The inner life of a monk in conditions of constant communication with the world. How they live in a monastery: a nun's confession

At the word "monastery" many still imagine a stone cell, gloomy faces, continuous prayers and complete renunciation of the world. Or a personal tragedy that deprived a person of the meaning to live on, and he "went to the monastery."

How nuns live in the 21st century, why they choose this path, I tried to find out from my school friend, who has been living in the monastery for more than 10 years.

I was surprised to find that my high school friend had not changed much, despite the fact that we had not seen each other for fourteen years! The facial expressions and gestures, intonations, and style of speech remained the same. And character. Sister Alexandra (that's Yulia's name after she was tonsured) willingly told me about her life in the monastery, about what brought her here, and what she actually found here.

To a foreign monastery

How did you decide to enter a monastery? Have you been going to church since childhood?

- My grandmother took me to church, and in high school we started going with my girlfriends, but we also managed to go to parties, and even to nightclubs, although my mother was against it. When they graduated from high school, everyone decided to enter a religious school. Each of us was going to marry a priest in order to stay in the spiritual realm. We got acquainted with the teachers, began to prepare for admission for the next year. I periodically went to this monastery, once I stayed for a week, I really liked it here. I even wanted to stay, but I had to go home, finish my business. You can't be obligated to come here.

In general, instead of marriage, I chose life in a monastery. We had the same goal, but everything turned out differently. I was not going to the monastery, but I know girls who were going to, but they have families now. Everything is the will of God, no one is immune from anything.

– There is an opinion that mostly people who have had a misfortune go to the monastery, and they no longer see the meaning in life. Or these are some "downtrodden" girls who could not find themselves in the ordinary world. Is it so?

- There is no hiding from grief here. There is nowhere to hide from yourself. Mostly those who like it here come to the monastery. All people are different: sad and cheerful, calm and active. I don’t agree that only the “downtrodden” come here.

(Two nuns walk past us, girls of about 25 years old: ruddy faces, smiles; which only confirms Yulia's words.)

- How are those who wish to be admitted to the monastery? Are there any steps?

“People just stay, go to Mother Superior or Dean. They look at the new one, how she prays, works. Main criterion- obedience. First, the girl puts on a headscarf and long skirt. Before being tonsured, a novice can live in a monastery from one to three years, but this is an average. Someone can live ten years and leave without taking the tonsure.

"A slave is not a pilgrim"

What do nuns do? How does the day usually go?

- Everyone has their own responsibilities - work. When you come to the monastery, you submit documents - what kind of education do you have, what skills and experience. Usually they try to distribute work according to education: with medical - they go to nurses or become doctors, with economics - they are engaged in accounting, who sings well - in the choir. Although they can send them to the barn with two higher ones. The day begins and ends with prayer. We get up at 5.30 for the first service, work during the day, read the lives of the saints at the meal. After lunch, back to work, then evening service, evening rule(prayer for the coming dream), and we go to bed around 11 pm.

- Do you get paid for your work? Why do nuns even exist?

– There is no salary in our monastery, although such a practice exists – in some monasteries I know for sure that they give out money on holidays. Somewhere the monastery cannot provide for the nuns completely. We have housing, we eat here, we are given “working” clothes. But everything else… Parents, relatives, acquaintances help someone.

What conditions do nuns live in?

- Our conditions are normal, we live two or three people in a room, on the floor there is a shower and a toilet. But in some monasteries they live very poorly, they heat with firewood. And if the monastery is frequently visited, the nuns are arranged much better: each sister has her own house, which has a kitchen, a bedroom, a hall. Guests come to them, whom you can invite to your place, drink tea.

– Can you leave the monastery and visit relatives?

– Yes, in every monastery there is a “vacation”, but everywhere different conditions. Somewhere nuns can leave every year, somewhere more often, somewhere less often, depending on the circumstances. In some monasteries, certain days are set when you can leave. We are all human, even though we live in a monastery. I think vacation is a must. A slave is not a pilgrim.

Peace is peace

– By the way, how did your relatives and friends react when they found out that you went to the monastery?

“And I didn’t tell anyone. Only those closest to me knew, and it was hard for them to let me go. We told the rest that I had gone to another place. It's just that there are a lot of questions and rumors when people immediately find out. And when this happens after a while - it's easier to perceive. But many are preparing to leave openly.

Did you have any doubts about the right way? What should a nun do in such a case? And how does the authorities react if someone is going to leave the monastery?

– It is difficult to say how they will react, of course, it is sad when they leave the monastery. Someone discusses doubts with the sisters, someone goes to the abbess. Sometimes it is very hard... But I can only talk about problems close person. We live like big family. There are quarrels and reconciliations. But if a person decides to leave because of something, it means that his internal state has changed. Why can't he accept some things? Life in a monastery, like marriage, you need to look for compromises in order to stay.

Do you celebrate holidays, birthdays? Can nuns drink wine?

- We are celebrating Orthodox holidays. First, Christmas, the most joyful holiday: we sing carols, go around the cells. Then Easter... In some monasteries you can drink some wine. We celebrate together, we fast together, it's not boring at all, as it seems. Some celebrate a birthday, but more often it is the day of an angel.

– Are there many new people coming to the monasteries now? And is there a place and a job for them all?

“Every monastery needs new people. Now not so many come, five people a year. The boom came in the mid-90s, and until about 2005 a lot of people went to monasteries. Probably, this was due to the fact that in the early 90s the church began to revive.

- Is it possible to advance in the monastery, so to speak, career?

- This is relevant for monasteries. In women's, you can become abbess, but I'm not striving for anything, I'm fine as it is.

Monasticism, voluntary renunciation of worldly joys is an act, a way of life, similar to a feat. It is impossible to hide from any problems in a monastery, and those who cannot find their purpose in worldly life, in most cases, do not find it in the monastery either. The monks do not refuse shelter to anyone, but true monasticism is the lot of strong-willed women and men. It is far from possible for every person to live every hour according to the laws of mercy and love for one's neighbor, diligence, to keep steadily all the commandments of God, and to dissolve in Christianity, forgetting about oneself and renouncing everything worldly.

How is the life of the nuns

Those who are looking for peace and tranquility, trying to get away from problems by hiding behind the walls of the monastery, as a rule, do not know anything about the nuns in the monastery.

Many women believe that nuns with early morning and they pray until late at night, seeking salvation and remission of the sins of their own and of all mankind, but this is not so. No more than 4-6 hours are allotted for reading prayers daily, and the rest of the time is devoted to fulfilling certain duties, the so-called obediences. For some of the sisters, obedience consists in doing garden work, someone works in the kitchen, and someone is engaged in embroidery, cleaning or caring for the sick. Everything that is necessary for life, the nuns produce and grow themselves.

Apply for medical care novices and nuns are not forbidden. Moreover, in every monastery there is a sister with medical education and some experience in this area.

For some reason, worldly people believe that nuns are limited in communication, as with outside world, as well as with each other. This opinion is erroneous - the sisters are allowed to communicate with each other and with people who have nothing to do with the monastery and the service of the Lord. But idle talk is not welcome, the conversation always comes down to the canons of Christianity, the commandments of God and the service of the Lord. In addition, to convey the laws of Christianity and serve as an example of obedience to - this is one of the main duties and a kind of mission of a nun.

Watching TV shows of secular literature in the monastery is not welcome, although both are available here. But newspapers and television are perceived by the inhabitants of the monastery not as entertainment, but as a source of information about what is happening outside the walls of their residence.

How do you become a nun

Becoming a nun is not as easy as many people think. After coming to the monastery, the girl is given time, and at least 1 year, to comprehend her choice and get acquainted with the life of the nuns. During this year, she goes from a pilgrim to a worker.

Pilgrims are not allowed to share a meal, are not present at divine services and do not communicate with the nuns. If the desire to serve God does not disappear during seclusion, then the girl becomes and receives the right to participate in the life of the monastery on an equal basis with all its inhabitants.

After applying for tonsure, at least 3 years pass before the sacrament of initiation takes place and the girl becomes a true nun.

"That's it! I'm tired! I'm leaving for the monastery!" - many of us allow ourselves such jokes. But there are people who once said this to themselves seriously and accomplished their plan, saying goodbye to worldly life forever.

In the previous article, we described in detail,. They told about early rises and many hours of worship, modest meals and endless "obediences". Such a life is not for everyone: it is not for nothing that there are only about a hundred sisters in more than two million Minsk. They say that people go to the monastery from difficult problems and failures. The nuns of St. Elizabeth's Convent categorically disagree with this.

They do not raise their voices and do not take offense at anything. They are happy to answer any questions and try not to hide anything. Communication with sisters develops very easily and naturally, but it is extremely difficult to understand them. When it comes to God, there is a feeling that these people speak a completely different language. Why such extremes? Why deprive yourself of all the joys of life, instead of simply keeping the commandments, regularly going to church on Sundays and reading the Lord's Prayer before going to bed? Each nun has her own arguments for this.

In one thing, the sisters are unanimous: in their opinion, they do not leave the monastery, but come. They come to God, and do not run away from life's problems. The sisters do not agree with the stereotype that they are not here from a good life. Rather, serious trials force us to turn to faith. What happens next depends on the person.

Nun Juliana, 55 years old. "God controls everything: your thoughts and your actions"

This, for example, happened to Sister Juliana, who for a long time was completely removed from religion. In the world, a woman was known as a good musician. social status, material well-being, a husband and three beautiful children - she had everything one could only dream of. But one day a tragedy happened: a child became seriously ill ( last stage oncology). Doctors practically did not give a chance for recovery. Disappointed in the possibilities of medicine, the woman decided to "beg for a child." Quite unexpectedly for herself, she believed in God. And then incredible things began to happen to her family: her son recovered, despite the gloomy forecasts of doctors. For the woman, everything was obvious: "the child was healed by the Lord himself." Since then, every year her faith has only grown stronger.

- I realized that this was what I had been missing for a long time. All my life I have felt that my soul is languishing. But in fact, the soul was looking for God ...

The woman continued her spiritual search and eventually found herself in a monastery. The children grew up and chose their own path, and nun Juliana chose her own.

- I understood that I could no longer live like this - to live in the capacity in which I lived before. It was necessary to change something. God controls everything: your thoughts and your actions.

Nun Juliana assures that the children reacted relatively calmly to her decision. They regularly "come to visit", and the daughter even sings in the monastery's Sunday choir.

- When you feel that you are "ready", you do not notice what others would call "endure". If you have come to a monastery, it means that you have a serious determination for this.

Nun Marfa, 40 years old. "I used to envy believers because they have eternity..."

Nun Marfa opened the doors of the convent during a period of strong spiritual uplift. As she herself says, at some point she was "as if touched by the Lord." Prior to that, she was a student at the Academy of Arts, did not go to church and was not interested in anything like that. Once on vacation, the girl went to visit her grandmother, who lives in Israel. The purpose of the trip was the most secular: to make interesting sketches, relax, sunbathe and see the sights. The journey through the holy places was especially memorable: everything that the guide told seemed extremely interesting to the young artist.

- I thought: if Christ actually said this, then he is definitely God. Everything quickly fell into place for me. I returned from Israel very inspired. Gradually ceased to understand how you can not believe. By the way, I used to sometimes envy believers, because they have eternity ...

After returning home, the girl continued to be interested in religion: she read special literature and even tried to paint icons. Having learned about the Jesus Prayer, the student began to read it during classes, and then even ordinary educational drawings, in her opinion, came out beautiful as never before. One of the teachers even said that the works "shine". Together with the sisters of mercy, she began to go to a children's boarding school. Nun Marfa recalls that period of her life as especially happy. It is not surprising that after graduating from the Academy of Arts, she ended up in the monastery's icon-painting workshop.

- I liked it there so much: the sisters read prayers, everyone is so inspired. It seemed like a perfect "space", the feeling of flying did not leave me. There was no doubt, I was sure that I was in the right place.

Only three years divided the life of our heroine into "before" and "after". In 1998 she began to go to the temple, and in 2001 she was already in the monastery.

- If we talk about my decision, then, in fact, I did not accept it, but simply looked for God's will…

Nun Nadezhda, 25 years old. "In the monastery I felt a cloud of grace"

The fate of the nun Nadezhda was also decided by chance (or the Lord himself, as they often say here). The girl came to Minsk to enter the institute, and in the end she entered ... a monastery. During exams, she rented a room with one of the sisters of mercy. She brought her to the monastery - to see, to look around.

- I felt a different atmosphere, a "cloud of grace", so to speak. There was a feeling that you plunged into another world - into the world of love and understanding.

The girl did not succeed in entering the institute, she had to postpone plans for the next year. And she decided to pass the time again in the monastery: to work hard and, so to speak, gain a "monastic spirit." Two weeks, according to sister Nadezhda, passed unnoticed. But when she returned home, she did not feel relieved. There was a deep void in my heart.

But the parents of the young girl were shocked. They can be understood: Sister Nadezhda became a nun, in fact, right after school! Not knowing and not feeling the taste of life.

- This happens again because of stereotypes, supposedly in the monastery they are almost "buried alive." But time passes, and relatives accept our decisions, they themselves begin to take communion, confess. No wonder they say that when someone goes to a monastery, his family has a guardian angel, he takes care of his relatives, protects them.

Trial period: from workers to nuns

" Laborers" come to the monastery to work, take a closer look and understand whether they have made the right choice. They participate in divine services, obediences, but can leave at any moment. The next stage is obedience, which means the sister's readiness to "renounce her desires". By taking tonsure as a nun, women promise to dedicate themselves to God forever. They can be compared with brides: they are already engaged, but have not yet become wives. Monastic tonsure is the highest step. sisters. Of the 100 inhabitants of the St. Elizabeth Convent, only half are nuns. They bear a huge responsibility: what are only monastic vows worth! "Non-possession" (the ban on having personal money), "chastity" and "obedience" (in this case, we mean not work, but the ability to obey) - these are the main rules by which nuns live.

- Outwardly, it may seem that you are depriving yourself of something, but this is wrong. The more you try for Christ, the more you get inner freedom. There is no need to think about how to do this, but how - this ... Everything is decided for you. In this sense, it is much easier to live this way.

In the monastery, I felt the fullness of life and harmony. When you leave here for the city, everything seems somehow empty and lifeless. In the monastery real life, here people begin to truly open up, including through obedience.

After listening to exceptionally enthusiastic reviews about life in the monastery, we became interested: are there cases when sisters change their mind already on last step- after being tonsured as a nun? It turns out yes. Here they say more terrible sin cannot be imagined.

Nun Afanasia, dean of the monastery:

- We had a nun who left the monastery for the world. Then, apparently, she repented and returned to God again, however, to another monastery. After a while she joined us again. Some internal process has taken place. And although this is a great sin, God forgives everyone.

It happens that you can hear from women of all ages that, they say, they decided to go to a monastery. Someone says this as a joke, someone seriously thinks about how to get into convent to live, and some, especially girls, having parted with a loved one and believing that life has ended there, decide to go to a monastery, as if to spite everyone. And also in church circles one can hear stories about some negligent mother leading an immoral lifestyle, who abandoned her children and went to a monastery, now living there for her own pleasure on everything prepared.

But is it so easy to get into the monastery, and is life so carefree "with everything ready"? Of course not. Getting into the monastery is quite difficult., because it will be necessary to prove not only to herself, but also to other nuns, that the decision was not made spontaneously, that all the pros and cons were weighed, that the woman is ready for such a vital act. Only in the old days could one be imprisoned in a monastery without the will of the person himself, and now he will have to go through a long and difficult path on his own in order to take monastic vows.

Required Qualities

Go to the monastery - what is needed for this? You need a lot, first of all, you need to have a number of qualities, namely:

In addition, it should be borne in mind that the nuns are constantly engaged in hard physical labor, earning their living, so it is very desirable to have good physical health and endurance. And you will also have to observe fasts and stand at services that last several hours in a monastery in a row. . Therefore, in addition to the physical You also need to have spiritual power. Each person must first decide for himself whether he can endure such a life, because it is very problematic to remove the monastic rank from oneself.

How to start preparing for monasticism

So, how can a woman enter a monastery? If the decision is made firmly, you can begin to prepare for monastic life. First you need to start the life of a churched person - regularly attend services in the temple, confess, take communion, observe fasts, try to follow the commandments. You can, with the blessing of the priest, serve in the temple - clean the candlesticks, wash the floors and windows, help in the refectory and perform any other assigned work.

It will be necessary to resolve all issues related to worldly affairs - to determine who will look after the apartment or house (often future nuns simply sell their property and invest in the improvement of the monastery), resolve any legal issues, place pets, if any, in safe hands. Next, you need to talk with your spiritual mentor, tell your intention. The priest will help you choose a monastery and prepare for the monastic life. It is imperative to receive the blessing of the confessor for leaving life in the world.

Trip to the monastery

So, preparation completed, the blessing is received, the abode is chosen. Now you should go there to talk with Mother Superior. She will tell about the peculiarities of life in the chosen monastery, traditions and living conditions. You should have the necessary documents with you:

• Passport.
• Brief autobiography.
• Marriage certificate or certificate of death of the spouse (if any).
• Application for admission to the monastery.

You should know that tonsure is allowed only to persons who have reached the age of thirty. If a woman has minor children, it will be necessary to present a certificate of establishment of guardianship over them responsible persons(sometimes they may also require characteristics for guardians). You need to know that in this case the confessor may not give a blessing for the monastic life and the abbess will advise you to stay in the world and raise your children. Stay in the monastery, having in the world minor child is possible only in exceptional cases. The same applies to the situation when a woman has elderly parents who need care.

Mandatory deposit Money not required, but you can bring a voluntary donation.

What awaits in the monastery

It is impossible to take tonsure immediately upon arrival at the monastery. A probationary period of three to five years is usually set. At this time, the woman will look to monastic life and will be able to understand whether she is ready to finally leave the world and stay in the monastery. Before taking the vows, a woman goes through several stages of monastic life.

That's all the answers to the questions, how to go to the monastery, what is needed for this. If a woman was not frightened by the upcoming difficulties, the desire to serve God and her neighbor is still strong, and going to a monastery is a decided matter, perhaps this is her path, because, as experienced priests say, not people accept into the monastery, but the Lord himself.

People go to the monastery different reasons. Some are led there by the general disorder in the world. Others have a religious upbringing and generally consider the way of a monk to be the best for a person. Women quite often make such a decision because of problems in their personal lives. Everything was a little different for me. Questions of faith have always occupied me, and once ... But first things first.

My parents are doctors, my father is a surgeon, my mother is an obstetrician-gynecologist, and I also graduated from medical school. But I never became a doctor, I was fascinated by photography. I worked a lot for glossy magazines, I was quite successful. Most of all I then liked to shoot and travel.

My young man was fond of Buddhism and infected me with it. We traveled a lot in India and China. It was interesting, but I did not plunge into faith "with my head." I was looking for answers to my questions. And I didn't find it. Then she became interested in qigong - a kind of Chinese gymnastics. But over time, this hobby also passed. I wanted something more powerful and exciting.

One day, my friend and I were going to shoot and accidentally stopped to spend the night in an Orthodox monastery. Unexpectedly, I was offered to replace the local cook. I love such challenges! I agreed and worked in the kitchen for two weeks. So Orthodoxy entered my life. I began to regularly go to the temple near the house. After the first confession, she felt wonderful, she passed so calmly. I became interested in religious books, studied the biographies of saints, kept fasts... I plunged into this world with my head and one day I realized that I wanted more. I decided to go to a monastery. Everyone dissuaded me, including the priest, but the elder, to whom I went, blessed me for obedience.

I arrived at the monastery soaked from head to toe, cold and hungry. It was hard on my soul, after all, it’s not every day that you change your life so drastically. I am like anyone normal person I hoped that they would feed me, calm me down and, most importantly, listen to me. But instead, I was forbidden to talk to the nuns and sent to bed without supper. I was upset, of course, but rules are rules, especially since we were talking about one of the strictest monasteries in Russia.

The abbess had a personal chef. She hypocritically lamented that because of her diabetes she was forced to eat salmon with asparagus, and not our gray crackers.

special zone

The monastery was ruled by a strong, domineering and, as it turned out, very powerful woman. During the first meeting, she was friendly, smiling, and told about the laws that govern life in the monastery. She clarified that she should be called mother, the rest - sisters. Then it seemed that she treated me in a motherly condescending way. I believed that everyone living in the monastery is one big family. But alas...

It was a realm of meaningless restrictions. At the table it was not allowed to touch food without permission, it was impossible to ask for supplements, there is a second meal until everyone finishes the soup. Oddities concerned not only meals. We were forbidden to be friends. Why, we didn't even have the right to talk to each other. This, believe me, was considered fornication. Gradually, I realized that everything was arranged so that the sisters could not discuss the abbess and the monastic way of life. Mother was afraid of rebellion.
I tried to practice humility. When something frightened me, I thought that it was just that my faith was still weak, and no one was to blame.

Further more. I noticed that during meals, someone is sure to be scolded. For the most insignificant reasons (“I took the scissors and forgot to give them back”) or without them at all. You need to understand that, according to church regulations, such conversations should take place face to face: your mentor not only scolds, but
and listens, offers help, teaches not to succumb to temptations. With us, everything turned into a tough public showdown.

There is such a practice - "thoughts". It is customary for monks to write down all doubts and fears on paper and give them to the confessor, who does not even have to live in the same monastery. We wrote our thoughts, of course, to the abbess. When I first did this, my mother read my letter at a common meal. Like, "listen, what kind of fools we live here." Straight heading "joke of the week." I almost burst into tears right in front of everyone.

We ate what parishioners or nearby shops donated. As a rule, we were fed expired food. Everything that was produced in the monastery, mother gave to the higher clergy.

Sometimes the abbess ordered to eat with a teaspoon. Meal time was limited - only 20 minutes. How much can you eat there during this time? I have lost a lot of weight

Be a novice

Gradually, life in the monastery began to remind me of hard labor, I no longer remembered any spirituality. At five in the morning, getting up, hygiene procedures, sorry, in a basin (shower is prohibited, this is a pleasure), then a meal, prayer and hard work until late at night, then prayers again.

It is clear that monasticism is not a resort. But the feeling of constant breakdown does not seem normal either. It is impossible to doubt the correctness of obedience, to admit the idea that the abbess is unjustifiably cruel, too.

Denunciations were encouraged here. In the form of those same "thoughts". Instead of talking about the secret, it was necessary to complain about others. I couldn't tell the tale, for which I was repeatedly punished. The punishment in the monastery is a public reprimand involving all the sisters. They accused the victim of imaginary sins, and then the abbess withdrew her from communion. The most terrible punishment was considered a link to a skete - a monastery in a remote village. I love these links. There you could take a break from the monstrous psychological pressure and take a breath. I could not voluntarily ask for a skete - I would be immediately suspected of a terrible conspiracy. However, I often became guilty, so I went to the wilderness regularly.

Many novices took strong tranquilizers. There is something strange in the fact that about a third of the inhabitants of the monastery are mentally ill. The hysterics of the nuns were "treated" by visits to an Orthodox psychiatrist, a friend of the abbess. She prescribed the strongest drugs that turned people into vegetables.

Many people ask how they deal with sexual temptation in the monastery. When you are constantly under severe psychological pressure and plow from morning till night in the kitchen or in the barn, desires do not arise.

Road back

I lived in the monastery for seven years. After a series of intrigues and denunciations, shortly before the proposed tonsure, my nerves gave out. I miscalculated, took a lethal dose of medication and ended up in the hospital. I lay there for a couple of days and realized that I would not return back. It was a difficult decision. The novices are afraid to leave the monastery: they are told that this is a betrayal of God. They frighten with a terrible punishment - a disease or sudden death loved ones.

On the way home, she stopped at her confessor. After listening to me, he advised me to repent and take the blame on myself. Most likely, he knew about what was happening in the monastery, but was friends with the abbess.

Gradually I returned to worldly life. After for long years spent in isolation, it is very difficult to get used to the huge noisy world again. At first, I felt like everyone was looking at me. That I commit one sin after another, and outrages are happening all around. Thanks to my parents and friends who helped me in every way they could. I was truly liberated when I wrote about my experience on the Internet. Gradually, I posted my story on LiveJournal. It became an excellent psychotherapy, I received a lot of feedback and realized that I was not alone.

After about a year of monastic life, my periods disappeared. So it was with the other novices. The body simply could not withstand the load, it began to fail

As a result, from my sketches, the book “Confessions of a former novice” was formed. When she came out, the reactions were different. To my surprise, I was supported by many novices, nuns and even monks. “That's the way it is,” they said. Of course, there were those who condemned. The number of articles in which I appear either as an "editor's fiction" or as an "ungrateful monster" has exceeded a hundred. But I was ready for it. In the end, people are entitled to their point of view, and my opinion is not the ultimate truth.

Time has passed, and now I know for sure that the problem is not with me, the system is to blame. It's not about religion, but about people who interpret it in such a perverted way. And one more thing: thanks to this experience, I realized that you should always trust your feelings and not try to see white in black. He's not there.

Another road

These women once got tired of worldly fuss and decided to change everything. Not all of them became nuns, but the life of each is now closely connected withchurch.

Olga Gobzeva. The star of the films “Operation Trust” and “Portrait of the Artist’s Wife” took the tonsure in 1992. Today Mother Olga is abbess of the Elisabeth Convent.

Amanda Perez. A few years ago, the famous Spanish model left the catwalk without regrets and went to the monastery. Not going to return.

Ekaterina Vasilyeva. In the 90s, the actress ("Crazy baba") left the cinema and serves as a bell ringer in the temple. Occasionally starred in TV shows with her daughter Maria Spivak.

Photo: Facebook; Cinema Concern "Mosfilm"; Persona Stars; VOSTOCK Photo