P.I. SHIROKORADOV’S LETTER ABOUT HIEROMONCH PAMVA’S RETURN TO DIVNOGORYE CAVE MONASTERY: ON THE RUSSIAN PROVINCE CHARACTERISTICS IN THE 1860s POST-REFORM PERIOD
For the first time the document “The letter of former house serf Shirokoradov about hieromonch Pamva’sreturn to the Divnogorye Cave Monastery of the Dormition” stored in the Russian State Historical Archive is published and analysed. The document provides a historical perspective of the Russian provincial life during the latter half of the XIX century. When analyzing the document, it is clearly seen that two flows in the Russian Orthodox Church are contradistinguished: of inner and outer piety. Hieromonch of Divnogorye Monastery Pamva was a bearer of ascetical tradition established in the monastery by rector Merkuriy (Korotkov). Publishing of the document bringsback the forgotten name of Pavma, who used to have authority with the local people, to the monastery history.