Abbess innocent serafimo znamensky skete. Convent of the seraphim-znamensky skete diocesan convent. Nun Tamara talks about the modern life of the Seraphim-Znamensky skete

The museum dedicated to the schema-abbess of Tamari, the founder and first abbess of the small monastery, can be called one of the most attractive and inhabited places of the hermitage, or, as it was still lovingly called during the life of mother, a skitochka. Here it is good to talk with the sisters on spiritual topics - the atmosphere itself helps and disposes. It is good to bring guests here and show them dear relics.

We have books that Mother Tamar read when she came very young to the monastery of St. Nina Equal to the Apostles in Bodbi, ”said Abbess Innocent. - The abbess of the Bodbe monastery in Georgia was at that time Abbess Yuvenalia (Lovenetskaya). She adopted the princess, orphaned early, like a mother. And she presented her with the books of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) with her dedication, wishing the girl who was striving for communion with God to love this author just as she loved him. Even Matushka Juvenalia wished the novice that this wondrous saint would lead her through life.

According to the current abbess of the Seraphim-Znamensky skete, these priceless relics contain notes from Mother Tamari herself. Recently the sisters decided to print the notes in chronological order. They printed it out and saw: specially highlighted passages in the text or a response in two or three words to some thought, edification is so strong, convincingly reflect the high spiritual order of Tamar's schema! That is, the result of this work for the hard-working sisters turned out to be fruitful and joyful, bringing the founder of her native skete even closer to them.

We managed to preserve my mother’s chair made of Karelian birch, her small chest of drawers and a sofa, ”continued Abbess Innokenty. - There are some personal belongings of my mother. For example, a white apostle and a piece of shawl, in which she was in exile, where she fell ill with tuberculosis of the throat.

I confess that this simple piece of shawl, this material thing from the past, especially excited the soul. Much was recalled from the events I had read and burned my heart with the tragedy that plunged Russia into the abyss of grief and unbearable suffering. The end of the 19th century: a girl with a beautiful voice, musically gifted and preparing to enter the conservatory, enters the Bodbe Monastery on an excursion and leaves with completely different intentions. From now on, her heart is forever with God. Now she thinks of only one thing: how to serve the Lord here, in the women's monastery, where the tomb of St. Nina, the enlightener of Georgia, is located. Years later, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, beloved by the Russian Orthodox people, symbolically predicted abbess in three places and the Great Schema for her. Indeed, she will become the abbess of the Bodbe monastery, where by that time about 300 sisters had already ascended, then - the Intercession women's community in Moscow and at the beginning of the 20th century. - the abbess of the Seraphim-Znamensky Skete, created by her (with the active help of the Monk Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna), which existed for 12 years and was closed in 1924.

Mother Superior Tamar, however, was not immediately arrested after the closure of the skete. She was allowed to live in freedom and only in 1931 was taken to Butyrka, then exiled to the Irkutsk region, where she spent three years in a difficult climate for her. In exile there were no medicines, no warm clothes and shoes, but she did not grumble, but wrote from Siberia: “I am glad that I got the cup of trial stronger than my children. This is how it should be ... Everything that happens over the years, the whole life - isn't it a miracle ?! "

Mother Tamar is constantly present in our daily life, - said Abbess Innokenty. - We commemorate her at the Liturgy, often sigh to her, asking for help, we go to her at the Vvedenskoe (German) cemetery in Moscow. She was buried next to the Moscow elder - the holy righteous Alexy Mechev, whose relics are now in the capital's church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki. Gathering here, at Mother Famari's in this cozy, dear to heart room-museum of the skete, the sisters, willingly or unwillingly, glance at the chains she wore. Chains are made of metal and weigh somewhere up to three kilograms. This is the cross of the righteous.

My interlocutor admitted that when her body sometimes does not withstand the stress - pressure begins to jump and her heart aches, she stays here to spend the night, among the relics that have strengthened a living secret connection with the founder of the skete. And in the morning he notes that the heart also stopped hurting, and everything is in order with the pressure - in a word, it returned to normal!

I would like to say about one more priceless relic of the museum. This is a small wooden chest with which the Hieromartyr Seraphim (Zvezdinsky), Bishop of Dmitrov, was in exile when he was "thrown" from one end of the country to another - from a cold land to sultry places. Opening the chest, Mother Innocent took out a multi-page letter written by the saint to Mother Tamari, in which he affectionately calls her “mamusya,” “dear,” and tells in detail about the wondrous dream in the Lubyanka, in which the Lord appeared to him. In the Seraphim-Znamensky skete, the ascetic of the faith found refuge from the fall of 1918 to 1919. At the peak of the persecution of the Scheme-abbess Church, Tamar sheltered Bishop Arseny (Zhadanovsky) of Serpukhov, the former governor of the Chudov Kremlin Monastery, and then Archimandrite Seraphim (Zvezdinsky). having built a cynovia with the house church of the Monk Arseny the Great near the skete. For a year and a half, these close-minded people lived in a half-shuttle, daily celebrating the Divine Liturgy, engaging in sciences and church creativity. They also dug beds and chopped wood ...

The letter of Saint Seraphim to Matushka Tamar was published in the book “All of you are in my heart”, which is available in the skete library. But what excitement you feel when you pick up pieces of paper covered with beautiful small handwriting and understand that a saint was bending over them, to whose lot so much suffering and at the same time so much God's and human love fell!

Date of publication or update 15.12.2017

Serafimo-Znamensky Women's Skete.

Address of the Seraphim-Znamensky Skete: Moscow region, Domodedovsky district, with. Bityagovo
How to get to the Serafimo-Znamensky skete.
Travel by public transport: from the Paveletsky railway station to the station "Domodedovo", then bus number 23 to the village. Bityagovo or buses No. 31, 32, 58 to the village. Zaborie, then walk 2.5 km (not reaching the village of Bityagovo 500 m).
Bus timetables - in useful links.
View all monasteries of the Moscow region on a yandex map.

The Seraphim-Znamensky Skete was founded in 1910 by Abbess Yuvenalia (in the world Princess T.A.Mardzhanishvili, from 1916 Schema Abbess Tamar), it was founded in 1910.

The construction of the skete lasted two years. The skete was consecrated in 1912 by the Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Vladimir (Epiphany).

In 1999, the buildings of the Seraphim-Znamensky Skete were returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. And in 2000 this religious center was revived as a skete, i.e. small nunnery.

Arriving in our days in the Seraphim-Znamensky skete, you can see the temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "The Sign" and in the name of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, in the basement - the tomb with the throne of St. Nina Equal to the Apostles. (The founder of the monastery especially venerated this saint.) A nameless revered source hits the skete.

Serafimo-Znamensky skete is of undoubted interest from the architectural, artistic and planning positions. The unique project of the skete complex was created by the architect L.V. Stezhensky. The skete complex has a square plan, in the center of it there is a tiered tent-roofed temple, which plays the role of a high-rise dominant. The houses of the cells are symmetrically placed along the perimeter of a blank brick wall; of 12 buildings, nine have survived. The buildings in the hermitage complex are mostly brick, unplastered, their decorative elements are highlighted with whitewash. As part of the Seraphim-Znamensky skete, in addition to the Church of the Sign and Seraphim, cells of two types have survived and outside the skete - the priest's house and the clergy's house.

The one-story wooden priest's house is influenced by Art Nouveau architecture.

The temple in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God "The Sign" and in the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov is the most original building in the skete complex, in which decorative motifs of Moscow and Pskov-Novgorod architecture are reworked in the Art Nouveau style. The red brick temple has a cross-shaped volume, it is crowned with a slender light tent with four rows of kokoshniks. There are thrones in the upper church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God Seraphim-Ponetaevskaya and the Monk Seraphim of Sarov; in the basement of the temple there is a lower burial-vault temple with a throne in honor of St. Nina Equal to the Apostles (this temple resembles a catacomb temple of the first centuries of Christianity).

Equally sized one-story cells face the interior of the skete territory, they differ in the number of living quarters and can be evaluated as two types of cells. In one case, the motives of the stylized Russian kokoshnik predominate in their decoration, and in the other, the forms of Art Nouveau.

During the Soviet period, the Holy Gates, part of the fence, cell buildings were lost, some buildings were rebuilt.

There is a lot of significant symbolism in the layout of the skete and in the visual appearance of its buildings. So, the skete fence is conceived as a square of 33 sazhens - in memory of the 33 years of the earthly life of Jesus Christ. The skete temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Sign" has 24 kokoshniks according to the number of 24 apocalyptic elders. In the fence around the temple there were 12 small houses-cells - 12 apostles each - each of these cell buildings was dedicated to one of these apostles. Only 33 sisters were supposed to live in the skete - according to the number of years of the earthly life of Jesus Christ.

Using materials from the book "Monasteries of the Moscow Region".

Date of construction: 1912
Patronal feast: Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, January 15, New Style
Temples: the temple of St. Seraphim of Sarov, the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "The Sign", the temple of Equal to the Apostles Nina, the enlightener of Georgia

The Erafimo-Znamensky skete is located on the banks of the river. Rozhaiki, near the village of Bityagovo, 6 km south of the city of Domodedovo. The abbot was founded in 1912. Juvenalia, in the world Princess Tamara Aleksandrovna Mardzhanova, who later accepted the great schema with the name of schema-abode Tamar.

She took tonsure at the Bodbe Monastery, where in the IV century. died and was buried by St. equalap. Nina, educator of Georgia. Long before her tonsure, Tamara met with St. right. John of Kronstadt. The shrewd elder, placing three crosses on the young novice, said: “This is what an abbess I have - look at her!”. Subsequently, she really was the abbess of three monasteries.

In 1902 hegum. Juvenalia headed the Bodbe monastery, and from December 1907, mother went to the Seraphim-Ponetaevsky monastery with the intention of settling in a skete nearby. During the prayer, she heard the voice of the Queen of Heaven, who commanded her not to stay here, but to set up her own skete.

Igum. Juvenalia was respected and highly valued by such pillars of Orthodoxy as Metropolitans Flavian (Gorodetsky), Vladimir (Epiphany), Macarius (Nevsky); elders: scheigum. Herman, Venerable Anatoly Optinsky, Alexy Zosimovsky and others. With their spiritual support, all obstacles on the way to the foundation of the skete were overcome. Its foundation took place on July 27, 1910, and by September 1912 the construction of the skete was completed. The Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna took a close part in the work. September 23, 1912 the monastery was consecrated by Met. Vladimir, the future new martyr of Russia.

The fence of the skete is a square with a side of 33 sazhens - in memory of 33 years of the earthly life of the Savior. In the center there is a temple in honor of the Sign of the Mother of God and St. Seraphim of Sarov with a tomb and a throne in the name of Equaap. Nina. The temple has 24 kokoshniks according to the number of 24 apocalyptic elders. In the fence there are 12 small houses-cells - 12 apostles each, each has a corresponding name: Andreevsky, St. John the Theologian, etc. Only 33 sisters could live in the skete - according to the number of years of the Lord's earthly life.

September 21, 1916 with the blessing of Met. Macarius, the Apostle of Altai, bishop. Arseny (Zhadanovsky) tonsured an abbot. Juvenalia to the schema with the name Tamar. In 1918-1919 in the skete with the blessing of St. patr. Tikhon, mother Tamar sheltered bishop. Serpukhovsky Arseny (Zhadanovsky) and archim. Seraphim (Zvezdinsky), later Bishop. Dmitrovsky - the future new martyrs of Russia. The skete operated for 12 years and was closed in 1924 by Shiigum. Tamar lived another 12 years of suffering. In 1936, Vladyka Arseny admonished her before her death, and then served the funeral service.

After the closure, the Zaboryevsk hospital was located within the walls of the skete, and since 1965 - the pioneer camp and recreation center of the Krypton plant. The decision to transfer the skete to the jurisdiction of the Church was made at the end of 1998. January 27, 1999, on the day of commemoration of St. equalap. Nina's first Divine Liturgy took place in the skete church. The revival of monastic life began here.

This is an amazingly picturesque and romantic place. In the wilderness, among the pines of the ship, stands a miniature, exquisite temple, as if descended from the pages of ancient Russian chronicles ...

Holy spring of St. Seraphim of Sarov

The holy spring is located near the skete on the other side of the river. Rozhaiki, next to the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in the village of Bityagovo.

Monastic authorities

• abbess nun Innokenty (Popova)

• by electric train from the Paveletsky railway station in Moscow to the Domodedovo station. Then - by bus # 23 to the village of Bityagovo or by buses # 31, 32, 58 to the village of Zaborie, then - on foot (2.5 km)

• 142040, Moscow region, Domodedovsky district, s. Bityagovo, Serafimo-Znamensky skete

Church in the name of the Sign of the Mother of God and the Monk Seraphim, with a tomb and a throne below in honor of St. Nina, Equal to the Apostles. Serafimo-Znamensky skete is located 30 km southeast of Moscow. The skete was founded by Schema-Gumenia Famaria (Madzhanishvili 1868-1936) with the active participation of the Grand Duchess Venerable Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna (Romanova) at the beginning of the 20th century. It was consecrated in 1912 by the Metropolitan of Moscow, later a Hieromartyr, Vladimir (Epiphany).

After it was closed in 1924, there was a hospital on the territory of the skete, later a recreation center. As a functioning monastery, the skete opened on April 2, 2000. The barrel shape of the temple in the picture is not lens distortion (it was filmed with 50 mm optics), the temple really has a hipped roof.

The Seraphim-Znamensky skete was founded in 1912 by Abbess Yuvenalia, in the world Princess Tamara Alexandrovna Mardzhanova, who later assumed the great schema with the name of schema-abbess Tamar. She took tonsure at the Bodbe Monastery, where in the 4th century St. Nina, the enlightener of Georgia, died and was buried. In 1902, Abbess Yuvenalia headed the Bodbe monastery, and from December 1907, mother went to the Seraphim-Ponetaevsky monastery with the intention of settling in a skete near the monastery. During the prayer, she heard the voice of the Queen of Heaven, who commanded her not to stay here, but to set up her own skete. And even earlier, in 1892, John of Kronstadt, foreseeing the fate of this woman, placed three crosses on her. So during her life she became the abbess of three monasteries: Bodbe (in Georgia), the Intercession community in Moscow and Serafimo-Znamensky on the Domodedovo land.

And on July 27, 1910, in the forest, not far from Moscow, the foundation of the skete took place. In September 1912, the construction of the monastery was completed. The Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna rendered active assistance. On September 23, 1912, the monastery was consecrated by Metropolitan Vladimir, the future New Martyr of Russia. Serafimo-Znamensky skete is of undoubted interest from the architectural, artistic and planning positions. The unique project of the skete complex was created by the architect Leonid Vasilievich Stezhensky. It has a square plan, in its center there is a tiered hipped-roof temple, which plays the role of a high-rise dominant. Temple of the Sign of the Mother of God and St. Seraphim of Sarov with a tomb and a throne in the name of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina has 24 kokoshniks according to the number of 24 apocalyptic elders. In it, decorative motifs of Moscow and Pskov-Novgorod architecture are reworked in the Art Nouveau style. The red brick temple has a cross-shaped volume, it is crowned with a slender light tent with four rows of kokoshniks. The fence of the skete is a square with a side of 33 sazhens - in memory of 33 years of Christ's earthly life. In the fence there were 12 small houses-cells - according to the number of 12 apostles, each had a corresponding name: Andreevsky, John the Theological, etc. They are symmetrically located along the perimeter of a blank brick wall. Today only nine of the 12 buildings have survived. The buildings in the hermitage complex are mostly brick, unplastered, their decorative elements are highlighted with whitewash. Only 33 sisters could live in the skete - according to the number of years of Christ's earthly life.

The skete operated for 12 years and was closed in 1924. Scheigumenia Tamar lived for another 12 years. She lived in the room of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna in the Martha and Mary Convent. In those difficult 1920s, Mother Tamar organized cooperatives in which nuns made soft toys and quilted blankets, while services were secretly conducted in these cooperatives. In 1931, she was arrested and imprisoned in Butyrka prison, and then exiled to the Irkutsk region, where she fell ill with throat consumption. Soon after returning from exile in 1936, my mother died in the Moscow region at the age of 67. She was buried at the Vvedenskoye cemetery in Moscow. After the closure, the Zaborievskaya hospital was located within the walls of the skete, and since 1965 - the pioneer camp and recreation center of the Krypton plant.

The decision to transfer the skete to the jurisdiction of the Church was made at the end of 1998. On January 27, 1999, on the feast day of St. Nina, the first Divine Liturgy was held in the skete church. The revival of monastic life began here. Serafimo-Znamensky Skete is an amazing picturesque and romantic place. In the wilderness, among the pines of the ship, stands a miniature, exquisite monastery with an ancient Russian temple, as if descended from the paintings of artists Vasnetsov or Levitan.

http://www.mihaylovskoe.orthodoxy.ru/churches/

On the road leading to the village of Bityagovo, there is only a small homemade sign on the tree, which is hard to read, so we, almost at random, turn right and arrive at the place. Within the walls of the skete we are met by Mother Innokenty. She leads us to the temple and begins her story:

Seraphim-Znamensky skete

The first stone of the Seraphim-Znamensky skete was laid on July 27, 1910, and two years later the skete was consecrated by Metropolitan Vladimir of Moscow. What was the skete then? It was a small monastery, deserted, hidden from view. The idea is very interesting: the fence of the skete, the walls of all buildings, were painted yellowish-golden and this is a reference to Jerusalem.

If you look from above, the skete of 1912 looked like this: the square of the walls, on the western side the belfry and the Seraphim-Znamensky temple, there was nothing else on the territory. 12 houses were built into the walls, named after the apostles. In Holy Scripture, in the revelation of John the Theologian, there is a description of the City of God, and there is nothing there except God himself on the throne. The architect was inspired by the customers and now, if you walk around the temple, you will see that it resembles a figure sitting on a throne. You have time to feel this image. Tarkovsky said that the symbol must be interpreted correctly, but the image can be felt.

And then, entering the temple, we move on to the prophets, on whom the prediction of the coming of the Messiah is based. The tent is extraordinary, but it decorates the temple in such a way - especially when the sun is out, that no painting is needed. There are 24 windows in the tent according to the number of prophets. 34 projections are visible from the outside, and all this is crowned with a very beautiful iridescent ceramic dome.

There is a version that this temple was built by Aleksey Viktorovich Shchusev, the leading architect of the 20th century. The fact is that no documents on the temple have been preserved in the archives. The design is known to have changed during construction. This is how the chapel was originally conceived, and the temple was built.

The Seraphim-Znamensky Church is two-story. The upper church has two thrones: one is dedicated to the icon of the Mother of God of the Sign, the second to Seraphim of Sarov.

The lower temple is located underground, it is dedicated to St. Nina Equal to the Apostles, the enlightener of Georgia. The fact is that schemigumenia Tamar, the founder of the skete, was a Georgian princess by her origin. Her fate is very interesting.

SchemeGumenia Tamar

Sheigumenia Tamar, in the world Princess Tamara Alexandrovna Mardzhanishvili, was born in the 60s of the 19th century into a wealthy Georgian family in the city of Kvareli - central Georgia. This city is famous for the fact that the famous director Kote Mardzhanishvili was born there - the brother of schema-abdomen Famari. The family was not just traditionally Orthodox, apparently the interests were deeper, it is known that their spiritual father was an elder from Mount Athos, an Essene. Tamara Alexandrovna was orphaned early, her mother died when she was twenty, and her father three years earlier. She finds support in God, in general, by the age of 20, she is an already established, integral personality, and the fact that she ultimately chooses a monastery and not a secular life is not accidental. Although Tamara Alexandrovna, of course, was one of the enviable brides of Georgia - a princess, a fairly wealthy person who had a good home education, and besides, she was a beauty. Relatives dreamed that she would go to study at the St. Petersburg Conservatory - the princess had great musical abilities and a good voice. But she chose a different path. One summer Tamara Aleksandrovna with her sister and two younger brothers stayed with her aunt in the city of Signy, not far from the ancient nunnery in the name of St. Nina in Bodbe, which at that time was being restored after a long desolation.

Young Tamara Mardzhanishvili entered the service at this monastery and decided to stay there - to become a nun. Relatives were against such a decision, tried to distract from the thought of the monastery, took them to Tiflis. But Tamara Alexandrovna chose her own path.

In the end, in 1903 she will become abbess there, by that time there will already be about three hundred sisters, in addition, she kept two women's schools under her care, which was rare in Georgia at that time - there was a large Muslim population around.

Mother was very fond of her Bodbe monastery, but she herself did not have to remain abbess in it for long.

In 1905, the revolutionary-minded highlanders often attacked peaceful people; mother took everyone who turned to the monastery under her wing. The revolutionaries were greatly annoyed by this behavior of the young abbess. After an attempt was made on her life, by decree of the Holy Synod, without the wishes of mother, she was transferred from her beloved Bodbe monastery to Moscow and was appointed abbess of the Intercession community.

But over the years, a desire was born and more and more flared up in her, to settle alone near the Sarov Monastery and there to end her life in prayer. The fact is that Seraphim of Sarov was especially close to Mother Tamari, she read his life even before he became glorified, and she always took with her a small round icon with the image of the Reverend Elder Seraphim. But, having arrived at the Seraphim-Panetaevsky monastery, she received an inspiration from the Mother of God when she prayed in front of her icon of the Sign. This miraculous suggestion was repeated several times, and Mother realized that the Mother of God did not want her to end her life in solitude, but instructed her to create a new skete not only for herself, but also for others. Mother Tamar decided to consult with an experienced confessor and went to Zosimova hermitage to the hermit of Fr. Alexei, who told her that "you have to build a skete yourself, the Queen of Heaven herself will choose a place and arrange everything, and you will be an instrument in her hands." It is interesting that on the day of commemoration of the Monk Alexei of Zosimsky, the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God was pacified in the church of the skete.

Wishing to test herself once again before starting such a serious and big business, mother went to Optina Pustyn to consult with the Monk Anatoly, who also persistently urged her to fulfill the commission given by the Mother of God herself. Fr. Tobias from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The foundation of the skete took place on July 27, 1910.

The Seraphim-Znamensky skete lasted only 12 years. It was closed by the Bolsheviks in 1924. The sisters went their separate ways. Then a hospital will be organized on the territory of the skete, a little later - a pioneer camp, after the camp - a recreation center for a military plant.

Matushka managed to find a small house in the village of Perkhushkoy, where she settled with 10 sisters. A separate house housed the priest, hieromonk Filaret. In 1931, my mother was arrested along with several sisters and a priest. First prison, then Siberia - three years of exile. How did Mother Tamar endure all this with her sick legs and the already discovered tuberculosis? She was helped by faith, willpower and great endurance. And also the faithful novice Nyusha, who accompanied mother everywhere.

After the exile, Mother Tamar returned and settled in a village near the Pionerskaya station of the Belarusian Railway. She was already very ill. Mother Tamar died on June 10 (23), 1936. Vladyka Arseny sang it at home. They buried her in Moscow, on the Vvedensky Hills, not far from the grave of Fr. Alexey Mechev.

Skeet now

The Seraphim-Znamensky Skete began to revive in 2000. The territory was desolate, the upper church was turned into a warehouse, the lower one - into a boiler room. The base of the foundation was practically destroyed, in another two or three years, and the tent could have fallen.

Now the temple has returned to its previous appearance, services are being held in the lower and upper parts, but there is still a lot of work. It is necessary to make drainages around the temple, and this is a rather complicated procedure. The skete is still heated with coal, and this takes a lot of effort and money, now the question of its gasification is being resolved. With the help of nuns and parishioners, the interior decoration of the temple continues, for example, in the lower part, a mosaic is laid out from improvised material - brick, remnants of tiles and granite.

There are 20 novices in the skete. “Everyone gets to the monastery in different ways - someone has a direct path, someone has their own reasons, but in any case there must be a spark of love for God, otherwise it’s difficult to stay here,” says Matushka Innokenty. The obediences are different - when we entered the room where the things that belonged to Tamar's mother during her lifetime were preserved, there was a rehearsal - choir obedience. Naturally, there are everyday obediences, you still have to receive guests, conduct excursions. One sister goes to the district hospital 2-3 times a week to help. In general, there is enough work, the skete lives its measured, quiet life.

“It is important for us that people who come to the skete leave here enlightened and contented,” says Matushka Innokenty.

Material prepared Julia Elkina