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We have two most important and very valuable sources for the study of the first centuries of Russian monasticism, this is the Life of St. Theodosius of the Caves, written by Nestor at the end of the 11th century. , and including this life Kiev-Pechersk Patericon, an original work of the hagiographic genre, created at the end of the 11th-13th centuries. The latter is a kind of "encyclopedia" of monasticism Ancient Rus' containing information about the most diverse aspects of his life. The Kiev Caves Monastery itself, with which the activities of Theodosius and other abbots and brothers are connected, the story of the life and exploits of which is the content of the Patericon, was the basis on which the monasticism of other, northern and western lands of Rus' developed, a model followed by the monasteries of the subsequent time. As for other contemporary sources, the chronicles mainly provide information about the founding of monasteries, burials in them, and not many other, non-Pechersk monastic lives have been preserved. This is the life of Arkady, Bishop of Novgorod and the Word about Martin, the mnih of Turov. The information contained in the latter cannot be compared in volume with the Life of Theodosius and the Paterik, but expands it to monasteries in other regions - in Novgorod and Turov.
ways of penetration of monasticism into Rus'
The emergence of monasticism in Rus' and its formation were influenced by Christian monastic traditions in two ways: through monastic literature - stories about monastic exploits in the Middle East and Byzantium, monastic charters - and through the personal monastic experience of Russian ascetics received in Constantinople in Palestine and, mainly, on Athos, where by the time Russia adopted Christianity, communities had formed that most fully embodied Christian views on the life of a person outside the “world”, a person who completely devoted himself to God.
Greek and Syrian writings about the monastic feat, edifying stories and stories in Slavic translations from Greek were well known in Rus' from an early time.
"Sayings of the Holy Fathers", known in Slavic writing as the Alphabet-Jerusalem patericon, were distributed here already in the 11th century, becoming one of the sources of the Izbornik of 1076 and the Prologue. The Sinai patericon, containing stories about the asceticism of the Sinai and Palestinian monks, collected by John Moskh (UP century), has been preserved in the Old Russian list of the 11th-12th centuries; it also served as one of the sources of the Prologue and was known to the compilers of the Kievo-Pechersk Patericon. In the Nestorian Life of Theodosius there are references to St. Savva the Sanctified, John of the Ladder and Evagrius. There is reason to believe that at that time both the “Legend of the Egyptian Chernorists” (Egyptian Patericon) and the “Sayings of the Fathers” (Skete Patericon) were known, which were preserved in Slavic translation only in later lists.
Personal monastic experience
The personal experience of monastic service was transferred to the hills above the Dnieper by the future Anthony Pechersky himself, a local native, “a certain pious man from the city of Lyubech,” as the author of the legend in Paterik, Nestor Pechersky, calls him, not knowing either his secular name or his origin. Wishing to accept monasticism, the Lubech resident visited Constantinople and then to the Holy Mountain, where, bypassing the monasteries, he was so inflamed with love for Christ that he wanted to become worthy of the Athos monks and get a haircut here. He was accepted into one of the monasteries, in which, having been trained by the abbot, he was tonsured by him with the name Anthony. Nestor does not indicate that this name was given to the young Slav in memory of the founder of monasticism in Roman Egypt, Anthony the Great (c. 250–355), but this is most likely the case. This can be thought on the basis of the words of Nestor himself, who writes that the Athos abbot considered the newly tonsured monastic as a potential distributor of monasticism in his country, in Rus', which was confirmed later. Nestor compares fame Caves Anthony with the glory of Anthony of Egypt (the Great).
In Constantinople in the monastery lived a disciple of St. Anthony of the Caves Ephraim, who then returned to Rus' and became the bishop of Pereyaslavl. Hegumen Daniel from Chernihiv during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the early years of the 12th century. lived in the courtyard of the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified in Jerusalem, which later became the center of Orthodoxy and education in Palestine.
The Monk Anthony himself, having returned from Athos to Rus' and settled in a cave in the forest near the princely village of Berestov, his righteous life, through labor and prayer attracted the attention of the newly converted Kyiv society, not only ordinary residents, but also nobles, and princes. And the saint's cave became a place of attraction for those who decided to follow his example. So a small underground monastery arose with 12 monks tonsured by Anthony. However, the founder of the monastery himself appears in the future not as a hieromonk or abbot. He goes to another mountain, settles in a separate cave, from which he does not leave until the end of his life. His role is more like a ktitor's – the creator of the monastery, who transferred the tradition and blessing of the Holy Mountain to it. He appointed Varlaam as the first abbot, and after his transfer to another monastery, Feodosius, chosen by the brethren. It is no longer he who tonsures the new monks, but at his command this is done by the holy monk Nikon, and after him, at the request of Anthony, Theodosius becomes the presbyter. Thus, the latter combines the duties of abbot and hieromonk, which opens up great opportunities for him in organizing the life of the monastery.
Rules of monastic life
In the monastery, which arose in the caves on the banks of the Dnieper, at first, under Anthony, they were probably guided by the general principles of monastic life brought to him from Athos, and in worship they followed the Typicon of the “Great Church”, that is, the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople. Theodosius, already the abbot of the monastery, was especially interested in the Studian monastery charter, and finding it with the monk of the Studian monastery Michael, who came to Kiev with Metropolitan George (c. 1065), made a list from it. This charter was used in the organization of divine services and monastic life in the Pechersk Monastery (“And he instructed in his monastery how to sing the monastic service and how to bow, and read, and stand in the church, and all church rules, and how to sit during the meal , and what is on what days - everything is according to the charter"). Therefore, it was already a monastic charter. However, it seems that this text did not fully satisfy the organizer of Russian monasticism, since it included only part the required charter. This is evidenced by the message of Paterik that Theodosius, taking advantage of his stay in Constantinople of his compatriot Ephraim, sent one of the brothers to him, so that he, having written off, would bring "the entire charter of the Studian monastery." He, "having copied the entire charter of the monastery, sent it to him." Theodosius accepted this statute, ordered that it be read before the brethren, and “from that moment on, everything in his monastery began to work according to the statute of the holy monastery of Studius,” and this, according to the author of the Life of Theodosius, is followed by the disciples of the monk.
The Old Russian translation of the Studian Rule was preserved in a list of the 12th century, which belonged to the Novgorod Resurrection Monastery, which indicates its distribution at that time not only in southern Rus', but also in northern. This is the edition of the statute of the Studion Monastery, owned by Patriarch Alexy of Constantinople (1025–1043). It is possible that the translation itself, bearing undoubted Old Russian linguistic features, was made in Constantinople by Ephraim himself "kazhenik" (eunuch), the future Metropolitan of Pereyaslavsky. E. E. Golubinsky gives an exposition of the contents of the Studian statute as amended by Patriarch Alexy.
Two Eastern Christian schools of monasticism and Rus'
The Life of Theodosius and the Kiev Caves Patericon show that in Kiev in the 11th-13th centuries, as well as in Rus' of that time in general, both main currents of monasticism were known: the Egyptian-Syrian, which found recognition on Athos and was brought to Russia by Anthony, and Palestine-Constantinople, which Theodosius followed. In the Caves Monastery, they coexisted in parallel, being represented by ascetics guided by different paths of monastic achievement, and succeeded each other in the process of the development of the monastery.
According to G.P. Fedotov, in the monastery of St. Anthony and Theodosius, “two streams of spiritual life are revealed: one cave-like, ascetic-heroic, the other supermundane, humbly obedient, socially caritative” . The Palestinian monastic ideal of holiness came closest to religious life Rus'. Although the founder of monasticism was Anthony the Great, in Rus' they mainly imitated not him, but Savva the Sanctified. In the story about the life and exploits of Theodosius, Nestor uses the lives of St. Euphemia and Savva, Palestinian saints of the 6th century. According to the researcher, "we have the right to talk about the humanization, about the humanization of the ascetic ideal in Palestine - and in Rus'" .
However, in history Caves Monastery Fedotov sees a change in traditions from the Egyptian-Athonian under Antony to the Palestinian-Studio under Theodosius and a new “resurrection of the tradition of Anthony and the Holy Mountain” in the correspondence of the creators of the Patericon Simon and Polycarp, when “cruel temptations, cruel demonology, cruel sufferings prevailed in the monastery - ... an atmosphere in which the marvelous deeds of Antony's posthumous disciples are performed.
Steps of monastic achievement
Coming to the monastery in order to dedicate his life to God, the candidate for Chernoriztsy for some time was at the lowest level of obedience and training in monastic life. During this time, he was allowed to wear his own clothes. Then he received monastic clothes (cassock) and had to participate in all monastic "services". Only after that, if he withstood such a test, he was tonsured and dressed in a monastic robe (a long black sleeveless garment worn over the bottom) and he became a monk. At the same time, a name change took place, which was supposed to confirm that a person who dedicated himself to God becomes different. There was also the last, highest stage of monastic perfection. After the monk, with his pure life and deeds, proved his detachment from the sinful world, he was honored to take on the “great angelic image” (“schema”, from the Greek ΣΧΗΜΑ - image). In this case, they cut his hair again and changed his name again, they put a cockle on him - a headdress in the form of a deep hood, almost covering his face, with symbolic drawings and signs.
Young monks went to school with the abbot or presbyter (priest). A monk should not exalt himself in anything, he should consider himself lower than others, not be magnified, he should accustom himself to be modest, submissive to everyone, not to engage in money-grubbing (accumulation of wealth). When walking, keep your arms bent at your chest (i.e., do not wave them), and bow to your brother when you meet. Theodosius urged the brethren not to go to other people's cells, but to pray to each in his own.
monastic work
Everyday monastic work is constant prayer, and night service, and fasting, but also needlework, providing oneself and the brethren with a livelihood. Among the most frequent obediences for the new monks, who lived in a common room and did not have a permanent place to sleep, was work in the kitchen - chopping wood, carrying water from the river, then - as a goalkeeper (watchman) at the monastery gates, and finally - serving in the refectory. Such a path went for six years, for example, the Monk Prince Nikola-Svyatoslav, until he began to live in a separate cell, which he himself built.
Theodosius, even before entering the monastery, for two years was engaged in baking and selling prosphora, as well as grinding grain for them. In the monastery, already a monk, and then hegumen, he also came to the bakery, participating with the bakers in the work, encouraging them and "rejoicing in spirit." However, his usual occupation outside the service and prayers was the spinning of wool ("waves"), and at the same time he sang psalms by heart. From this wool, the monks knitted socks (“hooves”) and hats (“hoods”) for sale. The monastery had a common bakery, but there was no mill, so the grain was distributed to the monks in their cells and they themselves
millstones, usually doing this at night. Not a few monks associated their work with books. Chernorizet Hilarion was engaged in copying books in Theodosius’ cell, the priest Nikon bound them (“building books”), and Theodosius at this time, sitting nearby, forked ropes for this and quietly hummed the psalter by heart. The regular occupation of the monks was also gardening and growing vegetables.
cells
The monks had their own cells in which they rested after dinner and had to spend time in prayer after the evening service. At prep. Anthony's cells were dug by the monks themselves in the soft loess soil of the cave. Then, with an increase in the number of brethren, cells began to be built on the ground, and the caves became a monastery cemetery. The abbot had a double cell - the second, “inner”, was for him a kind of prayer room, a house chapel, where Theodosius retired to pray.
Code of Conduct
The introduction of a cenobitic charter required the observance of strict norms of behavior. Walking in other people's cells was considered a sin. After the evening prayer, the conversations of the monks were forbidden, everyone had to pray in his cell. Abbot Theodosius went around the monastery at night, listening to what was happening in the cells, and if instead of praying he heard the conversation of the monks gathered in one cell, he knocked on their door and in the morning called him to his place and reprimanded, striving for his conversation to reach the sinner and, giving him penance, let go. Night and morning services and prayers required rest in the middle of the day, and according to the monastic routine, the monastery gates were closed after dinner and the brothers slept in their cells. However, the custom of an afternoon nap was generally widespread in Rus': a long working day during the daylight hours required additional rest. At night, the monastery gates were closed before dark.
Theodosius was especially strict in his demands not to have food in his cells, personal clothes and things that were not provided for. Bypassing the cells, he seized something that did not comply with these standards: “he repeatedly walked around the cells of his students and if he found either food or clothes in excess of the accepted ones, or something from their property, then he threw it into the oven as diabolical and sinful.” The abbot justified this by the fact that thinking about the property in his cell, it is impossible to be sincere in prayer, according to the divine words: "where your treasures are, there your hearts will be." The monk should think about observing the charter and be content with what the cellar gives at the meal, and have nothing in the cells.
The introduction of strict cohabitation by Theodosius was supposed to change the nature of the economy of the monastery and self-awareness of the brethren: instead of individual monks united for a common goal - spa senia outside the world - and participating in common worship, there should have been a single economic community with a common economy, table, strict equalization. This equality was very compellingly in theory, but it turned out to be difficult to implement it in monastic life.
Rules and discipline after Theodosius
The severity of monastic discipline and the indisputability of the prohibitions issued by the abbot were a common phenomenon. However, the “true community”, the deliberate property equality of the brethren, which Theodosius introduced, as E.E. Golubinsky already noted, did not last long in the Pechersky Monastery itself after his death. In stories about the life of monks in the XII century. there are frequent reports of rich and poor among the brethren. The deceased monk could lie, washed and swaddled, remaining without burial, since he was very poor and did not leave any savings for burial. He was buried by special order of the hegumen. At the same time, one of the brethren, Arefa, originally from Polotsk, kept in his cell "a lot of wealth", which was once stolen from him. According to G. P. Fedotov, “after the death of the saint, the strict statutory life did not last in the monastery, and the Pechersky Patericon no longer remembers the life of the coenobitus.” However, some coenobitic norms, such as a common table, have been preserved in the monastery.
Ordinary monastic exploits
The desire to devote oneself more fully to the service of Christ, to get rid of the temptations of secular life, to overcome sinful thoughts and weaknesses of the body, caused the monks special feats, designed to replace all this with constant prayer, to fence themselves off from everything that prevents them from concentrating on the eternal, to be distracted by physical exhaustion. The Monk Theodosius in his youth, even before entering the monastery, ordered chains from a blacksmith and wore them on his naked body, under his shirt, and his mother found out about this from the blood on his shirt. In the monastery, he wore a hair shirt - a shirt ("retinue") made of coarse wool, hiding it under another "retinue". The monks struggled with laziness and weakness, denying themselves sleep lying down (“on the ribs”), and slept only sitting, “on the table” (bench) for a short time. Even washing under running water was to be avoided. Among the exploits of the saint, it was indicated that he was never seen "pouring water on the body."
Solitude and retreat
The most common way to focus on the thought of God was solitude, refusing to associate with others, even with the brethren. But this was allowed only for experienced monks. Theodosius himself, already an abbot, spent all fasting days, closing himself in a cave cell and going out to the brethren only at the end of the fast in order to support her in this matter. The strictest seclusion was in the form of seclusion, when a monk closed himself, sometimes voluntarily walled himself up in a cell for years, leaving only an opening for eating and rare oral communication. He did not attend church, but being alone, he spent all his time in prayer, in communion with God. Some recluses spent eight or thirty years like this. For an ambitious person, being in seclusion could be tempting because it contributed to the acquisition of fame and respect, if he was able to endure this voluntary imprisonment. When a young monk wished to go into seclusion, the abbot dissuaded him, saying that “it is not good for you to sit idle, because you are still young, it is better for you to remain among the brethren and, working for them, you will not lose your reward.” But he did not listen to him and was deceived. On the other hand, those who withstood the shutter for a long time so departed from the sinful (even monastic) world that they often received the gift of healing.
monastic positions. Hegumen at the head of the monastery
A monastery with numerous brethren required a clear organization, a firm charter, and distribution of responsibilities. It was headed by the abbot, who was the most experienced monk, a good organizer, capable of doing business with the outside world. He had to be aware of everything that was happening in the monastery and what each of the brethren was doing.
Initially, the actual abbot of the monastery was its founder (ktitor) Anthony, who managed the monastery while it was small (3–5 monks). When Anthony decided to leave the management of the monastery, then, as a ktitor, he retained the right to appoint hegumen. He chose the first abbot Varlaam, and when he was transferred by the prince from the monastery, then Theodosius. After the death of Anthony, Theodosius established the election of a new abbot by the entire brethren of the monastery. Before his death, he approved his successor, Stephen, chosen by the brethren. In the future, the election of the hegumen by the monks themselves became the rule - they agreed to have as an "elder and shepherd" a person whom they trust and whom they recognize as capable of leading themselves. After the election of the name of the new abbot it was reported to the prince and then, at the “order” of the prince, the metropolitan “appointed” hegumen as the head of the monastery. dormitory mo Nastyrskiy the charter demanded at the same time complete obedience to the abbot. Transferring his functions as hegumen to Stephen, Theodosius spoke monks, that they have an abbot whom they themselves wanted: “his listen and have him as a spiritual father, fear him, and do everything according to his command.” The same rules existed in other monasteries. In the Novgorod birch bark of the XII century. justification writer it turns out that he could not come to the meeting, as promised, due to the fact that “the hegumen did not let him in,” although he asked for time off, he sent him on another matter.
If a prince acted as a monastery governor, he himself appointed hegumen to his monastery, and the only thing left for the metropolitan was to appoint him according to the church rule. So did, for example, Prince Izyaslav, taking Varlaam from the Caves Monastery and appointing him abbot of his newly created monastery. Anthony the Roman, probably himself was the abbot of the monastery he founded, but in his Spiritual bequeathed “this place to the hegumenship” and ordered: “whom the brothers will choose, but from the brothers, and whoever suffers in this place” .
The second person after the abbot in the monastery was the steward - the manager, assistant to the abbot, the most authoritative and active monk, a possible successor to the abbot. The most important position in the cenobitic monastery was the cellar, who was in charge of the household, whose constant concern was to feed the brethren, to get food.
A special place in the monastery was occupied by a priest - a hieromonk. His position did not always coincide with that of the abbot. The first hieromonk was Nikon, a priest who settled in the cave with Anthony. At the direction of Anthony, he tonsured new monks, served the liturgy in the monastery church, and after hegumen Stephen was elected hegumen of the monastery. In the monastery there were other priests ("presbyters") who served in the church and fulfilled all the necessary requirements, hierodeacons and "church builders" - sextons and other clergymen. The abbot and the elderly and honored hieromonks had monks - ministers who could be cellmates.
Among the high positions also belonged to the "church demestvennik" - the leader of the church choir. It was a responsible position that required undoubted abilities and great professional training. Stefan, who under Theodosius was also a prefect, and after his death took the place of hegumen, founded his own “Stefanech” monastery on Klov, and then became a bishop. The famous Kirik, an outstanding mathematician, was also the "domestic" of the Mother of God Church of the Novgorod Antoniev Monastery.
monastery table
The monastic table was traditionally very limited. All charters excluded the use of meat by monks throughout the year. On fast days, fish and cottage cheese ("cheese") were allowed. In a poor monastery, which was originally Pechersky, the monks ate baked bread and water; boiled and hot cereals made from peas or lentils (“sochivo”) and millet were eaten only on Saturdays and Sundays. In the absence of cereals, herbs (“potion”) were cooked, flavored with vegetable oil. As a backup dish for lunch, in the absence of other products, boiled wheat mixed with honey was given. Products were bought in the city with money received for sold monastic handicrafts; However, on major holidays and solemn events, the abbot allowed the brethren to have a rich table, a kind of monastic feast (“a great institution”). Thus, the wonderful appearance of abundant gifts during a shortage of food was noted several times in the Pechersk Monastery.
The monastery as an economic organism
From the time of Theodosius, the monastery became the owner of the land under the buildings of the monastery itself (it was donated by Prince Izyaslav) and beyond. These were the contributions of the princes and boyars, who wished to ensure in this way the eternal remembrance of themselves and their relatives during worship. These lands were cultivated by dependent people - smerds, peasants who worked in the fields, under the supervision of monastic "priests", probably similar to the "plowed tiuns" of Russian Pravda. There were also unfree workers in the monastery itself. Such were the thieves who repeatedly tried to rob the monk Gregory, so that they were condemned and secular power(“city lord”), and Gregory himself, who transferred them, along with their children, to the monastery.
Large monasteries had high authority and trust in the city, including in relation to material values. One of the people of Kiev, leaving the city, entrusted the monk Konon, who lived in a separate cell of the Caves Monastery, with a box (“mala crab”) with silver. Despite an attempt by another monk to steal this value, it was preserved. The Novgorod Yuryev Monastery, as one of the richest and most independent economic organisms in the 13th century, carried out monetary transactions for issuing a loan secured by collateral, that is, in fact, banking operations, for local boyars. One of them, Clement, once borrowed 20 hryvnias of silver in this monastery and in his spirituality, having no descendants, bequeathed to the monastery his villages and the money that the monastery was supposed to receive from the debtors of the testator.
Charity of the monastery
The Caves Monastery was engaged in charity work for the poor and the poor (the poor). Since the monastery itself is closed tire did not provide for the maintenance of unsecured people who are not monks, at the monastery, an almshouse (“courtyard”) was built outside it with the church of the First Martyr Stephen, where the poor, blind, lame and others lived and ate at the expense of the monastery disabled people("difficult"). Following the biblical commandment “take nine parts of the profit for yourself, and give the tenth to your God”, the monks transferred a tenth of the monastery income to this almshouse, sending in addition, on Saturdays, baked bread in city jails And those who were imprisoned.
A feature of the monasteries in Rus' in the first centuries of their history, until the 14th century, was that they were created in cities and nearby suburbs and, as church institutions, were an important integral part ancient Russian city. Not penetrating deep into the country, into the countryside, the monasteries at that time did little missionary work. However, with the participation of representatives of all social groups country and the support of princely power, a highly developed Christian civilization was created here, which became the basis of monastic life among the peoples of this vast region in subsequent centuries, up to our time.
The variety of characters of people who became monks found a correspondence in the variety of monastic characters, despite their greater or lesser conformity with the requirements of the monastic charter. True, the statutes themselves regulated the external manifestation of human individuality, providing for their application to various cases and to different types of personality.
Monasteries appeared in Ancient Rus' in the 11th century, several decades after the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir of Kyiv and his subjects. And after 1.5-2 centuries they already played an important role in the life of the country.
The chronicle connects the beginning of Russian monasticism with the activities of Anthony, a resident of the city of Lubeck, near Chernigov, who became a monk on Mount Athos and appeared in Kyiv in the middle of the 11th century. The Tale of Bygone Years reports him under the year 1051. True, the chronicle says that when Anthony came to Kyiv and began to choose where to settle, he "went to monasteries, and nowhere did he like it." This means that there were some monastic cloisters on the Kievan land even before Anthony. But there is no information about them, and therefore the Pechersky Monastery (later the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra) is considered the first Russian Orthodox monastery, which arose on one of the Kiev mountains at the initiative of Anthony: he allegedly settled in a cave dug for prayers by the future Metropolitan Hilarion.
However, the Russian Orthodox Church considers Theodosius, who accepted monasticism with the blessing of Anthony, to be the true founder of monasticism.
Having become abbot, he introduced in his monastery, which numbered two dozen monks, the charter of the Constantinople Studian monastery, which strictly regulated the whole life of monastics. Subsequently, this charter was introduced in other large monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church who were predominantly social.
At the beginning of the XII century. Kievan Rus broke up into a number of principalities, which were, in essence, completely independent feudal states. The process of Christianization in their capital cities has already gone far; princes and boyars, wealthy merchants, whose life did not at all correspond to Christian precepts, founded monasteries, trying to atone for sins in them. At the same time, wealthy investors not only received "service from specialists" - monks, but could themselves spend the rest of their lives in familiar conditions. material well-being. The increased population in the cities ensured the growth in the number of monks.
The predominance of urban monasteries was noted. Apparently, the spread of Christianity played a role here, first among rich and wealthy people who were close to the princes and lived with them in the cities.
Wealthy merchants and artisans also lived in them. Of course, ordinary townspeople accepted Christianity sooner than peasants.
Along with the large ones, there were also small private monasteries, the owners of which could dispose of them and pass them on to their heirs. The monks in such monasteries did not run a common household, and depositors, wishing to leave the monastery, could demand their contribution back.
From the middle of the XIV century. the emergence of a new type of monasteries begins, which were founded by people who did not have land holdings, but possessed energy and enterprise. They sought grants of lands from the Grand Duke, accepted donations from feudal neighbors “for the memory of their souls”, enslaved the surrounding peasants, bought and bartered lands, ran their own economy, traded, engaged in usury and turned monasteries into feudal estates.
Following Kiev, Novgorod, Vladimir, Smolensk, Galich and other ancient Russian cities acquired their own monasteries. In the pre-Mongolian period, the total number of monasteries and the number of monks in them were insignificant. According to chronicles, in the XI-XIII centuries in Rus' there were no more than 70 monasteries, including 17 each in Kyiv and Novgorod.
The number of monasteries noticeably increased during the period of the Tatar-Mongol yoke: by the middle of the 15th century there were more than 180 of them. Over the next century and a half, about 300 new monasteries were opened, and in the 17th century alone - 220. The process of the emergence of more and more new monasteries (both male, and women's) continued until the Great October Socialist Revolution. By 1917 there were 1025 of them.
Russian Orthodox monasteries were multifunctional. They have always been considered not only as the centers of the most intense religious life, the guardians of church traditions, but also as the economic stronghold of the church, as well as centers for the training of church personnel. The monks formed the backbone of the clergy, occupying key positions in all areas of church life. Only the monastic rank gave access to the episcopal rank. Bound by a vow of complete and unconditional obedience, which they gave during their tonsure, the monks were an obedient tool in the hands of the church leadership.
As a rule, in the Russian lands of the XI-XIII centuries. monasteries were founded by princes or local boyar aristocracy. The first monasteries arose near large cities, or directly in them. Monasteries were a form of social organization of people who abandoned the norms of life accepted in secular society. These collectives solved different tasks: from preparing their members to afterlife to the creation of model farms. The monasteries served as institutions of social charity. They, closely connected with the authorities, became the centers of the ideological life of Rus'.
The monasteries trained clergymen of all ranks. The episcopate was elected from the monastic environment, and the hierarchal rank was received mainly by monks of noble origin.
In the XI-XII centuries, fifteen bishops came out of one Kiev-Pechersk monastery.
P The appearance of the first monasteries in Rus' dates back to the era of Vladimir, the Baptist of Rus', and under his son, Yaroslav the Wise, monastic life was already very diverse. Sometimes monastics lived near parish churches in cells that each set up for himself, they were in strict asceticism, they gathered together for worship, but they did not have a charter and did not take monastic vows.
There were desert dwellers, cavemen ( Old Russian. baker). We know about the existence of this ancient form of monasticism in Rus' from the story “The Tale of Bygone Years” about Hilarion, who lived in a cave until he was appointed metropolitan in 1051. Later, Anthony settled in his cave, having come to Rus' from Athos.
There were ktitor monasteries, that is, founded by princes or other rich people. So, in 1037, Yaroslav the Wise founded the monasteries of St. George and St. Irina (Christian names of the prince and his wife). The first was located near Sophia Cathedral, the second - at the Golden Gate. The sons of Yaroslav were also ktitors.
Most of the monasteries were male, but by the end of the XI century. women also appeared: Vsevolod Yaroslavich built a monastery near the church of St. Apostle Andrew, in which his daughter Janka was tonsured, and this monastery was called the Yanchin Monastery.
Ktitor monasteries prevailed in pre-Mongol Rus. Their abbots were closely connected with the princely dynasties, which gave them some independence in relation to the metropolitan, but made them dependent on the princes. These monasteries were ancestral tombs, a place of stay in old age, they had more funds than others, the possibility of entering them was due to the size of the contribution that the future monk made.
TO strangely enough, in the early period, very few monasteries were founded by the monks themselves. One of these - the Kiev Caves Monastery - was founded by Anthony and his disciple Theodosius, who are considered the founders of monasticism in Rus'.
It is symbolic that Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves bore the same monastic names as the fathers of Eastern monasticism - Rev. Anthony the Great, head of the Egyptian anchorites, and St. Theodosius of Jerusalem, organizer of the Palestinian community. Contemporaries saw in this a connection with the origins of monasticism, this is mentioned by the Kiev Caves Patericon - the first monastic biography and the Tale of Bygone Years - the first Russian chronicle.
Kiev-Pechersk Lavra
Anthony was a native of Lyubech, at a young age he went to Athos, there he became a monk, learned the rules of monastic life, and then received a command from God to return to Rus'. One of the Svyatogorsk elders predicted to him: “As if from you, I’ll have black people.” Arriving in Kyiv, Anthony went to the monasteries in search of a place of asceticism, but "did not love" any of them. Having found Hilarion's cave, he settled in it.
Anthony led a strict ascetic life, daily and nightly being in labor, vigil and prayer, eating bread and water. Soon, many disciples gathered around Anthony, he instructed them, tonsured some of them as monks, but did not want to become abbot. When the number of monks reached twelve, Anthony appointed Barlaam as abbot, son of a boyar, and he retired to a distant cave to live as a hermit.
Kiev-Pechersk Icon of the Mother of God with St. Anthony
and Theodosius Pechersky. OK. 1288
Barlaam's successor was Theodosius, one of Anthony's youngest disciples. When he became abbot, he was only 26 years old. But under him the number of brethren increased from twenty to one hundred. Theodosius was very concerned about the spiritual growth of the monks and about the organization of the monastery, he built cells, and in 1062 he laid the stone church of the Assumption of the Virgin. Under Theodosius, the Pechersk monastery received a cenobitic charter on the model of the Studian monastery in Constantinople and became the largest monastery in Kyiv. Theodosius was a talented church writer, left many spiritual writings.
ABOUT We learn about the life of the monastery from the "Kiev-Pechersk Patericon". This is a collection based on the messages of Bishop Simon of Vladimir, also a tonsurer of this monastery, and the Kiev-Pechersk monk Polycarp. These messages contain stories about the history of the monastery. The authors lived in the 13th century, but used the records kept in the monastery from the 11th century.
From the "Paterik" we learn how diverse was the composition of the monks of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery: there were not only Russians, but also Greeks, Varangians, Ugrians (Hungarians), Jews. Poor peasants, wealthy townspeople, merchants, boyars, even princes became monks. Among the monks of the Caves was the first Russian icon painter Alipy, the doctor Agapit, the chronicler Nestor, Kuksha, the enlightener of the Vyatichi, Prokhor Lebednik, who baked sweet bread from bitter quinoa for the people of Kiev during the famine. There were scribes and preachers, missionaries and hermits, prayer books and miracle workers.
P At first, monasteries were created in Southern Rus': in Chernigov, Boldinsky (Eletsky) in honor of the Assumption of the Mother of God, in Pereslavl St. John, in Vladimir Volynsky Svyatogorsky Monastery, etc. Gradually, monasteries began to appear in the northeastern lands: Spassky was founded in Murom in the pre-Mongolian period monastery, in Suzdal - St. Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica and others.
Holy Dormition Yelets convent in Chernihiv
Monasticism very quickly becomes a widespread phenomenon in Rus'. According to chronicles, in the XI century. there were 19 monasteries, on the eve of the Mongol-Tatar invasion - more than a hundred. By the middle of the XV century. there were 180 of them. Over the next century and a half, about three hundred were opened, the 17th century alone gave 220 new cloisters. On the eve of the revolution, there were 1025 monasteries in the Russian Empire.
H ovgorod was the second most important city of Ancient Rus', and in the pre-Mongolian period there were 14 monastic cloisters here. Yuryev was one of the oldest Novgorod monasteries. According to legend, it was founded by Yaroslav the Wise, but the earliest surviving mention dates back to 1119, when Abbot Kiriak and Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich laid a stone church in the name of St. George.
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God of the Anthony Monastery in Veliky Novgorod
A significant number of monasteries were founded by wealthy Novgorodians, and the Anthony Monastery was founded by Anthony the Roman (according to legend, he arrived from Rome on a stone). Anthony's Monastery was first mentioned in chronicles in 1117, when the first stone church appeared in it, but the erection of wooden buildings dates back to an earlier time. The spiritual charter of the monastery has been preserved, containing one of the first speeches in Russian history against the appointment of hegumen as a prince or bishop “for bribes” and “for violence”. Thus, the democratic traditions of Novgorod were also manifested in the life of the monasteries.
Among the Novgorod monasteries created by the ascetics, the most famous was the Khutyn Monastery of the Transfiguration. Its founder Varlaam (in the world - Alexa Mikhailovich), a native of Novgorod, the son of wealthy parents, under the influence of "divine" books, felt an attraction to monasticism as a child. After the death of his parents, he distributed the estate and entered into obedience to the elder Porfiry (Perfury), after a while he went to the Khutyn hill ( glory. a bad place), ten miles outside the city, and began to live in solitude. Students began to come to him, and gradually a monastery was formed. The monk accepted everyone, taught to avoid unrighteousness, envy and slander, lies, to have meekness and love, instructed nobles and judges to judge righteously and not take bribes, the poor - not to envy the rich, the rich - to help the poor.
M the Mongolian invasion disrupted the natural course of monastic life in Rus', many monasteries suffered from pogrom and ruin, not all monasteries were subsequently restored. The revival of monasticism began in the second half of the 14th century, and it is associated with the names of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, and Rev. Sergius of Radonezh.
There is little information about monasteries left from the Mongol-Tatar era, but the significance of monasticism in the spiritual and social life at this time it grows, it becomes the spiritually consolidating force of society. The nature of the monasteries is also changing. If in the initial period the monasteries were mostly urban or located near cities, then from the XIV century. more "desert" cloisters appear. The desert in Rus' was called a secluded place, far from cities and villages, most often it was a wild forest.
The founders of these monasteries, as a rule, are very bright personalities, the most famous are Sergius of Radonezh and a galaxy of his students and followers, the initiators of the spiritual upsurge in Rus' at the end of the 14th-15th centuries. The personality of Sergius was so attractive that even those who did not have a monastic vocation wanted to live near him. The Trinity Monastery founded by him eventually grew into the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, a pearl in a necklace Russian monasteries(for details, see the article on pp. 10–11).
In the middle of the XIV century. active development and settlement of the area around the Trinity Monastery began: the peasants cleared the forest for arable land, set up villages and yards here, and the once desert area turned into a populated and developed region. The peasants not only came to worship at the monastery, but also sought to help the monks. However, there was a strict commandment of the abbot in the monastery: even in the case of the most extreme impoverishment, “not to leave the monastery to this or that village and not to ask the laity for bread, but to expect mercy from God.” The request for alms, and even more so the demand for contributions and donations, were strictly prohibited, although voluntary offerings were not rejected. For Sergius, the ancient monastic ideal of non-acquisitiveness was holy, but in the practice of many monasteries it was violated.
A hundred years after Sergius, the issue of monastic property would lead to a split in monasticism into two parties - non-possessors, led by Nil Sorsky, who preached poverty and independence of monasteries, and Josephites, led by Joseph Volotsky, who defended the right of monasteries to own property.
Sergius of Radonezh reposed at a ripe old age, canonized in 1452. In addition to Trinity, Sergius founded several more monasteries, in particular the Annunciation in Kirzhach, where he appointed his disciple Roman as hegumen. Another student - Athanasius, he put at the head of the Vysotsky monastery in Serpukhov. Savva Storozhevsky became abbot in Zvenigorod (see the article on p. 18), and Sergius' nephew Theodore (later Bishop of Rostov) headed the Simonov Monastery in Moscow.
M the monastic movement was especially active in the North, the monks contributed to the development of new lands, brought civilization and culture to those places where previously it was deserted or where wild pagan tribes lived. One of the first ascetics who went to the North was Dimitry Prilutsky, founded in 1371, five miles from Vologda, in the bend of the river, Spaso-Prilutsky monastery. In 1397, two more disciples of Sergius, Cyril and Ferapont, came to the Vologda Territory, the first founded a monastery in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God (Kirillo-Belozersky) on the shore of Lake Siversky (see the article on p. 16), the second - on the shore of Lake Borodaevsky Bogoroditse - Christmas (Ferapontov).
In the 15th century, the Cherepovets Resurrection Monastery appeared in Northern Rus', the Nikitsky Belozersky Monastery on the river. Sheksne, Blagoveshchensky Vorbozomsky, Trinity Pavlo-Obnorsky and others. The Solovetsky Monastery, founded in the 1420s, played a paramount role in the monastic colonization. Sts. Zosima and Savvaty. It played a leading role in the development of the White Sea region.
Miracle Monastery. Vintage postcard. Moscow
In the XIV century. the metropolitan in Rus' was Alexy, a native of the ancient boyar family of the Pleshcheevs, one of the most educated people of his time. He took vows in Epiphany Monastery in Moscow and occupied the metropolitan see for 24 years. Being a wise politician, he retained his love for monastic life and contributed in every way to the establishment of monasteries, seeing in them a beneficial, moral influence on society. He founded a monastery in the Moscow Kremlin in the name of the Miracle of Michael the Archangel in Khonekh (Chudov Monastery).
Associated with him interesting story: around 1365, while in the Horde on state affairs, Metropolitan Alexy healed Taidula, the wife of Khan Dzhenibek, from blindness. For this, the khan gave him a part of the land of the Tatar courtyard in the Kremlin, where Alexy founded the monastery, which became the home monastery of the Russian metropolitans. The foundation of another monastery, Spaso-Andronikov, is also connected with the miracle. During the journey of Alexy to Constantinople, the ship got into a storm, but the metropolitan prayed before the icon of the Savior, and the ship miraculously escaped shipwreck. Alexy made a vow, returning to his homeland, to build a monastery. So he did: on the banks of the Yauza he founded a monastery in honor of miraculous image Savior, and he appointed Andronicus, a disciple of Sergius of Radonezh, as hegumen. Today this monastery is known as Spaso-Andronikov. Such monasteries are called "votive", that is, founded by vow.
Reconstruction of the appearance of Evdokia (Evfrosinya) of Moscow works by S. Nikitin
Founder convents was Evdokia, Princess of Moscow, wife of Dmitry Donskoy. After the Battle of Kulikovo, many women were widowed, and the princess founded two cloisters - Voznesenskaya in the Kremlin for dowager princesses and the Nativity monastery for widows from the common people. And it has become a tradition. Likewise in the 19th century. Margarita Tuchkova, the widow of the general, the hero of the war of 1812, having buried her husband, created a monastery on the Borodino field, where widows could live and pray for fallen soldiers and husbands.
Ascension Monastery founded in 1386. Moscow
R Russian monasteries were actively involved in civilizational activities (land development, farming, crafts), were centers of culture, but the main task of the monk remained spiritual achievement and prayer, “acquisition of the Holy Spirit,” as St. Seraphim of Sarov called it. The monks were called monks, as they chose a different way of life, different from the worldly one. Monasticism was also called the angelic rank - "an earthly angel and heavenly man They talked about the monk. Of course, not all monks were and are like that, but the monastic ideal in Rus' was always high, and the monastery was perceived as a spiritual oasis.
A. Vasnetsov. Monastery in Moscow Rus'. 1910s
Usually monasteries were built away from the hustle and bustle, most often outside the city limits, in a deserted place. They were surrounded by high walls, which rarely had a military-strategic value, with the exception of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, which withstood several sieges, and some other monasteries. The monastery walls mark the boundary between the spiritual and the mundane, behind them a person should feel protected from external storms and unrest, fenced off from the world. There is no bustle and haste in the monastery fence, people speak quietly, idle laughter is excluded here, empty conversations are forbidden, and even more so swear words. There should not be anything that would distract attention or seduce a person, on the contrary, everything should tune in to a high spiritual mood. Monasteries have always been a theological school not only for those who have chosen the monastic way of life, but also for the laity, who for centuries have been spiritually nourished in the monasteries by the elders.
Monk Robe: 1 - schema; 2 - mantle; 3 - kamilavka; 4 - hood; 5 - cassock
“Go learn from the monks,” said St. John Chrysostom in one of his conversations - these are the lamps shining all over the earth, these are the walls with which the cities themselves are protected and supported. For this they went into the desert, to teach you to despise the vanity of the world. They, like strong men, can enjoy silence even in the midst of a storm; and you, overwhelmed from all sides, need to calm down and at least take a little rest from the incessant tide of waves. So, go to them more often, so that, having been cleansed by their prayers and instructions from the filth that constantly attacks you, you can real life spend as much as possible better, and be honored with future blessings.
Murom Spaso-Preobra convent("Spassky on Bor") - monastery located in the city of Murom, on the left bank of the Oka River. The oldest monastic monastery in Rus' was founded by Prince Gleb (the first Russian saint, the son of the Great Baptist of Rus' Kyiv prince Vladimir). Having received the city of Murom as his inheritance, the holy prince founded the princely court higher up the Oka, on a steep bank overgrown with forests. Here he built a temple in the name of All-Merciful Savior and then a monastic cloister.
The monastery is mentioned by chronicle sources before all other monasteries on the territory of Russia and appears in the "Tale of Bygone Years" under 1096 in connection with the death of Prince Izyaslav Vladimirovich under the walls of Murom.
Many saints stayed within the walls of the monastery: St. Basil, Bishop of Ryazan and Murom, Holy Princes Peter and Fevronia, Miracle Workers of Murom, St. Seraphim of Sarov visited his companion, the holy elder of the Spassky monastery, Anthony Groshovnik.
One page of the history of the monastery is connected with Tsar Ivan the Terrible. In 1552 Grozny went to Kazan. One of the paths of his rati lay through Murom. In Murom, the tsar arranged a review of his army: from the high left bank, he watched how the warriors crossed to the right bank of the Oka. There Ivan the Terrible made a vow: if he takes Kazan, he will erect a stone temple in Murom. And he kept his word. By his decree, in 1555, the Spassky Cathedral of the monastery was erected in the city. The emperor donated church utensils, vestments, icons and books to the new church. In the second half of the 17th century, the second warm stone Church of the Intercession was built in the monastery.
Not in the best way The period of the reign of Catherine the Great affected the life of the monastery - she issued a decree according to which the monasteries were deprived of property and land plots. But Spaso-Preobrazhensky survived. In 1878, the rector Archimandrite Anthony brought an icon to the monastery from Mount Athos. Mother of God"Quick listener". Since then, it has become the main Shrine of the monastery.
After the revolution of 1917, the reason for the closure of the Transfiguration Monastery was the accusation of its rector, Bishop Mitrofan (Zagorsky) of Murom, of complicity in the uprising that took place in Murom on July 8-9, 1918. Since January 1929, the Spassky Monastery was occupied by the military and partly by the NKVD department, at the same time the destruction of the monastery necropolis began, and civilians were denied access to its territory.
In the spring of 1995, military unit No. 22165 left the premises of the Spassky Monastery. Hieromonk Kirill (Epifanov), whom she met in ancient monastery complete ruin. In 2000-2009 the monastery was overhauled with the support of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation.
Monasteries- these are communal settlements of believers who live together, leaving the world, while observing a certain charter. The oldest are Buddhist monasteries that arose on the territory of India in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. In the Middle Ages, Christian monasteries in Europe were already built as fortresses or castles. Russian Orthodox monasteries From time immemorial, a more free picturesque layout has been inherent.
Monasteries in Rus' began to appear at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century. One of the first - Kievo-Pechersky- was founded by St. Theodosius in 1051 on the banks of the Dnieper in artificial caves. In 1598 he received the status of a Lavra. The Monk Theodosius laid down a strict monastic charter according to the Byzantine model. Until the 16th century monks were buried here.
Trinity Cathedral- first stone building monastery, built in 1422-1423 on the site of a wooden church. The temple was built at the expense of the son of Dmitry Donskoy - Prince Yuri Zvenigorodsky "in praise" of Sergius of Radonezh. His remains were moved here. So the cathedral became one of the first memorial monuments of Muscovite Rus'.
Sergius tried to spread the veneration of the Holy Trinity as a symbol of the unity of all Rus'. To create the iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral, icon painters Andrey Rublev and Daniil Cherny were invited.
At the end of the 17th century, instead of the ancient chambers, a refectory was erected - an elegant building surrounded by a gallery, decorated with columns, ornaments and carved architraves.
Trinity Monastery(XIV century) founded by the brothers Bartholomew and Stefan on the northern approaches to Moscow. When he was tonsured, Bartholomew received the name Sergius, who began to be called Radonezhsky.
“Reverend Sergius, with his life, with the very possibility of such a life, made the grieving people feel that not everything good had died out and died away in him ... The Russian people of the XIV century recognized this action as a miracle,” wrote historian Vasily Klyuchevsky. During his life, Sergius founded several more monasteries, and his students - up to 40 more monasteries on the lands of Rus'.
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery was founded in 1397. The legend says that the Archimandrite of the Simonov Monastery Kirill, during a prayer, was ordered by the voice of the Virgin to go to the shore of the White Lake and found a monastery there. The monastery actively developed and soon became one of the largest. From the first half of the 16th century, the Grand Dukes went here on a pilgrimage. Ivan the Terrible was tonsured in this monastery.
Rizpolozhensky Monastery was founded in 1207. This monastery is the only one that brought to us the names of its builders - "stone builders" - Suzdal Ivan Mamin, Ivan Gryaznov and Andrey Shmakov. The Rizpolozhensky Monastery played a major role in preserving the topography of ancient Suzdal: the oldest Suzdal road passed through the monastery gates, going from the Kremlin through the settlement along the left bank of the Kamenka River. The two-tented Holy Gates of the monastery, built in 1688, have been preserved.
Church of the Assumption of the Gethsemane Skete- one of the most interesting buildings of Valaam. It is made in the "Russian style", which has undergone changes under the influence of the architecture of the Russian North. It stands out with a complex decor.
On March 14, 1613, representatives of the Zemsky Sobor announced to Mikhail Fedorovich, who was in the Ipatiev Monastery, that he had been elected to the kingdom. It was the first king of the Romanov dynasty. His name is associated with the feat of the peasant Ivan Susanin, who led Polish soldiers into the forest who were looking for a way to the monastery in order to capture the young king. Susanin saved the young monarch at the cost of his life. In 1858, at the request of Emperor Alexander II, the monastery cells of the 16th-17th centuries were rebuilt. The emperor ordered to create a family nest of the reigning dynasty here. The reconstruction was carried out in a manner stylized as the 16th century.
Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma it was founded around 1330 by Khan Murza Chet, who converted to Christianity, the ancestor of the Godunov family. The Godunovs had a family tomb there. The most ancient part of the monastery - the Old Town - has existed since its foundation.
Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery on Valaam was a major center of religious life. It is believed that it was founded no later than the beginning of the XIV century. The monastery was repeatedly attacked by the Swedes. After the end of the Northern War, according to the Nystadt Peace Treaty of 1721, Western Karelia was returned to Russia. The buildings of the monastery belong to different eras and styles.
Monastery in Optina Hermitage founded in the 16th century. In 1821 a skete arose at the monastery. This event predetermined his future fate and fame. In the second quarter of the 19th century, such a phenomenon as "eldership" arose here. Among the elders there were many educated people who were engaged in religious and philosophical problems. Startsev was visited by N. V. Gogol, F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, A. A. Akhmatova.
Archipelago of Lake Ladoga Valaam- an amazing corner of Karelia. Everything here is unusual: boulders, mighty trees, rocks... Each of the ensembles has its own look, interesting architectural structures and agricultural buildings, dozens of chapels, crosses. In clear weather, the outlines of the archipelago can be seen from afar.
The architects of Valaam were able to reveal the character of nature, and modest buildings turned into memorable landscapes. The painting of the cathedral is close to the naturalistic art of Western countries.
Emergence and initial construction Resurrection Monastery near Istra is associated with Nikon, the reformer of the Orthodox Church of the 17th century. Voskresenskoye was bought by Nikon in 1656. In addition to the serfs of the patriarch himself, craftsmen from all over the country were involved in the construction. White stone was delivered from the village of Myachkova along the Moscow River and its tributary Istra. Nikon set out to create a semblance of the Jerusalem temple (hence the second name - New Jerusalem).
One of the most famous monasteries - Joseph-Volokolamsky- founded at the beginning of the 15th century in the city of Voloka Lamsky, known since 1135. The city was founded by Novgorodians on the site of an ancient portage (dragging over land) of ships from the Lama River to Voloshna.
Spaso-Borodino Monastery- one of the best monuments of the war of 1812. The architect M. Bykovsky organically added a fence, a bell tower and the tomb of General Tuchkov to the monastery.
Literature
- Russian large children's encyclopedia, Modern writer, Minsk, 2008
