-night vigil is approaching, when tonsure is appointed. In anticipation of this time, Vladyka Arseny, an elder, retires to a grove and in silence, in the midst of nature, experiences a lot. He becomes sad because his spiritual mother decides to take on a difficult feat that will force her to leave those who so badly need her moral support.

The elder also reflects on the extent to which the schema is acceptable for monks undergoing responsible, difficult obedience in the cloisters, and comes to the following conclusion: one can put on the schema for two reasons. Some see it as a dying parting word, and by accepting it they think to ask the Lord for forgiveness of all the sins committed in monasticism. Such people usually put off tonsure until the end of their lives. Others, as a schema, wish to prove their deep love and devotion to the Sweetest Christ the Savior and serve Him with even greater zeal and zeal, as long as their strength allows, and accept this great angelic image at a time favorable for their monastic life, never forgetting that the main thing for a monk is the inner detachment from the world and its delights; as for obediences, they are all salutary.

The second impulse guided our mother. With a great spiritual upsurge, with a feeling of unshakable faith and love for the Lord, she spread out on earth - as a sign of the complete crucifixion of herself for the sake of higher spiritual goals.

The wandering women surrounding mother touchingly sang the tonsure stichera. All of them stood with lit candles and wept, but not with tears of peace coming from a grieving, suffering heart, but with tears of prayerful compunction and spiritual satisfaction, that the work of salvation in their holy skete would “sing,” that they, having left everything for the sake of the Lord, are not alone. , and in front of them, setting an example, goes the spiritual mother, who wished to take on the high feat of scheming.

There is a connection between the mood, the experience on the days of the holidays, and what the preparation for them is like: the last is more diligent, attentive, the joy of the holiday is fuller, livelier.

For example, Christmas and Easter are celebrated in the skete with great spiritual uplift and, of course, because the skete women, having endured the preliminary fast, meet them with reverent awe, prayer and faith.

There is a Christmas matins… The Divine Infant Christ is glorified. There is light in the soul of all the sisters, and this lordship is really felt in the temple, even in the very air that fills it.

Holy Easter is coming. Here already there is the height of spiritual joy ... And every holiday brings joy to the ascetics, and each time it is special, with a certain imprint, in accordance with the remembered event.

In Baptism, one feels renewal, sanctification of spiritual and even bodily forces.

At the Meeting, the importance and significance of all moral institutions, rules and requirements of the Church are recognized, from the fulfillment of which you experience spiritual satisfaction; the sisters are also comforted by the fact that they live according to the precepts of the holy monastery.

On the Annunciation, joy reigns in the soul, which comes from receiving the good news, and since for humanity there can be no higher and more saving notice brought by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary, a pure heart rejoices on this holiday more than ever ...

On Palm Sunday our spirit triumphs. From what? Jesus Christ goes to Jerusalem with glory, and we share this majestic procession, we console ourselves with the glorification of the Lord, just as in life we ​​are happy with the honor and veneration of people close to us. Here is incomparably greater - our Savior is exalted.

What does the Ascension give? If we have a patron friend, a protector, we are not afraid of dangers, and, hoping for his support, we live calmly, then we experience the same thing, only to the highest degree, on this holy holiday, when the Lord Himself, having ascended to heaven, promised not to leave us, and always be with us ...

During the days of the Holy Trinity, the soul is overflowing with the abundance of gifts of grace sent down to us; then it becomes easy on the heart, and you rejoice in everything good, holy ...

In the Transfiguration, there is a thirst to become better, to shake off everything bad and evil from oneself and begin a renewed life. You long for this, and the Savior transfigured in glory will gladden your soul.

In the Dormition, a peaceful Christian death comes to mind. How desirable she is, how one wants to die with God! You think like this and you notice in yourself the quietness and calmness that has settled in yourself.

On the Feast of the Exaltation, the power of the Cross of the Lord is greatly felt by those who create it earnestly, who revere it, who never part from it. Such are the wanderers: guarding themselves with the holy cross with faith, they are always cheerful, strong in spirit and are not frightened by any enemy machinations.

On the day of the Nativity of the Theotokos, the basis for joy is given in the content of the troparion: “Thy Nativity, Virgin Mother of God, joy to bring to the whole universe: from Thee, the Sun of righteousness Christ our God has ascended, and breaking the oath, giving blessing, and abolishing death, giving us eternal life” .

Whoever is deeply imbued with the meaning of this holiday, he undoubtedly rejoices.

In the Introduction, you feel spiritual pleasure as never before, being present in the temple, where from the common prayer of the faithful, the celebration of the Sacraments, and especially the Divine Eucharist, the grace of God abounds, so to speak, in full swing. On this day, you will especially recognize the greatness of the house of God, you are inflamed with zeal for visiting it, you burn with love for the worship performed in it.

No less consolation is brought to the inhabitants of the skete by temple holidays, such as the celebration in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” and the memory of St. Seraphim.

When the day of your Angel comes, you become the center of attention of people close to you. Invisibly looks down on you then and your Heavenly patron. This position of the birthday man elevates his spirit, makes him special among those around him.

The same mood is observed on the days of temple holidays among good parishioners, when they, being a kind of birthday people, spiritually triumph.

The wanderers also show a similar feeling. Their tender love for the Queen of Heaven and the Monk Seraphim, the touching divine service with a prayer service, the preliminary fasting and then the acceptance of the Holy Mysteries - all this creates in the sisters such a gracious state of soul that they then, by their very appearance, resemble bright Angels, undoubtedly having Heaven in their hearts. light and great comfort. And then the triumph of the holiday is enhanced by brotherly fellowship and love, the focus of which is the spiritual father and spiritual mother. How much joy comes from mutual congratulations alone!

To please their patrons, the sisters seem to exert all their diligence. With cheerful faces, they say greetings, compose poems, cheerfully, solemnly sing the patriarchal longevity, and they, in turn, try to console their spiritual children with pies and various kinds of sweets. What touching love!

A warm summer evening… Matushka gives her blessing to serve Vespers in the open-air grove, near the mound of St. Seraphim. Here there is a wondrous union of singing and praying with virgin nature. The latter, as if rejoicing at such a meeting, especially caresses the pure souls of the sisters, clinging close, close to them and kissing them ...

The setting sun illuminates with a delightful brilliance the space where there are only wanderers ... Here a stream of a quiet breeze sweeps by, pleasant and invigorating after the heat of the day; the birds will fall silent, then they will sing - and at what moment! When it is especially necessary to pray - during the "Praise the name of the Lord" or the great doxology. Merging with the choir of sisters, the birds enhance the feeling of prayer, raising the soul to the Lord - the All-Wise Builder of the Universe.

Oh, how blessed are these open-air vigils in the holy hermitage, how much consolation and joy they bring to its inhabitants!

It's almost midnight. In the neighboring village they still do not sleep: from there they hear the cries of those walking, singing, playing the harmonica ...

The clock strikes twelve ... Following this, the bell of a gentle sounding bell is heard in the skete, calling the nuns to the temple for Midnight Office ...

What a terrible contrast is then felt between the world lying in evil and the holy corner! There goes the pleasing of Satan, accompanied by dancing, squeals and all kinds of filth - here a humble service to the Lord is performed with prayer, amazing spiritual singing, with tears and spiritual purity ... There, in the midst of fun and revelry, in a friendly-looking company, mutual enmity boils in the hearts of people , anger, envy, misanthropy; in this same gracious gathering, with holy prayerful unity, just the opposite happens: the smoothing over, the destruction of all evil feelings ...

One must be a witness to the skete midnight office in order to feel all its moral loftiness and benefit for the nuns. After the dismissal, the latter converge at the revered icon of the Savior and here they deeply repent of all their infirmities, sins according to the following confessional formula read by the spiritual mother:

My Savior! I promised to devote my whole life to you, to fill my whole soul with love for You alone! I check my heart and "I present myself as guilty."

I am sinful of lack of faith, spiritual insensitivity, relaxation in fasting and prayer, lack of reverence for holy things, lack of the fear of God...

I wanted no one and nothing to stand in the way of my procession to You, O Christ! Now I ask myself: is this so, and I notice that many things have prevailed over me - food, clothing, warmth, comforts of life, affections and every passion ...

Having loved You, Lord, I thought to sacredly love my neighbors, but I look at myself and see how proud, proud, touchy, envious and jealous I am, irritable and so on and so forth (here you can list other sins). And how much murmuring, impatience, condemnation and all sorts of hostility towards people!

Forgive me, God, all my sins, enlighten my mind with the light of Your mind, strengthen my flabby, weak, always inclined to evil will, purify my passionate heart, breathe into it the desire for purity, chastity, humility, meekness, quietness, gentleness, simplicity, and most of all, fill me with love for You, O my sweet Jesus, that I may abide with You forever. Amen.

The service does not end with this: the sisters then ask forgiveness from each other, bow at each other's feet, reconcile and, having sung at the end of everything the touching hymn “Oh, sweet and all-generous Jesus!” - silently disperse to the cells.

Do you think that such a nightly prayer and Christian forgiveness create a bright paradise in the souls of wanderers? Yes, they definitely do.

If there, behind the fence, let's say it again, people unite on the basis of coarse-feeling wild fun, behind which disunity, enmity and hatred lie, then here, in the holy corner, the sisters become better with every midnight office, grow stronger in mutual love, carrying peace in their hearts. and quiet blessed joy ...

The day is coming. Skityanki on obedience. Some of them work alone: ​​some in the garden, some with bees, some clean the grove of dry leaves, others carry grass together, dry hay, graze cows, cultivate vegetable gardens.

Everyone is commanded to unceasingly say the Jesus Prayer, sing psalms, read akathists, and they inviolably, sacredly fulfill this rule: they work and pray.

Any work brings fatigue, and with it murmuring often rises, a bad mood of the spirit appears.

Look at worldly people: how often they accompany their activities with irritability, anger, especially in case of difficulties and failures. Not so in the holy skitochka. Here the sisters find the same thing easier when they pray, and fatigue does not give rise to an unfortunate state of mind, not to relaxation, but to healthy sleep, quiet peace. They work with God, with God, cheerful and contented, they complete their obediences.

Even in the days of national disasters, our wanderers were not left without consolation and Heavenly protection.

Hunger. It's hard to get bread. Many in search of it undertake trips to the side, with danger even to life. The charter of the skete does not allow the nuns to leave the monastery for any reason; the strict mother tells the sisters to pray and expect help from above.

The faint-hearted, however, cannot stand it and, fearing hunger, go in search of food, but on the way they lose everything that they have acquired with great difficulty. In tears, they return to the holy corner, where something miraculous happens in their absence: there are kind people who share their rations with prayer books.

Secret almsgiving also happens: for example, doorkeepers will come out in the morning, open the holy gates and find one or two sacks of flour near them. Joyful, they bring unexpected alms for the common need, glorifying the Generous God, the Peace-giver, the Lady of the world, their patron Saint Seraphim, praying fervently for the benefactors.

While the Lord, in His All-good Providence, kept the holy skete, its inhabitants in difficult circumstances always felt Divine help. There were moments when a thunderstorm was approaching, but the Invisible Hand averted the danger, and peace was restored to the skete for a more or less long time.

One day, while praying in her cell, the God-wise builder paid special attention to one of her icons: the Mother of God covers the Divine Infant with her head scarf and, as it were, protects the Divine Infant from whom, and He, holding in His hand a bunch of grapes - the emblem of Holy Communion, in which no hardships, - from under the cover peers into the distance, from where, obviously, these hardships are expected.

The penetrating mother felt that this image was the guardian of her hermitage and the nuns, instilling the idea of ​​the need to constantly pray to the Queen of Heaven and often resort to communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

In a feeling of gratitude and tenderness, she, together with her sisters, sang to the Blessed One:

Let us cry out to the Theotokos, who are in trouble, and to Her holy icon: “Oh, Lady of the world, accept our unceasing and zealous thanksgiving, as in the days of fierce circumstances You, the All-Good Mother, miraculously save Your faithful servants and from the slander of evil people invisibly covering."

Some of the skete sisters have already died. It was a pity to part with them, but the memory of them pleases, comforts the remaining inhabitants, for those who have departed to the Lord have set an example of a good, holy life, for which one has only to thank the Savior.

Maria Semyonovna B., upon taking the mantle, the nun Seraphim, the first to pave the way to the afterlife for the wanderers. She entered the skete on the day of its opening. The close spiritual daughter of Father Anatoly Optinsky, Maria, by her outward appearance, and mainly by the inner content of her soul, was the personification of meekness. Her obedience was ecclesiastical. Always even, calm, quietly joyful, she conveyed her mood to others. Not long, however, the Lord judged her to live. In 1915, Maria fell seriously ill, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. According to the research of the best surgeons, an operation was required, otherwise imminent death threatened, and most importantly, complete decomposition during life, which would be unbearable for herself and those around her.

Mother blessed Maria to seek advice from Father Anatoly, but he did not allow the operation to be performed and ordered her to surrender to the will of God.

And so Mary for eight months silently, meekly, patiently endured her terrible illness. No one ever heard from her a single sound of murmuring, she was afraid of only one thing - lest the alleged decomposition begin. And what? The Monk Seraphim performed a miracle on her: the wound was covered with some kind of bark, thanks to which the disintegration of the fibers of the body was hidden and was not accompanied by those unpleasant phenomena that everyone expected.

During severe suffering, the elder of the skete tonsured Mary into a mantle with the name of Seraphim. Quietly, with constant prayer on her lips, she departed to the Lord...

Maria, Latvian girl but, she came to Moscow as a refugee. At home, she took a gymnasium course and, being a Lutheran, she loved to visit the Riga Convent as a child. There she was noticed by her sisters, and one of them took part in it. Upon arrival in the capital, Maria entered the Intercession community for paramedic courses, and after completing the latter, she entered the Serafimo-Znamensky Skete.

In the monastery, she showed an amazing example of obedience: she was a real Dositheus. Unfortunately, the young ascetic soon died of typhus, having shown extraordinary faith during her illness. She constantly read the prayer "Our Father", and on her head, without removing it, she kept the Holy Gospel open.

When asked why she only reads the Lord's Prayer, Mary replied: "I love the Lord's Prayer and when I say it, I feel relieved." - "Why don't you part with the Gospel?" - "I heard - demons tremble at the word of God, they will not come to me even before death."

Her last words were: “Pray, Lord and Mother, that the Angels take my soul and place it closer to you in the Future Life. I want to never be separated from you."

Having died with a smile on her lips, Mary lay in a coffin with a triumphant look, as if she had achieved something high, honorable. That is how it is. The deceased was honored to accept Orthodoxy, lived, albeit a little, but pleasingly in the holy monastery, acquired the sisters' favor and departed to the Lord as a pure virgin, not affected by the filth of the world - is this not a high dignity, is this not an honor ?!

I fondly remember the rare novice Maria. She always rejoiced at a meeting with us, as if expecting to receive something pleasant, and she received: the Lord vouchsafed us to repeatedly admonish her with the Holy Mysteries before her death and, after death, together with her sisters peacefully, with inspired prayerful strict singing of funerary hymns, lead her to the grave.

Shura K. After the closing of the Chudov Monastery as a singer in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, one winter she caught a cold, got throat consumption, and already quite ill she entered the Serafimo-Znamensky Skete, where she lived for only two years, having managed, however, to take monastic vows with the name A.

When striving for exploits, Shura had an extraordinary faith in the elder: she was interested in the past life of her mentor, calculated when, following his example, she should become a monk and the like; in addition, she attached importance not only to every word, but also to every movement of her spiritual father. In her opinion, there was nothing indifferent in his actions.

So, shortly before her death, feeling relatively well, she runs, greatly upset, to her spiritual mother and weeps: “True, I will die soon.”

When the mother began to calm her down and ask why she thinks so, she answered: “I was in the convent just now, and the elder predicted my imminent death. He kept walking around the room and said anxiously: “Ah, Shura, what should I do with you? How sick you are!" I say: “No, Vladyka, I feel very well now,” but he does not listen and repeats the same thing. Then he came up to me and closed his eyelids, like a dead man. I'll probably die soon." And no matter how mother tried to console her, Shura left, convinced of her imminent death. And what? She really soon fell ill and, after being ill for twenty days, died.

Despite her serious illness, Shura tried to be an exemplary nun, strictly observed the movement of thoughts, opened herself to her spiritual mother in everything and brought her serviceability to the end. By the way, she earnestly prayed to the Monk Seraphim so that she would not have to see [the closing of the skete]. Her prayer was heard - she died shortly before.

Shura’s death must also be considered amazing: for a week, daily admonished by the Holy Mysteries, she died at exactly twelve o’clock at night, at the very moment when the nuns sang in the skete church: “Behold the Bridegroom is coming at midnight.”

All of us, who involuntarily paid attention to this, somehow clearly imagined that the young ascetic, who had gone to the Lord as if not even called, went straight to the Heavenly chamber to the Bridegroom Christ. May it be so!

Abbess Nina. Very tormented by life, but called by God to repentance and correction. After graduating from the higher courses for women, she first held teaching positions, and then, having entered the monastery, she was even the abbess of one large monastery.

After all sorts of worldly hardships, having a sincere desire to be saved in the Lord, Abbess Nina neglected her position and entered the Serafimo-Znamensky Skete as an ordinary nun. Having resigned herself “to the bitter end”, she carried out the simplest obediences, often receiving remarks and reproaches from her sisters.

Here I see her as a watchman of the skete ... For the convenience of observing the latter, she sits on the belfry. Uncomfortable, cold here, rain, blizzard. The wind blows around her from all sides and permeates the body, and she is inspired by the thought that she is on a pillar, and warms her heart with prayer. I see her making her rounds of the skete at night. Fear overcomes many and does not allow them to carry out this obedience. She lovingly guards the holy skete, reading at this time akathists and prayers memorized by heart ...

I see her as a doorkeeper: here you need a lot of patience, calmness, vigilance in order to close the door behind each one, not to miss the call at the holy gates, to be able to talk with the visitor. Here there is a constant danger of making a mistake and receiving a remark from a strict mother, which often happened, but mother Nina meekly, with humility, also fulfills this task entrusted to her. I finally see her as a simple wanderer, trying not to stand out among others in anything - neither in food, nor in clothes, nor in a room. She is satisfied with everything and considers herself happy, living in a skete, this truly earthly paradise.

We believe that the Lord will no longer impute to Mother Nina those sins for which she so repented and for the eradication of which she so diligently cared, bearing feats of patience, self-abasement and various kinds of deprivation.

Schema-nun Michael- silent prayer book.

Everything in the temple is holy, everything is brought as a gift to the Lord, but if the lamps are not lit in it, then one feels incompleteness, some kind of lifelessness. So it is in the monastery: everyone serves the cause of the salvation of the soul, everyone gives themselves as a sacrifice pure and blameless to Christ the Savior. But special ascetics are also needed there in order to appear as inextinguishable lamps, burning before the Lord for the well-being of their neighbors. Without them, the monastery is empty, unfriendly ...

Schema-nun Michael was precisely, as we said, the quiet prayer book of the skete. By the way, her native family is remarkable, which can be called “monastic”, since all its members decided at different times in monasteries: father - schemamonk Gregory, mother - schemamonk Pelagia, brother - hieromonk Panteleimon, three sisters - nuns Seraphim, Gabriela, Raphael and, finally, schema-nun Michael herself.

We note the rare mood of their mother: as soon as the children reached the age of twelve, she herself took them to the monastery, for which she now has a prayerful memory from her children.

We used to say that Mother Shegeumenie Tamar had earthly and heavenly patrons who helped her to follow the saving path of life she had chosen. But here she herself reached the age of perfection, when she began to patronize and spiritually support others.

The weak monk turned out to be such a lucky man, to whom the mother provided the opportunity to become close to her skete and enjoy all its spiritual benefits.

First of all, she arranged for him in the forest, near the monastery, a small house - kinovia, where the monk, after difficult and responsible studies in the capital, retired to rest in full seclusion, so that, having gained fresh strength there, he would again go to work.

During the visits of the worker, his mother arranged his solitude in such a way that it was not disturbed in any way. An interesting instruction was given by her to the sister serving the film: the latter had to do everything so as not to show herself to the guest, and he, always finding everything in order - the room was cleaned, dinner brought - and not seeing who was doing it, he was surprised at the foresight of his wise trustees.

Yes, indeed, in coenobia there was complete isolation from the bustle of the world. And there was a time when not a single soul disturbed the monk for a whole year and a half.

In addition to solitude, he lived in cinovium and enjoyed the wonderful beauty of nature. Let's go and check it out.

On the hill where the skete is located, there is a grove with a wide variety of trees. Here, first of all, you will meet a lot of white birch trees, growing together in twos and threes together. They seem to give everyone passing near them a lesson to be morally pure, not to quarrel with anyone, to live in peace with everyone ...

You can also find whole oak groves here. The oaks themselves are stern and tough, but when they gather in groups, they create a wonderful corner with their shady branches, luring everyone to them in the summer, especially in the hot season, with such an invitation: “Come to us and rest among the coolness on the green ant, spread out with a carpet around us…"

Grow in places and sticky. It is not without reason that such a name has been adopted for these trees: you involuntarily become attached to them, you reach out, especially when they bloom and fill the surrounding air with their fragrance. Passing by, you will feel a wonderful aroma and stop for a long time, inhaling it and looking with your eyes for its culprit - tender sticky ...

There are also aspens. How cowardly they are! Every now and then they tremble, and sometimes even cry, dropping drops from the leaves. Isn't that why the aspens huddle along the lowland, where there is so much moisture?

Scattered here are still tall and medium pines singly and in families. In winter and summer, they turn green, but there is still little life in them: they stand as artificially made, but on the other hand, it is always dry under them and there is a lot of ozone around them, which is so necessary for healing a bruised chest.

Having passed a grove on a hill, you go down and come close to a meadow covered with a multitude of the most diverse flowers, even those that are found in cultivated form in gardens - carnations, asters, petunias, levkoy and others. You want to count, to pick up different varieties, and in the end you refuse for an innumerable number of them; but if you are an artist, you can make a wonderful bouquet that no store can compare with.

You look around and do not dare to continue the path, as if regretting trampling on a delightful carpet woven by nature from living flora. However, you are drawn further and further, and you, stepping carefully, approach the river.

Along its banks, still fresh, not yellowed reeds sway easily from a barely noticeable breeze, and thickets of willows, vines, willows turn green, from where flocks of birds fly up in masses, which frolic, chirp and return back.

Fish splash in the water. Insects, bugs, midges, jumpers, accidentally falling on the glassy surface of the river, make circles on it, which gradually expand and then completely disappear ...

In some places, water lilies appear on the surface and water lilies begin to bloom ...

"But there are no ducks." You say so, and right there with a cry they will swim out of the reeds as a large family ...

Having admired the river to your heart's content, you will go out to the nearby hillock, turn in all directions and be at a loss: what should you focus your attention on for longer? Everything is so attractive, picturesque, tempting! ..

You look to the right and you see a windmill through the bushes and various trees. You listen and hear the noise of its wheels, which before, carried away by the beauty of nature, as if you did not notice.

And an amazing thing! Nothing, it seems, decorates the river bank like a water mill, as if it were its essential accessory, having won the eternal right to this place ...

You turn left - a new picture opens. The distance is visible ... First, a motley meadow stretches for a long distance, bordered, on the one hand, like a ribbon - by a river, and on the other - like a wide lace - by a forest; all this is then interrupted and closed by a low plateau covered with shrubs. But that's not all. If you go along the bank, past the mill and further, you will reach a steep ascent. You will climb the mountain and find yourself so high that you will involuntarily think: it is not for nothing that the wanderers call this place the “Caucasus”.

You sit down to rest and admire the panorama that opens up: below, a stream runs over the pebbles, formed from the river already familiar to us after blocking it with a dam. It flows evenly, continuously, murmurs pleasantly, has a calming effect on the nerves. I would like to be here for a long, long time and listen to the quiet murmur ... Then you take a look at the space passed, the space left behind you and you will see somewhere far, far away a river, a meadow, and a mill, moreover, your horizons expand so much that you notice a village behind a hillock with the church, and there are endless fields.

Have you ever carried binoculars with you? If you look into its small glasses, then everything seems to lie nearby, if you look into its large ones, the same objects move away. So it is here: when you walked along the coast, individual landscapes gradually passed before your eyes, and climbed a cliff - and everything went into the distance, which, however, also represents an attractive picture, and it is for those who have studied the area in detail, and not for those who don't know her.

No less charming are individual moments in the life of the same skete nature.

Once in May, we wanted to go out on the balcony of the tower of our house in the early warm morning, get some air, and admire the grove together.

Twilight ... Nightingales sing here and there, but they gradually fall silent, only one remains, and he soon finishes his wonderful aria with a tired voice. For a while before dawn there is an unbroken silence. This is some kind of special moment ... However, it does not last long: as soon as the dawn appears, everything begins to come to life ...

First of all, quickly flying through the forest from one place to another, the oriole declares itself, as if giving all nature a signal to wake up. Following this, roosters begin to sing in the village, and a cuckoo calls in the distance. Immediately, on the banks of the river, frogs raise their cries. Cows mooed monotonously, lambs bleated, going to pasture at the call of the shepherd's horn. There is the call of quails in the nearby fields, along with the flood song of larks climbing skyward.

In the forest, one after another, various birds flutter from tree to tree, tighten their melodies; among them you can distinguish starlings, robins, mockingbirds, and especially thrushes, which stand out for their rattle.

And the sun still does not appear, although it is close to sunrise. You wait for it and think: what will happen when it appears, what kind of revival will take place then? And you are not deceived: when the luminary that gives life to everything emerges and its rays begin to play, everything that woke up earlier shows even greater strength and energy.

To top it all off, a whole mass of all sorts of birds appear from somewhere, starting to chirp in the bushes in every way in the highest tones. They fill up the forest choir, and a jerk who has appeared somewhere accompanies, covering everyone with his double bass.

Here, you think, is a free concert, and what a wonderful, harmonious and charming one! You listen to it and you won’t enjoy it in any way ... An hour passes, another, and you stand until the singing of birds begins to weaken, which comes when the scorching rays of the rising sun force everyone to hide in the shade.

Having been relieved of his post and taking advantage of solitude, the same monk, living in cenovium, studied medicine, painting, church singing and music. A caring mother even made a schedule of lessons for him. Having experienced the spiritual benefits of this kind of noble pursuits, the monk recorded the following in his diary:

Our soul, being mobile, seeks entertainment and contemplation. Unfortunately, we often allow this property of our soul to manifest itself in gross sensual pleasures.

Turn, Christian, your enlightened gaze on nature and its beauty, on the life of animals, birds, and mainly on that in which the highest development of the human spirit is expressed - holy poetry, music, painting, and you will enjoy all this so much that you will already you will easily give up everything carnal, bad, filthy.

The monk received the main consolation from the daily celebration of the Divine Liturgy in the cenobitic church, often in the presence of only one mother, who performed the duties of a reader, singer and supplemented the fertile atmosphere with her religious inspiration. Those moments were blessed!

If the people praying in the church greatly contribute to the uplifting of the spirit of the clergyman, then complete solitude has an equally beneficial effect on him. Here, unhindered by anyone, the performer of the holy Eucharist can freely surrender to the outpouring of feelings and stand before the Lord, as long as the soul requires, without fear of delaying or tiring anyone.

You need to know that there are two such moments of prayer connected with the liturgy, for which it is difficult to assign a definite time in terms of duration. It depends on the mood of the shepherd and is not included in the very order of the Sacrament.

The first moment is preparation for the service. In order to accomplish it more or less worthily, one must carefully and penetratingly read the prescribed rule, one must reconcile oneself with one’s conscience by secret repentance and ask the Lord for forgiveness for all past sins, and this is not always easy and quick, sometimes one has to calm the troubled mind with long sighs. heart.

The second moment comes after the liturgy, when the one who brought the Bloodless Sacrifice, being under heavenly illumination, seeks to support and strengthen in himself the holy feeling perceived with the performance of the Divine Mysteries by a grateful cry to the Savior, by reading the Holy Gospel.

In our opinion, this kind of “spiritual sobering up” should continue until the soul is satiated. Not satisfying the aforementioned thirst means losing, missing minutes favorable for one's moral creation.

And so the service in the kennel allowed not to miss these two moments of prayer, but to dwell on them with attention.

Unfortunately, due to negligence and spiritual insensitivity, as he confesses in his diary, the monk did not enjoy such happy conditions... Only occasionally did the Chief Shepherd Christ undeservedly send him bright thoughts and experiences.

Let us now describe what general consolation accompanied the monk's visits to the convent. How much courtesy, love and devotion have been shown here each time by mother and sisters!

The guest was first led to the temple, where he, after listening to a thanksgiving service, blessed and greeted those gathered. Then the traveler was settled in a quiet, clean, comfortable room, prepared by the cares of the unforgettable builder of the skete.

At the same time, I recall the following incident, which brought anxiety to everyone, and at the same time pure joy.

It was a warm summer evening. Enoch and his friend, Father Seraphim, were expected at the skete with a certain train. They, detained by classes, left Moscow an hour later. The driver sent to the station, without meeting the guests, returned home alone. But the perspicacious mother, feeling in her spirit that the pilgrims must certainly come, turned the horse back to the station.

In the meantime, another train arrived and, as it turned out from the driver’s questions, two clergymen got off it, who, looking around, obviously looking for a cab, walked towards the skete, leaving their things for safekeeping.

The sent one, trying at least now to please his mother, hurried after him, seizing the luggage of the departed, but did not find them either on the road or at home.

"But where are they?" - everyone asked him in one voice - “Obviously, they got lost in the forest. After all, it has been a long time since the last train came.

The worried mother immediately sent the sisters around the grove to look for them, and the guests, not suspecting what a commotion they had made, walked through the thick and tall bushes of the young and finally decided to sit on the stumps and wait for the morning, occupied with the Jesus Prayer.

On the occasion of cloudy weather, it became quite dark. Midnight imperceptibly approached ... The familiar voice of the skete bell rang through the forest, calling the nuns to the midnight office.

“Well, that’s good,” friends said, “now we will go to the ringing and probably get to the place.”

This decision, however, turned out to be bold: they went straight ahead, but the obstacles began to meet, as they say, nose to nose: either ditches, then hillocks, then thickets, - and going down the hill, the travelers stumbled upon deep pits with water, so called "bochagi", in which it is easy to drown.

While the good news was heard in the skete, the wanderers, although with great difficulty, often falling and bumping into tree branches, nevertheless moved forward; when the ringing stopped, they again became at a dead end, where to go ... After consulting, the friends again decided to sit down and no longer travel further. The silence had a calming effect on them, but every rustle and movement near caused fear.

"Who's talking there? - the strangers asked each other. - Let's not let us know about ourselves, let's better quiet down, but how do unkind people go? Do you hear someone even bass between them?

The alarm turned out to be in vain: the wanderers, exhausted by the long search, with their old watchman were talking loudly among themselves in the hope that the guests would hear and guess that they were looking for. And they were not mistaken: at first, the friends hid, and then, feeling their own, they announced themselves in an indecisive voice. And when the sisters shouted with joy, made a noise, they discovered their presence.

There was finally a meeting. The travelers who came out of the wilds now boldly and easily went along the beaten path, while the sisters, beside themselves with joy, looking around at the found ones from all sides, stopped looking at their feet - and well, one after another, stumble, stumble and fall ...

The described journey was imprinted in the memory of the wanderers for a long time, causing them a lot of gaiety and delight ...

Slowly, quietly, as if overwhelmed by sadness, mother and sisters were going to the temple, having received the last blessing from the departing. Then, surrounding the carriage, they tried to seat their spiritual father as conveniently as possible, to shelter him from the cold and wind, and until then they usually followed, until space hid from the eyes of the beloved old man, in whose soul at that time many thoughts and feelings were also swarming. , experiences, and most importantly, regret that he has to leave the holy corner, which brought him so much comfort, holy rest, and return to the noisy capital, absorbed by earthly interests.

We have mentioned a friend with whom the monk had to live for a year and a half in a convent. This joint stay was also one of the bright pages of that era.

What can be more precious than a sincere, devoted and, at the same time, holy friend? He spiritually supports in struggles, temptations and helps to build up morally; in despondency, in anguish, in a bad, depressed state of mind, he paralyzes every tightness; in dangers and anxieties, he dispels cowardice, timidity, fear and fear; in misfortunes, misfortunes, disasters, he alleviates the severity of suffering; in the days of tranquility and happiness, he brings peace and complacency to the heart.

The monk truly experienced all this while living with a friend who was an example of a prayer book, a well-disposed monk, a gifted and gentle person.

Touching, by the way, was his love for birds. Having put on feeders by the window, he prepared food for them on plates every day, and having deducted from Brem that in winter birds especially need fats to keep themselves warm and even willingly swallow pieces of tallow candles, he began to add this “drug” to food.

But then one day the candles were caught, probably poisoned; at least the birds, having pecked them, scattered some weak, lethargic, and one remained, clinging to the feeder.

“She fell ill,” the lover of the feathered kingdom decided, “she needs to be taken to a cell and treated.”

No sooner said than done: the bird is brought into the room, placed on a pillow, soldered with aconite, but nothing helps. Soon she dies, stretching out her long legs ... A tear fell from the eyes of a tender friend when, taking the bird in his hands, he carried it out into the garden and touchingly buried it there ...

“After all, I am to blame for the death of God’s sweet creature,” he grieved, “I fed him with bad fat.”

Another time, in the spring, having spied on a pine tree near one mound a nest of a thrush, and in it small chicks, a friend out of the same compassion decided to fatten them up in the absence of the parents themselves, since the nest could easily be reached by hand. He did this several times, and everything went well. One spring day, having suddenly swooped in, the mother found her undesirable benefactor at the very moment when he, having rolled soft balls of bread, wanted to put one of them into the open beak of the chick.

The hostess of the nest did not like this interference, and, inflamed with jealousy, she circled for some time in the air with an alarming cry and began to scatter her dwelling, and throw the cubs out ...

Stepping aside, a friend watched with horror the brutal reprisal. Having then picked up the unfortunate, barely alive chicks, he carried them home in the hope of feeding them, replacing their mother. But it wasn’t there: the chicks completely stopped eating, so they had to be taken to their old place and left to fend for themselves…

The friend greatly regretted all these failures, and in order not to repeat the fatal mistakes when caring for the birds, together with the monk, he seriously began to study the books of Brem, from which one can draw a lot of interesting and useful information. It turns out that birds do not like it when a human hand touches the nest; in this case, they move their home to another place or even ruin it.

In the same place, at Brem, it is said in detail about the individual characteristics of different birds. Thrushes, for example, arrange nests on the edge of the forest and are, as it were, its watchmen, each time warning all its feathered inhabitants with their rattle about an approaching danger, such as the appearance of a kite and the like. Mockingbirds do not have their own motive in singing, but borrow it from other birds, even from the nightingale, whose imitation turns out to be too funny and unsuccessful for them. Rooks and other migratory birds gather in autumn in groups in fields, meadows, valleys, as if for an agreement, and then in large flocks, as if by someone's order, they rise and go to warm lands.

The birds that lived near the kinovia became so accustomed to their breadwinner that when he went out and called them with special sounds, they flocked in masses from all sides to his call, chirping and fluttering merrily.

The monk considered the days and hours spent with a friend unforgettable. Together they walked all the forest paths, talking about high spiritual subjects; together and at home, in the quiet of the evenings, by the light of the lamp, they talked a lot, shared their experiences, thereby relieving the soul and heart. Together they, most dearly, prayed and communicated daily with Christ the Savior in the Divine Eucharist.

I would like to never be separated from a friend, but the time has come when, by the will of God, the latter was called to a holy work - to shepherd the flock of Christ.

Leaving, at parting, the friend said to the monk the following dear, never forgotten words: “I don’t regret anything. I am ready for anything and leave everything calmly, only parting with you at such a mournful time is hard and painful, my dear Arseny ... "

But the monk received his main spiritual support from his unforgettable patroness, who selflessly served him. When, due to the circumstances of the time, anyone bearing a spiritual order became an unwanted guest, she fearlessly sheltered him, more than once warning against various kinds of dangers. The following case is especially remarkable.

The monk and his friend, who became "wanderers and strangers on earth", stayed a little in the skete, decided to spend the winter in B.<елопесоцком>monastery S.<ерпуховского>county.

On the very day they left, mother's heart ached with a presentiment that clouds were gathering over the heads of her beloved shepherds and that they should be called away as soon as possible.

All night long, mother walked around the cell in anxiety and only repeated one thing: “My God, why did I let them go - they are in great danger there,” and none of those around could calm her down.

The next morning, with the very first train, she sent her faithful sisters to fetch those who had left with orders not to return without them. Friends, however, with great difficulty agreed to return. Joking with mother, they decided to stay in the skete for two days and again go to their former place, but their intention was not realized: during this time, unexpected news was received that there, on the day of their departure, in the evening, an event occurred that was supposed to subject the wanderers to a difficult test.

We have given only one of the many examples of the tender care that the mother showed and still shows in relation to the monk, being for him truly a Guardian Angel. She takes, it seems, all measures to protect him from all kinds of hardships, spiritual and bodily, unfortunately, often receiving reproaches from his restless spiritual children, who do not understand the holy service of her own elder and father.

And the care of the mother for the well-being of the monk is ideally pure, evangelical. She often repeats to him: “It’s better for me to lose you than to see you betray Orthodoxy, truth and truth,” or: “I am happy to follow you when I see you at the height of a spiritual calling, and the slightest, even the most minimal deviation from it can be fatal.” for my body, and most importantly, for my soul. I want to see you really in the saints ... "

Notes

The convent in Bodby was opened on May 7, 1889 by the will of Emperor Alexander III on the site of the former monastery lying in ruins. In the Bodbe Monastery, the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina, the Enlightener of Georgia, died and was buried.

The first abbess of the Bodbe Convent founded in 1889 on a new basis in the name of Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina was Abbess Yuvenalia the First, Elena Vikentievna Lovenetskaya in the world.

At the same time, the novice of the Bodbe Monastery Paraskeva (later the nun Pavel) decided to restore the destroyed church of the Holy Great Martyr George in the village of Mamkody. Having dug a cave for herself near the temple, on a high mountain, among the surrounding forest, she, praying to the Queen of Heaven, began to carry out her intention. This is how the Georgievsky Skete ascribed to the Bodbe Monastery arose, in 1903 it was transformed into a cenobitic monastery.

Archbishop Flavian (Gorodetsky), later Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia; †1915.

Skete elder - Vladyka Arseny.

Seraphim-Znamensky Skete was closed in 1924.

Vladyka Arseny speaks about himself.

We are talking about Bishop Arseny (Zhadanovsky) and Archimandrite Seraphim (Zvezdinsky), later Bishop of Dmitrovsky.

In 1918-1919.

(materials used true-orthodox.narod.ru)

(Tamara Aleksandrovna Mardzhanova)
1869 - 1936

Let there be only dirt and stench around,
Let me not see flowers
A garden is planted in my soul
Unearthly sweet fruits.

Tamara Mardzhanova was born into a Georgian princely family, she lost her father early, and at the age of 19 her mother. She remained independent in her family estate with her younger sister. Possessing her voice and musical abilities, she was preparing to enter the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

Once her aunt invited her nieces to her place, offering to look at the opened Russian convent of St. Nina. The sisters arrived in the town of Signakh and went to the Bodbe Monastery for the vigil. When Tamara entered the church, she thought: "And I will enter the monastery." Abbess Yuvenalia drew attention to them and asked why they were in mourning. They replied: "Our mother died." Tamara returned to her aunt with the intention of entering the monastery. Soon she met with the abbess, told about her desire and that she could not make a contribution to the monastery until she came of age. Matushka replied that admission was possible without a fee.

At home, Tamara began to prepare for her departure, but her relatives interfered and intercepted her mail. Abbess Yuvenalia sent a novice to find out the reason for Tamara's delay, and she, with the help of her relative, organized Tamara's secret escape to the monastery.

Abbess Yuvenalia replaced her mother and became a spiritual mother, placed her in her cell, taught her reading, church singing and all the rules of monastic life.

Soon the abbess noticed that Tamara began to delay returning to her cell for a long time, and found out that she and other novices began to dig caves in a neighboring mountain in order to save themselves in them. The wise boss forbade them to continue dangerous exploits.

Tamara lived in a monastery for fourteen years, at the age of 28 she was tonsured a nun with the name Yuvenalia.

In 1902, the Mother Superior of Bodbe was transferred to Moscow as abbess of the Nativity Monastery, and the young matushka Yuvenalia was appointed abbess. On October 12, 1902, the Exarch of Georgia, Archbishop Alexy, elevated Juvenalia to the abbess. The Lord helped his chosen one, and the new abbess began to manage the monastery with honor.

Fr. John of Kronstadt, whom she met repeatedly when she came to St. Petersburg and Moscow on business. Once, at the beginning of the ministry, all the funds ran out under the old abbess in the monastery. Suddenly, they received 200 rubles, and then a letter from Fr. John: "Accept, my dear, for extreme needs 200 rubles." This is surprising, because no one was familiar with Fr. John. At one of the meetings, Fr. John, when Tamara had not yet been tonsured, demanded from Abbess Yuvenalia her crosses and put them on Tamara, jokingly saying: "That's what abbess I have."

When the young abbess, after her appointment, met and talked with Fr. John, felt that he "took away sorrow, breathed in energy, joy."

Seraphim of Sarov gave her great help, support and protection. In her youth, she had a dream when Father Seraphim asked her for blessings with the words: “Mother abbess, bless” - and predicted the abbess for her in 14 years.

On July 19, 1903, the relics of Fr. Seraphim were unveiled, and Mother sent nun Agnia to pray for the entire monastery. and she brought the icon of the saint of God Seraphim. Once a resident of the monastery suffered while laying firewood and was near death. Mother sent her the image of Seraphim to put on the chest of the suffering. Half an hour later, the sufferer jumped out of bed herself, as if healthy. She saw a blessed old man who came up to her and said: “Come, wash yourself in my spring, you will be healthy.” She threw herself on her knees at the feet of the old man, began to pray to him, and immediately came to life and spoke. The doctor stated a complete cure.

In the pre-revolutionary years, a circle of people spiritually close to her was formed. Among them were Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, who hosted her at the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, Saints Gabriel of Sedmiezersky and Alexy Zosimovsky, Bishop Arseniy (Zhadanovsky).

The Lord kept her even during the years of the first Russian revolution, when the highlanders, irritated at her - mother gave shelter to peasants who suffered oppression from them - literally riddled her carriage. At the moment when the shooting began, the abbess with a prayer raised above herself and the sisters accompanying her the icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov, whom she greatly revered, and although the horses collapsed under a hail of bullets, the cab was killed and the stalled carriage became the target, the nuns were not injured. After this episode, in 1905, by the Decree of the Synod, against her will, she was transferred to Moscow, and was appointed abbess of the Pokrovskaya community of sisters of mercy, which consisted of 20 nuns and 210 sisters of mercy.

By the time Matushka Yuvenalia left the Bodbe Monastery in 1907, there were 180 sisters in it, there were two schools: a one-class school for incoming children and a second-class school for 120 girls who lived on the full support of the monastery and received the title of teacher of the lower classes. Russians, Georgians, Ossetians, Greeks, Svans, Armenians lived together. And the Bodbe convent began in 1889 after the arrival of 6 nuns with Abbess Yuvenalia. It was opened by the will of Emperor Alexander III, who went to venerate the tomb of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Virgin, Saint Nina the Enlightener.

After the miracle of salvation, St. the ascetic Seraphim became for mother a truly living, real person. The Monk Seraphim helped mother in difficult circumstances, protected her from dangers.

During a pilgrimage to Sarov in 1908, matushka stopped at the Tsar's skete and walked 12 versts on sick legs to Sarov, where she earnestly asked the reverend to be near her. Returning and taking communion the next day, she prayed before the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God so that she would confirm her in the skete, and heard a voice from the Queen of Heaven: “No, you will not stay here, but arrange the skete yourself, not only for yourself, but also for others.” And every day, when she approached the image, the voice was repeated.

Thinking that this was a temptation, she returned and asked for advice from Fr. Alexy, a recluse of the Zosima Hermitage, he blessed to arrange a skete somewhere in the forest: “You will move away there, and then you will completely move. The Queen of Heaven will choose a place for you, and will give you means, and will arrange spiritually.”

Soon she had to leave to inspect the farm in the forest near the station. Vostryakovo and with. Bityagovo, owned by the community, to formalize the transfer to the railway so that sand could be mined there, and she realized that this was the place where the skete should be set up. On the advice of Fr. Alexy, she began to seek the preservation of this place by the community.

To decide how to behave, mother went to Optina Hermitage, and all the elders with whom she talked insisted on building a monastery. To finally test herself, she went to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra to pray to St. Sergius. The governor of the Lavra, Tobias, listened to her, went to his office, left with an icon in his hands, saying: “Well, mother, let's pray, I will bless you. You must organize the skete yourself - this is the will of the Queen of Heaven, you must arrange it. This instilled in her determination and confidence.

Asking for blessings from Rev. Seraphim, mother, began the construction of the skete. A.V. took part in the design of the skete at the first stage. Shchusev, who had previously designed many churches, including the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent.

In 1910, the foundation was completed in the summer, and later the project was carried out by the architect L.V. Strezhensky. The complex has a square plan, in the center is a tiered tent temple, 12 cells are symmetrically placed along the perimeter of the brick wall. 33 sisters lived in the skete - according to the number of years of Christ's earthly life.

On September 29, 1912, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky) consecrated the Seraphim-Znamensky Skete. In 1915, Abbess Yuvenalia was tonsured a schema with the name Tamar. With a great spiritual upsurge, with a feeling of unshakable faith and love for the Lord, she prostrated herself on earth as a sign of the complete crucifixion of herself for the sake of higher spiritual goals.

Mother Tamar established a strict charter in the skete. 33 sisters were engaged only in prayer service and did not participate in household affairs. Household services were housed outside the walls of the skete. The sisters were fed by the skete elder Bishop Arseny (Zhadanovsky), who lived in a separate house with Archimandrite Seraphim (Zvezdinsky) and came there every week. The house was called kinovia, there they retired to the full shutter.

Seraphim-Znamensky Skete lasted 12 years. It was closed and destroyed by the Bolsheviks in 1924. The sisters went their separate ways. Mother settled with 10 sisters and hieromonk Philaret (Postnikov) in Perkhushkovo. Many came to the mother for advice and guidance.

In 1931, matushka, a priest, and several sisters were arrested and then exiled to Siberia, 200 miles from Irkutsk. In 1934, mother Tamar, who received a severe lung disease, was returned from exile and settled in a holiday village near the station. Pionerskaya Belorussian Railway e. She showed signs of tuberculosis. Matushka died on June 23, 1936, Vladyka Arseniy buried her at home, and was buried at the Vvedensky cemetery in Moscow. Every year on Sunday of the myrrh-bearing women, on the day of her angel, and on the day of her death, June 23, memorial services are served there, her admirers come.

Used sources and literature:

1. "My beloved children ..." Publishing house "Russian Palomnik", 2008