Problems of Russian Historiography of Women’s Charitable Ministry in the Early Church

Abstract

The article considers a brief review of the Russian historiography of women’s charitable ministry in the Early Church and its continuity in the XIX —early XXI century. Women’s charity in Russia and in Europe has historically devel-oped as an institutional phenomenon based on сhristian principles. The mem-bers of the ancient women’s institutes, whose functions included social activi-ties, were called deaconesses, widows, elders, virgins. Russian scholars began to be interested in this women’s orders since the XIX century, when in Russia women gradually began to actively engage in public charitable activities and there was a search for institutionalization of a new women’s Church ministry, an alternative to monastic and humanitarian. The interest of scholars often had not only a theoretical, but also a church-practical orientation, as it was associ-ated with the activation of missionary and parish activities within the Ortho-dox Church. In the article, the main scientific and journalistic works on wom-en’s ministry are considered on the problems within the chronological blocks: before 1917, in 1917—1991 and after 1991. The authors described and ana-lyzed women’s charity in ancient times, and also tried to justify for their time new institutional ministries in the Church, in particular deaconesses. However, the revival of such women’s ministry is closely connected not so much with the needs of modern society as with the needs of the Church and the church-wide consciousness.