02 — Monastic Formation and St. Sergius Hermitage
The tonsure of 1831 and the twenty-four years at the Trinity–St. Sergius Hermitage near St. Petersburg: a young invalid archimandrite, set over a decayed monastery by the Tsar himself, who restored it and learned in the shadow of the capital both the burdens of administration and the discipline of writing.
This section covers 1831–1857: tonsure as Ignatius under Bishop Stephen of Vologda, the brief abbacy at the Lopotov monastery, and above all the long restoration of the St. Sergius Hermitage on the Gulf of Finland, the post Nicholas I imposed on him at the age of twenty-six.
Files
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| tonsure-and-early-years.md | Tonsure as Ignatius (1831); ordination; the chronic ill health that shadowed his whole life; the first abbacy at the Lopotov (Pelshma) monastery |
| archimandrite-near-the-capital.md | The restoration of the Trinity–St. Sergius Hermitage near St. Petersburg from 1834; the labor of administration; the formation of his patristic mind under the strain of the world |
See Also
- 01 — Foundations — the search for an elder that preceded the tonsure
- 03 — Bishop of the Caucasus — the episcopate that followed the hermitage years
- Orthodoxy Guide: Russian Monasticism — the monastic world he reformed