Developments in the Liturgical Life of the Savior Transfiguration Valaam Monastery in 1830s

Abstract

In the present article the changes in the liturgical life of the Valaam monastery, happened in the reign of heg. Benjamin (Manuilov; 1833-1839), also the relation to them of the monastery brotherhood and the hierarchy - particularly of then rural dean of the St.-Petersburg eparchy monasteries st. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) - are reviewed. To show the real changes in the worship life of the monastery, the objections of the brotherhood being zealous of the monastic rules conservation and the hierarchy conclusion the author leans on the documents of the Holy Synod and St.-Petersburg Consistory archival collections. When considering the monastery liturgical life issue the historical context is involved, illustrating how the various factors can affect the perception of the changes in the worship by the brotherhood. As a research result the conclusion is drawn: as the worship is the heart of the monastic community life, so the insigni cant, from the point of view the church discipline, changes in the services performance order shouldn’t be accompanied by the appreciable confusion and division among the brotherhood, however legal these changes are. Moreover, from the history of the Valaam monastery man can see that not all changes seeming necessary prove to be such after some time has elapsed, as well as after the different, more appropriate in the concrete case solutions.