Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

By tradition Valaam's founders in the period of the Christianization of Rus were the Greek monks Sergei and German. Sacked by the Swedes in the mid-twelfth century, but soon restored and rededicated to the Transfiguration, the monastery was rebuilt in stone in the fourteenth century after a fire. It was razed by the Swedes in 1581 and again in 1611, then refounded in 1717 when Russia regained western Karelia. After another fire in 1754, Abbot Nazarii (d. 1801) constructed a new monastic complex and initiated a major spiritual revival. Valaam was abandoned during Soviet—Finnish conflict on the eve of the Second World War. A ‘New Valaam’ was founded in Finland by monks evacuated from the war zone; another has been organized at Ouzinkie in Alaska. Valaam was in ruins until 1988 when it was returned to the Orthodox church. ( 1992 ), Interior Silence . New Valaam , Alaska : St Herman of Alaska . ( 1990 ), Monasteries and Convents of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad . Munich : St Job of Pochaev . ( 1988 ), The Acquisition of the Holy Spirit in Ancient Russia . Platina , Cal. : St Herman of Alaska . ( 1988 ), The Northern Thebaid . Platina , Cal. : St Herman of Alaska . John of Valaam ( 1980 ), Christ is in Our Midst . London : Darton, Longman & Todd . ... log in or subscribe to read full text