Solovki [ I know it's MP but fun to see ]

News about traditional Orthodox monastics and how these monks and nuns are living out their vocations in monasteries and convents. All Forum Rules apply. No polemics. No heated discussions. No name-calling.

Moderator: Mark Templet

Matthew
Protoposter
Posts: 1812
Joined: Sat 21 January 2012 12:04 am

Re: Solovki [ I know it's MP but fun to see ]

Post by Matthew »

Barbara wrote:

Are there more pictures of Valaam here on that site, do you happen to know, Icxypion ?

Yes they have more. just go to the root web address.

http://valaam.ru/en/lightval

User avatar
m. Evfrosinia
Jr Member
Posts: 75
Joined: Sat 12 May 2012 8:59 am
Faith: Orthodox
Jurisdiction: RTOC
Location: Chauvincourt-Provemont, France
Contact:

Re: Solovki [ I know it's MP but fun to see ]

Post by m. Evfrosinia »

The last I heard, the Elder Raphael mentioned above is now residing on Mt. Athos. He often speaks out against ecumenism and modernism, but remains entirely loyal to the MP and World Orthodoxy. Some claim that he is clairvoyant, but that seems to be more wishful thinking on the part of his followers than actual fact. He's older than he looks and began his monastic life hiding out in the Abkhasian mountains, were there were many catacomb monastics and unofficial monastic communities, both of the Catacomb Church and recognizing the MP. He is reportedly a hermaphrodite, but some say that his appearance is due to a birth defect.

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Solovki [ I know it's MP but fun to see ]

Post by Barbara »

Very good to hear the entire background.
I had serious doubts myself about whether Elder Raphael was a real clairvoyant. He just doesn't have that spirit, it seems like, to me.
I think there is too much "hype" about characters like him.

I remember hearing that he speaks very little. But supposedly issues prophetic comments. I doubt that part, hearing Mother Evfrosinia's realistic remarks.

I now recall that I heard that at a talk given by a young American convert woman who had attempted to visit him.
Ha, ha, though: she also fawned all over patriarch alexey II, whom she met on her trip to Valaam, speaking of him as though he were God Himself.
So I can see where some of the converts overdo dramatically. I am sure they mean well, but lack the necessary training when they run across representatives of
the MP, never having had the "Classical Rocor Education" regarding Sergianism and Ecumenism!

Abhazia ??? Wow. Is he actually Abkhazian himself, or just went there to hide out as may have been common at that era.

I still have in mind to read your other comment on the Catacombs, was waiting for an opportunity for more peace and quiet to give it my full attention.

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Solovki [ I know it's MP but fun to see ]

Post by Barbara »

I was looking up more information about the formation of Shamordino Convent and found almost nothing in English !
If anyone has sources about that, please let me know.

But I found instead the following video about the group of mostly Shamordino Nuns who were sent first to Solovki in the early Soviet era.
Then later to Vorkuta, where a famous miracle occurred.

I knew the outline of the story, but here it is retold in dramatic detail, with lovely chants accompanying the presentation.

The video by Gregory Decapolite gives the flavor of Solovki after the once brilliant monastery had become a place of horror, where many Bishops, Priests and nuns were imprisoned for their faith. There they were forced to "labor for Antichrist" as is such a perfect description, the Communist regime.


Half an hour.

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Solovki [ I know it's MP but fun to see ]

Post by Barbara »

Today being the Synaxis of the Solovki Saints, including the 3 pictured in my avatar, I decided to watch a new video produced in the RF. This 33 minute approx video examines life on the main island as well as delving into the history of the notorious Solovki camp in the 1920s.

A few new facts turn up, such as that the evil guards throughout the Soviet Gulag were taken here to be trained first. Ugh !

With lovely cinematography, however, one shakes off that awful memory of the Soviet era and learns what living on the island is like today for locals, guides for tourists and fishermen who come from the mainland every year to harvest kelp, a profitable business.

While many viewers may not share my enthusiasm for kelp due to its nutritious qualities, it is still peaceful to watch the process of drying the boatloads that come into port.

Thus, the video, though it shows little of the monastic life, makes one wish to leave tomorrow to go bask in the 300 year-old historical atmosphere of the Solovetsky archipelago !

PS - The history actually runs much farther back. The video points out that petroglyphs or some kind of stone images made by the local Sami tribes are able to be seen. These date from the first or second millenium BC.

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Solovki [ I know it's MP but fun to see ]

Post by Barbara »

Excerpt from an informative Orthodox America newspaper article which explains the monastic origins of the Solovki Monastery :

"With their pristine forests abundant with game and their numerous lakes and inlets full of fish, the Solovetsk islands were long a favorite destination for local Karelians during their summer hunting and fishing expeditions. But the long, severe winters, cutting the islands off from the mainland for six months of the year, and the rough sea with its frequent storms discouraged permanent settlers, and until the 15th century the islands remained uninhabited.

"It was then, in 1429, that the monk Sabbatius, who had already achieved renown as an elder at the monastery of Valaam, came in search of a more secluded place, far from the praise of men and conducive to the ascetic life. Hearing of the remote islands of Solovki, he made his way to the shores of the White Sea, where he encountered the monk Herman, living alone near a chapel at the mouth of the River Vyg. Together they decided to move to Solovki. There on the largest of the islands they planted a cross, and at the foot of Sekirnaya Hill they built the first cell. For six years they struggled together, enduring the physical rigors of the harsh northern clime and sanctifying the area by their prayers and ascetic labors.

"In 1435, Saint Sabbatius foresaw that his earthly sojourn was coming to an end. Desiring to receive the Holy Mysteries before departing this life, he journeyed to the mainland, to the chapel at the mouth of the River Vyg where, by God's Providence, he encountered a priest-monk who had come to give Communion to a sick peasant in the area. Having partaken of the Life-giving Body and Blood of Our Lord, Sabbatius peacefully reposed and was buried there at the chapel.

"The following year, Saint Herman was joined by a young monk Zosimas. The night of his arrival on Solovki, Zosimas had a vision of a beautiful church floating in the air, and the surroundings were bathed with light. Thus encouraged, the two monks set about building a cell and stockade about eight miles from the first cell. They began to cultivate the earth and plant seeds.

"In late autumn, Saint Herman set out for the mainland for essential supplies, but was unable to return due to inclement weather. Saint Zosimas spent the winter alone on the island: starvation threatened him, but two unknown men, appearing to him miraculously, left him a supply of bread, flour, and oil. In the spring, Saint Herman returned to Solovki with a supply of food and gear for fishing, and with him was the fisherman Mark, who later received the tonsure and became the first of their disciples. When several hermits settled on the island, Saint Zosimas built a little wooden church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord and a refectory, and petitioned Jonah, Archbishop of Novgorod, to send an abbot and consecrate the church. This was the beginning of the famous Monastery of Solovki."

http://www.roca.org/OA/163-164/163d.htm


This is part of a longer essay, taken from an overview of Solovki published in the superb ROYC - Russian Orthodox Youth Committee of Rocor - Calendar for 1999.

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Solovki [ I know it's MP but fun to see ]

Post by Barbara »

Back to the Nuns of Shamordino who were taken to Solovki, as referenced above, I saw on a blog that there is a new summary about their lives available on orthodoxwiki :

https://orthodoxwiki.org/Nuns_of_Shamordino

Some artist has sketched colorful illustrations of the entire story. It's worth taking a look as the presentation is unique. [ Though I don't often look at orthodoxwiki, so I do not have a real basis for comparison. ]

The page ends with an icon-style depiction showing the 3 holy nuns surrounded by scenes from their lives and blessed by the Savior above.
There are no halos for the nuns but instead, crowns [ assumedly martyrs' crowns ] suspended above their heads.

The righteous nuns stand triumphantly over a picturesque rendering of a Communist Hell, with a devilish figure wielding a hammer and sickle.

Post Reply