Nun Agnia [Countess Anna Orlova-Chesmenskaya]

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Re: Nun Agnia [Countess Anna Orlova-Chesmenskaya]

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Painting from Tambov Regional Art Gallery of Countess Anna Orlova-Chesmenskaya.

The blue beribboned ornament adorning her gown is likely the award mentioned in the previous post of the dual portrait of Nicholas I and his consort Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. So as not to be confused with the wife of Tsar Nicholas II, the latter was the former Princess Charlotte of Prussia [13 July 1798 – 1 November 1860 ].

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Re: Nun Agnia [Countess Anna Orlova-Chesmenskaya]

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Here is another less refined photo but it gives the feeling of the time period, 1805-1810. Countess Anna wears the Kashmiri or similar Eastern shawl made popular by Empress Josephine of France. During the early 1800s, the Russian court copied the French styles, ironically of the era of Napoleon I.
The lowcut neckline with Empire waist [ so named after France's First Empire style ], flimsy lightweight dress material, puffed sleeves as in the portrait above, and the hairstyle of short hair with accentuated curls around the face are typical.

This is by an anonymous artist, locatd in the Rybinsk State History, Architecture and Art Museum.

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Re: Nun Agnia [Countess Anna Orlova-Chesmenskaya]

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Today being the Feast of St Job of Pochaev, here is the best summary of specifics of Countess Anna's great financial contributions to Pochaev Lavra. This is the only place I found the precise details of her gift of the Saint's reliquary :

".... it was Countess Anna Orlova-Chesmenskaya, a lady-in-waiting at the tsar’s court, who made the most munificent donations to the monastery: in 1842 she presented the lavra with a 147-pound fancy silver reliquary (to keep the remains of the blessed Iov [ Job ]), silver icon-lamps weighing four pounds, and a heavily-gilded silver icon-case worth about 7,500 rubles in 1850.
The countess also bequeathed 30,000 rubles — a huge sum in those days — to the monastery."

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin ... on&id=I113

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Re: Nun Agnia [Countess Anna Orlova-Chesmenskaya]

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Here are 2 references to Countess Anna in the Vladimir Znosko biography of St Feofil. All the accounts of Blessed Feofil's great deeds were carefully recorded in the Archives of the Kiev Caves Lavra and based upon interviews with the people concerned while they were alive :

First is the full story I summarized in the 2nd post on this thread.

"Even the eminent philanthropist and devout Countess Anna Alexeevna Orlova-Chesmenskaya was not spared by the Starets. The Countess once came to the Blessed One on the advice of Metropolitan Filaret. When she asked for his blessing for the beginning of some important matter, the Starets did not answer a word, but gathered up a pile of fine sweepings and poured it into the skirt of her dress. Orlova was so devout and honoured the Starets so much that she left, humbly carrying the sweepings, and all the way home she contemplated about the significance of this action of the Blessed One.

"Another time she came to him on the eve of the Feast of the Dormition. The Starets was in the habit of cleaning up his cell on this day. He was washing pots and dishes when Countess Orlova arrived. Seeing her, he exclaimed joyously:

"Ah, a maiden, a maiden has come! Opportunely, very opportunely. Pray, dear one, go down to the Dniepr and wash a couple of little pots for me."

"He handed her an armload of dirty dishes.

"Anna Alexeevna only smiled and, without any embarrassment, went down to the Dniepr where she diligently took to washing the pots, dirtied with age, with her own hands which were decorated with precious rings. Her servant stood at a respectful distance and marvelled, seeing the Countess at such menial work.


The second excerpt shows how Countess Anna became the instrument of Blessed Feofil's marvelous plan to answer the prayers of a postulant of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Not only was the pazluzhnik thereby able to pay the vast sum demanded by the government to skip compulsory military service but also to cover all of his personal expenses :

"Few people had the chance to approach Starets Feofil for his blessing. He spent entire days in the woods at prayer and would return home to the hermitage only towards vespers in order to be in time for the beginning of the Divine Service. If anyone succeeded in approaching him, the Starets would give his blessing without stopping, as if in a great hurry. In general, the Blessed One disliked having attention turned upon him and thus being distracted from his prayers.

"When he noticed pilgrims waiting for him on the road, he would turn off somewhere to the side, into the bushes, or if it was in the cloister itself, he would climb to the top of a large oak growing near the hostel, or he would hide in the monastery orchard in a deep hole which he had dug for that purpose.

"And here is an example of the secret charity of the Blessed One.

"There lived in the Lavra a postulant who was serving his obedience in the Novopasechny orchard. Upon attaining his maturity, he was called into the military service as a recruit. He was judged suitable for service and inducted. The young ascetic of piety was overwhelmed with grief at his impending separation from the cloister. He could not buy his way out of the service, because he had no money. (At that time, a recruit could pay for his obligated service instead of serving himself. This cost up to 1,000 rubles).

"He happened to meet Starets Feofil soon after this and the Blessed One looked at him intently and said:

"Why have you become sad, soldier? Because you don't want to serve the earthly king? You want to become employed for service to the Heavenly King?"

"Oh, I'm not worthy of this mercy from God. There is no place for me a sinner, in this holy cloister of the Lavra," the postulant said and tears poured from his eyes like hail.

"Well, well, don't weep, don't grieve, brother. You will remain living in the Lavra," the Blessed One said, and went on his way.

Three days later, Countess Orlova Chesmenskaya came to Kiev on a pilgrimage and, having finished her podvig of worship, she went to see Starets Feofil in order to take confession with him. She did not find him in his cell but seeing Feofil in the courtyard, she set out towards him. Having guessed Orlova's intention, the Blessed One decided to test her humility and, as if he had not noticed her, he quickly set out for the woods. Orlova did not wish to lose sight of the Starets because it was not always easy to find him, so she began to follow him. The Starets increased his pace. Orlova did the same. Making sharp turns and detours so that Orlova would lose sight of him, Feofil would again appear in the distance. The Blessed One was heading for the Novopasechny orchard and, having entered the wicket-gate, he quickly disappeared from her view.

The anxious countess had lost Feofil's track and so she stopped in confusion. To her good fortune, that same postulant-recruit was sitting near the gate and she walked up to him with the question: "Tell me, please. Did Father Feofil pass through here?"

"He has just entered the orchard," the postulant replied, bowing respectfully and he opened the gate in front of the countess.

"Allow me..." Forgetting herself from joy, Orlova took a handful of gold coins from her purse and gave it to the postulant in gratitude.

The money was not only sufficient for the paying out of the recruit's service requirement, but there was some left over for his other needs as well."

http://livingorthodoxfaith.blogspot.com ... art-9.html

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Re: Nun Agnia [Countess Anna Orlova-Chesmenskaya]

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Today is the repose day of the controversial Archimandrite Photius [Spassky] in 1838.
I have other material to post about him, but to observe this day, I looked for a photo of the Holy Transfiguration Church in the Yuriev Monastery where, it turns out, both Anna and he are buried. However, without searching in Russian language, I could find only this beautiful Cathedral, which is dedicated to the Exaltation of the Cross. Seems fitting as today is the Sunday of the Cross, 180 years after this enigmatic figure's repose.

To some, he was a brave champion of Russian Orthodoxy who persuaded Emperor Alexander I to make decisions against the Masonic lodges and various strange sects which were proliferating at that time. But this boldness seems to have inspired many to speak against him, politically and personally.

The post on page 1 briefly covers the slanderous rumors about him and Countess Anna Orlova-Cheshmenskaya, which Pushkin promulgated in 3 or 4 quite insulting quatrains. More of a concern to many at the time and all the way up through the present was his [mesmerizing ?] influence over Countess Anna. How was it that he persuaded her to give the equivalent of 740 MILLION DOLLARS in today's money to the Novgorod Diocese ? Specifically for the rebuilding of the ancient Yuriev [ St George ] Monastery, it appears. Countess Anna inherited her fortune in 1808 and spent the next 40 years until her own repose in 1848 lavishing money on both Archimandrite Photi's projects as well as donating to various Churches and Monasteries [ and freeing a young novice from his obligatory military service ! ].

This financial topic needs to be explored for the truth to be reached.

For the moment, we will assume the best, that Archimandrite Photius was given talents by God to help the Orthodox Church in a time of peril. Some authors posit that he was the most influential churchman in recent centuries, wielding unheard of power over Tsar Alexander I. [ I would think more of Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich in this context, but compared with later times, even up to the end of the Romanov Monarchy, it seems that the energetic Fr Photi [Spassky] stands out. ] All these contentions will hopefully be examined as much as possible for a non-Russian-speaking researcher.

Archimandrite Photius reposed a full decade before Countess Anna. One wonders where she sought spiritual guidance after his death. Perhaps she felt all the more urgency to visit St Feofil of the Kiev Caves, traveling all that distance in the mere hope of finding him, as recounted in an above post.

A complete biography of Anna needs to be written to fill in all these blank spaces in her life !

Here is that 5-domed Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Cross in the venerable Yuriev Monastery, which both of these intriguing personalities labored much to restore in the early decades of the 19th century.

Image

As for Archimandrite Photius, we can take this vignette as perhaps the tip of the iceberg of what he was able to accomplish :

"One contemporary recounts how Photius drove with him across Vasilevsky Island in St. Petersburg and pointed out with satisfaction the many homes where once Masonic lodges had met and where unorthodox religious groups had held services. Now they were no more."

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals ... 733443DB63

However, this Cambridge article calls Photius by the epithet "Apostle of Obscurantism", reminding us that what may have been a valiant deed from the traditional Orthodox point of view provoked furious outrage from the Western European secret societies trying to gain the upper hand in Russia in the early 1800s.

PS Many will remember that Vasilevsky Island is the site of St Xenia of St Petersburg's shrine.

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Re: Nun Agnia [Countess Anna Orlova-Chesmenskaya]

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Wealth to Save: Countess Anna Alexeyevna Orlova-Chesmenskaya, Philantropist

Countess Anna Alexeyevna Orlova-Chesmenskaya was born in Moscow on May 2, 1785 to the family of general-in-chief Alexey Grigorievich Orlov (1737–1807), a companion of Empress Catherine II. Count Orlov became famous for his remarkable victory in the Battle at Chesma with the Turks, for which he received an addition to his last name—Chesmensky. But apart from his heroic deeds, he also committed crimes in his life: During the coup of 1762, he took part in the murder of Emperor Peter III and played a disreputable role in the kidnapping of Princess Tarakanova.

In 1782, Count Orlov-Chesmensky married Eudoxia Nikolaevna Lopukhina (1761–1786), who bore him a daughter, named Anna at baptism. A year and a half later, Eudoxia died in childbirth, and her son Ivan died a year later. Anna became the only heiress of her father’s vast fortune. Gruff by nature, Count Orlov was fond of his favorite daughter. He settled in his estate near Moscow called Otrada and focused all his attention on the upbringing and education of Anna, hiring the best available tutors for her schooling. By the age of seven, she already knew French, German, English and Italian, learned the Catechism and arithmetic. She also learned the art of dance and how to ride. The count built a special palace for her with its own park, where they organized masquerades, fireworks, and performances. In 1796, her father took Anna to St. Petersburg, where he presented her to Empress Catherine, who, according to an eyewitness, said: “This girl promises many good things.” Her words proved prophetic. She was also granted the title of maid of honor of the Imperial Court.

After the death of Empress Catherine II, the Orlovs, fearing the wrath of the new Tsar Paul I, went to Dresden, but at the accession of Alexander I they returned to Russia and settled in the Alexandriysky Palace near Donskoy Monastery. Sixteen-year-old Countess Anna began to go out. G.R. Derzhavin, having seen her at a ball in 1801, dedicated poems to her praising the rising star that appeared on the Moscow horizon. Many eligible bachelors—aristocrats, including the Princes Golitsyn, Prince Alexander Kurakin, a famous man of wealth and nobleman, and Prince Platon Zubov, the last favorite of the Empress, sought her hand in marriage. Moscow’s town governor F.V. Rostopchin wrote in 1807: “Orlov’s house is filled to the brim with his daughter’s suitors…” However, all the suitors were rejected by either Anna or her father. Only Count N.M. Kamensky won Anna over, but soon she got disappointed even in him. Anna also felt suspicious of her suitors later in life, believing that they were attracted exclusively to her wealth.

On December 24, 1808, Count Alexey Grigorievich Orlov died at age seventy-two. Shocked by the death of her beloved father, Anna fainted and remained without signs of life for fourteen hours. When she came back to her senses, she announced before the icon of the Savior: “Lord! Be as my mother and father and guide me throughout all the deeds of my life.” Having inherited untold wealth, including mansions, lands, stud farms and money capital, she decided to spend her money on monasteries and churches—to be rich toward God. Already a year after her father’s death, in 1809, Anna erected the Church of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God in her own village of Pady in Voronezh province. Overall, she paid for the construction of fifteen churches in that province. She provided money and weapons for the zemstvo volunteer forces in Voronezh.

After the death of Count Orlov, ill-wishers told Anna about his ignoble deeds and she almost lost her mind. In search of consolation, she went on a pilgrimage to the Kiev Caves Lavra, where she funded the opening of a free canteen for needy elderly people. From Kiev, she traveled to Rostov to venerate the relics of St. Demetrius of Rostov. Here, in the Savior-St. James monastery, she met the elder Hieromonk Amphilochius, and, after speaking with him, she “realized she had become indifferent to worldly happiness,” having understood the vanity of genteel pastimes. Thus a new life began for Countess Anna Alekseevna, replete with self-denial, piety and vigorous charity work. She became the elder’s spiritual daughter, and came to see him in his monastery every year during Lent, to pray and celebrate Pascha there. She exchanged letters with Hieromonk Amphilochius until his death in 1824. Anna started to give alms to the Savior-St. James monastery and never stopped her donations even after her spiritual father’s death. All in all, she contributed about three hundred thousand rubles to the monastery—a massive amount for those times. With her funds, a stone church to St. James of Rostov was erected, along with the silver shrine that was installed over the relics of St. James. In the 1840s, she contributed funds to renew the painting in the Conception of St. Anna’s Church and the making of a silver cover for its altar table. She also repeatedly made donations to the monastery by purchasing vestments, icon frames, richly decorated service books, etc.

Crowds of the poor and beggars flocked to her house every day, and no one left without receiving help. She became a generous contributor to the Moscow people’s volunteer corps in the Patriotic War of 1812. She donated one hundred thousand rubles, four thousand three hundred rifles, four thousand spades, three hundred bayonets, four thousand helmets, forty pood1 of lead, twenty pood of gunpowder, and one hundred sixty thousand flints for the organization of the people’s volunteer corps. How great was her assistance to the Russian army by way of supplying it with a huge amount of provisions!

Being genuinely religious, yet keeping it secret from the outside world, Anna never abandoned the Imperial court, and it heaped her with favors. In 1817, she was granted the title of a chamber maid, while the Empress Elizabeth Alexeyevna presented her with her portrait. During the coronation of Nicholas I, a ribbon of the Order of St. Catherine, smaller cross, was laid over her shoulders. She accompanied Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, the wife of Nicholas I, on her journey across Russia and Europe. The Countess continued to hold luxurious social functions greatly admired by high society.

In view of Elder Amphilochius’s serious illness (he lost the use of his legs), Anna Alekseyevna had to look for a new father confessor. Bishop Innocent (Smirnov) of Penza and Saratov, presently glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church among the saints, recommended his disciple Photius (Spassky; 1792–1838) to her. A little-known monk from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra at the time, he was destined to play an important role in Anna’s life.

Archimandrite Photius went down in the history of the Russian Church as a prominent public figure, theologian, man of faith, ascetic, and fearless accuser of the vices that prevailed in society. Illness prevented him from graduating from the St. Petersburg Theological Academy he had entered in 1814. Perceiving his profound faith, Archbishop Innocent, the rector of the Theological Seminary, took kindly to him and offered board and lodging at his house. In 1817, he was tonsured a monk with the name of Photius and later ordained a hieromonk. In 1818, he became a cathedral Hieromonk of the St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Leaving for Penza in 1819, Vladyka Innocent recommended his disciple Photius to his disciples in St. Petersburg as an opponent of the Freemasonry and mystical sentiments that prevailed in society at the time. Monk Photius fearlessly fought against Freemasonry without regard for its representatives among the influential power players of the empire. Physically weak, in fetters and haircloth, his body full of festering wounds, Photius still had a willing spirit (cf. Matthew 26:41), ardent faith and iron will. A valorous warrior of Christ, he devoted his life to the fight for the purity of Orthodoxy.

Anna’s first meeting with the monk Photius took place on May 2, 1820. The day before, she listened to his fiery sermon in the St. Petersburg’s Kazan Cathedral, where he passionately denounced the vices and plagues of high society. The monk’s speech made a strong impression on her. Anna wrote of Photius:

“He aroused my attention by the courage and fearlessness he demonstrated when he denounced the prevailing misbeliefs about faith. Everyone was against him, beginning with the Court. He rose to the challenge. I wanted to learn more about him and entered into correspondence with him. His letters sounded to me like the Apostolic Epistles. As I got to know him better, I became convinced that he did not seek any personal gain for himself.”

In 1820, Hieromonk Photius was exiled from St. Petersburg for his vigorous political activity and appointed abbot of the dilapidated Derevyanitsky monastery near Novgorod. Anna Orlova immediately donated large funds for the restoration of the monastery: She sent Photius three thousand rubles “for his personal needs” and later another ten thousand plus two wagon trains—one of them carried candles, incense and wine, and in another was bread. In January of 1822, under the influence of Countess Orlova, Metropolitan Seraphim (Glagolevsky) of St. Petersburg elevated Photius to the rank of archimandrite and transferred him to the dilapidated Skovorodsky monastery, which Photius, at the expense of Anna Orlova, restored in six months. Soon, thanks to Anna Alexeyevna’s connections, Photius was appointed abbot of the Svyato-Yuryev (St. George) Monastery in Novgorod, which was also in a deplorable state. During the same year, on the advice of Metropolitan Seraphim, Countess Anna became the spiritual daughter of Archimandrite Photius and followed him to Novgorod. In 1828, she bought a small estate with a stone house near the monastery and moved there from St. Petersburg for permanent residence.

Her donations flowed to Yuryev Monastery like a wild river: golden and silver items of high artistic merit, diamonds and sapphires, pearls and emeralds. By Orlova’s order, trains of wagons carrying food arrived at the monastery. Thanks to the generous donations of Anna Alexeyevna, Archimandrite Photius restored the ancient Yuryev Monastery over a short period of time.

The restoration of old churches and the construction of new ones in the monastery was funded by Countess’s donations, including the All Saints Church, the Savior Cathedral, the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, the east-facing building with cells for the brethren, and the south-facing building with the hospital’s home church to “The Unburnt Bush” Icon. In 1841, the bell tower was built according to the blueprints of architect Carl Rossi. When a fire destroyed the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in 1823, the Orthodox countess immediately forwarded forty thousand rubles worth of materials for its reconstruction.

Countess Orlova’s philanthropy was not limited strictly to the Yuryev Monastery. Her funds helped to maintain the St. Sophia Cathedral and other monasteries in Novgorod. In 1816–1822, in her inherited estate in the village of Mikhailovskoye near Moscow, the pious countess built a stone church in honor of Archangel Michael with side chapels to Holy Hierarch Nicholas and the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women, the latter consecrated in 1824. This magnificent church in the vicinity of Domodedovo is a joy to see even today—especially its unique iconostasis. In 1842, Anna Orlova donated a silver shrine to the Holy Trinity Church of the Pochaev Lavra to hold the incorruptible relics of St. Job of Pochaev, and ornate decorations of the elevated place around the miracle-working icon.

In 1831, Anna moved the remains of her father and his brothers from the estate near Moscow to the Yuryev Monastery, reburying them under the porch of St. George’s Cathedral. Archimandrite Photius “guided her to leading life as a maiden, in physical and spiritual chastity.” He remained strict with his spiritual daughter to the end of his life, denouncing the luxury and excesses in her life. He blamed her even for the most minor offenses and often said, “Don’t pride yourself on your wealth, as it was obtained through sin, as ill-gotten gains.” Anna led a strict, almost monastic lifestyle, repenting unceasingly and praying for forgiveness for her father’s sins, as if she carried the heavy burden of all of Count Orlov’s former life on her own shoulders.

In her correspondence, she called herself “wretched Anna.” One day, Anna began a conversation about a possible marriage. Photius then took her to the icon of Jesus Christ, hung her ring on top of it and said: “Behold your bridegroom!” After this, the Countess took a vow of celibacy.

On February 26, 1838, Archimandrite Photius died in the arms of his spiritual daughter. Following his death, Anna spent the last ten years of her life next to the Yuryev Monastery. She diligently attended services at the Church of the Laudation of the Mother of God, where a litya was served daily, while on Saturdays, a Pannikhida was served for her parents and spiritual father. After her pilgrimage to Kiev, she made a number of large contributions: She ordered a new bronze iconostasis worth one million rubles to be made for the Dormition Cathedral of the Kiev Caves Lavra. In the St. Michael’s Monastery, she ordered a silver shrine and a canopy weighing about four hundred kilograms for the relics of the Great Martyr Barbara. Besides that, in 1840 alone Anna allocated over fifty thousand rubles in silver for the needs of the Kiev Caves Lavra. Anna Alexeyevna sent lavish gifts abroad as well. The patriarchal churches of Constantinople, Alexandria and Damascus were adorned using her money, and her donations were sent to Jerusalem and the Athonite monasteries. Overall, during her lifetime, Anna Orlova spent about twenty five million rubles on various churches and monasteries. Therefore, the Countess spent her inheritance on charity, becoming like the Venerable Melania of Rome (385–439 AD), who generously gave money to the needy.

As one of the largest landowners of the Russian Empire, Anna Alexeyevna tried to improve the lot of her peasants. She turned some of them into free grain farmers and moved others to the authority of Appanage Department, since the peasants under its authority enjoyed a more secure life. She preached salvation among her serfs, predominantly the pagan Chuvash peasants in her Samara Province estates, and achieved the conversion of many of them to Christianity. The countess built for them a stone church in the village of Lower Ivanovka.

Anna Orlova died unexpectedly on October 5, 1848. She was buried in a tomb prepared in advance in the Church of the Laudation of the Most Holy Mother of God, next to the tomb of Archimandrite Photius.

After the countess died, a Gospel was found in her belongings inscribed by the Kiev elder Parthenius, whom she greatly revered. The inscription was written in 1845, where he calls Anna, “sister in Christ EINGA”. Apparently, Anna Orlova secretly took the monastic tonsure with the name Agnia (EINGA—or Agnia spelled backward in the vocative case). According to pre-revolutionary testimonies, miracles of healing were recorded on her grave.

Anna Alexseyevna Orlova bequeathed large sums to the monasteries: three hundred thousand rubles to the Yuryev Monastery, thirty thousand to Pochaev Lavra, ten thousand to Solovki Monastery, one million seven hundred thousand to three hundred and forty different monasteries (five thousand each), one hundred forty four thousand to forty eight cathedrals, and two hundred ninety four thousand to diocesan trustee departments. The jewels owned by the Countess were also used for charitable purposes. According to her will, Anna Alexseyevna’s relatives received nothing but the steppe lands in Voronezh province.

In gratitude for the donations she made to benefit the churches and monasteries, the Countess was honored with an honorable commemoration there: She was commemorated daily as their benefactor at the Liturgy, and following the conciliar remembrance prayers in the cathedrals, a meal was offered to the beggars in her memory. Countess Orlova’s charity was also appreciated by her contemporaries. For example, Prince Platon Shirinsky-Shakhmatov wrote soon after her death, “She never forgot even the least of the brothers in Christ who sought help.”

In 1932, the Bolsheviks opened up the gravesites of Archimandrite Photius and Anna Orlova and had their remains scattered throughout the crypt. The faithful transferred their remains to the Novgorod’s Annunciation Church in Arkazhy. The exact place of burial is currently unknown. In 2001, a symbolic grave with a cross was arranged near the apse of the church.

The words spoken by the Lord, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! (Mark 10:23) do not apply to philanthropists such as Countess Anna. The monasteries and churches preserved and built at her expense testify to the enduring value of the spiritual labors of this remarkable woman, Anna Alexeyevna Orlova-Chesmenskaya, whose life remains an example for all the Russian wealthy people who live in our time.

Maria Tobolova
Translation by Liubov Ambrose
1/25/2024
Wealth to Save: Countess Anna Alexeyevna Orlova-Chesmenskaya, Philantropist.

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Re: Nun Agnia [Countess Anna Orlova-Chesmenskaya]

Post by Barbara »

I don't know about the story about the elder Parthenius. I just never liked him at all [I know it sounds funny, plus ridiculous]. But I am recording this thought because it seems the entire picture needs to be looked into better.

Why ? Because Countess Anna is mentioned in the Life of St Feofil several times, as recounted in earlier posts in this thread. Why would St Feofil not have performed the tonsure, if there was to be one ? St Feofil and elder Parthenius didn't get along so well. St Feofil is mentioned as having tonsured his own sister not long before his repose. Surely, therefore, the Blessed One would have done the same for Countess Anna if he had been directed to by God [or St Paraskevi, who helped St Feofil quite a bit during his earthly life].

Thus this story strikes me as only that - a story.

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