Before starting the story about what the Sretenskaya Seminary is, we will plunge a bit into the ancient history of Russia. And we turn our attention to the Moscow Sretensky Orthodox Monastery, which was founded by Prince Vasily I Dmitrievich in 1397 on Kuchkovoye Field. According to chronicles, it was built in memory of one miraculous event that occurred on August 26, 1395.
History of the Sretensky Monastery
When the powerful conqueror Timur Tamerlan began to ruin the Russian lands and already approached Moscow, the inhabitants of the capital were seized by real horror. This invincible commander conquered the lands of Persia, India and Transcaucasia. His Muslim hordes became a threat to the entire Christian world. Many years have passed since the Battle of Kulikovo. The victory of the Russian troops was not great, but was important for the unity of the Russian lands. And now the center of Orthodoxy was in dire danger.
Khan approached the borders of the Moscow principality on the Oka. Then Grand Duke Vasily I with the army hastened to meet him in Kolomna. At this time, all the Russian people served a prayer service. And the Assumption Fast was dedicated to assiduous universal repentance. Metropolitan of Moscow Cyprian prayed with the people and called for the help of the great holy intercessors of the Russian land - St. Sergius of Radonezh, Metropolitan Peter and Alexius. By order of the Grand Duke, the icon of the Mother of God of God was brought to Moscow from the city of Vladimir. On the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, she was sent there by procession. He was led by Metropolitan Cyprian. He received the holy icon from the Vladimir clergy, which they later solemnly brought to the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin.
Patron saint
At this very moment, when the residents met the Vladimir icon on Kuchkovoye field, Tamerlan was resting in his tent before the attack. Dozing off a little bit, he had a dream: in the radiant light from the top, the Virgin Mary descended towards him with a large army of holy heavenly forces, which menacingly ordered the ruthless commander to leave the borders of Russia. Tamerlane woke up in horror and began to pry out from his subordinates what his dreams mean. When they were interpreted to him, he immediately left the Russian land. Orthodox Christians especially took this event. With tears in their eyes, they thanked their intercessor - the Virgin.
And then (in two years) it was decided in memory of this grand event at the meeting place (or in Slavic - “meeting”) the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary to establish the Sretensky Monastery. Now, every pilgrimage of Russian tsars, patriarchs, princes, metropolitans and simple pilgrims began with prayers in this holy monastery.
Sretensky seminary
Today, on the territory of this very Sretensky monastery, a seminary was opened - the higher educational institution of the Russian Orthodox Church. It began to prepare Orthodox priests. It was opened, in general, relatively recently - in 1999. The beloved and most worthy man became the vicar of the monastery and the rector of the seminary - the vicar of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, Bishop Egorievsky Tikhon (Shevkunov), a former novice of the famous Pskov-Pechersky monastery. His spiritual father was John Krestyankin himself . He is the author of an interesting book and a film of the same name about the elders of the monks under the name "Unholy Saints."
And at first the Sretensky Theological School was opened - the highest Orthodox school. In one of the buildings adjacent to the monastery, the first classes began to take place. Then, repairs were made in the fraternal buildings. In addition, special monastery premises were allocated for the seminary.
Seminary Opening
Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov stood at the origins of the resumption of monastic life in the holy monastery. He said that the young inhabitants of the monastery needed to be educated. Therefore, over time, it was decided to create a spiritual school in the monastery. Financial opportunities allowed it. For blessing, Shevkunov turned to Father John (Krestyankin). He was very happy with such news. And he gave his blessing. However, the main thing was to obtain permission from the then Holy Patriarch Alexy II.
On July 17, 2001, the Holy Synod, after listening to the report of the governor of the monastery, Archimandrite Tikhon and the chairman of the educational institution of the Archbishop of Vereisk, Evgeny (Reshetnikov), gave his consent to the opening of the Sretensky Theological School. Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) was appointed the rector of this educational institution. December 26, 2002 he was transformed into the Sretensky Theological Seminary, which already in 2004 released its first "swallows". In 2010, School No. 1216 was transferred to the use of the Sretensky Monastery. It was located on its historical territory and was restored in a new way.
Expansion of the educational program
In 2014, Sretensky Seminary received the right to provide education on theology levels: higher - undergraduate and graduate. Since 2011, there has been training under the Bologna system. Today, the Sretensky Theological Seminary has 150 students. The term of study lasts 4 years. The life of the students of the seminary is closely connected with the monastery life. They attend midnight offices, read the Psalter, confess weekly with a spiritual mentor, and receive Holy Communion.
There is a library in Sretensky Seminary, where more than 40 thousand copies of books, some of which date back to the 16th-19th centuries. There is also a small archaeological museum, which includes various ancient finds from the Holy Land, which teachers brought. Sretensky Seminary constantly conducts electives in the Hebrew and Ancient Greek languages. There is also a unique choir, consisting of 30 students, led by A.V. Amerkhanov. Graduates of the institution today serve in various dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Orthodox educational courses. Sretensky seminary
And now you can approach another important issue that the seminary deals with - Orthodoxy education courses for ordinary laity who want to study more deeply what lies at the heart of the ROC’s higher spiritual school curriculum in the main disciplines: theology and history.
This is how Sretensky Seminary succeeds in all its enlightening directions. Courses have also become an integral part of it. However, it is clear that not everyone can visit them. But this is not a problem. Indeed, on special seminary sites you can see magnificent and very interesting video lectures, where teachers with different scientific degrees and titles read their lessons very lively and excitingly.