Before the church at the Holy Resurrection-Novodevichy Monastery was returned, we would go see Fr. Nikolai Guryanov on the island of Talabsk. The monastery churches were still in a state of desecration, and there were even latrines there, and some machine tools were installed. We would sometimes take pictures of this disgrace to show Batiushka.
One day he said: “What a beautiful monastery! It’s your monastery! Matushka, stand by it.” And he began to sing the hymn: “Before Thy Cross, we bow down in worship, O Master, and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify.”
We thought then: Here’s the Elder praying to the Cross of Christ, and the monastery is on its own Golgotha, ruined… Could such fulfilled hope really have quietly made its way into him in some miraculous manner? When would we glorify the Resurrection? It is the Monastery of the Resurrection…
Continue reading