THE COMPOSITION OF THE BRETHREN IN THE ORTHODOX MONASTERIES OF THE VOLOGDA PROVINCE IN THE 1860s - 1917

Abstract

After the abolition of serfdom in Russia, the composition of Orthodox monasteries radically changed due to the arrival of immigrants from the peasant class, who began to make up more than half of the monastics in the monasteries of the Vologda province. At the same time, in some monasteries of the province there was a decrease in the number of residents, in others - a kind of stabilization of the monastic community. In some monasteries, especially in women’s monasteries, there was an increase in the number of inhabitants. However, in the 1860s - 1917 in the main male regular monasteries of the Vologda province, the number of residents was below the established standards. On the other hand, during the time there was a clear “aging” of male monasticism in the province, while the age characteristics of those who lived in female monasteries were multidirectional. Clear positive trends in the number of monks and sisters and their age indicators were observed in the new cenobitic monasteries - in the Ulyanovsk Trinity-Stefanovsky male and Kyltovsky Holy Cross female monasteries.