IV. VIDEOS in Russian

VR-13.  THE PSKOV-PECHERSKY MEN'S MONASTERY

DESCRIPTION:

An ideal companion to the previous video (that shows the patronal feast-day celebration here), this video portrays the 500+ year history, buildings, caves and present life at one of Russia's most beautiful and well-preserved monasteries.   Located in Pechory, near Pskov, very close to the Estonian border, the 'heaven-protected' monastery was closed only during the German occupation during World War II -- unlike the fate of other monasteries in Russia under the Communists.

The monastery was officially founded in 1473, although monks had lived in the caves here for some time prior.

	Depicted are:
	the grounds and buildings;
	extensive views of the caves, where over 10,000 people are buried in the walls (similar to the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev);
	some of the monastery obediences, including work in the blacksmith, wood-working and iconography shops;
	the iconography of Priest-Monk Fr. Zenon;
	ringing of the famous bells;
	and a few interviews.

This beautifully and sensively crafted video concludes with excerpts of the Trinity-Pentecost Divine Liturgy.  There is very excellent singing by the monastery choir and the Childrens's Choir.

There is a striking contrast between this very large and established monastery, and the small, renewly re-opened, remote monasteries, as viewed in other videos (#24 and #25). These three videos (#23, #24 and #25) document the revitalization of monasteries in Russia, and depict current monastic life.  For Orthodoxy, the vitality of monastic life has always been an index of the overall spiritual level of the country and the era.  Therefore, the rapid growth of monasteries in Russia in the 1990's, with large numbers of young people flocking to the monasteries (and seminaries) is a very hopeful sign for the continuing spiritual resurgence of the Faith in Russia in the future.

[Russian production. In Russian with printed English translation almost completed.]