Причины и условия развития общинного религиозного движения женщин в период великих реформ XIX века

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of women monasticism in the second half of the XIX and the beginning of XX century. The reasons and conditions of growing expansion for women religious and community movement are being explored. Among the reasons the following are considered: degradation of the system of traditional spiritual values (family, marriage, childhood, secularization of everyday life); decrease of marriage rates, caused by an outflow of the male population to military service and transformation of gender behavior, increase of education, personal identity and social activity of women. The named reasons are stratified in relation to urban and rural female population. The Highest Manifesto on the Abolition of Serfdom of Feb-ruary 19, 1861, the final edition of which was made by St. Philaret (Drozdov), is considered as the main event that influenced the indicators of the quantitative growth of monastic cloisters, which predetermined systemic changes in the life of the state and society. On the basis of all-Russian and local examples, the process of modernization of the traditional communal order is traced, the loss of which was made up for by the communal (cenoby) way of life of the monastery. Statistical indicators of the growth of female monastic activity during the second half of the XIXth century are presented. Attention is focused on the issue of changing mentality under the influence of modernization, practicality, rationalism. The most influential force that changed the traditional mentality of the female part of the population of the Tambov province is characterized by otkhodniki. The testimonies of Russian writers are presented, confirming both the general decline of spiritual and moral values, and the desire to protect traditional spiritual values. The female monastery community is seen as a model for the successive preservation of traditional spiritual Orthodox values. Examples of the high devotion of women nuns of the 19th century are provided.