St. Sophia Abbess of Protection Convent in Kiev passed away on this day in 1941. I believe I received the book about St. Sophia when I visited Holy Trinity Monastery in 1988. Then I came back to Russia where we photocopied that book and distributed the photocopies. The book was written by Elena Kontsevich, a Russian emigree (1893-1983), who in her younger years wanted to join Abbess Sophia convent in Kiev. Sofia Grineva was born in 1873 into a noble family. She was the daughter of the brother of my great-grandmother Olga Mikhailovna Grineva. Her grandmother had an estate sixty miles from Optina Pustyn. During trips to her, the family always visited this monastery. Sonya loved this monastery very much. One day the Grinevs were praying in the temple. After the service, the elder priest, who was performing the Liturgy, came out with a cross and, turning towards the Grinevs, asked Sonya to come up. The girl kissed the cross, and the perspicacious elder, stroking her head, said: “What an abbess she will be!” There were other cases that later began to be perceived as prophetic. After graduating from the Kyiv Fundukleevsky gymnasium, Sonya entered the Kyiv Conservatory in vocal class. The teachers admired the extraordinary beauty and power of her voice and saw in her a future opera singer. One day Sonya was visiting her aunt’s estate in the Tarusskii district of the Kaluga province. It was a very harsh winter. Sonya went to a friend who gathered village girls in the evenings for a conversation. Sonya really liked these conversations and went to listen to them. The area was wooded and there were many hungry wolves. She already knew about an incident when an officer who came to visit was walking on horseback and was attacked by a pack of wolves and tore him and his horse to pieces. As she walked through the field, a huge wolf ran up to her and stopped in front of her. She had no doubt that she would die. She crossed the wolf with a wide cross and read a prayer. The wolf stood as if listening, then slowly moved away and disappeared into the ravine. At that moment, Sonya made a vow to devote herself to God. This incident was described by Sophia’s younger sister Maria, who handed over her notebook with memories of her older sister to the Orthodox writer Elena Kontsevich, and she published them abroad. Just before graduating from the conservatory, Sonya fell ill with a very severe form of sore throat, as a result of which she completely lost her voice. Despite all the efforts of Kiev and Moscow doctors, it was impossible to restore her voice. Not only could she not sing, but she could not speak either. In complete despair, she went to the Kaluga province to visit a friend, who by that time had created the Holy Trinity Convent and was its abbess. Sonya's health was deteriorating all the time. An old priest from the convent was invited to her. She could not confess because she had no voice, but only cried on his chest, and he consoled her. When she woke up in the morning, she spoke. Health began to recover quickly. Sophia perceived this recovery as the grace of God. After this incident, at the age of 22, she left worldly life forever. In 1912, Sofia went to St. Petersburg on business at her monastery. Metropolitan Flavian of Kiev, who was at the Synod, was looking for a suitable abbess for the Intercession Monastery. He saw an intelligent, young abbess who created the monastery with her own hands, and chose Sofia. The Kiev Intercession Convent was founded by Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna in 1889. During the First World War, the monastery served as a hospital. Abbess Sophia did a lot of good, possessing the gift of exceptional love for people. None of those in need left without help; she did not refuse support to anyone. Judging by the published memoirs, she was the embodiment of intelligence and kindness, combining a strong-willed character with femininity and tenderness of soul. In the spring of 1919, with the Bolsheviks coming to power in Kyiv, all the monastery property was nationalized, and Sofia Grineva was persecuted for defending Orthodoxy. In February 1923, Abbess Sophia was removed from the management of the convent. In 1924 Abbess Sophia was arrested for six weeks. In 1928, a new arrest followed - for seven weeks. In October 1931, Sofia was arrested for the third time; a year later she was released, but without the right to return to her previous place of residence for three years. The last days of her life were spent in the village of Pokrovo, Moscow region. Several nuns lived with her in a small house. Abbess Sophia died in April 1941. Schema Abbess Sophia was in communion with these who did not recognize Metropolitan Sergii (Stragorodskii) In August 1989, Sofia Grineva was posthumously rehabilitated. Thanks to the book by Elena Kontsevich “Sche-abbess Sophia, abbess of the Intercession Monastery in Kyiv. 1873 - 1941", published in America in 1976, her name became known to the world. In 1981, Schema Abbess Sophia was canonized as the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. On August 25, 2012, at a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), it was decided to canonize Sofia Grineva for helping the sick and supporting believers during persecution. Source: Robert Kachev, “Igumeniia Sofiia nastoitel’nitsa monastyria,” [Hegumeniia Sophia Abbess of the Monastery] proza.ru. |
