| Abbess Sergius (Konkova) |
Sergius (Konkova)
(born 1946), abbess, abbess of the Trinity Seraphim-Diveevo Convent, member of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the World Alexandra Georgievna Konkova, was born on May 26, 1946 in a pious believing family near Moscow, near the monastery of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
She graduated from the dental institute and worked as the head of the dental department of a hospital.
Although even as a child the family confessor predicted a monastic path for her, and in her youth she had a desire to devote her life to serving God, her parents did not give their blessing to join the monastery for a long time.
In 1981, with the blessing of her parents, she entered the Riga Trinity-Sergius Monastery, a year later she was tonsured into the ryassophore, and in 1984 into the mantle with the name given in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Soon she was transferred to obedience to the dean at the skete of the Riga monastery - Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya hermitage.
In 1991, she was appointed to the position of abbess of the newly revived Seraphim-Diveevo monastery.
On November 17, 1991, she was elevated to the rank of abbess by Metropolitan Nikolai (Kutepov) of Nizhny Novgorod, who laid on her the cross of the last abbess of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery, Alexandra (Trakovskaya). The hegumen's staff was presented to her by her spiritual mentor, the abbess of the Riga Holy Trinity-Sergius Monastery, Abbess Magdalena (Zhegalova).
Abbess Sergius recalls the initial period of her life in Diveyevo:
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Everything here was ruined; there were a handful of sisters, about five or six people. They lived in a village. There was nothing. The premises on the second floor of the bell tower, where the first sisters and I were accommodated, were vacated only before my arrival. Now it is possible to compile a whole chronicle of how the Lord, through the intercession of the Mother of God and Father Seraphim, helped carry out restoration work here
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Abbess Sergia is a member of the Collegium of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism. Member of the commission for organizing the life of monasteries and monasticism in the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church.
There are already 800 monasteries in Russia
– Now all over Russia there are not enough people in men’s monasteries. In the Sarov Monastery, for example, there are only four monks. Do convents face this problem? Have fewer people started enrolling compared to pre-revolutionary times?
– Compared to pre-revolutionary times and even compared to the 80-90s of the twentieth century, of course, fewer people began to enter the monastery. But there are also statistics: now there are already 800 monasteries in Russia, and, let’s say, in 1989 there were only 35.
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– Diveevo is so famous that even people from other countries come here who want to devote themselves to God. How does your relationship with the migration service develop in this regard?
– Residents of other countries who enter Diveevo do not immediately become nuns, just like Russian women, however. They live and work here for two or three years, having just registered, but not yet registered in the monastery. When such a difficult woman looks at us, we look at her, and she expresses a desire to step on the path of obedience, then she writes a petition, and we arrange her registration.
– Does it happen that you refuse applicants?
“Those who wish to enter the monastery are interviewed by the dean and then by me. There are, of course, restrictions. If you were married, if you have minor children, if you are not divorced from your husband, these are obstacles. For example, we have a laborer who wants to join a monastery because her husband and his relatives do not allow her to see her daughter. This woman can work at the monastery, but it is impossible to place her among the sisters.
Abbess Sergia has headed the monastery since 1991. Photo: AiF / Ekaterina Izmestyeva
– We see that there are a lot of pilgrims in Diveyevo. Does everyone know how to behave here? And how should a person generally behave when he comes to a holy place?
– Pilgrims are churchgoers and usually know the rules of conduct in a monastic monastery. Tourists who come to us usually go to the pilgrimage center, where they will be explained that if you are wearing trousers, then you need to wear an apron, which is given in the monastery, and if you can see naked parts of your body, then you can throw on a scarf. The one who hears hears.
There are very interesting cases. I noticed that one sister’s mother comes to see her all the time, but her father does not. She explained that the father was not baptized and constantly scolded the mother for sending her daughter to the monastery. And by that time eighteen years had already passed. I advised: “Invite him and don’t say anything about faith. You take him, according to the general plan of all pilgrims, on an excursion to the source.” He came, went on an excursion, and swam in the spring. And after one and a half to two months I arrived with the intention of being baptized and was baptized in Diveyevo. After this, her brother, who already had a higher education, entered the seminary and now teaches there. Such wonderful transformations.
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– Were there any cases when people came as tourists, but stayed in the monastery?
– No, this didn’t happen with tourists. But this happened to pilgrims. One pilgrim brought things to another sister from Ukraine and stayed in the monastery herself. Now she is a nun.
– When such shrines as the Belt of the Virgin Mary and the Gifts of the Magi are brought to churches, very long queues line up for them. Even those who don’t go to church in their daily lives come there. Is there some kind of consumer attitude towards God in this?
– Even if they are initially driven by the desire to receive something from God, it is still a call: it means that these people have a grain of faith. They are not going somewhere, but to a shrine, and they want to touch it. It is commendable.
– Lately, it seems, people have become intolerant of each other. What do you think is the reason?
– Even among believers there are families where there is discord. Although they understand that they must bear each other’s burdens. The commandments of Christ are not difficult, right? He commands to love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. What is your reward if you love only those who love you? You must love those who hate, those who offend, those who annoy. They did something bad to you, but you must do something good, then you are a Christian. That's how Father Seraphim is. When the men beat him, he did not resist, he threw away the ax, crossed his arms and said: “Do with me what you want,” and they damaged his spine with this ax. He lay in his cell for more than a year with the faith that the Queen of Heaven would heal him. And I forgave those robbers.
In the 90s, a police officer made a presentation at a conference in Nizhny Novgorod. In particular, he said: “One day I get off the tram. They come up to me and ask me to smoke. I do not smoke. I immediately remembered St. Seraphim, how he crossed his arms and did not resist. Then they hit me, and I realized that I was not Seraphim: I responded to the blow with a blow.” So it is very difficult to act like a holy elder.
Our main goal is to live according to the commandments, and the Lord will teach everything. We must thank God for giving us even a grain of faith. And thanksgiving is palms outstretched for new generosity.
Revival of the monastery: return of Kanavka
– As far as I know, the old territory of the Diveyevo Monastery has still not been completely returned. Why is it so difficult to restore everything as it was?
– The heart of the monastery - the territory inside the Holy Kanavka - completely belongs to us. A high school and a boarding school were moved to new buildings. It is truly a miracle that by 2003, on the 100th anniversary of the glorification of St. Seraphim, the Kanavka was dug out in six months. Father Seraphim, three years before his death, blessed the sisters to dig the Kanavka, hurried them and said: “You dig even an arshin, even half an arshin, then they will dig it.” The current Kanavka is three arshins deep, three arshins wide and three arshins high - this is exactly how Father Seraphim commanded it to be built.
During Soviet times, a sewer pipe was laid in Kanavka. When they asked me what I would like to do first, I said that my greatest desire is that there would be no desecration of the Kanavka and that the sewage system would be removed from there. I understood that this was practically impossible, since the territory belonged to the school. In the end, we were allowed to remove the pipe, but we needed money. And then one day a man came, almost a stranger, he brought five thousand dollars and said that it was for removing the sewer from the Kanavka. Such facts convince you that you are only an instrument of God’s Providence, that at the right moment the Lord sends the right people, as long as you don’t resist and do God’s will.
Now the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery has returned most of the territory that belonged to it before the closure of the monastery. Photo: AiF / Ekaterina Izmestyeva
– How were relations built with the local population when you returned the territories and premises of the monastery that at that time belonged to them?
– At first the relationship was difficult. The residents here were different: both sober and drunk. The former monastery almshouse, for example, was turned into a residential building, and we knew that in the altar of the church in honor of the icon “Joy of All Who Sorrow” the owner of this apartment distilled moonshine. People demanded incredibly large amounts of money for their dilapidated old houses. We prayed to evict them as soon as possible, and gradually the buildings began to be vacated. All those evicted received better housing: they were allocated 88 apartments.
– Did the monastery buy all this at its own expense?
– No, the regional government also participated here; you can even say that there was a federal program. The monastery's board of trustees played a big role in the liberation of the territory. For example, he built a new building for the Diveyevo school. Now you can’t even say that our medical center is a former school.
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– Every time you come to Diveevo, you see how it blossoms. A new Annunciation Cathedral is currently under construction. Where do you find money? How do you manage to continue construction even in difficult economic times?
– We are building with private donations. We also sell symbolic bricks; By buying such a brick, people finance the construction of the cathedral. Metropolitan Vladimir of Chisinau and All Moldova, when he arrived in Diveevo with pilgrims, told us: “Mother, we bought half a wall from you.” This is truly a nation-wide construction, by the grace of God. We want to dedicate all the best to the Mother of God in this cathedral. Therefore, we have now suspended all other projects and are not planning anything. What can you plan if you don’t have finances?!
– When monasteries began to be revived, there were opinions that it was not entirely correct that monasticism was being revived, that monasteries, especially women’s monasteries, were more like Orthodox hostels, where people come out of despair.
– Coming to the monastery is a choice. If you have nowhere to go or you just want to try: it will work or it won’t, this is the wrong approach. That's impossible. Monasticism is chosenness, renunciation of the world, flesh and the devil. If a person understands what he is doing when he renounces the world, its “charms,” he can no longer turn back or think that if his apartment were returned to him, he would return to the world. They go to the monastery to sacrifice themselves to God.
Trinity Cathedral in Diveevo. Photo: AiF / Ekaterina Izmestyeva
Favorite Diveevo
For Diveevo, 2021 is rich in anniversaries: the monastery celebrates 190 years since the founding of the Mill community, the 25th anniversary of the revival of the monastery and the second discovery of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov. Also this year marks the 25th anniversary of the abbess of Diveevo, Mother Sergius (Konkova)
Meeting the abbess of a monastery of such magnitude as Diveevo and talking with her for more than two hours is a real success for a journalist. However, we waited for this meeting for several weeks - mother has a very busy schedule. Even the sisters, in order to ask her a question, are sometimes forced to write notes and put them in the abbot’s mailbox installed on the door leading to the abbess’s chambers.
Unfortunately, we do not have the opportunity to publish the interview in full, but there is something to tell about: the life and monastic destiny of Abbess Sergius is connected with many outstanding personalities of the Russian Church.
Our conversation took place in the radio studio of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery, where the sisters of publishing obedience record interviews with Diveev’s guests - journalists, writers, directors, musicians. And also with ordinary pilgrims, whose destinies are miraculously “connected” by Father Seraphim, and even with children - for example, there is an interview with a young pilgrim about the holiday of the Nativity of Christ. The sisters presented an audio CD with selected conversations to the MV magazine - an extremely educational listening experience.
— Mother Sergius, your childhood and youth passed in Sergiev Posad, you were nurtured by the elders of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, your spiritual father was the Lavra dean Archimandrite Seraphim (Shinkarev). You have met real ascetics in your life. How did they teach, how did they instruct those wishing to live a monastic life?
— In 1946, the authorities allowed the opening of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. At this time, my future confessor, Archimandrite Seraphim (Shinkarev), returned from exile, in which he was together with Archbishop Luka (Voino-Yasenetsky). He entered the Lavra and never left the monastery again. He did not even go to bury his own sister, nun Agnia, who lived out her last days near the monastery. I remember I asked him more than once: “Father, if only you could come and bless our home.” At first he nodded and nodded, agreed, and then answered: “Baby, I never went outside the walls of the Lavra.”
It is noteworthy that he called everyone “children,” even my dad, and often repeated: “Little girl, listen to your parents! Obedience teaches everything." And, indeed, I was convinced that the Lord grants longevity for obedience and honoring parents. My father honored his parents and ended up living to be 83 years old. When we went with him to the Lavra for services, we always made a detour towards the house of my grandparents, my father’s parents. My mother also revered her parents and also lived to be 83 years old. That's how important this commandment is.
And although Archimandrite Seraphim had only three classes of parochial school behind him, and the priest did not have a theological education, he educated himself according to the Gospel. He had the gift of reasoning. The strength of his spirit was such that the Lord revealed many secrets to him. There were times when you came to him, and the priest was praying, and while you were waiting, all your questions were resolved. Father Seraphim prayed for his spiritual children, and everything was revealed to him.
— And when a monk leaves his father’s house, despite the fact that his parents oppose his decision, is this not a violation of the fifth commandment?
- Neither the Holy Scriptures nor the patristic works say that in order to enter a monastery there must be a parental blessing. Moreover, the Gospel of Matthew says: “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37). In some cases, when the parents, say, are unbelievers, non-church, they, of course, will not give such consent. But once in the monastery and having taken a vow of obedience to God, the monks do not cease to honor their parents. In this case, fulfilling the commandment will consist of desiring salvation for your parents and praying for them.
This is exactly what happened in the life of the founders of the Riga hermitage (where I lived before Diveevo), the Mansurov sisters - schema-abbess Sergius and schema-nun Joanna. When they decided to devote their lives to God and go to a monastery, the father was indignant and broke off communication with them. The sisters prayed for him, and he ended his life in the monastery created by his daughters. He was buried in the tomb of the Mansurovs, in the Trinity Cathedral, which was built with his financial support. In the library of the hermitage, ancient notebooks with letters from the founders and their parents to each other were preserved. These are touching letters from loving children and loving parents. I even read out selected passages from correspondence to the Riga sisters.
If we walk through life as if we were going to communion, folding our hands in a cross shape and surrendering ourselves to the will of God, then there is no such thing as not being heard. If we really, in our hearts, understand that without the will of God a hair on our head will not fall, then we will not be surprised, nor indignant, nor horrified by anything that happens to us.
An example to follow in this is St. Seraphim. He was powerful, strong and could easily repel the robbers who attacked him. Moreover, at the moment when they approached him, the priest was with an ax. But he did not even begin to defend himself, he completely surrendered himself into the hands of God. When a modern person in a similar situation tries to act like Elder Seraphim, this does not always succeed. One police officer in Nizhny Novgorod wanted to repeat the feat of the monk when he was attacked by two hooligans, but, as he himself said, he immediately could not stand it and used a self-defense technique.
You see, we don’t have this leaven—surrendering ourselves to the will of God. And Father Seraphim, after a beating that he could have avoided, lay in bed for a whole year from his injuries, and also asked that the criminals not be punished under any circumstances. This is what we should do in the monastery. Not to offer God any specific program about ourselves, but to do what we are told.
— When did you realize that monasticism was your path?
“At services at the Lavra, my mother would stand my sister and me at the fence near the salt. Usually schema-hegumen Savva (Ostapenko) came out of the altar and handed out medallions to the children. One day he patted me on the head and said: “Future nun.” I was an active, nimble girl and answered smartly: “I’m not going to be a nun!” I was 6 years old. And when I turned 23, I wanted to join a monastery and mourned, remembering my daring answer. But, thank God, St. Sergius took me to his Trinity-Sergius convent in Riga.
— How did you end up there?
— I went there at the request of Archimandrite Seraphim. He asked to take notes and donations for his relatives to the Riga hermitage and sent them to the confessor of the monastery, Archimandrite Tavrion (Batozsky). I really enjoyed it there. The Riga hermitage made an impression with its solitude, prayerfulness, and special “desert-style” singing. I remember I approached the Crucifixion on the monastery necropolis, cried next to it and thought: “I will never get into the monastery.” Then it turned out that this was the grave of Abbess Tabitha.
Returning to the temple, I heard Father Tavrion’s sermon, which contained the following words: “Whoever has put it in his heart to work for the Lord, let him not give up on this thought, and at that time God will do it.” It felt like the Lord Himself consoled me through this sermon. Before leaving, Father Tavrion blessed me with the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” from the Jerusalem letter. A few years later, the abbess of the Riga Monastery, Mother Magdalene, gave me exactly the same icon during my monastic tonsure...
I graduated from the Moscow Medical Institute, completed my residency, and worked as the head of the surgical department of a dental clinic. But all this time I was waiting for the words from the sermon of Father Tavrion to be fulfilled: “At that time the Lord will arrange this.” And the Lord arranged everything so that my mother herself sent me to the monastery. She didn’t like that, working at the hospital, I was constantly on the move, in the bustle, and she couldn’t stand it: “Live in a monastery already, at least you’ll be in one place!” But she didn’t let me in for more than 10 years.
The Lord fulfilled all my childhood dreams in full. I said, for example, to my parents: “Why are there only four of us in the family? How interesting! Look, some have 6-8 people!” And now my family is not 4 people, but a hundred times larger, today there are already more than 500 sisters in Diveyevo. And when sometimes it’s hard for me, I remind myself: “You wanted a big family, didn’t you?!”
I lived in the Riga Monastery and the Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya Hermitage for 10 years. She worked in various obediences, including in the barnyard. My father came to see me there, and one day we spent three weeks together cleaning the barn with a pitchfork after the winter (physically this is a very difficult obedience). I still remember how we suffered with manure frozen to the floor (laughs). At the monastery I continued to heal people. I had a dental chair in my cell, a drill - everything was as it should be.
— It turns out that you came to the monastery at the age of 35, two years later you were tonsured a monk, and after another two years in the mantle you were named after St. Sergius. There is an icon where the Monks Sergius and Seraphim are depicted together. These saints play an important role in your life. Do you feel their prayerful help, support, intercession in carrying the now abbot’s cross?
- Very much! You see, nothing happens by chance in a person’s life. The heavenly and earthly offices are closely connected. It is only important to feel for this Divine, Providential thread that guides you. And remember that we did not choose God, but He chose us. In general, the Lord has sent me wonderful people in my life, including bishops, teachers, and acquaintances.
Lavra and Diveevo are spiritually connected. I lived in Sergiev Posad under the protection of the Holy Trinity and St. Sergius, and since childhood I have prayed in his monastery. The Riga Monastery is also dedicated to the Holy Trinity and St. During the period of the revival of the Diveyevo Monastery, when the Nizhny Novgorod See was widowed, my sisters and I prayed earnestly - and the Lord sent us an economist from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra itself as a bishop! Bishop Georgy sometimes jokes: “They begged me in Diveyevo.”
From a young age I loved Father Seraphim very much. My confessor had a large icon of the saint in his cell; I wanted to pray in front of it. And in the Riga monastery we had an icon of Elder Seraphim praying on a stone. But I never could have imagined that I would live in Diveevo, much less be a minister. St. Seraphim, like St. Sergius of Radonezh in his time, himself brought me to his monastery.
— Based on your many years of experience in managing a convent, please tell me how, in your opinion, the modern abbess differs from past times?
“Mother Magdalene told us in the Riga monastery: “If I had used the methods that my spiritual mother Abbess Tabitha used, then none of you would have stood it.” Abbess Magdalene was the senior regent at the monastery, and even towards her Mother Tabitha was distinguished by severity: she might not congratulate her on Angel Day, or reprimand her. In our time, on the contrary, those who come to the monastery need to be treated with care. And Father Seraphim said that one must treat the monks kindly. It’s like with a sick child, they don’t spank him, but take him in their arms and calm him down. And the Holy Scripture says: “Bear one another’s burdens.”
That is, we must treat each other with patience, and then we will fulfill the law of Christ. But there should be no indulgence of passions. And experience comes with living according to the rules, including in the management of the monastery. If we do not invent some special status for ourselves, but surrender to the will of God, then a correct life is created: that it is not you who control, but the Lord.
— In your opinion, what is the main problem of modern monasticism? After all, people come to the monastery from the world, and it leaves its mark on habits and character. What would you like to wish to newcomers, looking at the realities of modern life and its features, which inevitably affect monks?
“The most important thing in monastic life is cutting off one’s will. If a person is not determined to cut off his “I,” then it will be difficult for him everywhere, no matter what kind of obedience he is assigned to, even his most beloved one. There will be no cutting off of self-will - there will be no monasticism. Our whole life consists of seeking the will of God. And the will of God is given through the elders. Whatever we are blessed with, we must do, and we must strive to fulfill the commandment of love for God and our neighbors, for unceasing prayer and thanksgiving.
Even though we cannot love yet, we must cover each other’s weaknesses with patience. And I also try to patiently endure shortcomings on my part as abbess. Of course, this is not easy, because theory is one thing, and practice is another (smiles).
You can succeed in spiritual life if you do not demand anything from others, but demand, first of all, only from yourself. A monk must be able to listen and obey. Each of us needs to strive to acquire a peaceful spirit. And if it doesn’t work, then why do we have complaints against others? But if a peaceful spirit does not settle in us, then they cannot unite, consolidate, or be saved around us. The abbess and each sister need to build all their actions with trust in God, ask God for help, so that the passions that a person who comes to the monastery have are cut off. Yes, it's painful. And it is necessary that the person himself understands at what spiritual level he is and what still needs to be worked on. If he does not understand this, he will not take root in a monastic environment.
— And does spiritual guidance play an important role in this?
- Undoubtedly. In Diveevo, the main assistants in this regard are the Mother of God and Father Seraphim. Those who persistently ask for them will be heard. People from outside come and receive help, not to mention the nuns. As the children in our monastery Orthodox school sing, “Father Seraphim gives us heavenly help.” Therefore, if a person earnestly desires a monastic life, asks, prays, seeks God’s, and not his own, then he has a chance to become a monk.
— One of the Diveyevo nuns noted that in monasticism it is important to be sincere and honest before the Lord.
- Right. And we often want to embellish ourselves.
— With such a colossal workload, how do you manage to devote time to prayer? Where do we get strength for prayer, especially in large monasteries, where there are large farms, gardens, and vegetable gardens? In the Diveyevo monasteries, the sisters basically have just such obediences. One barn requires a lot of time and effort, and there is still so much to do. How to organize your life so that prayer occupies the main place in it, so that you have enough physical strength for the monastic rule, or is obedience above all else?
- As the Holy Scripture says, “my help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” And truly it is so. I draw strength, just like the sisters, in prayerful appeal to God, to the Most Holy Theotokos. Prayer is the most important thing in the life of monastics, and even more so of the abbess. If a monk does not pray, he will not be able to do anything.
In our monastery, each sister’s day is scheduled, including the abbess’s; I also live a prescribed life. When on certain days we do not serve the Midnight Office, then, like the sisters, I read it privately. And usually, together with everyone else, at 5.30 am I go to the morning rule, I try not to miss the liturgy, since the liturgy is a great spiritual nourishment. At 11.00 we have a joint meal.
I also try to go to the prayer rule for nuns and nuns, which takes place in the Kazan Church an hour before the evening service (at 16.00). Small Compline and canons are read on this rule. The evening service begins at 5:00 p.m. Then – dinner, and we walk along the Virgin Canal. After the evening rule, I return to the cell around 22.30-23.00. And so every day.
When a person lives a charter life, that is, according to the charter, without deviating, the Lord gives strength. As soon as you make a mistake, deviate from the regulations, then it becomes difficult. Of course, when I travel, my usual schedule gets a little off track, but when I’m in Diveevo, I always try to follow the sisterly rule, to keep myself in prayerful tone, so to speak.
As for obedience, which, as Father Seraphim said, is above all, we can always think of a lot of work for ourselves, just not to pray. For example, I have a lot of work debts and unfinished business. But if we don’t pray, it means that we ourselves, using only our own strength, are thinking of arranging things, but they will only be arranged if we give all our strength and all our time to God. And the Lord Himself controls and sends the right people at the right moment. You can even see that we managed to meet. And this is not because I am so good and managed to do everything, but because the Lord helps.
— When managing one of the largest Orthodox monasteries, the abbot’s cross seems overwhelming from the outside, but you have been carrying it for 25 years. Which of St. Seraphim’s instructions helps you in caring for the souls of your sisters? After all, having been a physical doctor in the world, in the monastery you are a spiritual doctor for the souls of the nuns entrusted to you.
— As Father Seraphim said, the Supreme Abbess in Diveyevo is the Queen of Heaven, and we are only in obedience. Therefore, the management of the monastery is carried out by the Mother of God Herself and the Monk Seraphim - our main trustees. Well, and we... Someone has to sign the papers (smiles). That’s why I sign the papers, go to the rule and go to meals with the sisters so that they can see the living abbess. In other words, I share monastic life with them.
In many of our monasteries, churches have now been restored; I come there for patronal feasts. When I go to monasteries, I join the sisters in the prayer rule and make time to delve into the problems. I often call the skete leaders to Diveevo or they come themselves if there are any issues that need to be resolved. So we have a very busy schedule, as you have already noticed (smiles).
And, in general, the management of the entire monastery, everything that is done here, is truly carried out by the Most Holy Theotokos Herself. I cannot boast that I did something in the monastery myself. I recognize my unworthiness and my weakness. The Monk Seraphim said about himself that he did not put the pebble here of his own free will. And when what you plan doesn’t work out, you understand: it means there is no will of God. And if the Mother of God pleases your undertaking, it will be fulfilled. Therefore, we in Diveyevo are only simple novices, “soldiers”, “servants” of the Queen of Heaven.
The Abbot's cross is, indeed, a cross in the literal sense of the word. When I was appointed abbess of Diveevo, I was given the cross of the previous abbess Alexandra, who ruled the monastery for 38 years. The cross, which, as Bishop Nicholas told me, “will bend your knees.” Therefore, I hope that I didn’t ask for it here myself, but that God brought me.
You need to ask the Lord for patience to bear your weaknesses and the weaknesses of others - this is the main thing. So that, like any other, the monastery family does not collapse. Relationships in the family should be such that children, seeing the positive attitude of their parents, can successfully create their own family. When there is such a relationship between the ruling bishop, the leadership of the monastery and the nuns, and the sisters see this, then they themselves succeed. And gradually those of them who now head the monasteries themselves are branching off. More than 10 Diveyevo sisters have already become abbess and abbess. Even in Kamchatka, the abbess was installed from our monastery.
— Mother, do the sisters have the opportunity to contact you directly if necessary?
- Certainly. If someone cannot be received immediately, there is the opportunity to leave a note or letter in the abbess's mailbox, the key to which is kept only by me. It is important that there is trust between the abbess and the sisters, like children have with their parents. When it is possible to establish trusting relationships in a family, when children trust their parents, then everything in their lives goes well, life goes in the right direction. The same thing happens in a monastic family.
— A nunnery is a spiritually more complex organism than a men’s monastery. There is envy and jealousy of mother, and in general the female structure is different, women are more emotional. How to deal with this, especially in a large monastic family?
- “Monastics are neither female nor male.” If a person lives a chartered life and obedience, then no problems arise. When a monk takes monastic vows, he renounces his “I.” By depositing hair, when the hair on a monk's head is cut crosswise, he must cut off his will, so there should be no emotions. Although, undoubtedly, there is irritation and dissatisfaction.
Why is this happening? Each of us is assigned a guardian angel on the right, and a satanic angel on the left, who teaches various whims, discontent, despondency, and so on. For example, it gives an urge to be indignant, indignant. If we place all our trust in God and call on Him, we can overcome this passion or sin. But not by our own strength, but by the power of God. “Strike the warriors with the power of Jesus, for there is no stronger weapon either in heaven or on earth,” says St. John Climacus. Therefore, if a person works on his soul, is spiritually attentive to himself, and does not look for reasons in others, then, as a rule, everything turns out well. A person hardens and understands that it is not his own will that he must create.
After all, the abbess also cannot be willful. The monastery has a Spiritual Council, at which general monastery issues are discussed with the older sisters. There is a manager of the metropolis, without whose knowledge many issues cannot be resolved. Even to allow a sister to go on medical leave, for example, a report is written to the metropolitan, and he either blesses it or not. Everything in the monastery is done with blessing. And this is not people-pleasing, it’s just that such a vertical exists.
— His Holiness Patriarch Kirill noted at one of the monastic forums that monastics cannot have any vacations in principle. Is this due to the fact that outside the monastery a monk can lose the pulse of monastic life and relax spiritually? What's the danger here?
— Previously, this was not accepted; even leave for health reasons was not provided. But there are exceptional cases: illness of parents, for example. At the same time, as stated in the charter of our monastery, which the Queen of Heaven Herself gave through Father Seraphim, a sister should not be alone anywhere - neither in her cell nor on the road. That’s why two of us live in our cells. It’s the same on the road: wherever the obedient sister goes, we must go together.
— During tonsure for each of the sisters, you place your hand on the Gospel, thereby becoming their successor. How important is it in our time for monks to have a successor/successor, and what is their spiritual role in the life of monastics?
— In Diveevo, Metropolitan Georgy takes tonsure according to Lavra custom - during Lent. I perceive each sister because this is the blessing of the lord. But before tonsure, I usually ask which of the elders she could openly communicate with, open her soul, and I entrust the newly tonsured sister to the sister she has chosen. However, I need to hold the answer for each one. I commend myself and my spiritual children into the hands of God, because I understand my weakness, but I believe that in weakness the power of God is made perfect. You just need to obey God and turn to Him for help.
— In your report “The experience of spiritual nurturing among the elders of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra,” you told a story from your childhood, when your mother talked with an elder who predicted your monastic path. To your mother’s perplexed objections that it was boring and lonely in the monastery, the elder replied: “I’m not bored and she won’t be bored, I’m not lonely and she won’t be lonely.” Years later, already being the abbess of the Fourth Domain of the Most Holy Theotokos, can you confirm that the elder was right?
- At the same time, he pointed to the icons that hung in his cell and said: “Can it be boring with such interlocutors?!” I'm not bored in the monastery.
— We are talking for a special issue about Diveevo, I want to believe that Father Seraphim blessed us for this godly deed. We sincerely thank you, Mother Sergia, for this interesting interview. And the last question: the flow of people into Diveevo does not stop for a single day, even in the dark before the monastery closes on Kanavka you can see silhouettes of people praying. Believers rush to St. Seraphim for a variety of needs, but most often they go to ask. How to do this correctly and how to learn to give thanks? Your wishes to the pilgrims, regular pilgrims of Diveevo and those who are still on their way to the monastery.
— Now Diveevo is beautifying itself. Everything here is truly wonderful. And why? Because we have heavenly representatives: our first leaders, venerable women, blessed ones, holy martyrs, venerable martyrs and confessors - a whole council of Diveyevo saints. They will all help us. If only we ourselves did not shy away and, above all, fought with ourselves.
And you need to ask for something with the prayer “Our Father”: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven,” and not as we want. And if there is no God’s will for our request, then say this: “Give, Lord, patience,” “Glory to God for everything.” After all, as a rule, what is asked for is thrown away, as the holy fathers say. And thanksgiving is palms open to new generosity. We need to ask for the main thing - for our soul to be cleansed, so that we can see God in eternity and remain not only in the earthly, albeit wondrous, Diveyevo, but also in the Heavenly.
Interviewed by Khristina Polyakova prihozhanin.msdm.ru/home/pogovorit/1395-v-diveeve-vsem-upravlyaet-tsaritsa-nebesnaya.html
