New Russian Old Believing Monastery near Moscow By Alexander Trifonov & Alexei Markov
The monastery started its life at the end of 2004 in Alyashino, Egorievsk district, Moscow Region. Before the Bolshevik revolution a considerable number of Old believers lived in Alyoshino area as well as in the local town of Egorievsk nearby.
The church was built in Alyoshino in the end of the C19 as a mission by Egorievsk major Bardygin who wanted convert the local old believers into official Orthodoxy. In 1947 the church was given to the Old believing community and gained a new name of St. George. For many years, it has been a religious center for many old believers from over all Moscow Region.
In 1990-s the big old believing church in Egorievsk was given back to the old believing community. The Alyoshino parish was partially abandoned. The newly opened monastery is supposed to revive the local spiritual old believing life.
We were talking about that with Alexander (Timofeev), a Superior for the new monastery.
Father Alexander, talking about your monastery, whose idea was that originally? The deceased All Russian Metropolitan Andrian wanted to found a monastery very much. The decision to do it in Alyoshino came in October 2004. Originally, the plans were different. First, the monastery was supposed to be located in Kostroma region in one of many abandoned villages. Finally, Alyoshino became a choice.
The location was the main point. The local area, called Gouslitsy, always has been a home for many Russian old believers. We have an old church, and a small parish here. Both take our attention.
What kind of legal status do you have at the
moment? In terms of Law, we are an average parish. To be a monastery we have to be re-registered. Nevertheless, the news about this little fraternity of seven novices is spreading
fast.
Is it a first monastery for many years?
Yes, and we are happy about it. However, unfortunately we do not have enough resources to do all things we want. We have many
plans.
Do you have any sort of regulations for your community? Yes we do, but it is not written on paper. The monks are free to leave and come back any time. They carry out all duties
voluntarily.
May they drink wine?
A little of red dry wine is allowed on Sundays and on Holy Days.
Who do these lands and woods around belong to? They might be good for your development.
There is a lot of land around. Unfortunately, all of it has been sold. The local authorities did not want to meet our needs and sold the lands out to somebody else. I cannot say what kind of reason they had. Now we own just three ha of land around our
church.
How do the local old believers treat you?
Very good. We have a good parish. Everybody knows our monastery. They are used to see monks hear all the time. We are always prepared to help people with baptizing, funerals etc. The people around appreciate a chance to be able to receive an advice of a priest at any time. Therefore, we are becoming a local spiritual
center.
Do you have any young parishioners? Yes, we do some. But the people start visiting our church regularly since the age of fifty. After that age, a man starts thinking. Easter is an exception. At Easter, we have to 250 people in our church and many of them are young. Sometimes I ask such a visitor – «Are you an old believer?». «Yes» he says. «How often do you visit church, then?” «Once a year, at Easter».
You were talking about your plans.
At the beginning, we want to build a residential block, to accommodate monks properly, than a hostel for pilgrims. We want people to visit us, to stay for a while, to work and pray, to experience monastic life.
We also plan to build some separate sells for elderly people why may wish to live in our monastery. We might look after those of them who are old and sick.
We also plan to farm. Now we rent 3 ha of land and plant some vegetables. In the future, we plan to breed cattle and pick herbs make our own “monastic” herbal
tea.
Are there any serious problems on the way of the monastery revival?
To revive a real monastic life we need spiritual elders, and we still do not have any, nor in our monastery, nor in whole our Church. To whom shall I reveal my thoughts? Where shall I find a man to give me an advice and guidance? There are no elders… It takes a few decades them to appear. There is no real monastery without a spiritual
elder.
How may people contact you to arrange their pilgrimage and stay here? The people from another regions and from abroad may contact us by mail:
St. George Church
Alyoshino,
Egorievsk District
Moscow Region
RUSSIA
or in Russian:
POCCÈß, ÌÎÑÊÎÂÑÊÀß ÎÁËÀÑÒÜ, ÅÃÎÐÜÅÂÑÊÈÉ ÐÀÉÎÍ, Ñ. À˨ØÈÍÎ, ÕÐÀÌ
The monastery started its life at the end of 2004 in Alyashino, Egorievsk district, Moscow Region. Before the Bolshevik revolution a considerable number of Old believers lived in Alyoshino area as well as in the local town of Egorievsk nearby.