Now, the Holy Dormition Monastery of Sts. Nicholas and Basil the Great is almost completely destroyed. It is located on the line of military contact in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Hundreds of monks and nuns, refugees from two parts of this double monastery, had to leave for temporary shelter in several locations in Donbass. Some of the monks and nuns have remained despite everything. Abbess Anna (Morozova) is constantly on the move: she visits her sisters all the time, comforting and helping them. She is accompanied by Nun Zosima (Khomyakova), who has talked a little with us about the current life of the persecuted brothers and sisters of the twin monasteries founded by Schema-Archimandrite Zosima (Sokur; 1944–2002).
The Holy Dormition Monastery of Sts. Nicholas and Basil the Great before shelling
—Mother Zosima, the Monastery of the Holy Dormition, Sts. Nicholas and Basil the Great, built by the labors of Elder Zosima (Sokur) and through the efforts of benefactors from among his spiritual children, now lies in ruins. Only some of the monks and nuns live there at the moment; they decided not to leave, despite the proximity of the front line. To be more precise, the monastery, or rather, what is left of it, is literally on the line of contact. Mother Zosima, in your opinion, is the fact that war has virtually destroyed the monastery the war a reason for despair?
—Nothing is a reason for despair! It is clearly evidenced by the Book of Job from the Old Testament, which our Father Zosima often mentioned in his sermons: Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? (Job 2:10); and the famous quotation: The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21).
About fifty of us currently struggle at the monastery: half of the brothers and half of the sisters. Throughout this terrible time the services have never stopped. Those remaining “on guard duty” celebrate the Liturgy and all the services according to the Typicon and perform the monastic rule on a daily basis. Of course, to live in such conditions you need to have iron nerves. Those who are weaker had to move away. Not only did the constant shelling affect their psyche (the line of contact is about a mile away), but the fear that, God forbid, the line would move in our direction and those who openly call themselves enemies of Christianity[1] would come to the monastery.
That was the endless horror. However, everyone has their own fears. But for some people it is easier to bear the horrors of war, like the remaining brothers and sisters who still labor and pray quietly at the holy monastery.
In 2014, when it all started in Donbass, the combat operations did not affect the monastery directly. We were very worried about our friends and acquaintances who had found themselves in the epicenter of events. Sometimes I had to listen to the terrible sounds of the shelling of Donetsk on the phone at night as I tried to comfort and support terrified people.
Nun Zosima (Khomyakova) In 2022, after everything had started, at first we viewed the shelling of our monastery with naïve perplexity, believing that that it was a mistake, albeit terrible, by Ukrainian gunners. At that time there were about 150 nuns, 100 monks and about 500 refugees, including children and the elderly, in the monastery. We tried to persuade ourselves that this was the case, saying, “Could it be possible that they would deliberately shell a place where there are so many people who have nothing to do with the military?” At the time we were cooking all our food in the kitchen in the almshouse building. Lunch was usually served from eleven till noon, and all of us would have to run there. All of our “runs” to the kitchen were perfectly visible from drones (we didn’t realize it until later), and at eleven in the morning sharp, mortar attacks on the monastery would begin—just when everybody was going to get food. Or they would start in the evening, when we were going to the service. Initially, we all tried to assure each other that “We’re not their target; they’re not intentionally shelling the monastery. It must have been a mistake by the gunmen.” There was one man among the refugees, a former artilleryman, who sighed and said, “What mistake can it be, when those who are doing the shelling are only a couple of miles away? If they had shelled from a great distance, we could call it a mistake. So, all these mortar bombs are aimed at us.” And, unfortunately, they hit several people here—we have casualties. Our abbess's mother, Anna Yakovlevna, was one of them.
The Holy Dormition Monastery of Sts. Nicholas and Basil the Great after shelling
—This feeling of being hated… How can we understand it?
—It’s inexplicable. I think it’s impossible to understand this. God forbid that we experience something like this towards another person, whoever he may be. God forbid that a nation should experience something like this in relation to another nation. Because as we can see, hatred is self–destructive—for an individual, just as it is for society as a whole. We would not have won the Second World War if we had allowed this emotion to drive us. I can’t imagine Russian soldiers killing civilians and children in Germany. And even now it is hard to imagine the Russian military deliberately firing at civilians or monasteries in Ukraine. We must not allow hatred to reign in our hearts. Any nation or a state whose national idea is in the rejection of and hatred for another nation cannot survive.
—It could probably be compared to alcoholism or drug addiction, with their detrimental effect on the human soul and body.
—I think it’s even worse in this case. Drunkenness and drug addiction are human vices, whereas malice and hatred make someone like satan, for he was a murderer from the beginning (Jn. 8:44).
I remember that before one of the attacks from Ugledar we saw a woman walking absolutely serenely around our cathedral, shooting a video from the north side. Journalists normally want to talk to people, which is logical, because you need to convey a person’s thoughts, opinions, and experiences, right? Mother Anna, our abbess, came up and said to her, “You probably want to speak to refugees, nuns and monks? So come inside quickly. It’s dangerous out here!” The lady introduced herself as a journalist of some newspaper and went down reluctantly into the lower church of the cathedral, where everybody was hiding. We told her a little about our life here, and she even cried at the end. Maybe even sincerely...
The night after she left, the cathedral was shelled. A package of something more powerful than grad (meaning “hailstones” in Russian) missiles flew to the very place she had filmed. We were saved by the gallery built around the cathedral—it served and continues to serve as a shelter for those who hide in the lower church. And I thought: Even after seeing the life of the monastery under siege, the suffering of the refugees, monks and nuns, she nevertheless gave our coordinates to those who want to destroy us. Even after seeing the children, seeing that there are no military personnel here, and after shedding a tear…
The Monastery of the Dormition, Sts. Nicholas and Basil the Great after shelling
—What is the difference between righteous wrath and hellish hatred?
—I think it’s in the ability to see your enemy as a human being, the ability to pity a defeated enemy. The separation of hatred of sin from your enemy is driven by and mercy for a fallen person who has already ceased to be your enemy. It is the ability to pray for your enemy.
—It appears that you have already answered the question about the harm done by all sorts of broadcasts and programs, which, I have noticed, feelings of hatred are cultivated.
—All the media were created in order to influence the psyche of the masses and form the sentiments and opinions in society required by their owners. Therefore, a sensible person will definitely limit the amount of information he consumes, and pay attention to its quality, without devouring everything indiscriminately. Of course, it is advisable to start and end every day with prayer, and not with news feeds. But in reality, we often “have no time” to read a chapter from the Gospel, but are always able to spend hours on end surfing the net.
—Do you feel unhappy?
—Christ is Risen! How can we Christians be unhappy? O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Cor. 15:55). But the Resurrection of Christ was accomplished through Golgotha, the crucifixion, through the terrible Passion of the Savior. “For behold, through the Cross, joy has come to the whole world.” It was through the Cross that joy came, you see? And every time we endure suffering, trials and tribulations, we must remember that Golgotha is inevitably followed by the Resurrection!
Schema-Archimandrite Zosima (Sokur) —Why do you think Father Zosima (Sokur), one of great elders of our time, warned people very strictly against chasing after miracles of any kind?
—That’s an unexpected question. It seems to me that batiushka rightly regarded a person’s conversion to God, to faith and repentance—that is, a change in his life according to Christ—as the most important miracle in his life. In a sense, the miracles we love to talk about are merely “crutches of faith”. The Lord said, But if I do, though ye believe not Me, believe the works (Jn. 10:38). We did not come to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God because He performed many miracles. No. We believe in Him because we have come to love Him. And it is a great miracle that our hearts have responded to God’s calling. And isn’t the daily Transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord at the Liturgy and the opportunity for every believer to become a partaker of this Sacrament the most important miracle in the life of a Christian?
By the way, Father Zosima, after experiencing clinical death and seeing life in another realm, earnestly asked his flock and all of his spiritual children to take Communion, not to walk away from God and to never turn their backs on Him. Evil shall slay the wicked (Ps. 33:22) is not just a beautiful poetic expression from the Psalter. Batiushka saw the poor souls of apostates, militant atheists and consciously unrepentant sinners, and he saw what a terrible fate awaits them in the afterlife.
—What is the cause of our current sufferings, in your opinion?
—It is our spiritual state: we have turned away from God and His commandments. I am convinced that this applies not only to individual persons, but also to society. Just as a person who leads a sinful life experiences suffering, so also does society. Indeed, we shed tears over cats and dogs (true, we should pity them, too), but if we kill millions of our unborn babies, what consequences can we expect? Our sufferings result from our sins—that’s obvious.
—How can we get rid of suffering?
—Perhaps it is impossible in this earthly life. Sorrows and suffering are inevitable in it. But we can perceive them differently. Some who suffer blaspheme God and curse their own lives, like the unwise thief; while others, like the wise thief, realize that we receive the due reward of our deeds (Lk. 23:41) and ask God to give them strength and patience in bearing their cross, thus fulfilling the words of the Savior: Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light (Mt. 11:28–30).
