Russian educational, charitable and hospitality institutions in Palestine and Syria

(to the 25th anniversary of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society). Speech delivered at the annual meeting of the Kiev Department of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, April 15, 1907. His Majesty the Sovereign Emperor was pleased to deign to allow the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society to celebrate the anniversary of its 25-year existence on the 21st day of May this year. Such a rare honor bestowed on the Society by the magnanimous Monarch evokes in all its members feelings of deep boundless gratitude and selfless readiness to serve to the best of their ability for the good of our dear homeland and for the glory of the holy Orthodox Church, at the same time placing on them an indispensable duty both to Russian society and to the Orthodox Russian people, on whose donations it mainly exists, to give feasible explanations for such flattering and favorable attention to the Society from the side of the crowned Monarch. The answer to this will be our explanation of how the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society was created and what tangible results of its activities in the form of a number of various educational and charitable institutions are now visible for the past quarter of its existence. The Holy Land, the Holy Sepulcher, the Jordan River, from the first days when our fatherland was illuminated by the light of Christ's faith, became the subject of special adoration and veneration on the part of the Orthodox Russian people. The attraction to Palestine among the Russian people became a kind of illness and required spiritual and secular restrictions and prohibitions from the authorities. It is significant that this desire in a Russian devout person to “venerate the Holy Sepulcher of the Lord and bathe in the Jordan River” was never restrained by the awareness of the difficulty and distance of the journey, all kinds of accidents and the complete absence of any living amenities in the Holy Land. The pilgrim, completely left to himself, considered the poor shelter in the Greek Jerusalem monasteries for himself, on the part of the Holy Sepulcher clergy, as a benefit, for which he generously paid him with his labor pennies. Our “workers of God” were in such a position of complete helplessness and homelessness until the end of the first half of the last century. On July 31, 1847, by the will of the Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, the Russian spiritual mission was established in Jerusalem, which, although it was not given the direct responsibility to take care of our pilgrims and their life in Jerusalem, since it was only instructed to support Orthodoxy in the East and to be a mediator in relations between the Russian Church and the Orthodox churches, but, out of compassion and love for mankind, our spiritual the mission could not help but pay attention to this extremely unsightly side of the life of our compatriots. Already the first ever-memorable head of the mission, the late Bishop Porfiry Uspensky, by persistent petition to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, ensured that our pilgrims and pilgrims were placed in Greek monasteries with greater prudence and convenience, subordinated them to the moral control of the mission, placing men in the Arkhangelsk monastery, allocated for the residence of our mission, and women in Catherine and Fedorov, established in his monastery for them worship in the Slavic language with the appointment of confessors from members of the mission and dreamed of opening a Russian hospital at the Cross Monastery. The second head of the mission, Bishop Kirill of Melitopol, now fell to the task of completing the good intentions of his predecessor, the implementation of which was prevented by the Crimean War and St. Petersburg intrigues. Thanks to the generosity of the ever-worthy memory of the most pious Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the royal grandmother of our Adored Sovereign, who was always keenly interested in the fate of Orthodoxy in the East and throughout her life showed the most ardent responsiveness to the needs of the Holy Land in general, he managed to build a wonderful Russian hospital, furnishing it with comfort and convenience in all respects. In relation to improving the life of pilgrims, acting in everything in accordance with the intentions and plans of Bishop Porfiry, Bishop Kirill Naumov, for “more demanding fans” who did not put up with the inconveniences of Greek monasteries and who wanted to create a favorable environment for themselves at their own expense, decided in 1858 to rent two private houses. So, little by little, the matter of caring for the improvement of the life of our pilgrims was improved in Jerusalem. But a private commercial enterprise, the Russian Shipping and Trade Society, established by the Government on August 3, 1856, unexpectedly intervened in this godly and holy matter. Since the newly opened Society had rivals on the Mediterranean Sea - the rich steamship Societies of the French "Messagerie" and the Austrian "Lloyd", which transported annually "several thousand fans" to Jerusalem and had "great benefits" from them, the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade decided to divert these benefits to its side, creating for our pilgrims possible desirable amenities. After a business trip to the East to study the needs of our Orthodox pilgrims and the hitherto living member of the State Council B.P. Mansurov, who presented a detailed report on his trip and a detailed project for the creation of Russian charitable institutions in Jerusalem, the Shipping and Trade Society decided to appear in the Orthodox East next to our spiritual mission as a new factor in our activities in the Middle East. But in order to give itself more authority in the eyes of the heterodox West and the Russian people, to disguise its mercantile, commercial calculations in order to extract for itself the greatest possible benefit and, moreover, with the least possible expenditure of its own funds, the Society covered itself with the newly established “Palestine Committee” in 1858, at the head of which was placed the Brother of the Sovereign, the Grand Duke, Konstantin Nikolaevich with the rights of chairman, not to anyone subordinate. The “Palestinian Committee,” which included leaders of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade, and the already named B.P. Mansurov, decided to take full care of the pilgrims into their own hands, removing the Russian spiritual mission that existed in Jerusalem from this matter and depriving it of any active participation in this matter. Having received an allowance of 500,000 rubles from the generosity of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich. and private donations up to RUB 1,003,254. 34 kopecks, including the circle fees established at churches since 1858 to improve the life of Orthodox pilgrims, and 30,000 rubles. from the Society of Shipping and Trade - but not annually, as was promised, but at a time and, moreover, in installments “over three years”, the Committee opened temporary shelters for fans in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Ramle and Kaifa, acquired two plots of Meidam land in Jerusalem near the Jaffa gate of 15,709 square meters. fathoms and Mamila are three thousand square meters. sazhen and, after adding another plot to them, donated by the Turkish government in memory of the stay of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich in Jerusalem in 1859, he began to build two-story houses on them 1) for a spiritual mission with a church in the name of St. Queen Alexandra, 2) for 300 fans, 3) for 500 fans with services, 4) for a hospital with 60 beds, 5) for fans of the noble class and, finally, the majestic cathedral in the name of St. Life-Giving Trinity. In view of the reduction in the influx of donations and in order to save funds for the decoration and decoration of the cathedral under construction, which was consecrated only in 1872 on September 25, significant changes were made to the designed plan. In 1864 our shelters and house church were consecrated and open to pilgrims, and with a second floor there was only a spiritual mission building, while the men's and women's buildings remained one-story. The building, intended for admirers of the noble class, in view of the fact that in 1858, on September 20, the Russian consulate was opened in Jerusalem, and the Russian consul should, according to the Committee, become the actual owner of Russian charitable buildings and live in the center of them after minor alterations, was given to his apartment. Pilgrims of the noble class had to seek shelter first in the women's corps, pilgrims of the same class in the men's corps, and in 1885 a significant part of the mission house was already allocated for a noble shelter, where, in addition, an apartment was set up for the secretary of the consulate. Due to these changes in the plan of charitable institutions, they did not satisfy their purpose even in the very year of their completion and consecration, since “the number of people coming to St. The land of Russian pilgrims, according to the recognition of the Palestine Commission, which replaced the Palestinian Committee closed in 1864, already exceeded the number of places that our shelters could have. In the season of 1866 and 1867, when the concentration of pilgrims was very significant, they were accommodated in the corridors, and in 1870 we had to return to what they fled from when Russian construction began in Jerusalem, i.e., to unfurnished, damp and cramped rooms in Greek monasteries, for which our pilgrims paid very dearly, or, even worse, to accommodate pilgrims in hired in advance to “visiting houses” (Khanam) and even basements. Due to the overcrowding and unhygienic living conditions in our buildings, contagious diseases developed among pilgrims with a mortality rate of 14%, as, for example, in March and April 1883. This sad state of Russian charitable institutions, in addition to cramped conditions, was facilitated by the insufficiency of water tanks, the lack of sewerage, the most primitive way of maintaining cesspools, the complete absence of a designed bathhouse, to which Russian people were accustomed in their homeland, and the extremely unsatisfactory condition of the laundries, when it is necessary to heat water with fuel purchased at an expensive price and with one’s own funds, etc., etc. The murmurs and complaints of our pilgrims, the indignant protests and comments of high-ranking and intelligent Russian visitors to Jerusalem and our buildings, the indignation and cries of foreign neighbors, who, by the will of fate, were doomed for nothing, on themselves and on their poor children, to endure all the dire consequences of the murderous unsanitary state of our charitable institutions and, finally, the orders and harsh remarks of the local Turkish government and city administration had almost no impact. to the Palestinian Commission, which exists in St. Petersburg and did not see all this with its own eyes. True, under the first impression of dire news from Palestine about increasing mortality among pilgrims or persistent representations of the local Turkish administration, orders were made from St. Petersburg to take “urgent” measures to improve the life of our pilgrims and to improve the health of our charitable institutions, and in Jerusalem, estimates were drawn up by architects on the spot, projects and rules were written, plans and drawings of “proper sewerage” were created, but as soon as these projects, estimates and plans were received to the office of the “Palestinian Commission”, then they suffered a common fate - burial in the archives of the Commission and complete oblivion, leaving the owner of the buildings on the spot to get rid of annoying neighbors and Turkish authorities with formal replies and non-binding promises. And we see that for more than 20 years of the existence of the Palestine Commission under the warm wing of the Asia Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until the day it was closed in 1889. Almost no serious measures were taken to improve the buildings of our charitable institutions and the life of our pilgrims. The inviolable preservation of the notorious status quo in relation to our charitable institutions of 1864, which gave innumerable grave consequences in various aspects of the life of the Orthodox East and the terrible fear of a “rainy day” for the Palestine Commission, which, thank God, not only did not come, but gave it the opportunity by the day of its sad death to collect for its happy heir quite a substantial capital of 30,908 rubles. 68 k. in cash and 223,705 rub. 3 k. in state tickets - this is how the main tycoons of the Palestinian Commission justified their inaction when moans and cries came to them from different sides from Jerusalem... Above, we had the opportunity to note that the leaders of the Palestine Committee and the Palestine Commission that replaced it in 1864, having very substantial funds at their disposal, collected mainly through voluntary donations by subscription and through circles established at churches, during the purchase of land plots and then during the construction of charitable institutions on them, tried in every possible way to wipe out the Russian spiritual mission, recognized The highest will of the main figure in the East to improve the life of our pilgrims and to maintain Orthodoxy among the natives, and not allow it to actually participate in these buildings. With the completion of the buildings and as the day of their opening approached, these figures had a natural fear for the possibility of clashes with the spiritual messiah and her boss, who, undoubtedly, had to demand the right granted to him by law to be the owner of Russian charitable institutions and to subordinate to his control, if not the material side of the life of our pilgrim, then, in any case, the moral one. At that time, the mission was headed by a highly educated person, also endowed with the highest rank of bishop in the spiritual hierarchy, who gained deep respect and sympathy in Jerusalem from our pilgrims, the Greek and Arab Orthodox population, and even the local Turkish authorities. The figures of the Palestine Commission and, mainly, the Russian consul A.N., who did not want to share their power with him. The Kartsev did not spare strong colors and persistent efforts to discredit the venerable Bishop Kirill Naumov both before the Holy Synod and before the Constantinople embassy and send him into exile to rest in the Kazan Spassky Monastery. But the members of the Commission did not stop there: they stated that the “high hierarchical rank” of the head of the mission constrains them in their activities on our Russian buildings and that in the post of head of the mission, in their opinion, it is enough to have an archimandrite of pious life, who knows the monastic system well and has the ability to deal with the ordinary Russian people. Intrigues and insinuations triumphed over justice, and the triumph of the ill-wishers of the Russian spiritual mission and Bishop Kirill was complete for a time. But when, beyond all expectations, Bishop Kirill’s successor in the place of head of the spiritual mission turned out to be Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin), who served as a member of the mission under Bishop Kirill, a very educated, stern ascetic, a man of indestructible willpower and independent character, then the same means, already tried once, were used against him in Jerusalem. His ill-wishers managed to incite his subordinate members of the mission and the highest Jerusalem clergy, headed by the weak-willed Patriarch Kirill, against the new boss. The scandalous indignation in the mission of its members against their boss and the formal investigation into this case were the immediate reasons for the replacement of Archimandrite Leonid in 1865 by the ever-memorable figure in Palestine, Archimandrite Antonin Kapustin. Having come to Palestine with the best intentions, both by natural tact and by virtue of the diplomatic tact acquired by previous service in the East, Fr. Archimandrite Antonin set out to live in peace with both the Holy Sepulcher clergy and the Russian consulate, but in reality he failed to achieve this. His aspirations to establish a close relationship with our pilgrims, to exert a moral influence on them, to guide them in everyday life and when viewing the shrines of Palestine and Galilee, were met very unfavorably by both the self-interested Greek clergy and the power-hungry Russian consul, who mistook these good aspirations for an encroachment on their rights and prerogatives. Willy-nilly, Fr. arch. Antonin thus created non-peaceful relations with both the Patriarchate and the Russian consul. Having fenced himself off from the consulate and removed himself from influence on our pilgrims in the area of ​​Russian charitable institutions, Arch. Antonin decided to choose neutral places as his field of activity. Following the example of Catholic propaganda, he began to acquire plots of land and on them to erect the necessary shelters for our homeless pilgrims, which these latter had long needed, and which the economical Palestine Commission had denied them. In a relatively short period of time in the hands of Fr. arch. Antonin found the famous Mauryan Oak, under which Abraham received three wanderers, with a luxurious shelter and vineyard, a shelter in Gornaya, where the righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth lived, where St. The Forerunner and where the Holy Ever-Virgin spent three months after the Annunciation, here is the church in the name of the Kazan Mother of God and the women's community with it, a shelter on the top of the Mount of Olives with the Church of the Savior and with it a majestic bell tower, a shelter in Jericho, a luxurious garden with a church in the name of St. Tabithas in Jaffa, prophetic tombs in Jerusalem, a girls' school in Beit Jala near Jerusalem, plots of land in Tiberias, etc. The name of Fr. arch. Antonina was blessed by all our admirers, who found warm Russian hospitality in the shelters he created, and was extolled with praise even abroad. But these laurels o. arch. Antonin was haunted by the Palestinian Commission and the Russian consul. The latter tried by all means available to him to discredit the highly respected figure at home and abroad, not even disdaining a vile pamphlet like the notorious novel “Pace Pasha.” As for the leaders of the Palestine Commission, they so skillfully carried out the business of intrigue against Fr. arch. Antonin, who served as a grave reproach for their criminal negligence and indifference to the interests of Russian pilgrimage, that in 1879 they achieved an official decree to close our long-suffering, but glorious spiritual mission in Jerusalem, and to transform the head of the mission into a priest at the consulate. Providence was pleased to prevent the implementation of this decree and thereby save the Russian Church from shame and humiliation before heterodox propaganda in the East... The extremely sad abnormal relations we have indicated between two different departments - spiritual and secular in Palestine, which greatly hampered the success of the Russian cause in the East, could not help but amaze everyone who had to closely and directly observe these relations. Among enlightened people who love the Holy Land, the idea began to mature about the formation of a private Palestinian Society, which would take care of our pilgrims and maintain Orthodoxy among the natives. This idea was vividly discussed by our famous travelers to the East Norov, Muravyov, Bishop Porfiry Uspensky and others, but the late Secretary of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society V.N., forever worthy of memory, took it especially close to his heart. Khitrovo, an accidental tourist who visited the Holy Land for the first time in 1871. This trip made a deep and indelible impression on the responsive and warm heart of V.N. Land and for its important religious and educational significance for Russian Orthodox people. Having carefully looked at everything that was possible to notice in the state of Russian affairs in the Orthodox East and captivated by the indestructible energy, irresistible perseverance and deep understanding of the vital interests of our pilgrims and our tasks in maintaining Orthodoxy in the Middle East, manifested over many years, and with good results obvious to everyone, the unforgettable Arch. Antonin Kapustin, V.N. Khitrovo becomes his admirer for life, a strong defender from all unfair attacks and insinuations against him, and sets himself the task of putting into practice the long-overdue idea of ​​​​creating a private Palestinian Society, so that the plans and intentions of Fr. arch. Antonina unitis viribus, with the support of the Society, were easier to implement. Providence showed him those who were strong in word and in their position, like-minded people and accomplices in the implementation of his plan in the person of Count E.V. Putyatin, former Minister of Railways P.P. Melnikov, the former Minister of Public Education, A.V. Golovnin and K.P., who has just passed away into eternity. Pobedonostsev, former chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod. Of the named figures, however, the greatest attention to the issue of opening the Palestine Society was given to two statesmen - Count Putyatin and K.P. Pobedonostsev. The former had to spend Easter in Jerusalem in 1879, in the midst of bitter hostility between the Palestine Commission and the spiritual mission, which led to the latter's closure. Struck by the extreme injustice on the part of the Commission in relation to the most worthy Russian figure in the Orthodox East, Arch. Antonin, Count E.V. Putyatin returned to Russia with a clear and definite task of maintaining the mission in Jerusalem and keeping the most venerable Fr. arch. Antonina. Having learned, by the way, in Jerusalem that the idea of ​​​​forming a Palestine Society was being promoted in St. Petersburg by Vasily N. Khitrovo, upon returning to Russia, Count Putyatin immediately met him, promising him strong support in his good undertaking in the person of the late Empress Maria Alexandrovna, who was always keenly interested in the state of Orthodoxy and the Russian cause in St. Earth, and the Heir to the Tsarevich, later the Sovereign Emperor Alexander III, whose favor he always enjoyed. K.P. Pobedonostsev had never personally been to Palestine and knew about our affairs in Jerusalem only from papers and private rumors, but as a man of deep statesmanship and a strong champion of the greatness of Orthodoxy and the good of the Russian Church, he understood well the need for strong support for our spiritual mission and willingly decided to provide all possible assistance in implementing the charter of the projected Society. But justice demands that we admit that these statesmen would hardly have done much on their own for the Palestine Society if Almighty Providence had not sent powerful support and strong patronage in the person of the ever-unforgettable first chairman of the Society, His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich, who tragically died in Moscow at the hand of a villain on February 4, 1905. Returning in 1881 from Palestine, where His Highness made a pilgrimage with his beloved brother, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, under the strong impression of joyful memories of the days of his stay in the Holy Land and at the Holy Sepulcher, Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich, with the permission of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander III, willingly agreed to become the head of the Palestine Society and direct its activities. Those surrounding the Grand Duke and the First August Chairman were persons whom he completely trusted: their Highnesses' tutor, Admiral D.S. Arsenyev and Colonel M.P. The Stepanovs energetically supported the Grand Duke in his good intentions, and through their direct participation in the affairs of the Society, they provided him with numerous and irreplaceable services. The Orthodox Palestine Society, whose charter was approved by the Sovereign Emperor on May 8, was inaugurated on May 21, the day the Grand Dukes entered Jerusalem. On the opening day of the Society there was a deficit of 50 rubles at the Society’s box office, but its main figures and the initiator and organizer, the late V.N. The Khitrovos fervently believed that they were embarking on a great, holy and godly cause, a cause that should bring glory to our fatherland and the good of the Orthodox Church, and therefore, without embarrassment or fear, they ardently set about their chosen complex and difficult mission. And their hope was not put to shame. At the initiative of the August Chairman, donations quickly began to arrive from people who love and honor the Holy Land, and in 1886 the opportunity arose to take part in donations to the Holy Land and the entire Orthodox Russian people, since at that time the Society was allowed by the Holy Synod the so-called palm collection, which still remains the main source of funds for the multifaceted activities of the Society. The New Society was faced with the task of active work in the Orthodox East. Realizing well the limitations of available funds and not having experienced, trained workers, the Society decided to leave the care of our pilgrims for now in the care of the Palestinian Commission, which had the resources provided for this purpose, and to dissociate itself mainly from the activities of maintaining Orthodoxy in Palestine, since this side of the life of the Orthodox East was the least of all interested in the Palestinian Commission. To accurately determine where, first and foremost, its activities should be directed, the Society, having recruited into its service a Syrian native from Damascus, A.G. Kezmu, who at that time was among the students of the Moscow Theological Academy, sent him to Galilee in order to collect on-site statistical data on the number of Orthodox Christians, on Orthodox schools, on the activities of heterodox propaganda, etc. To our surprise, at first the Society, represented by its envoy, encountered unexpected obstacles and difficulties, and what is especially significant, from the Russian Jerusalem consul V.A. Maksimov, who not only did not support the representative of the Palestine Society in his completely innocent mission, but even started correspondence about him with our embassy, ​​painting him in the most unsightly light in front of him and presenting him as a person because of whom serious complications could arise in our relations with the Ottoman government. Maximov even hastened to escort Mr. Kezma out of Jerusalem, where, in anticipation of the arrival of the new Patriarch Nicodemus and receiving his blessing for his upcoming activities, he temporarily took refuge in a local Arab school as a teacher of civil history, sending him to Beirut under the protection of the Russian Consul General K.D. Petkovic, who declared himself an ardent supporter of the newly established Palestine Society. In Beirut A.G. Kezma was forced to temporarily take a modest position as a teacher of the Russian language in a local Arab school, since the Patriarch, Nicodemus, who ascended the throne of Jerusalem, who lived for a long time within the borders of our fatherland in Bessarabia and Moscow, brought from here his undisguised antipathy towards the Palestinian Society and in no case agreed to give a blessing to its envoy A.G. Kezme. But the storm raised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs against Mr. Kezma was easily calmed by drawing up an instruction for him, which was then submitted for approval by the ministry and the embassy, ​​and the feigned anger of Patriarch Nicodemus against the Palestinian Society was softened by a personal meeting with Patriarch V.N. Khitrovo in 1884, and with a promise of 16,000 rubles. for the maintenance and establishment of new churches in Palestine. After this, not only was the blessing given by the patriarch A.G. Kezma and already opened, with the assistance of the Consul General in Beirut Petkovic, by the Palestinian Society schools in Kefr Yasif, in Rama, Mzhdel and in Shajar, but in principle the patriarch agreed to the opening of a girls' school in Nazareth and a boarding school for training teachers for future schools of the Society in Rammal or in Nazareth, as the Society wanted. And indeed, from that time on, the educational activities of the Society in Palestine were making rapid progress. In 1885, a girls' school was opened in Nazareth; in 1886, Archimandrite Antonin transferred his Beit Jal school to the jurisdiction of the Palestine Society, transferring all the land plots belonging to it to the name of Grand Duke Serius Alexandrovich. After the donation by Count S.V. Orlov-Davydov 5000 rubles. It was decided from this school to form a closed boarding school for women to train teachers for the schools of the Society, which was carried out in 1890. After failure, M.A. was appointed head of the Beit Jal school. Cherkasova, who served for some time at our mission in Japan, this energetic woman opened a girls' school in Beirut and in a short time gained wide popularity among local society. Thank God, the fruitful work of Marya Alexandrovna not only continues to this day, but has expanded so much that under her supervision there are now four schools in Beirut, and Marya Alexandrovna has acquired the honorable name “mama” among the local residents. In 1886, on September 3, the Society finally managed to implement the long-desired boarding school for boys in Nazareth with the aim of preparing teachers for the Society's schools. A.I. was appointed teacher of the Russian language at this boarding school. Yakubovich, and his wife, a paramedic, opened the first outpatient clinic at the boarding house to provide medical care to schoolchildren and the local population. This boarding house was transformed into a teachers' seminary in 1900 and now stands at the height of its purpose. His best students study in secondary and higher schools in Russia. In 1887 a women's school was opened in Beit Sahur (a village of shepherds), near Bethlehem, and a men's school in Lebanon in Amiun. In addition, assistance was provided to the school euphoria in Damascus, to the girls' school in Yafa, near Nazareth, and to the Patriarchate of Antioch in the Seleucia metropolis in the village of Zahle. In general, the school activities of the Orthodox Palestine Society were carried out in the Holy Land so successfully and fruitfully that they caused the Anglican Bishop Blaith to involuntarily attest them from the most excellent side. “Protestant propaganda in Nazareth, according to Bishop Blate, is completely paralyzed there by Russian activity.” It is worthy of note that this certification was made in the face of the Greek Patriarch Nicodemus, who officially reported it to the Palestine Society, which did not enjoy the sympathy of the patriarch during the early stages of his service in Palestine. Not finding support in its pedagogical activities from the patriarch and the Holy Sepulcher clergy, the Palestine Society encountered obstacles from the same place in the establishment of Orthodox churches. The construction of a church in Mzhdel in the name of St. Seriya of Radonezh in memory of the visit to the Holy Land by the late Grand Duke, the reconstruction of the church in Hussun, the correction of churches in the village of Yafa and in Kefr-Kenna or Cana of Galilee and the preparation of material for the construction of a church in the village of Rame were always accompanied by long correspondence with the patriarch, all sorts of quibbles on his part and misunderstandings, and sometimes led to great troubles for Society. Despite, however, all the indicated difficulties, griefs and disappointments that the Society experienced in its ardent and holy impulses, it did not stop this beneficial and educational activity in the East by all means in its power throughout its 25-year existence. In 1885, the Society allocated 4,000 rubles. at the completion of the construction of the Church on Olivet, Archimandrite Antonin, to whom in 1890 the iconostasis was donated for the Church of St. Tabitha in Jaffa, in 1881 2000 francs for the completion of this church and in 1889 10,000 rubles. as a mission benefit, in 1890, accepted at the expense of the Society in 5000 rubles. gold renovation of the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem; in 1888, bells were purchased for churches in the villages of Gamma and Goms; in 1889, at the request of Consul Illarionov, 1000 rubles were assigned. for a bell for the cathedral church in the name of St. Photinia in the city of Smyrna, and in 1890 the costs of shipping and re-casting this bell were accepted; sent in 1894, at his own request, church supplies to the Smyrna Orthodox hospital; donated 2000 francs in 1891 to Metropolitan Nifont of Nazareth, who, in view of his sympathies for the Society and sympathetic relations with the educational institutions of the Society, received 1000 francs for the needs of the diocese in 1893, in 1895 the bishop's mantle and staff, and in 1896 4500 rubles. on the occasion of the robbery of the Church of the Annunciation for its beautification, in 1895 a precious panagia was sent to Metropolitan Patrick of Ptolemais, who is in charge of many of the Galilean schools of the Society; in 1895, sacred items worth 800 rubles were donated to the church in Rame; in the same year at the church of St. George in Ezra 3500 francs and for the church of St. Alexander Nevsky in Catana in memory of Sovereign Alexander III - 6500 francs, in 1893 for the completion of the church in Zhditti in Lebanon, in 1892 a one-time allowance of 300 francs was given to three Beirut churches, since the Society’s schools were located in their area; in 1896 the Beirut Church of St. received benefits. Nicholas in 260 fr., and in 1898 the Church of St. Elijah in the same place, in 1901 the Church of St. Virgin Mary, in 1900 it was allocated for gilding the domes of the Church of Mary Magdalene 11,617 rubles, in 1901 a bell of 11 poods was donated to the Sednai Convent, in 1904, utensils and vestments for a robbed church in the village of Rakhbe, and in 1889, aid for the cathedral church in Homs. The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, with its religious and educational activities, so unhospitably and even hostilely met in Judea and Galilee (in Palestine), unexpectedly opened a wide field, open arms and a touching warm welcome in the neighboring Patriarchate of Antioch in Syria. In 1895, the Patriarch of Antioch Spiridonius and the metropolitans of Beirut, Tyre, Tripoli and Chomsky subordinate to him filed a petition with the Society to appoint their teachers to the existing schools in their dioceses, provided with premises, with salaries from the Society. The latter agreed, and at first the Society accepted into its jurisdiction a women's school in Damascus, two men's schools in Homs, a women's school in Shufeyat and men's schools in Aleya and Rashiya. In the same year, at the request of Patriarch Spiridonius, in his diocese 16 new rural schools were taken under the jurisdiction of the Society: in Ain Shaar, Arbin, Dars, Deratiya, Djeded, Katan, Koreira, Kalat-Jedin, Maar, Maarun, Sehnai, Harada, Hasbey, Hina and Ezra and temporarily allocated 500 francs for these schools. Since that time, from one diocese, then from another, and even from as distant as Dearbekir, the most ardent requests have constantly been received to open a school or provide assistance to existing schools, and now it is not up to the Society to come to the aid of their ardent plea... At the present time, when the influx of donations to the Society’s treasury has decreased significantly, thanks to the difficult, external and internal circumstances experienced by our dear fatherland, the Society’s funds still support over 100 schools of various types: in Judea 5, in Galilee 19, in northern Syria 22, in southern Syrian 50 and in Beirut 5. Schools are distributed by type as follows: 48 one-class, 51 two-class and teacher’s 2 seminaries - in Nazareth, male and female in Beit Jala. The number of students in all schools is over 10 thousand children of both sexes. The Palestinian society was not carried away by the desire to take control of as many schools as possible, in addition to limited funds and for other, purely pedagogical reasons. It was desirable for him to give the strongest possible organization to his schools by developing instructions for them, programs and curricula, which was worked on with special diligence, which always aroused deep gratitude from the Council of the Society, by N. M. Anichkov, who was well acquainted with pedagogical affairs in Russia and who had served for a long time in the Ministry of Public Education in various positions up to and including Comrade Minister, vice-chairman of the Society, member of the State Council. In order to unite teaching methods in the schools of the Society, introduce leaders to each other and properly conduct teaching and educational work in various types of schools, congresses of teachers and female teachers of the Society were convened in 1888, 1893, 1899 and 1902, and to monitor the progress of educational affairs, audits from persons familiar with the educational work were appointed on the ground. In 1887, V.P. inspected the schools of the Society. Kulin, in 1893 the current chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod P.P. Izvolsky, in 1896 assistant secretary of the Society D.V. Istomin, in 1897 assistant trustee of the St. Petersburg educational district V.A. Latyshev and in 1899 vice-chairman of the Society N.M. Anichkov. In addition, the inspection of the Society’s schools was repeatedly entrusted to the late V.N. Khitrovo, Company Commissioner D.D. Smyshlyaev and architect. Antonin. The Society supplied its schools with educational manuals in Arabic with the help of its available teaching staff. A.G. worked with special diligence in this matter. Kezma, head of the Nazareth Seminary. To enable the natives to be well prepared for teaching activities in their homeland, the Palestine Society, using capital of 18,450 rubles, allocated to the Economic Administration of the Holy Synod, formed scholarships at theological seminaries and Academies for the best students of its seminary. In order to attract useful and dedicated people to the service from Russian educational institutions, the Society tried to provide them with the best financial support possible. In 1892, it obtained for them the Highest permission to receive pensions and one-time benefits from the treasury; in 1898, first, employees at the Nazareth Seminary and inspectors, and in 1904, all school teachers were given the same service rights as employees in schools of the Ministry of Public Education. If we now recall the recognition in 1902 Turkish, the Sultan of our schools in Palestine and Syria, the schools of the Society, if we say that the Society assigns pensions from its own funds to its outstanding and diligent workers in the school business (Yakubovich), finds them appropriate places in Russia (inspector Bogdanov), helps with marriage (for example, Solovyova), supports the mentally ill in a hospital at its own expense (Klementyev), provides benefits to students in higher educational institutions (Sharlova, a student of pedagogical courses), then we will exhaust all the Society’s care for our workers in the pedagogical field in Syria and Palestine. The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, however, failed to completely ignore and completely free itself from the persistently presented need of life to help Orthodox Russian pilgrims in the Holy Land. Having made persistent efforts since the day of its opening to ease the difficulties of the journey to the Holy Land for our pilgrims and, having achieved discounts on pilgrimage books on travel tickets on railways and on ships of the Russian Society up to 50 and 30 ° / o, the Palestine Society, for its part, contributed to the development of an intensified pilgrimage movement to Palestine and even more clearly emphasized the unforgivable passivity of the Palestine Commission in caring for our pilgrims. Our charitable institutions, overcrowded with pilgrims to terrifying proportions, were already directly refusing them shelter, and leaving the pilgrims to seek refuge in Greek damp and cold monasteries and the dirty basements of the exploiting inhabitants. Wanting to somehow come to the aid of the Palestine Commission and alleviate the plight of our homeless pilgrims, the Palestinian Society tried to try a temporary measure - to place canvas tents in the courtyards of Russian charitable buildings, and then later, coshem Kyrgyz tents, which turned out to be in Jerusalem, with the prevailing constantly cold gusty winds and torrential rains, unsuitable and left without inhabitants. Thus, we had to look for another way out of this sad state of affairs. In 1884, on behalf of the vice-chairman of the Society F.P. Kornilov, the Palestine Commission received a proposal to begin immediately the construction of a new building for pilgrims, or to build second floors on the existing shelters with the addition of the necessary services: a bathhouse, a laundry, sewers and cesspools, allocating 50 thousand rubles from the Society’s funds for this. with payment of 6% per annum to the Society's cash desk, or with the provision to begin work by the Society itself, but with the right to be an independent owner of Russian buildings. This proposal was indignantly rejected by the Palestinian Commission and ridiculed as a utopia. B.P. Mansurov and the Commission found it possible at this time only to take away a significant part of the mission corps for a noble shelter. The Palestinian Society happily found a way out of this sad state of affairs in Jerusalem in the accidental acquisition in 1886 of a plot of land of 1000 square meters adjacent to our charitable institutions. sazh., on which by November 1889, thanks to the energy and perseverance of the first commissioner D.D. Smyshlyaev, the Sergievsky courtyard, excellent in all respects, was built, now satisfying even very demanding and scrupulous fans. Simultaneously with concerns about the expansion of hospices in Jerusalem and the construction of new ones, with all the necessary accessories and decent furnishings, the Society did not for a moment lose attention to other aspects of the life of our pilgrims and the urgent needs of their daily life. Having made sure on the spot that in Odessa and Constantinople our pilgrims have excellent shelters and warm hospitality in the Athonite farmsteads, the Palestinian Society completely abandoned the original idea of ​​​​creating their own farmsteads here and tried to surround with care and concern the last days of the pilgrims, when they parted with their homeland, and the first moments of their return here from a distant wandering in a foreign land. With the help of the late authorized professor Archpriest Kudryavtsev and the second authorized M.I. Osipov, and hitherto honorably occupying his complex and responsible post, our pilgrims are freed in Odessa from the ordeal of issuing foreign passports, are given farewell services by serving prayers to sailors on the sea and delivering heartfelt speeches, are provided with free Gospels and Psalms, at an affordable price with guidebooks to the Holy Land, are accommodated with all possible comforts on the ships of the Russian Society, upon their return are protected from the intrusive inspection of customs officials and their arbitrariness in the selection of sacred Palestinian relics, icons, shrouds and brochures, etc. When entering the Holy Land and when leaving the ships ashore in Jaffa by boat, the Society took care to protect pilgrims from the brazen exploitation and gross violence of the boatmen, first establishing a certain fee, and then subordinating them to the control of its kavas, and from the arbitrariness of the van drivers, who in the past carried more or less independent pilgrims from Jaffa to Jerusalem. In 1886, through the efforts of D.D. Smyshlyaev was established in Jerusalem at the expense of donors Zhuravlev A.N., Fr. Troitsky, Balikhina and Soboleva water-heating apparatus, which provided 300–400 buckets of boiling water per day. The water heating apparatus was first installed in the courtyard of Russian charitable institutions, and after the construction of the Sergievsky courtyard it was moved inside this courtyard. This beneficent construction of the Society brought innumerable beneficial consequences to our pilgrims, who primarily needed boiling water for tea. It freed pilgrims from the need to prepare boiling water for meager money and completely destroyed the evil that existed near our buildings in the form of Jewish tea shops, where, in addition to tea, they often sold vodka flavored with dope and many other indecent things were done that sadly reflected on the moral behavior of weak-willed pilgrims. The absence of a bathhouse necessary for Russian people on our buildings was very sensitive to the health of our pilgrims. From its very beginning, the society entered into an agreement with the owner of the patriarchal baths near the Gethsemane Gate and agreed on two days a week, during which from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., 500–600 people could bathe for a fee of 20 kopecks. per person. With the end of the Sergievsky courtyard, a completely comfortable Russian bathhouse appeared on it. Nowadays our pilgrims do not begin their pilgrimage in Jerusalem without washing in a bathhouse. Even before the opening of the Sergievsky courtyard, a cheap canteen for the common people, opened by consul D.N., was transferred to the management of the Society. Bukharov, but did not have much success under his leadership. With the completion of the Society's buildings in 1889, properly organized canteens were opened, both for the common people and for wealthy pilgrims. For 10 kopecks. pilgrims receive a two-course lunch with bread and kvass, and wealthy pilgrims pay 1 ruble for lunch and dinner. 50 k. and have three courses for lunch and two for dinner. All pilgrims are offered a free dinner on the first day of their arrival in Jerusalem, free fasting on Easter, free lunches on days that are especially significant in the life of the Society, and so-called memorial dinners organized by donors. For insolvent people, for whom lunch a day for 10 kopecks seems like a luxury, a Russian shop was opened in 1889, which stocked delicious black bread and all the food products familiar to the Russian common man. This shop also sells Russian-made church candles, since the shops in Jerusalem sell mostly cerazine and paraffin candles. Even in the early days of the Society’s life, the sale of religious and moral books and brochures was established at the spiritual mission, so that a literate pilgrim would spend the excess of his leisure time not in gossip and idleness, but in reading books. The demand for these books and brochures has always been quite significant, which explains the appearance of numerous Jewish shops in Jerusalem with such brochures and leaflets, representing the most illiterate reprints of our synodal and other publications. Wanting to eradicate the spread among pilgrims of such, in all respects, sloppy literature, often with very dubious moral content, the Palestine Society opened its own special shop in the courtyard in August 1906, in which, along with books, icons are also sold, since the icons of local Arab artists, exported from Jerusalem, are artistically below any criticism and are filled with rude anachronisms designed only for the innocence and ignorance of the Russian pilgrim. Even Nestor of our pilgrims, Abbot Daniel, said: “it is impossible without the leader of good and without a tongue to experience and see all the holy places,” and caring for good guides to the Holy Place. places for our pilgrims was seriously occupied by the Palestine Commission, but a more or less satisfactory solution to this pressing issue in the lives of our pilgrims followed when the Palestine Society took up this issue. In 1887, a supernumerary priest of the Kharkov diocese, the city of Izyum, Fr. A. Anisimov, a supernumerary member of the mission, and the guides in the proper sense are the Kavass Montenegrins who are in the service of the Society. To give our pilgrims the opportunity to get closer to their “good leader” according to St. places and spiritual leader, the Society in the same 1887, after the end of the common people's canteen in the Sergievsky courtyard, opened moral and religious readings for them. O. Anisimov and his successor Fr. Mikhail from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra monks was given detailed instructions by the Council of the Society, which set out in detail the program of systematic readings, indicating the subjects and their nature. Readings are usually held from September 14 to the 6th week of Lent, that is, throughout the entire pilgrimage season, they enjoy the sympathy of our pilgrims and bring them enormous benefit in religious and educational terms. Besides introducing pilgrims to the sacred events of the Old and New Testaments and the remarkable shrines of the Orthodox East, these readings, illustrated with the help of vague pictures, distract our pilgrims from idleness and boredom and from more serious vices. All the improvements we indicated in the life of our pilgrims in Palestine, the cheapness and ease of travel to the Holy Land and the convenience of life in our well-furnished buildings meant that the number of pilgrims in the Holy Land grew and grew year by year, and in 1904 already reached 10,000 people. It goes without saying that our buildings, designed for 2000 people, no matter how they crowded those living in them to save space, were physically unable to accommodate within their walls all the pilgrims who gathered for Easter, up to 3 thousand or more. Thus, there was an urgent need for the Society to again take care of expanding its buildings or constructing new buildings so as not to leave pilgrims without shelter. At a meeting of the Council in 1893, it was decided: “Do not deny premises to visiting fans, no matter how many they arrive, preferring their crowded premises to the need to drive them away from the gates of the Russian courtyard, and provide the authorized person, in case of emergency, with the arrangement of temporary premises in the form of tents or portable barracks.” In 1897, this need became so obvious that the Council of the Society made “an emergency order for the construction of a temporary barracks for 1000 pilgrims, in view of the significant influx of them for Easter.” In Jerusalem, 10 galvanized iron barracks houses for 600 people appeared on Russian buildings. In 1899, a petition was filed by the Society Council for a subsidy of 30,000 rubles. from the State Treasury for the urgent needs of the Society, on May 14 the petition was respected, and from 1900 this subsidy began to be provided to the Society, but on the condition that “the granted benefit goes exclusively to expanding the premises for pilgrims” and that a “special account” is kept for this benefit. The last condition was set in the form of a wish by the late chairman, Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich, who perfectly understood the urgency of new shelters. But the benefit received from the State Treasury was still insufficient to allow construction to begin immediately, and the Society had to look for funds from other sources. We applied for a loan to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1901, on January 23, the report of the Minister of Foreign Affairs was followed by the Highest permission “to issue from the capital at the disposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society an interest-free loan of 500,000 rubles, subject to full repayment of the same with annual contributions of 30,000 rubles, constituting the allocation received by the Society from the State Treasury.” This new favor of the Sovereign Emperor to the Society prompted him to immediately begin drawing up estimates and plans for the projected new shelter, which now received the name “Nicholas” in honor of the Society’s benefactor, the Sovereign Emperor. In 1902, construction of the courtyard began according to the plans of the architect A.E. Elkin, under the supervision of the architect M.P. Preobrazhensky and the economic committee on site in Jerusalem, and was completed and consecrated on the Sovereign’s name day last 1905. With this new building, the Society has now provided itself with premises to such an extent that it can fearlessly meet the influx of pilgrims in Jerusalem, even up to 7,000 people... At the same time, the Society decided to provide itself in all respects with a convenient pilgrimage shelter in Nazareth, where many of our pilgrims always flock to the Feast of the Annunciation, entrusting in 1901 the drawing up of estimates and plans and the supervision of its construction to the architect Schumacher. When embarking on this grandiose construction for Nazareth, the Society secretly cherished the dream of gathering all its educational institutions - a teacher's seminary, men's and women's schools and an outpatient clinic - into a room free from fans. However, this dream did not come true or was only half realized, since the residents of Nazareth, who were deprived of income from renting the premises, and even the Turkish government, which supported the claims of the inhabitants, protested against the placement of the seminary in the hospice house. The society, however, does not lose hope of using this premises in its own interests over time, which our inspection in Nazareth also gives hope for... In view of the possible transformation of Kaifa, which has an excellent harbor and a safe anchorage for ships during storms on the Mediterranean Sea, into a permanent pier for steamships of the Russian Society with landing here instead of Jaffa for pilgrims intending to visit Nazareth, the Society in 1902 purchased from Vice-Consul S. K. Khoury with capital donated by V. A. Speransky, a house with a garden, which received the name of the “V.A. farmstead” Speransky". Anyone who is familiar with the East knows well how many cripples, lepers, blind people and generally sick people can be found in the squares and streets of eastern cities. In this case, however, it is enough to read the Holy Gospel carefully. Realizing this sad situation of Eastern man and his helplessness to get out of it, all heterodox missions tried, in order to attract the sympathy of the natives, to open free hospitals and outpatient clinics throughout the East to provide medical care to those in need. In this case, our society followed their good example, although perhaps a little too late. True, the hospital was opened on our buildings with the consecration of shelters in 1864, but this hospital was exclusively intended for our and Orthodox fans. And our pilgrim for 1 ruble, which is taken from him to the hospital upon entering the Holy Land, now uses the services of a doctor and nurses and is fully supported by the Society throughout his treatment, no matter how long it may be. In 1886 a special department of the hospital was built for contagious patients, but again also for our sick fans. It was only in 1889 that an outpatient clinic was opened at the hospital in Jerusalem for incoming native patients, somewhat earlier in 1888 in Nazareth, in 1892 in Beit Jala, in 1896 in Bethlehem, in 1897 in Damascus and in 1904 in Homs. The local population greeted these charitable charitable institutions of the Society with joy and willingly use their services. Thus, over the past year 1906, in all of the named outpatient clinics, according to the reports of the Society, 126,827 visits were registered. We do not touch upon the very fruitful scientific activity of the Society over the past period of time, which was marked by a number of publications of monuments of pilgrimage literature, scientific inheritances, popular public brochures and leaflets. The Society's publications, with their external merits, can compete with the best publications in the West and are widely known both here and abroad. Here, mmm. Mr. and M.M. Mr., in general terms, everything that has been done by the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society over the past 25 years; This is how the Society earned the mercy and favor of the Sovereign Emperor, the trust and sympathy of the Russian Orthodox people and the deep gratitude of the inhabitants of Palestine and Syria. Now preparing for its bright celebration, the Society joyfully and loudly invites all Russian people to respond to this rare celebration, and, if possible, to take part in it to the best of their ability. The Society has strong confidence that, remembering the first days of its existence and the experiences of unrest, grief, hesitation, disappointment and hopes of its ever-memorable figures, the first August Chairman of the Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich, the initiator and organizer of the Society V.N. Khitrovo, their glorious associates and allies Count E.V. Putyatina, K.P. Pobedonostsev and many others (memory eternal to them!), thereby instilling in the hearts of their prosperous leaders and warriors a calming approval and an inspiring hope for a better, happy future. God help them! You might be interested in: