Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2016 number

The study focuses on the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the first half of the 1920s. It considers the specific regional features of the Church Renovated Schism, introduced by the Bolsheviks, and its consequences for various religious institutions. Its central focus is on the St. Nicholas Monastery in Verkhoturye, the largest monastery in the eastern part of Russia, and its last Father Superior, Archimandrite Xenophon (Medvedev). The aim of the study is to investigate and publish the Letter of 1923 of Archimandrite Xenophon to Patriarch Tikhon, which is one of the key sources on the history of the monastery of Verkhoturye. The paper considers the history of creating this document against the background of a complex situation facing the Church during the period under consideration. Attention is given to the ups and downs of the troubled biography of the author of the Letter both in pre-revolutionary and soviet periods. The author analyzes peculiarities of the acute conflict in the St. Nicholay monastery of Verkhoturye concerning the introduction of the new calendar style. In order to resolve this conflict Archimandrite Xenophon addressed to Patriarch Tikhon. It is concluded that the letter was compiled due to the extreme dissatisfaction of monks and pilgrims with the fact that advocates of the Renovated Church shifted to another date celebration of the day of the Holy Simeon of Verkhoturye whose relics were kept in one of the monastery’s cathedrals. The Letter of Archimandrite Xenophon to Patriarch Tikhon is published in accordance with academic standards of archeography, i.e. supplied with the academic title, lineal translation of the text, archeographic legend and preserving all the original characteristics of the text of the published source.