Archimandrite Mikhei (Kharkharov)’s Resistance against the Ejectment of Buildings of the Holy Assumption Zhirovichi Monastery

Abstract

The article considers a little-studied subject from the life of Archbishop Mikhei (Kharkharov) of Yaroslavl and Rostov when he was an Abbot of the Holy Assumption Zhirovichi Monastery. The article describes the events of 1964. At that time in the monastery stayed 21 monks and 57 nuns from the closed Grodno and Polotsk Convents. During the period of latent persecution against the Church during so-called “Khrushchev Thaw,” Archimandrite Mikhei had to put a lot of effort into defending the monasterial property and existence of monastic communities. The Soviet government throughout its vertical power structure tried by many means to bring pressure to bear upon the Abbot obliging him for unlawful transfer of monastery buildings that could later lead to an actual closure of the monastery. The article reconstructs the stages of confrontation between the monastery and the district executive committee for the right of use the buildings on the territory of the monastery based on documents from the National Archive of the Republic of Belarus, the State Archive of the Grodno Region, and the archive of the Zhirovichi Monastery. Archimandrite Mikhei skillfully built relationships with various levels of Soviet system relying on the support of the Patriarchate and the ruling bishop. Although the monastery lost some buildings and part of its land but the headline is that the monastery was saved from the closure, did not cease to exist and retained the viability and independence of monastic communities.