Historians have studied the archival list of the first sisters of the Odigitrievskaya community in 1854translated

Historians of the State Historical Museum of the Southern Urals studied the first list of nuns of the Chelyabinsk Odigitrievskaya women's community for 1854. Archival documents refuted the stereotype that only older people went to monasteries. It turned out that half of the first community (there were 37 people in total) were girls from 19 to 30 years old, teenagers and children. The youngest pupil, Agrippina Polezhaeva, was barely five years old. The young composition of the community was explained by practical problems: the monastery was just being built. The sisters faced years of hard physical labor - clearing the land, preparing firewood, carrying bricks, as well as sewing and spinning for all the nuns. This required endurance and strength. Women over 50 years old (the oldest were 70) came to the monastery only after widowhood. In the 19th century, the loss of a husband often resulted in poverty, so women went to a monastery and took their children with them. In the community, orphans received protection, housing, and learned literacy and crafts. The documents also showed that families went to the monastery.

Almost half of the first nuns were relatives or fellow countrymen of the founder of the monastery, Anna Polezhaeva. Together with her from Samara province...