Mother Russia is rich in amazing places, visiting which you immediately feel the Motherland, or, if I may say so, you begin to hear the call of the ancestors. The state is as if you are returning here after a long tiring journey, and here, in these small provincial cities, everything seemed to freeze, and life flows, as before, quietly, calmly and peacefully. One of such unique places was the town of Kadom (Ryazan region), located in the picturesque places of the Moksha River. Most recently, he celebrated his 800th birthday.
History of the city of Kadoma
For the first time, the village of Kadom was mentioned in 1209 in the Nikon Chronicle. True, it was founded much earlier. It should be noted that the Moksha River is a fairly large tributary of the Oka River, so the village of Kadom became a very important trading hub and defensive point at the beginning of the 13th century. The Ryazan region was then called the Principality of Ryazan.
The origin of the name of the city is not known for certain, there are many versions. One of them says that this word has Arabic roots “walk” or “kodim”, which translates as “guardian”. In the Middle Ages, this village was listed as an eastern fortress conquered by the Slavs.
There were also fortifications to repel the raids of the Tatars and Nogais. Some local settlers who belonged to the military estate were called Cossacks. Their descendants to this day live in Kadoma. One of them is the priest of the Gracious Bogoroditsky monastery, Father Mikhail, who contributes to the revival of the Cossacks in the cadet school, where, along with other general and secular disciplines, the law of God and military training are studied.
Interesting facts about Kadoma
The hills on which the town stands have their own mysterious and at the same time majestic history. Here, on one hill, the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord recently stood, so it received the identical name in honor of the temple - the Transfiguration.
And in the middle of the XIII century, the entire Kadom region was under the Mongol-Tatar yoke. It is believed that in those ancient centuries, the Orthodox and Muslim religions here existed quite peacefully. Even cases were known when the Tatars became Christians. Ancient written sources point to the fact that in the first half of the 14th century the Tatar prince Shirinsky Beklemish accepted faith in Christ. At baptism, he received the name Michael, and in connection with this event on one of the previously mentioned hills he built a wooden church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord and baptized his soldiers there. In the XVIII century, a white stone temple was built on the same site. It is known that the grandson of the prince - Yuri Fedorovich - became a real brave warrior and was a participant in the Battle of Kulikovo, fought on the side of Prince Dimitri Donskoy and courageously fell in a terrible cross-section.
Gradually, Orthodoxy strengthened on the Kadoma land. In 1875, priest Ivan Kobyakov wrote down the words that Kadom is a truly Orthodox city, all its inhabitants are pious and zealous in prayer. Pilgrims who come to these places do not ignore another unique place - in the forests under the oak there is a healing spring called Panic. According to the legend of great-grandfathers, there was a chapel in honor of John the Baptist, where the old hermits came and served an all-night vigil at night, and dispersed in the morning for a solitary prayer.
The creation of the monastery
In 1997, in the town of Kadoma, the female Kadomi Holy Gracious Mother of God Monastery begins to be restored. Its existence has been known since 1793. It all started with the fact that several girls from merchant and petty bourgeois families decided to become nuns and live according to the church charter. To do this, they turned to the Ryazan Epiphany Monastery to Abbess Eugenia, so that she would find them a wise mentor. After a short time, the abbess sent them the daughter of a psalmist - Gorskaya Catherine, who had a good spiritual and monastic experience. She was able to establish a monastic life in the newly formed community according to the charter of the Sarov monastery, which immediately began to be nourished by the Sarov elders. There is even a legend that the Monk Seraphim himself visited their monastery once.
Thanks to the harmonious and skillful leadership and unanimity among nuns, the community began to gradually develop. First, lands and some buildings were donated to her, then real construction began. In 1857, a summer temple was built in honor of the icon of the Mother of God, called the "Gracious", then the second temple and other buildings began to be erected.
Devastation
On November 25, 1868, the community received the status of a monastery, at which a church school and an orphanage were formed. Before the revolution, the monastery numbered 365 nuns, but in 1917 it was ruined, the settlers were dispersed, the property was nationalized, and all church utensils and icons were burned.
Only in our days, by the grace of God and the labors of people, the monastery began to rebuild again. But the most important thing was that in Cyprus, in the Kikk monastery, again the icon of the Mother of God “Gracious” was painted especially for the Kadoma monastery. On the Ryazan land, this event was met with great joy and marked by great triumph.
Kadom: monastery, father Athanasius
Archimandrite Athanasius, the spiritual father and abbot of the monastery, took part in the revival of the monastery, who put a lot of his strength and work into it. This is another outstanding personality that Kad has always been famous for. Father Athanasius (Kultinov) is an archimandrite and silver-haired monk who looks at everything with a positive and always trusts in the mercy of the Lord and the Mother of God.
Athanasius (to the world Anatoly) was born in 1937 in the Ryazanshchina, in the village of Big Lyakhovo (rn Ermishinsky). His mother was busy with household chores all day. The closest temple to them was 8 km away, in the village of Savvatme. Although the family almost did not attend the temple because of the lack of the opportunity to get there, and no one even prayed, but they always kept faith in their hearts.
In childhood, the boy received instructions from his mother - not to join any pioneer or Komsomol organizations. For this, Tolik was not oppressed, probably because it was a remote village, and here it was not so strict with this matter.
The old man himself admitted that, be that as it may, the people of that time were still morally cleaner. And after the Great Patriotic War, grief affected almost every family, people mourned and were compassionate to others. In their village, only in 1956 did they conduct electricity.
The life path of the elder Athanasius
A lot of useful things can be gleaned from the memories of a wise old man who has seen a lot in his life, he has something to learn. He helped many to cope with various life difficulties and problems.
Over time, old age also came, which Kad became famous for. Father Athanasius is one of those whom they seek from different parts of Russia for advice and comfort. But more on that later.
When the war ended, he was 9 years old. In schools, due to lack of money on notebooks, many wrote in newspapers. There was also not enough money for shoes, so something like pads was cut out of wood, which were tied to old worn shoes on ropes.
The time was really hard and hungry, nobody saw practically any bread. Women gathered sorrel, baked bread from potatoes, acorns and quinoa. However, the priest notes the paradox, which was that with all this suffering people were not particularly sick. Probably it was all about ecology. Nowadays, young people are much weaker than their parents and grandparents. Mom father Athanasius Zoya lived more than 90 years with a heart defect.
Church Communion
When her son was 13 years old, she led him to the temple in Savvatma, then Aunt Mariamne began to attach Anatoly to the church and introduced him to the old man - father Jacob, who had one eye. Once the Soviet government exiled him, but the guards, seeing a feeble old man, sent him home. The future father Athanasius confessed and communed for the first time with him, but told the priest that he would never drink vodka and wine. The elder was surprised by these words and added that you can drink perfect vodka as well, and not a drop can drink it imperfect.
A little earlier, due to the desire to know God, Anatoly almost got to the annoying Baptists. However, God saved him, and he began to go to the Orthodox St. Nicholas Church. First, Father Vasily (Romanov) served in this church, then Father Vladimir (Pravolyubov), and then the famous visionary Father John (Krestyankin).
All of them became his spiritual mentors. While still in the world, he married and mastered the profession of 2nd assistant captain on the ship. But then he left this profession to become a priest.
Monasticism
Each of his spiritual children remembers what a pious priest told him at a meeting. Now it’s worth noting who Father Athanasius was. Kad, reviews of which note that Athanasius now serves in the Graciously Bogoroditsky nunnery, has become a true Orthodox Mecca of the Ryazan region.
But first, the old man had to serve on Mount Athos, and from there he brought the Cross with reliquaries. He accepted monasticism when he was already 50 years old. This happened in the cell of the holy ascetic Siluanos of Athos.
In the souls of people, father Athanasius leaves a very bright mark; from him one can always hear wise advice. Visitors immediately feel the kindness and grace of God that comes from the perspicacious old man.
Visionary old man
The father is very smart and perspicacious, and getting to him is quite simple. He serves in the monastery almost every day and accepts confessions. At the end of the service, he always endures the Cross and puts it to the body and sore spots of his parishioners, then he anoints them with oil and talks. There are usually few people at services, since Kad is very few in number. Father Athanasius, however, is always fully armed, at any moment he is ready to listen to the one who turns to him. He, like no one else, understands how difficult it is today for a modern person to live in this wicked world, and that first of all one must always rely on the help of the Lord.
The city of Kadom: father Athanasius (perspicacious). How to get to him
Now father Afanasy Kadomsky is ill a lot, he has problems with his legs, but he humbly endures his physical ailments and constantly prays for his flock and parishioners. Believers are always ready to share their impressions and tell how his prayers strengthen in faith and help to cope with bodily ailments and mainly spiritual ones.
So who was and is Father Athanasius? Kad, reviews of which are beyond praise among visitors, is also known for the fact that pilgrims visiting the Holy Gracious Bogoroditsky monastery speak enthusiastically of the state of mind that occurs after a conversation with Father Afanasy. For all the afflicted, the perspicacious old man is a true spiritual father.
Almost everyone who visits Kad speaks of this blessed state. Father Athanasius, good-natured and smiling, as if in a gentle cloud envelops every person. He is also distinguished by an ardent desire to lighten a human burden. He prays for all to God day and night.
In no case should you miss the opportunity to come to Kadom to see Athanasius with your own eyes and receive wise advice from this extraordinary person who has chosen a very difficult road for himself and purposefully follows it to Eternity.
Contacts
To get to the monastery for an appointment with the priest, it is most likely to turn to any pilgrim center in Ryazan. They will also be able to answer any questions regarding a trip to the Merciful-Bogoroditsky monastery.
The address of the monastery: Kadom, per. Oktyabrsky, d. 1.
Phone of the monastery: +7 (49139) 5-13-49.
Telephone of the pilgrimage center: 8 (915) 613-36-91.