Refectory “Unholy Saints. "unholy saints" in Sretensky monastery Unholy saints refectory

17.09.2020

“Journalistic conjectures have been pretty boring for me for fifteen years”

- I noticed a book by Mikhail Zygar "The entire Kremlin army" in your bookcase. Are you reading it?

“They brought me this book a few months ago, but I can’t bring myself to open it. See the bookmarks? I was told that this is in those places where it is written about me.

— Now I simply have to ask: why do the media call Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov) Putin's confessor?

- Such things in American jurisprudence are called "attorney client privilege" - the right of a lawyer to non-disclosure of information received from a client.

- I've been pretty tired of this kind of journalistic questions and guesses for fifteen years.

- Let's move on to another difficult topic - as a rector, you understand the structure of the Russian economy Orthodox Church?

— As the abbot, I understand how the economy of our monastery works. As for the budget of the Patriarchate, as far as I know, it consists of deductions from the dioceses and donations from Christians.

— How much does your monastery contribute to the Patriarchate?

- The Sretensky Monastery transfers an annual fee to the Patriarchate - it changes from year to year, but the order is from 3 to 5 million rubles. in year. If the situation is difficult, and all funds are spent on maintaining the life of the monastery, then the Patriarch exempts from contributions to general church needs. This happens everywhere with temples being revived and built; the first especially difficult years, and we did not transfer funds to the Patriarchate.

- Do you transfer the annual fee to the account of the Patriarchy?

- Which bank?

- If I'm not mistaken, to Sberbank.

“We can earn and earn ourselves”

— How is the Sretensky Monastery financed?

— Main source— our monastic publishing house. We publish up to four hundred titles of books: spiritual, historical, scientific and fiction. Secondly, we have an agricultural production - the Resurrection cooperative in the Ryazan region, we took it in 2001 in a completely ruined form.

- It seems you still have a cafe called Unholy Saints.

- This position is rather costly. A small cafe where people go to chat after the Sunday service, that's why we created it. Yes, we still receive money from the church, but no one comes with a plate during services, the parishioners themselves leave as much as they see fit for the upkeep of the church.

- There are more candles.

- Candles can be taken from us for free or put some small amount. Expensive pure wax and large candles have some value.

— How much does it cost you to maintain the monastery?

- These are large funds, I do not see the need to disclose them. We maintain the highest spiritual institution created in the monastery - the seminary. Last year it had 250 students. Seminarians - six years on full board.

- The former accountant of the patriarchate, Natalya Deryuzhkina, estimated the annual maintenance of two seminaries - Moscow and St. Petersburg - at 60 million rubles. How much of that amount do you spend on running the seminary? half?

- About. The brethren of the monastery themselves earn money for the seminary, for the maintenance and current repairs of the entire monastery, for helping the orphanage in which 100 children are brought up, for the website, for many of our educational projects, for charity. On all this we can earn and earn ourselves.

There are donors...

- Oh sure. The help of philanthropists is very important, and we are sincerely grateful to all of them. Once upon a time, during several of the most difficult years of the revival of the destroyed monastery, Sergey Pugachev (former senator and ex-owner of Mezhprombank, sentenced in February 2016 by the High Court of London to two years in prison) helped us a lot; this moment located in France. — RBC). To make it clear the ratio of money earned by the monks themselves and received from donations to the monastery, then in best years charitable funds amounted to no more than 15% of the budget for the maintenance of the monastery. But in the case of new construction, help is needed. This happened when we realized that the size of our parish church was already hopelessly small, and we took the blessings of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill for the construction of a new church.

— I know that Rosneft helps you.

Yes, without her and without the help of other benefactors, we would not have built a new church. But the brethren of the monastery do not stand aside either: 370 million rubles, all the funds received from the sale of almost two million copies of my book “Unholy Saints”, we directed to the construction.

Does businessman Konstantin Malofeev really help you a lot?

- The St. Basil the Great Foundation (founder of the foundation - Malofeev. - RBC) twice participated in the partial financing of our historical exhibitions in the Manege, and once transferred 50% of the necessary budget to the maintenance of the seminary. In general, charitable assistance is not something permanent. During the seventeen years of the seminary's existence, we received such help from philanthropists only three times, in the rest of the years we managed on our own.

Questions about money annoy you?

- Rather, they surprise. To be honest, it always seemed to me that such questions were, to put it mildly, unethical. Just in case, I’ll warn you: if somewhere in Germany, or in England, or in France you will conduct a conversation on such topics, the conversation will be instantly terminated. But, I repeat, if you and your readers are so interested, I am ready to answer. Speaking of help, once we, for example, held an action to distribute free Gospels. They were published at the expense of Oleg Deripaska. This does not apply to the Sretensky Monastery itself, but our joint project of the "Historical Park" at VDNKh was prepared by the joint efforts of the Moscow government, the Patriarchal Council and Norilsk Nickel.

“I have to interact with a wide range of people”

“You have, if I am not mistaken, a large number of influential acquaintances.

- I am the chairman of the Patriarchal Council for Culture, and I really have to interact with a wide range of people, including well-known people in society.

- I'm talking about something else, rather. Is it easy for you to communicate with representatives of the state? Forgive me, please, but I constantly catch myself thinking that the FSB officers - you have it right next to you - figuratively speaking, apples from the apple tree that shot priests in Soviet times.

- I understand that you, as a journalist, exacerbate the issue. But to put an equal sign between the atrocities of the Chekists, who repressed and destroyed their own people, and the current military, serving in the law enforcement sphere, is possible only in the incurable mind of an ultra-liberal. With this approach, I must refuse to talk to you, saying: “Since your predecessors, journalists of the former news agencies and publications, have blatantly lied to the whole world and their own people for many years, I do not intend to communicate with you!”

- When did you lie? Then? Now?

- As for what is happening now, you know better. But I'm in this case talking about Soviet times when journalists sometimes lied so that everyone around them blushed, except for them. There are numerous current departments that worked not only in the USSR, but also in former very distant times. We must understand whether today even in the punitive organs the vector of attitude towards the people, towards the individual, towards the Church has changed, or not? Is there now a command from the state to repress the Church? No.

Is there any contradiction in this position? Now there is no persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church, but will the Church stand up for those who are subjected to repression?

- If there are unjust persecutions, he will definitely stand up.

- Agree, nevertheless, paradoxical things are happening - in schools they propose to introduce a single history textbook, in which Joseph Stalin looks like an almost effective manager. And there are clerics who adhere to the same position (in particular, the priest Evstafiy Zhakov, rector of the Church of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga in Strelna, openly expressed his respect for Stalin and even hung an icon depicting the Generalissimo in the church. - RBC).

- In the version of the future textbook that I saw, the assessment of the Stalinist period is presented in a very balanced way. If you have a version of the textbook with a different interpretation, please send it to me. Among today's clergy there are very different views on the personality of Stalin, but at the same time I have never seen a priest who would say: "Stalin is my ideal!" and even more so would justify the repressions, or at least remove Stalin's personal responsibility for them.

- Don't you think that the Church in its relations with the state goes through pendulum periods? Love is hate. Now, for example, love. So the hatred must return.

- More than nine hundred years - since the Baptism of Russia - love. Then a few decades - hatred. So what do you think? Rather, everything is more complicated here. As for the essence of your question - about the interaction of the Church and the state - today we are dominated by the position of undoubted rationality and mutual benefit from the separation of the Church from the state. There can be no talk of any unification of the two institutions - the state and the Church. It will only bring harm.

— Why does one get the feeling that the Russian Church and the government go hand in hand?

- Well, let them go hand in hand where it is impossible not to welcome. Together Church and state institutions are engaged in charity, helping those in need, preserving ancient cultural monuments related to the Church and its history. And also projects in the field of culture, historical science, some general diplomatic programs. But of course you are talking about politics?

- Yes.

- I can reassure you: the Russian Church has long adopted a law that priests and bishops should not participate in the political life of the country.

— Nevertheless, representatives of the Church are quite active in speaking out on political topics.

- Representatives of many public organizations express their opinion on a wide range of social, cultural and political phenomena, but this does not mean their real participation in the politics of the state.

- Father Vsevolod Chaplin actively spoke out in support of the residents of Donbass.

- Father Vsevolod Chaplin is a separate conversation.

Yes, but Chaplin is not alone. For example, the rector of a church near St. Petersburg openly consecrates body armor for the DPR militia.

- Well, what is the crime? Bulletproof vest allows you to save lives.

- If we talk about Father Chaplin, he is in recent times requires disclosure of items of income and expenses of the ROC.

- So here's the thing: your interview about church finances is such a kind of hello to us from Father Vsevolod ?! Well, there are special financial monitoring bodies, let them check everything competently and responsibly.

“I hear and know that there are also abuses on the part of church authorities in some dioceses”

— How do you feel about the law on the return of religious property? By the way, do you own a monastery?

- Not. Perpetual and free use. Everything in the monastery is the property of the state.

- Why? Are you more comfortable?

— It happened that way.

- And you were given money under the federal program "Culture of Russia"?

- Once ten years ago - to restore the frescoes in the temple. But they did not give it to us, but to the restoration organization, which restored these frescoes in a wonderful way. What else to report? The city authorities allocated funds for paving stones for the ancient part of the monastery courtyard.

- As far as I know, you are the head of the public council under Rosalkogolregulirovanie. Why do you need it?

- Very necessary. Seven years ago, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill, the Church-Public Council for Protection from the Alcohol Threat was created. The writer Valentin Rasputin and I became co-chairs. A few years later, I was called to head the public council at Rosalkogolregulirovanie. For me, the main task of the work is to reduce the consumption of alcoholic products in the country, primarily among adolescents and young people. We did something: according to the latest data, alcohol consumption in Russia has fallen by 18% in six years.

- Your prayers?

- Prayers and common labors of many people.

- As far as I understand, priests in Moscow have an easier life than in the provinces - on the periphery, the percentage of diocesan deductions is higher, parishioners are many times smaller, and people are poorer. The priests are complaining.

- As for the fact that the percentage of deductions is higher, I don’t know here.

I mostly know parish life only in the Pskov diocese, which I myself described in the book Unholy Saints. I have friends from very poor priests who also helped their grandmothers with their salary. Here, the late Father Nikita and Father Victor did not pay anything at all to the Pskov diocese, because there was nothing - absolutely impoverished parishes. But this is my knowledge of the diocese ten years ago. Of course, I hear and know that there are also abuses on the part of church authorities in some dioceses. Well, if so, then that's a problem.

“I’m not the first to tell you about such problems.

- No no.

— Nevertheless, there was no talk of this at the last Bishops' Council.

— Financial topics were not the subject of discussion at the Bishops' Council.

I remember very well where I first heard about the book Unholy Saints. This was during our visit to the Gogol Museum in 2012. Then the guide admired her, I remembered and a little later I bought myself a book, which, after reading it, made a tremendous impression on me: it captivated, amazed, infected. Did you read?
And when I saw an invitation to a tour of the Sretensky Monastery, organized by the monastic pilgrimage service, then, of course, I really wanted to get on it.
If someone else is not in the know or has forgotten, then Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov), who wrote the very book "Unholy Saints", is the governor of the Sretensky Monastery. Yes, now he is already a bishop![ Click to read]

The monastery itself was founded in 1397 in memory of the deliverance of Moscow from the invasion of Tamerlane. According to the chronicles, in 1395 procession, headed by St. Cyprian, met the miraculous image of the Vladimir Icon Mother of God brought from Vladimir-on-Klyazma. After that, a day later, Timur-Tamerlane turned south. Moscow was saved. After 2 years, the Sretensky Monastery was founded on the site of the appearance of the image of the Virgin.

List of the same Vladimir icon. The original, if I'm not mistaken, is in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Of course, the original buildings have not been preserved. In 1930, almost everything was destroyed by the Bolsheviks, including the most ancient temple of Mary of Egypt at that time. In the surviving premises were the institutions of the NKVD. Today, the oldest building is the Cathedral of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God of the 17th century. Only in 1991 the monastery was reopened to believers, and the monastic brotherhood was revived here. Today the monastery is active, about 40 monks live here.

Old cathedral.

Rare icon "Royal Martyrs"

Icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir, owned by John Krestyankin, brought from the Pskov-Caves Monastery.

The guide led us down the stairs, as it turned out, to the lower temple. Here, like a miracle, appeared before us a copy of the Shroud of Turin, the material in which Christ was wrapped after the crucifixion.

The only life-size copy brought from the Vatican in Russia.

On the floor are mosaic fish - a symbol of Christianity.

On the territory of the monastery, at the insistence of Bishop Tikhon, in 2013, construction began on a new church - the Church of the Resurrection of Christ and the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. They say that the proceeds from the sale of the book "Unholy Saints" are also used to equip the monastery.

In May 2017, the Temple was consecrated by Patriarch Kirill.

White Vladimir limestone. The height of the temple is 61 meters.

The temple is open, but you can only go along the wall to see. Work is still going on and they are not allowed further.

Myrrh-bearing women

The miraculous relics of St. Hilarion of the Trinity from the Cathedral of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God were transferred to this new church. They currently have access.

Incredibly beautiful chandeliers and ceilings. Yes, everything is amazing.

Frescoes on the stairs.

The territory of the monastery is still being equipped, for example, they are building a new refectory.

And you know what? Sretensky Theological Seminary - Higher educational institution Russian Orthodox Church. The rector here is the abbot of the monastery Bishop Tikhon himself.

The building was built on the basis of a five-story school.
Majolica panels on both sides: the Holy Prophet John the Baptist - the Angel of the Desert and scenes from the life of Hilarion of the Trinity, the patron saint of monks and the seminary.

The guide unexpectedly took us inside the seminary.

At the entrance, the emblem of the seminary is an angel leading the youth to Christ.

Hall on the first floor.
The building has three floors for training, the rest - residential (cells). It is a pity that we were not shown to the audience. But later I found a photo on the Internet - it is incredibly beautiful, tasteful and very modern. And what a library! And the cells! Do not be lazy, take a look at the virtual tour of the seminary http://sdsmp.ru/excursion/. I think you will be amazed :).

Although we did not look at the classes, we marveled at the huge panel on the first floor “Christ and the Disciples”.

There is a large interactive screen in front of the fresco - you press and see who is depicted.

"Unholy Saints". Do you recognize?

They were surprised to find Gogol and Dostoevsky. The guide explained this by the fact that the rector especially reveres these writers.

Of course, I really wanted to meet Father Tikhon himself during the excursion, but it didn’t happen. They say that he sometimes serves services and even fulfills obediences.

After the tour, we went out to Bolshaya Lubyanka Street and found the doors of the “church shop”. There is a fairly large bookstore, a grocery store (fresh milk, cottage cheese are regularly brought in) and even a themed cafe ...

This time we didn't have time to dine here. But I think that I will definitely come to the Sretensky Monastery again and then maybe I will sit in a literary cafe with such a warm name for me.

Thank you so much for the community tour. mosblog, the pilgrimage service of the Sretensky Monastery and personally Yulia rijaya_koshka!

Cafe "Unholy Saints" in Moscow: menu, work schedule

Cafe - a cozy catering establishment where you can drink a cup of coffee, spend a pleasant time with friends and family, read your favorite book. In Moscow there is a cafe "Unholy Saints". Many visitors come here to find a book they like to read in a pleasant environment. Let's get to know this place.

Description

Moscow has many unusual and interesting places. One of them is the cafe "Unholy Saints", which we will now introduce you to. The name itself tells us about some spirituality of this institution. Its location fully justifies it. Cafe "Unholy Saints" is located in the basement. The most interesting thing is that here you can not only eat tasty and satisfying food, but also enrich yourself spiritually by reading great books.

To get to the main room of the cafe, you need to go down the stairs. The establishment is very stylish and comfortable. Religious photographs hang on the walls, candles and lamps are on the tables. Comfortable tables and chairs, white tablecloths and napkins are prepared for visitors. Here everything is thought out to the smallest detail. There are shelves with books that you can freely take and read. The atmosphere in the cafe helps to relax and spend a pleasant time. The food here is very tasty and plentiful. The menu includes set meals that cost only two hundred rubles.

Cafe "Unholy Saints" menu

Since people come here not only to read books, but also to have a bite, excellent dishes are prepared for visitors. The most popular are listed below:

Mushroom soup.
Solyanka with mushrooms.
Soup with fish and shrimp.
Cod cutlets.
Samsa with pumpkin.
Dumplings with fish.
Pancakes with meat and fish.
Rice with mushrooms.
Vegetable stew in a pot.
Pie with jam.
Monastic bread (with nettle, buckwheat and others).

In the menu, along with traditional dishes, there are also lenten ones.

Advantages and disadvantages

On the Internet you can find a large number of different reviews about visiting the "Unholy Saints" cafe. Let's see what they write. Among the advantages of this institution, many visitors include:

unusual, pleasant atmosphere;
interesting interior design;
the opportunity to read your favorite books for free;
quite affordable prices;
the sound of pleasant, classical music;
delicious and varied pastries;
availability of Wi-Fi;
variety in the menu of vegetarian dishes;
delicious food and more.

Unfortunately, in the reviews left by visitors, you can also find negative statements about the cafe "Unholy Saints". The disadvantages of this institution include the following:

long wait for ordered dishes;
lack of a toilet;
small room.

Still, there are much fewer negative statements, which undoubtedly pleases. We hope that the employees of the establishment will do everything possible over time so that visitors leave them only in a pleasant mood.

According to ancient Christian tradition, the Liturgy continues with a meal. And therefore, next to the new temple, we arranged a refectory. Here you can taste something tasty and chat, celebrate family celebrations. And also to read, and think, and pray.

Meal in the name of God

All visitors and employees of the literary cafe "Unholy Saints" are like the last endless chapter of the book of Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov). Here is how Vladyka writes why such a name:

"Even though my friends ordinary people. There are many of these in our Church. Of course, they are very far from canonization. There is not even a word about it. But at the end Divine Liturgy, when the great Sacrament has already happened and the Holy Gifts are on the altar on the throne, the priest proclaims: “Holy to the saints!”

Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov)

According to ancient Christian tradition, the Liturgy continues with a meal

This means that holy people will now partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. Who are they?

These are those who are now in the temple, priests and laity, who have come here with faith and are waiting for Communion. Because they are faithful and God-seeking Christians. It turns out that despite all their weaknesses and sins, the people who make up the earthly Church are saints for God.

The Liturgy has ended, and according to the ancient Christian tradition, it continues with a meal.

As Vladyka Mark (Arndt), Archbishop of Berlin and Germany, says, in Communion we are granted unity in Christ, which we are all still called to bring to life. Those who eat food together cannot be offended by each other. All misunderstandings are resolved before Communion, when we ask for forgiveness, and not a trace of them should remain at the table.

"If your brother is angry with you,
bring him into your dwelling
and do not hesitate to enter him
have your piece with it.
This will be deliverance for your soul,
and she will no longer be offended during prayer,

Here you can read the words of one of the holy fathers, taking a book from the publishing house of the Sretensky Monastery from the shelf. The humor is that this may turn out to be a volume, for example, of the well-known trilogy of Schema-Archimandrite Gabriel (Bunge) "Glut, Delicacy, Gluttony."

Every meal of those who are "gathered together in my name" mysteriously becomes Emmaus, where the Lord is also present.

But the point is not at all in the variety of food and not even in its refined taste. Moreover, everything here is prepared on the spot only from the freshest natural products. As Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) noted in the Handbook collected for monastics and laity:

“One great clairvoyant old man once happened to eat food with many brethren, and when they were eating, the old man, sitting at the meal, prayed in the spirit and saw that some were eating honey, and others bread, and others hay, and was surprised in himself, and prayed to God saying:

Lord, reveal to me this secret, how does the same food, offered to everyone at a meal for eating, seem so diverse, and some eat honey, others bread, and others hay?

Those who eat honey are those who, with fear and trembling and spiritual joy, sit at a meal and pray continuously, and their prayer, like incense, ascends to God, therefore they eat honey. And those who eat bread are those who, when eating, give thanks for what God has given. Those who eat hay are those who grumble and say: this is good, but this is bad. We should not reason like this, but rather glorify God and send up hymns to the Most High, so that what was said would be fulfilled in us: If ... eat, if ... drink, or whatever you do, all is created for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10: 31) ".

So even if a visitor leafs through the book of Schema-Archimandrite Gabriel (Bunge) to the end, he will understand that at a table here in a circle of light under a cozy lampshade, one can not only enjoy the simplest food, as well as the long-awaited peace with one’s neighbor, but also experience something fantastic at the same time. :

“For every meal of those who are gathered in My name suddenly mysteriously becomes Emmaus, where the Lord is present incognito and is recognized unexpectedly.”

And then each of us can really tell, as Vladyka Tikhon assured about this, his Gospel, his Joyful News about the Meeting with God. And so, ideally, the next volumes of "Unholy Saints" can be written here.

Food, both bodily and spiritual -
both for family celebrations and for simple friendly meetings

After the end of the Liturgy, whether you took communion at an early or a late service, turn right with your cheerful feet and go downstairs. Here, behind the new temple, if you go from the ancient temple of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, from 9:00 to 20:30 you can taste something tasty, chat.

On the shelves of the literary cafe there are both the Bible and the latest news from Orthodox publishing houses.

Those who fast, of course, know: "The best cook is fasting." That is why the “honeycombs of honey” are actually eaten at the meal by those who have fasted well. And yet, as the inspired author notes, lovers Holy Scripture: if your words are sweet to my throat, more than honey and honeycomb in my mouth (Ps. 119: 103).

On the shelves of the literary cafe you can find the Book of Books - the Bible, and the latest news from Sretensky and other Orthodox publishing houses. There is also solid food for Christians, there is also verbal milk (1 Pet. 2:2).

Saint John of the Ladder

It is the same with material food: a menu is offered for ascetics in full observance of the Charter, and for those who do not go into the subtleties of the Typicon. In the end, even such a master of asceticism as the Monk John of the Ladder admonished: if anger struggles, give some small consolation to the womb. He also noted:

“A time of joy and consolation with food for the perfect is the laying aside of all care; for the ascetic - the time of struggle; but for the passionate - the feast of feasts and the triumph of feasts.

Every Sunday is a small Pascha, and according to the Announcement of St. John Chrysostom: come all.

In the interior of the cafe, the modern bright accentuation of the walls in contrast is filled with antique objects from the tsarist XIX and the very beginning of the XX centuries and encrusted with icons and old original photographs: these are the saints already glorified by the Church, and those who will be canonized, but in the picture, suddenly, the one who today he proclaimed litanies at the Liturgy, or whose words from the interview you read in this text… Or the one you saw just walked past the table…

“The meeting place cannot be changed,” you can sometimes hear here, and this reference to Soviet cinema, with an abundance of photographs, sounds somehow Christianly fresh and cheerful.

In the big red room next to Vladimir Icon The Mother of God, who was met here and who once saved Russia centuries earlier through prayers at this miraculous image, is adjacent to a photograph of the holy Tsar Nicholas II ... A very capacious space of memory and reflection has been created here. Prayers.

This is a place for filming iconic interviews and TV addresses, meetings, discussions, and important decisions. History is being made here today.

Including it is woven from many personal stories of salvation. Baptisms, name days, weddings are celebrated here. It is possible to order both a separate table and the whole hall. By prior arrangement, any menu will be prepared for you. From time immemorial, these important events for each person associated with his entry into new life, Christians celebrated especially solemnly. These traditions are being revived here. Funeral meals are also arranged here after sending the native to God.

A very capacious space of memory and reflection has been created here.

"Unholy Saints" is a project at the intersection of the personal present and the universal past and future, the evangelical eternal new history and memoirs and script literature, faith, life, culture.

Here, where deliberately simple oilcloths are on the tables, as in the once, however, dilapidated and, perhaps, disappeared house in Lositsy of father Rafail (Ogorodnikov), and on the walls there are his forever young photographs, you can “just drink tea” ... Think . Recall. Pray.

And climb the stairs from here to a new life.

Tikhon (Shevkunov), Metropolitan. "Unholy Saints" and other stories. M.: Publishing House of the Sretensky Monastery; OLMA Media Group, 2011. P. 634-635.

Mark (Arndt), archbishop. Learn to see each other //

“Journalistic conjectures have been pretty boring for me for fifteen years”

- I noticed a book by Mikhail Zygar "The entire Kremlin army" in your bookcase. Are you reading it?

“They brought me this book a few months ago, but I can’t bring myself to open it. See the bookmarks? I was told that this is in those places where it is written about me.

— Now I simply have to ask: why do the media call Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov) Putin's confessor?

- Such things in American jurisprudence are called "attorney client privilege" - the right of a lawyer to non-disclosure of information received from a client.

- I've been pretty tired of this kind of journalistic questions and guesses for fifteen years.

– Let’s move on to another difficult topic – as a rector, do you understand the structure of the economy of the Russian Orthodox Church?

— How much does your monastery contribute to the Patriarchate?

- Do you transfer the annual fee to the account of the Patriarchy?

- Which bank?

- If I'm not mistaken, to Sberbank.

“We can earn and earn ourselves”

— How is the Sretensky Monastery financed?

— The main source is our monastery publishing house. We publish up to four hundred titles of books: spiritual, historical, scientific and fiction. Secondly, we have an agricultural production - the Resurrection cooperative in the Ryazan region, we took it in 2001 in a completely ruined form.

- It seems you still have a cafe called Unholy Saints.

- There are more candles.

- Candles can be taken from us for free or put some small amount. Expensive pure wax and large candles have some value.

— How much does it cost you to maintain the monastery?

There are donors...

- Oh sure. The help of philanthropists is very important, and we are sincerely grateful to all of them. Once upon a time, during several of the most difficult years of the revival of the destroyed monastery, we were greatly helped by Sergei Pugachev (former senator and ex-owner of Mezhprombank, sentenced in February 2016 by the High Court of London to two years in prison; currently located in France. — RBC). To make it clear the ratio of money earned by the monks themselves and received from donations to the monastery, even in the best years, charitable funds amounted to no more than 15% of the budget for the maintenance of the monastery. But in the case of new construction, help is needed. This happened when we realized that the size of our parish church was already hopelessly small, and we took the blessings of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill for the construction of a new church.

— I know that Rosneft helps you.

Does businessman Konstantin Malofeev really help you a lot?

Questions about money annoy you?

“I have to interact with a wide range of people”

“You have, if I am not mistaken, a large number of influential acquaintances.

- I am the chairman of the Patriarchal Council for Culture, and I really have to interact with a wide range of people, including well-known people in society.

- When did you lie? Then? Now?

- As for what is happening now, you know better. But in this case, I'm talking about Soviet times, when journalists sometimes lied so that everyone around them blushed, except for them. There are numerous current departments that worked not only in the USSR, but also in former very distant times. We must understand whether today even in the punitive organs the vector of attitude towards the people, towards the individual, towards the Church has changed, or not? Is there now a command from the state to repress the Church? No.

Is there any contradiction in this position? Now there is no persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church, but will the Church stand up for those who are subjected to repression?

- If there are unjust persecutions, he will definitely stand up.

- Don't you think that the Church in its relations with the state goes through pendulum periods? Love is hate. Now, for example, love. So the hatred must return.

— Why does one get the feeling that the Russian Church and the government go hand in hand?

- Well, let them go hand in hand where it is impossible not to welcome. Together, the Church and state institutions are engaged in charity, helping those in need, preserving ancient cultural monuments related to the Church and its history. And also projects in the field of culture, historical science, some general diplomatic programs. But of course you are talking about politics?

- Yes.

- I can reassure you: the Russian Church has long adopted a law that priests and bishops should not participate in the political life of the country.

— Nevertheless, representatives of the Church are quite active in speaking out on political topics.

- Representatives of many public organizations express their opinion on a wide range of social, cultural and political phenomena, but this does not mean their real participation in state policy.

- Father Vsevolod Chaplin actively spoke out in support of the residents of Donbass.

- Father Vsevolod Chaplin is a separate conversation.

Yes, but Chaplin is not alone. For example, the rector of a church near St. Petersburg openly consecrates body armor for the DPR militia.

- Well, what is the crime? Bulletproof vest allows you to save lives.

- If we talk about Father Chaplin, he has recently demanded to disclose the items of income and expenses of the Russian Orthodox Church.

“I hear and know that there are also abuses on the part of church authorities in some dioceses”

— How do you feel about the law on the return of religious property? By the way, do you own a monastery?

- Not. Perpetual and free use. Everything in the monastery is the property of the state.

- Why? Are you more comfortable?

— It happened that way.

- And you were given money under the federal program "Culture of Russia"?

- As far as I know, you are the head of the public council under Rosalkogolregulirovanie. Why do you need it?

- Your prayers?

- Prayers and common labors of many people.

- As for the fact that the percentage of deductions is higher, I don’t know here. Basically, I know the parish life only in the Pskov diocese, which I myself described in the book Unholy Saints. I have friends from very poor priests who also helped their grandmothers with their salary. Here, the late Father Nikita and Father Victor did not pay anything at all to the Pskov diocese, because there was nothing - absolutely impoverished parishes. But this is my knowledge of the diocese ten years ago. Of course, I hear and know that there are also abuses on the part of church authorities in some dioceses. Well, if so, then that's a problem.

“I’m not the first to tell you about such problems.

- No no.

— Nevertheless, there was no talk of this at the last Bishops' Council.

— Financial topics were not the subject of discussion at the Bishops' Council.