Surah. Sursky St. John the Theologian convent

Sursky St. John the Theological monastery, hostel, in the village of Sura, Pinezhsky district, 212 versts from the city of Pinega, established in 1900 from a women's community founded in 1899 by the famous Kronstadt shepherd father John Sergiev in the place of his homeland; a school at the monastery. The Trinity Skete is assigned to it, 18 versts from it.

From the book of S.V. Bulgakov's "Russian monasteries in 1913"

St. John the Theologian Sursky Monastery is located in the village of Sura, Pinezhsky District, Arkhangelsk Region. Sura is one of the oldest settlements of the pagan Chud tribes, a village where pagan traditions and Old Believer foundations are still strong today. However, it was this land that gave Russia two holy representatives of the white clergy - Sergius of Malopinezh and John of Kronstadt.

The Sursky monastery was founded as a female monastic community in 1899 on the site blessed by St. John of Kronstadt. Initially, a wooden church was built in honor of John the Evangelist and monastic cells. Two nuns, the boss mother Barbara and nun Angelina and 33 novices received the spiritual blessing of St. John of Kronstadt to live in an open monastery. On June 20, 1900, on his next visit to Sura, the solemn consecration of the monastery church took place. In November of the same year, by a decree of the Arkhangelsk Spiritual Consistory, instead of the Sursk women's community, the regular Ioanno-Theological convent was established.
The preparation of novices for the Sursk monastery was directed by John of Kronstadt himself. And the first of them were accepted by him and given under the spiritual guidance of the Leushinskaya abbess Taisiya. In the book of N.I. Bolshakov about Father John of Kronstadt "The Source of Living Water", first published in 1910 and republished in 1995, there are several letters from Righteous John to Cape Taisiya with requests to accept this or that girl into the Leushinsky monastery to prepare for the Sursk community. The monastery was the brainchild of the righteous John of Kronstadt. Father John not only spiritually nourished the monastery, but also donated large funds for its maintenance. By the works of Fr. John, there was a two-year (six years of study) parish school in Sura. Father John delved into all the needs of the monastery life and provided all kinds of help.

Since 1907, the monastery had a courtyard in Arkhangelsk. In addition, the St. John Monastery in St. Petersburg was also first founded as a courtyard for the Sursk community. In 1913, the Monk Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, the founder of the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy in Moscow, visited the Arkhangelsk Surskoe Compound. Thus, the bright name of this great Russian ascetic has forever entered the history of the Arkhangelsk Sursky Compound.

Except the monastery is right. John of Kronstadt built two magnificent, similar to the capital, temples to replace the dilapidated wooden Vvedenskaya and Nikolskaya churches (XVI-XVII centuries). The first was built St. Nicholas Cathedral. The majestic St. Nicholas Cathedral was founded on July 8 (21), 1888 by John of Kronstadt himself. A month before the consecration of the church, Father John arrived in Sura and supervised the progress of the work himself. The newspapers of that time wrote: "This majestic stone church of the Byzantine style, with a two-tiered bell tower with it, can in all fairness be considered a wonderful monument of modern church building art and an adornment not only for Sura, but also for any provincial and even capital city." The consecration of all three chapels of St. Nicholas Church was carried out by the righteous John of Kronstadt himself in July 1891, with a huge crowd of people.

The second temple is the Assumption Cathedral. It was built in 1915, but the project was developed under the priest's rule. They tell about the prophecy of St. John that the temple will be built, but they will not serve in it. With the closure of the monastery, temples were also closed. In Soviet times, there was a club in the Assumption Cathedral, and now the temple is empty and is being destroyed. St. Nicholas Cathedral opposite was destroyed, but now it is being restored.

The Trinity Skete was located at the Sursk Ioanno-Theological Monastery. This hermitage was located 18 versts from the monastery, among the majestic century-old ship forest. In the skete there was a church in the name of the Holy Trinity. Now it is partially destroyed

The closing date of the Sursk monastery was December 8, 1920. On this day, at a meeting of the Sursk volost congress of Soviets (which, by the way, met in the monastery premises), it was decided to abolish the Sursk monastery. The petition submitted by the nuns to the Arkhangelsk Provincial Council of National Economy was unsuccessful. The Sursky monastery was subject to destruction precisely because it was a monastery. This is obvious from the answer the nuns received to their petition - "The workers of the Soviet government are needed, but the Soviet government does not intend to allow the formation of hermit unions of people who kill themselves."

At the end of the 20th century, the monastery began to come back to life. On October 31, 1994, Bishop Panteleimon of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk blessed the re-establishment in Arkhangelsk of the female community of the Ioanno-Bogoslovskiy Sursk courtyard. 1994-1996 the sisters unsuccessfully tried to return to the church the building of the Arkhangelsk courtyard of the former Ioanno-Theological-Sursk nunnery. In 1996, with the blessing of Bishop Tikhon of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogorsk, the community was transferred to the village of Ershovka, Primorsky District, Arkhangelsk Region, and transformed into an independent St. John the Theologian Monastery. And in the village of Sura, a new community of the revived Sura female John the Theological monastery was formed.

Sources: P.P. Soikin. "Orthodox Russian monasteries; II Ivanov." Behind Pinega, in Sura ...; "Sursky St. John the Theological convent. Russian churches".

The Sursky cenobitic monastery is located in the village of Sure, on the banks of the Pinega River, 213 versts from the district town of the same name. This monastery is of very recent origin. Its foundation is associated with the name of the late Kronstadt pastor Fr. John Ilyich Sergiev, who was a native of this area. He initially established a women's community in the village of Sura in 1899. By decree of the Holy Synod, in 1900 this community was converted into a nunnery.

Arkhangelsk courtyard of the Sursk Ioanno-Theological Monastery. It is ruled by the abbess. There is only one wooden church in the monastery, in the name of St. Apostle John the Theologian. The monastery contains a school and a hotel for pilgrims. Communication with the monastery from the town of Pinega is maintained by a steamer along the river of the same name.

Source: P.P. Soikin "Orthodox Russian monasteries"

A non-standard hostel nunnery was founded in the village of Sura in 1899, having received official approval in 1900. On June 14, 1899, St. John of Kronstadt blessed the place chosen for the future monastery. Soon a wooden church was built here in honor of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian and monastic cells. Two nuns, the boss mother Varvara, nun Angelina and 33 novices received the spiritual blessing of St. John of Kronstadt. On June 20, 1900, on his next visit to Sura, the solemn consecration of the monastery church took place. In November of the same year, by a decree of the Arkhangelsk Spiritual Consistory, the St. John the Theologian Convent was established instead of the Sursk Women's Community.

The history of the appearance in the remote Pinega lands of the Sursky monastery is inextricably linked with the name of John of Kronstadt. And the story of the purpose for which he conceived to found in his homeland, in the village of Sura, the northernmost convent, begins the Chronicle of the Sursk Ioanno-Theological convent, preserved in the Arkhangelsk regional archive: “Venerable and dear Father, Father Archpriest John Ilyich Sergiev, caring about the religious state of his fellow Suryans, decided to build a monastery in Sura, which, with its daily example of piety, would encourage them to prayer and work. In organizing the Sursk monastery, Father Archpriest, according to his own words, had the goal of enlightening the people of Sur, as well as that, so that the monastery was for the local population a school of piety through a good example of diligence and prayer. "

We know how the foundation of the monastery in Sura was laid from the poetic chronicle compiled by Taisia, Abbess of the Novgorod Forerunner Leushinsky Monastery, who mentions that by praying "on a field near his native village" St. John blessed the site for its future construction. The exact date of this event is indicated in the annals of the monastery - June 14, 1899. After that, the construction of wooden church buildings in honor of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian began, which was completed by the summer of 1900. The construction of the monastery was carried out with the money donated for this to Righteous John by numerous benefactors. At the same time, in 1899, the first novices of the future monastery - a women's community, whose approval by the decree of the Emperor, as well as the Holy Synod, was dated October 30, 1899, appeared in Sura.

There were then about thirty-five of them. Two nuns - the headmistress, mother Varvara and nun Angelina, passed monastic ordeal in the Leušinsky monastery. The rest are novices. The youngest, Maria Gromova and Agrippina Kolyapina, were 13 years old. The oldest, Alexandra Stepanovskaya, is 41 years old. And on average, the age of the first Sura novices was a little over twenty years old. They were mainly of peasant origin, two by two - from the spiritual and bourgeois estates, and only one and the only Evdokia Tolbuznna - from the Novgorod nobles. Basically, the first inhabitants of the Sursk community were newcomers: seven - from the Novgorod province, five - from the Tver province ... And only one, the daughter of the psalmist Apollinarius Vidyakin, came from the Shenkur district of the Arkhangelsk province. With the exception of two, all the first inhabitants of the Sursk community were literate.

The preparation of novices for the Sursk monastery was directed by John of Kronstadt himself. And the first of them were accepted by him and given under the spiritual guidance of the Leushinskaya abbess Taisiya. In the book of N.I. Bolshakov about Father John of Kronstadt "The Source of Living Water", first published in 1910 and republished in 1995, there are several letters from Righteous John to Cape Taisiya with requests to accept this or that girl into the Leushinsky monastery to prepare for the Sursk community.

"The construction of the monastery," says the Chronicle, "moved forward very quickly, so that by the summer of 1900 the construction of a wooden building with cells for sisters and in connection with it a wooden one-altar church in the name of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian was completed." Of course, much of the credit for this belonged to the first nuns and novices of the Sursk community. On June 20, 1900, during the arrival of Father John of Kronstadt to his homeland, the solemn consecration of the monastery church took place. In November of the same year, by a decree of the Arkhangelsk Spiritual Consistory, the St. John the Theologian monastery was established instead of the Sursk women's community.

Fr. John's concern for the Sursk Monastery was also manifested in the fact that he took an active part in the development of its Statutes. At the same time, he paid attention not only to the order in which the divine services were performed, but above all to the inner state of the monastery. There are three of his autographs in black ink in the notebook of the "Statute". The first of them reads: "everything stated here must be unconditionally executable." The second is his answer to a very painful question for the young monastery - to whom the sisters should obey. To enlighten them, Fr. John wrote in his own hand on the margins of the "Rule" a note that "the sisters must obey the abbess unquestioningly," adding that those who do not obey the abbess must be expelled from the monastery; ". The last record of Righteous John of Kronstadt can be found on the last page of the Rite. It reads: "Archpriest of the Kronstadt Cathedral John Sergiev, founder of the society. July 9th 1899" There is another date in the Chronicle related to the section "Times of Outstanding Disasters": "On December 20, 1908, died Dear Father, the Great Worldwide Prayer Book and Wonderful Shepherd Father Archpriest John Ilyich Sergiev." These words reflected all the love of the Survian nuns and novices for their shepherd, all the depth of their sorrow for him.

St. John the Theological Sursky Monastery.

The village of Sura, view from the river. Suras.

St. John the Theologian Sursky Monastery is located in the village of Sura, Pinezhsky District, Arkhangelsk Region. Sura is one of the oldest settlements of the pagan Chud tribes, a village where pagan traditions and Old Believer foundations are still strong today. However, it was this land that gave Russia two holy representatives of the white clergy - Sergius of Malopinezh and John of Kronstadt.
The Sursky monastery was founded as a female monastic community in 1899 on the site blessed by St. John of Kronstadt. Initially, a wooden church was built in honor of John the Evangelist and monastic cells. Two nuns, the boss mother Barbara and nun Angelina, and 33 novices received the spiritual blessing of St. John of Kronstadt to live in an open monastery. On June 20, 1900, on his next visit to Sura, the solemn consecration of the monastery church took place. In November of the same year, by a decree of the Arkhangelsk Spiritual Consistory, instead of the Sursk women's community, the regular Ioanno-Theological convent was established.

Sursky monastery.

The preparation of novices for the Sursk monastery was directed by John of Kronstadt himself. And the first of them were accepted by him and given under the spiritual guidance of the Leushinskaya abbess Taisiya. In the book of N.I. Bolshakov about Father John of Kronstadt "The Source of Living Water", first published in 1910 and republished in 1995, there are several letters from Righteous John to Cape Taisiya with requests to accept this or that girl into the Leushinsky monastery to prepare for the Sursk community.
Having settled on the site of the future monastery, the sisters helped in construction work, were engaged in the development of land plots for vegetable gardens. The memories of the hard work they endured during the construction of the monastery forever remained in the memory of the first inhabitants of the Sursk community.
The monastery was the brainchild of the righteous John of Kronstadt. Father John not only spiritually nourished the monastery, but also donated large funds for its maintenance. By the works of Fr. John, there was a two-year (six years of study) parish school in Sura. Father John delved into all the needs of the monastery life and provided all kinds of help.
Since 1907, the monastery had a courtyard in Arkhangelsk. In addition, the St. John Monastery in St. Petersburg was also first founded as a courtyard for the Sursk community.

Arkhangelsk. Surskoe courtyard. Photo of the 1910s. State Research Museum of Architecture named after A. V. Shchusev.

In 1913, the Monk Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, the founder of the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy in Moscow, visited the Arkhangelsk Surskoe Compound. Thus, the bright name of this great Russian ascetic has forever entered the history of the Arkhangelsk Sursky Compound.
Except the monastery is right. John of Kronstadt built two magnificent, similar to the capital, temples to replace the dilapidated wooden Vvedenskaya and Nikolskaya churches (XVI-XVII centuries). The first was built St. Nicholas Cathedral. The majestic St. Nicholas Cathedral was founded on July 8 (21), 1888 by John of Kronstadt himself. A month before the consecration of the church, Father John arrived in Sura and supervised the progress of the work himself.
The newspapers of that time wrote: "This majestic stone church of the Byzantine style, with a two-tiered bell tower with it, in all fairness can be considered a wonderful monument of modern church building art and an adornment not only for Sura, but also for any provincial and even capital city." The consecration of all three chapels of St. Nicholas Church was carried out by the righteous John of Kronstadt himself in July 1891, with a huge crowd of people.

Nikolsky temple and former church buildings. Photo 2008

The second temple is the Assumption Cathedral. It was built in 1915, but the project was developed under the priest's rule. They tell about the prophecy of St. John that the temple will be built, but they will not serve in it. With the closure of the monastery, temples were also closed. In Soviet times, there was a club in the Assumption Cathedral, and now the temple is empty and is being destroyed. St. Nicholas Cathedral opposite was destroyed, but now it is being restored.

Assumption Cathedral.

The Trinity Skete was located at the Sursk Ioanno-Theological Monastery. This hermitage was located 18 versts from the monastery, in the midst of a majestic century-old ship forest. In the skete there was a church in the name of the Holy Trinity. It is now partially destroyed.

Trinity skete of the Sursky monastery.

The closing date of the Sursk monastery was December 8, 1920. On this day, at a meeting of the Sursk volost congress of Soviets (which, by the way, met in the monastery premises), it was decided to abolish the Sursk monastery. The petition submitted by the nuns to the Arkhangelsk Provincial Council of National Economy was unsuccessful. The Sursky monastery was subject to destruction precisely because it was a monastery. This is obvious from the answer the nuns received to their petition - "The workers of the Soviet government are needed, but the Soviet government does not intend to allow the formation of hermit unions of people who kill themselves."
At the end of the 20th century, the monastery began to come back to life. On October 31, 1994, Bishop Panteleimon of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk blessed the re-establishment of the female community of St. John the Theologian, Sursky courtyard in Arkhangelsk. In 1994-1996, the sisters unsuccessfully tried to return the building of the Arkhangelsk courtyard of the former Ioanno-Theological-Sursk nunnery to the church. In 1996, with the blessing of Bishop Tikhon of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogorsk, the community was transferred to the village of Ershovka, Primorsky District, Arkhangelsk Region, and transformed into an independent St. John the Theological Monastery. And in the village of Sura, a new community of the revived Sura female John the Theological monastery was formed.

Nursing building with the house church of the Sursk monastery.

Links.
- P. P. Soikin. Orthodox Russian monasteries.
- I. IVANOV. FOR PINEGO, IN SURA ...
- Sursky St. John the Theological convent. // Russian churches.
- Nun Euphemia (PASCHENKO). "I will never forget this day ...".

The Sursk women's community was founded in the village of Sura in 1899 on the initiative of Archpriest John Sergiev (St. John of Kronstadt). In 1900, the community was transformed into a regular community nunnery. Initially, a wooden church was built in honor of John the Evangelist and monastic cells. Since 1907, the monastery had a courtyard in Arkhangelsk. In addition, the St. John Monastery in St. Petersburg was also first founded as a courtyard for the Sursk community.

The women's monastery created by Batiushka (in 1915 there were about 200 sisters in it) was widely involved in charity work: it helped the needy and the suffering, supported the relatives of the dead soldiers, collected funds for charitable purposes, and also gave alms. The monastery had a reading room, where Orthodox magazines and newspapers were subscribed to for parishioners, and various workshops worked.

The nunnery was the center of enlightenment in Sura and the surrounding lands. There was a parish school for children and a Sunday school for adults, where everyone could not only learn Orthodox prayers, but also learn to read and write, sewing, needlework, knitting and repairing clothes. There was also a pharmacy and a hospital for the common people.

The monastery had a courtyard in Arkhangelsk and St. Petersburg, which in 1902 was transformed into an independent female St. John the Theologian monastery on Karpovka.

The Surskoye courtyard in Arkhangelsk was founded in 1903 and was originally located in a two-story wooden building on the embankment of the Northern Dvina, with cells for sisters and a chapel. In June 1906, Father John laid the foundation stone for the stone building. It was built in October 1907 and became a decoration of the city. Archpriest Dimitri Andreevich Fedosikhin, a secret monk, spiritual son and disciple of Father John, served in the church of the courtyard. Initially, 10 sisters were obedient to the courtyard, by 1917 - 30. In 1913, Princess Elizaveta Fedorovna visited the Surskoe courtyard in Arkhangelsk.

In February-March 1917, the abbess of the monastery was in correspondence about the opening of another courtyard at the Church of All Who Sorrow Joy in the Orantenbaum city forest, which was to become a home for orphans.

The monastery and the Arkhangelsk courtyard were closed in the 1920s.

On October 31, 1994, Bishop Panteleimon of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk blessed the re-establishment of the female community of the St. John the Theologian courtyard in Arkhangelsk, and in the village of Sura, with the blessing of Bishop Tikhon of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogorsk, a community of the reviving St. John the Theological convent was formed.

In 1994-1996, the sisters unsuccessfully tried to return the building of the Arkhangelsk courtyard of the former Ioanno-Theological-Sursk nunnery to the church. In 1996, with the blessing of Bishop Tikhon of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogorsk, the community was transferred to the village of Ershovka, Primorsky District, Arkhangelsk Region, and transformed into an independent St. John the Theologian Monastery.

In November 2012, Metropolitan Daniel of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogorsk signed an order on the creation of the Sursk Ioannovsky convent in honor of the righteous John of Kronstadt.

Matushka Mitrofaniya flatly refused to go from church to monastery by car: “After the Vigil, I really want to walk. Nothing that I'm 75 years old, that it's cold and that it's a kilometer away from the monastery. I like looking at the starry sky of Sura. Let's go together and we'll talk at the same time. "

A short walk under the clear northern sky, which, it seems, is really close at hand: the stars - here they are, nearby, at least grab it with your hand. Or you can simply watch, contemplate, admire and absorb this power of the Russian North. Contemplate - and praise. Mother Mitrofaniya recalls the words of her beloved saint: “The soul involuntarily strives to praise when you look at the starry sky; but even more she rushes to praise, when, looking at the heavens and the stars, even God founded, imagine the thought of God about people, how God infinitely loves people, takes care of their eternal bliss, not sparing His Only Begotten Son for our salvation and rest in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is impossible not to praise God when you remember that you were created out of nothing, that you were destined from the creation of the world to eternal bliss completely tuna, for nothing, beyond merit, when you remember what grace of God is given to you from God for salvation throughout your life, what countless sins are forgiven you not just once, not twice, but an uncountable number of times, how many natural gifts are given to you, from the health of the body to a stream of air, to a drop of water. One involuntarily gets excited to doxology when, in amazement, you see the endless variety of things created on earth, in the animal kingdom, in the vegetable and mineral kingdom. What a wise arrangement in everything - great and small! You involuntarily glorify and say: "Wonderful are Thy works, O Lord, Thou hast created all wisdom, glory to Ty, O Lord, who created all things."

Just for the sake of this one reminder, uttered in a quiet voice by the abbess, believe me, it took hundreds of miles to get here. And when it is accompanied by a real confirmation of that wondrous beauty, such a meek, perhaps, but invincible power of northern nature, modestly, persistently, daily serving as "didactic material" in piety lessons, then you no longer pay any attention to fatigue and begin to look into all eyes and listen carefully to the mentor walking next to him.

Mother Mitrofania leans on the hand of her sister Nina, her faithful assistant; they walk along the bumpy road slowly, we talk. The St. Petersburg academic reprimand of the abbess sounds in these northern latitudes, perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, but all the more dignified and accessible. She talks about her feelings when she found out that she was offered to go from the Ioannovsky Monastery, which is on Karpovka in St. Petersburg, here, to the distant Sura, to the Far North.

That was three years ago, in 2012. The Holy Synod decreed to open the Sursk nunnery, and I was appointed abbess of this monastery. They asked me if I would go to Sura, to the Arkhangelsk region, to the Far North. I answered: "Not only will I go - I will go on foot!" And I confess that during all this time I have never - not an hour, not a minute - regretted being here. And it's not just the beauty of northern nature, of course. I think that, despite the poverty of our monastery, its insufficient material support compared to others, it is much more important that all the sisters who live here came to Sura at the call of their hearts. There are only six of us - five sisters and I, the abbess.

They do not go to the monastery because of something - from despondency, disorder. They go to the monastery to something, more precisely, to Someone - to Christ, His saints

Matushka, you say that the St. John Monastery is not rich and not great, only six people pray and work in it. How do you deal with the many difficulties?

First, you need to know that people do not go to the monastery from something - from, from the disorder of personal or family life. They go to the monastery to something, more precisely, to Someone - to Christ, His saints. I have already said that our sisters came here at the call of the heart, for the love of God and His holy - the righteous John of Kronstadt. If a person does not have such qualities in himself, then the very conditions of life in Sura will help him to look into his own heart faster and more honestly - he will not be able to stand here for a long time. And if there is love and hope in his heart for the help of Christ and the holy righteous John, then, believe me, he will take any difficulties calmly. How many times have we been convinced that Father does not leave his sisters without gracious help! This happens almost daily, there are innumerable such "ordinary miracles". And we are convinced from our own experience: God does not leave us with His help, Father John of Kronstadt is always with us.

The Sursky Convent was the brainchild of the All-Russian Shepherd, as the holy righteous John of Kronstadt is called. The father found considerable funds for its construction, participated in the drafting of the monastery charter, sent the sisters to the monastery, and instructed the first novices.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Ioannovo monastery was engaged in charity work: it provided great help to the needy and the suffering, supported the relatives of warriors who died in the war, collected funds for charitable purposes, and also gave alms.

Education was not forgotten either: there was a reading room in the monastery, which subscribed to Orthodox magazines and newspapers for the parishioners, and various workshops worked. In general, then the monastery was the center of education in Sura and the surrounding area (here it is called the Sursky bush): there was a parish school for children and a Sunday school for adults, where they taught not only prayers, but also mastered literacy, as well as crafts: sewing, needlework, knitting, Clothing repair. Even a pharmacy and a hospital for peasants was opened!

The monastery was large: in 1915 there were about 200 sisters. It seems to me that a small excerpt from Sergei Zhivotovsky's book "To the North with Father John", published in 1903, will help to imagine the life of the Ioannovsk monastery before the revolutionary upheavals in Russia:

“This is my own sister, and this is my nephew,” Fr. John told me, pointing to my neighbor and Fr. George’s neighbor. Father George's neighbor turned out to be my neighbor's son. In a distant corner of the room sat two more nephews of Father John - the younger children of his sister, also dressed like a peasant and behaving in the highest degree of modesty. The two older nephews are married and are engaged in arable farming with their families.

Here the disinterestedness of Father John was clearly evident. Another in his place would have made all his relatives rich, giving them the opportunity to live easily and richly. But for Fr. John, all people are equally close, and he does not give preference to his relatives, whom he helps, but no more than to everyone else. And his relatives do not grumble, because for a long time they used to look at him as a special person, not of this world.

Here I learned that as a child, the son of the psalmist Ilya Sergiev, a little pensive Ivanushka, enjoyed special respect among his fellow villagers. Whether the peasant's horse disappears - they go to ask Ivanushka to pray, whether some grief happens or someone gets sick - they go to Ivanushka again.

But then the wondrous boy grew up, and his glory, like the sun, shone over Orthodox Russia. And in the wild, harsh desert, among the dense forests near the loose sands, where once, except for a dozen huts and a dilapidated wooden poor church, there was nothing, the walls of the majestic stone temple shone white, golden crosses shone over the young monastery growing by leaps and bounds.

All literate Russia knew until now in the North of Kholmogory - the birthplace of the great Russian scientist Lomonosov. Now all Orthodox Russia will also know Sura - the homeland of its venerable pastor. Only four years ago, Fr. John laid the foundation for the Sursk monastery. And now there are 120 sisters in Sur, most of whom have come here, into the harsh wilderness, from the farthest reaches of Russia. Only the smallest percentage are natives of the Arkhangelsk province. "

Here I could add, for example, the following. Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, our great scientist, having left Kholmogory for the capital, never came back to his homeland. Perhaps there was simply no time. And Father John, on the contrary, used every opportunity to visit “dear homeland, holy homeland, Blessed Sura,” as he himself said.

Where churches are not being restored, the village dies. If there is a temple, there will be life. And the houses will stand strong, and the work will appear

Let's talk about the times about which Fr. John warned with alarm and pain for his Motherland - both small and the whole of Russia. A few years after his death, a national catastrophe occurred, caused, according to him, by the deviation from God of a large part of our people ...

Yes, and Father said that in the event of its apostasy, Russia would even lose its name! For long and terrible decades, we lived in an impersonal country that had lost its own name. We will not now talk about the all-Russian scale - we will only look at Sura and its surroundings. And the scale of the godless devastation was such that it inspired horror. Destroyed churches in the Russian North, the closed and desecrated St. John's monastery, the prohibition even on the very name of oneself as Orthodox, persecution, torment, mockery - all this has been experienced by our land. Attempts to force the Russian people to abandon their faith, I think, also affected their changed mentality, which also led to sad changes in material life. Where is the strong Russian village now with its solid, solid economy, with its solid inhabitants, always ready to help in difficult times? I noticed that the village in which the temple was destroyed, if it does not work to restore it, inevitably dies. I remember that after the war, having already come to my senses after the blockade (I am a blockade, I lived the first years of my life in St. Petersburg, and they fell just during the war), I ended up in the Vologda region, in the Vytegorsky district. There was a huge village there, and in two ruined churches there was either a cultural center or a club - I don't remember for sure. Then, 30 years later, I went there again - from the once large village it was good if there were four dilapidated houses. The people are three old women: they live in the middle of the black skeletons of huts sticking out of the snow. Oh, how painful it was to look at it! And so everywhere, all over Russia - where the churches are not restored, the village dies. If there is a temple, there will be life. And the houses will stand strong, and people will have work, and they will be engaged in a strong household.

- Can you give examples of such a revival?

Well, here's Sura - and an example. After many years of desolation, through the prayers of Father John, good people were found in various parts of Russia, who began to work on rebuilding the sisterhood in this village, formed a parish and began to revive the Nikolsky temple and skete from the ruins. A little later, the parishioners of the Ioannovsky Monastery on Karpovka, with the help of benefactors, continued their work, and such conditions were created that were sufficient for the revival of the female monastery in Sura. To the credit of the inhabitants of Sura, most of them gladly responded to the restoration of the monastery. Now, when a lot of work is required - be it construction, decoration, various household, etc. - many local residents help us with this. And helping the monastery, people, and especially young people, begin to gradually draw closer to God, through the prayers of their holy countryman. This is very important for Russia: a Russian person cannot be without God.

We have to deal with the direct instructions of the Father. Let me give you an example: they drilled water wells ...

Sometimes the workers have to deal with the direct instructions of Batiushka. To make it clearer, I will give an example. They drilled a water well. Here, by the way, it is quite difficult: there is no less than eight meters to the water. So, the foreman insists that they drill in the place where he certainly wants to - they say, it's more convenient. I tell him: "There is no need to drill here: according to my information, there was, excuse me, a toilet in this place for a long time." - “What's the difference - here everything will be faster and cheaper, but I have an estimate,” etc. - "Please do not!" Well, I didn't listen. I prayed: "Dear Father, help, educate the person!" - twenty minutes have not passed, as the foreman runs to me: “The drill has broken! We drilled ten meters - no water, steel farther - drill in half! Excuse me, mother. " This is how we live, drawing closer to Christ: now the Boers break, then miracles happen. If only people would go to Christ - and Father John will always help with this.

- Judging by your calmness and confidence in God's help, you are not discouraged when faced with difficulties?

A monk - to be discouraged ?! Sorry, there just isn't time for that. There is no time to even get sick properly - there are a lot of things to do, and to be discouraged is generally impossible. Too much to do.

- But many believe that monastic life is such an escape from work and problems. Know yourself, pray ...

- "Know for yourself" - get up at four in the morning, go to bed after midnight, work in the barnyard (we have three cows and other animals), help in construction, work in the kitchen, in the laundry, clean the roads, if you have firewood, do not forget about the vigilant Psalms, be constantly at services and pray all the time, and sincerely, from your heart ...

I repeat: those who love to pray and work come to the monastery, those who have in their hearts love for Christ and dear Father.

But, of course, the recently opened monastery now has many difficulties in recreating spiritual and material life. But difficulties are not a reason for complaints, but a reason for work, right?

Preparations are underway for the celebrations dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the canonization of righteous John of Kronstadt: they will be held in Sura on June 14, 2015

Does the monastery have any plans? After all, the former monastery carried out, among other things, a great educational and social work.

Yes, the Sursk monastery plans to revive charitable activities. We hope to create a shelter for girls-orphans, an almshouse for lonely elderly people, a Sunday school, as well as help the village in the revival of various crafts, traditional folk crafts. And in this, by the way, preparation for the celebrations dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the canonization of Saint Righteous John by the Russian Orthodox Church is very helpful. They will be held in Sura on June 14, 2015.

We are awaiting the arrival of His Holiness the Patriarch, a large number of bishops from all over the world, pilgrims - you yourself understand what work is being done now to meet the guests with dignity.

For the time being, we spend most of the services in the church in the name of the holy righteous John of Kronstadt. The temple premises are located on the first floor in the house of the priest Georgy Makkaveev, a friend and somopolyte of Father John. George Makkaveev, while still a deacon, was, with the blessing of Father, the manager of the construction of church buildings. When the saint came to Sura, he stayed at the Makkaveevs' house, lived on the second floor, the window of his room overlooked the monastery. And in 1902, Father George was ordained a priest. He suffered during the persecution in 1920.

In addition to this temple, there are two more cathedrals in Sura. Nikolsky Cathedral was opened to parishioners in January 2013. In the fall of 2014, the construction of the temple bell tower was completed. But the Assumption Cathedral began to revive quite recently, but work is going on very actively: the floors have been laid, the roof has been repaired, now the central dome is being installed and the cross is being gilded. Let me remind you that local workers are working. Thus, we have three churches in our village.

- Do you think they will be filled with worshipers?

During celebrations - yes, of course. The rest of the time, I think, as needed, we will serve in churches that will be able to accommodate the required number of parishioners.

Our monastery will be grateful for any help

A lot of work is being done before the celebrations. Will be conducted after the celebrations. Tell me, mother, how can you help your monastery?

Our monastery will be grateful for any help: building materials, tools, vehicles, construction equipment, food, money, etc. Of course, we ask all Orthodox Christians for prayers for our monastery. I would also like to say that by helping the monastery founded by St. John of Kronstadt, a person finds in him a zealous prayer man, an intercessor before the Lord. We pray and believe that sisters - workers and women of prayer will come to a new monastery, spiritual, monastic life will improve, everyday life will be settled, there will be more pilgrims, and the dream of dear Father John about a prosperous convent in his earthly homeland will become a reality - he will lead people away from the earthly Fatherland to the Heavenly Fatherland ... Just look at what a huge sky, how many stars and how brightly they shine! Sometimes I am sure: Sura borders on Heaven. Come to us more often. And now let's go and drink tea - the sisters have made marrow jam. I guarantee you never tried this.