That against the backdrop of the Department of the UOC from Moscow takes place in the capital of Moskvofilism - the Pochaev Lavra in Western Ukraine

Ukraine is more closely close to autocephaly (complete independence) of its Orthodox Church. President Poroshenko made such conclusions after his 7-hour negotiations in Istanbul with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on April 9. On April 18, the president sent the Patriarch the official appeal of autocephaly, and the 19th did the same Ukrainian parliament. The Kyiv authorities are waiting for the long -awaited Tomos about autocephaly, the Constantinople Synod will publish in May. Thanks to him, the two largest “schismatic” churches of the world will “return to the canonical field” - the Kiev Patriarchate (more than 5,000 parishes) and the UAC (about 1,500 parishes).

However, the most noisy part of Ukrainian Orthodoxy against autocephaly. Against the background of the war, the country has polarization and radicalization of public moods. Especially touched the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC -MP), which considers itself "the only canonical." She owns the majority of Ukrainian parishes - more than 11,000. The Pochaev Lavra, located in the Western Ternopil region, became the true capital of Moskvofilism.

A degree of mood measured on Easter days the correspondent of Novye, who became the first Russian journalist who reached Pochaev over the past four years.

Holy Rus', but without Putin

“For four years, I saw here only four cars with Russian numbers,” says a beggar Vitaly, collecting alms before the holy gates of the Holy Assumption Pochaev Lavra. - But buses from Poland arrive every day, many cars from Slovakia, Germany ... ”Ukraine unfolds facing the west and back to Russia - this can now be read in any schedule of a provincial bus station.

Whatever Kiev or Moscow propaganda says there, but people vote with their feet and wallets: buses to Poland - dozens every day, it is good if one.

At the long Lavra services, the name of "the great master and father of our Cyril, the Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', is solemnly led. It’s not that Cyril in the laurel is somehow especially loved-in November last year, the brethren even sent a bishop to Moscow a protest against its ecumenical activity, rapprochement with Catholics. At the very entrance to the laurel, a giant poster flaunts, which depicts the green tree of Orthodoxy and ugly gray branches that have fallen from it - “Catholicism”, “Protestantism”, “Union” ... But the solemn commemoration of the Patriarch is a kind of front to the Ukrainian authorities and a reminder of the “extraterritorial” status of Chchaev.

Surrounded by Greek-Catholic Galicina, Charl and its surroundings (within a radius of about 20 km) feel like a kind of “island of Holy Rus'” and are waiting for the soon arrival of the “Orthodox king-liberator”. They tell how recently-with the best intentions-a group of Ukrainian disabled athletes, winners of the Paralympics came to Lavra.

Of course, the sports form of the disabled was decorated with national symbolism: yellow-blue flags and a coat of arms. The strollers were simply put out of the gate: the representative of the monastery explained to them that “pagan symbolism” was prohibited in the territory of the holy monastery. At the same time, the imperial double -headed eagle is not considered pagan.

From conversations with pilgrims and wanderers, I find out that with all their “Moscow Flows” they have no special illusions regarding Putin and in general the Russian authorities. Their mental gaze is turned deep into history - in the era of Ivan the Terrible or, at least, Nicholas II.

The wanderer Alexander - a very colorful, with a lush red beard, hung with knapsacks and bags - shares the "Pochaevsky Tradition":

“There is already a secret king, who was the elders on Athos. This year it can be opened to the world when they celebrate the 100th anniversary of the martyr King and his family in Yekaterinburg. Putin will not accept the king, and the war for Russia will begin in Rus'. Not the same as it was in the Donbass in 2014, but real. But the king will overcome Putin, and Holy Rus' will recover for a short time. The king will sit on the All -Russian throne not in Moscow, but in Kyiv ... Well, then, as it is written in the Apocalypse, the Antichrist will come. And there will be sorrow, which was not from the addition of the world. "

The taste of folk Orthodoxy and the secret of Yanukovych

Such a concentration of a living, “folk” Orthodoxy, which has been preserved in Pochaev, is not anywhere else-neither in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, nor-even more so-in Sergiev Posad. From all over Ukraine, people with disabilities, demoniac, mentally retarded, tea of ​​the miraculous healing from the foot of the Mother of God, imprinted on Pochaevskaya Gora, and the relics of St. Job and Amphilochia are taken to the monastery. The latter, by the way, lived not so long ago (died in the 1970s) and became famous for the healing of the sick, and used not only prayer, but also medicines and medical methods. In addition to the painful, wanderers, blessed, clicus flows into the monastery, and try to live in Pochaev for as long as possible. Above the entrance to the temple of the Monk Job, an announcement even flaunts: "To spend the night in the temple for more than 7 days is not blessed." They say that a few years ago, the Sleptsov choir spoke at the monastery court.

With this concentration of folk piety, intense spiritual life does not subside in the monastery all day. The saints of the gate open at 4.30 in the morning, after which a long queue is built to the relics of the Monk Job. Even longer (since it moves more slowly) the line in the nearby cave of the Monk. Her visit is a real Orthodox “extreme”: a thin hole leads to the cave, which hides two steep turns, and in different planes. If you get into the cave (and at the same time can fit up to 7 people there) is relatively easy: it is necessary to crawl, dodging along a narrow climb, down, then it is much more difficult to rise: it is necessary to pull up on a rope with one hand. Many pilgrims perceive this as a “test for piety”: a person of high spiritual life crawls out of the cave easily, and the sinner gets stuck in a narrow opening between the stones. In the end, everyone is selected from the cave - the obedient is helped.

Pochaev is famous for his “apocalyptic spirit”: “Pochaevsky leaflets” are distributed semi -legal in the temples of the monastery, denouncing the main “retreats” of our time. The most attention is paid to TIN, barcodes and electronic chips in passports or on bank cards.

It is popularly explained that the barcode contains three sixes-the apocalyptic number of the beast, and the chip is the prototype of the press of the antichrist, which, in exchange for visible amenities, accustoms a person to be part of the world “electronic concentration camp”, attaches him to “digital slavery”, which will allow the upcoming antichrist to manipulate the waves of people, to lead them away from God in eternal bastard. The events in the east of Ukraine are interpreted as the war of the Antichrist forces of the West against Holy Rus', the “antichrist sects” of Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox “schismatics” are scourged.

A special subculture was created in Pochaev and around it, which is probably possible only in such an enclave, surrounded by an alien, “heretical” and “apostatic” environment. Above a small place, whose population is hardly exceeding 10 thousand people, dozens of gold domes sparkle: in addition to the actual laurels, these are also several parish and cemetery temples, as well as temples at hotels, which are countless in Pochaev. Even some shops are built in a characteristic temple style - with domes and altar apse

In nearby villages there are also temples in the Russian style, with eight -pointed crosses and gold onions, and on the streets there are often bearded men and women in long dresses. And this, by the way, is the Ternopil region - the stronghold of Bandera!

The ethnic identity is somewhat blurred here: although they speak Ukrainian, they usually do not consider themselves Ukrainians, and Moldova serves in the monastery and surrounding temples itself. In the UOC -MP, it is believed that Pochaev fell under the control of the Moldavian Mafia. Which, by the way, only strengthens his “extraterritorial” status.

To the honor of Pochaev, it should be noted that there is no such rampant commerce as in Russian monasteries on its territory. If in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra every free room is packed with different church shops, then in Pochaev there is only one large store and one small icon shop. There is a free refectory and the possibility of a free overnight in the temple. The refectory provides better nutrition at a “strange house” (a monastery hotel with 500 seats), but here you can meet a dinner of 30-50 hryvnias ($ 1-2). In addition to free accommodation in the temple, there are options for any wallet: from 10 hryvnias per night for a bed in a 10-seater room up to 1400 hryvnias for a 4-star hotel room.

Despite the economic crisis, construction has not stopped in the monastery: in recent years, the “strange house” has constantly expanded, now they equip the parking and individual, automobile holy gates. The classic architectural appearance of the laurel, formed by the 19th century, literally blew up a new 33-domed Preobrazhensky Cathedral, the construction of which ended in 2013-in the last year of Yanukovych's reign. The monastery authorities claim that he is one of the five largest temples in Europe - in general, we are comparable in size with the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They never had time to finish the cathedral - the floors are still not covered in it, cement dust everywhere. But the walls are decorated with clumsy paintings in pink-blue colors with periodic inserts in other styles-eclecticism! They serve in this cathedral infrequently, preferring the “prayed” Assumption Cathedral with the foot of the Mother of God and the miraculous Pochaev icon, which hangs on the ribbons over the royal gates.

However, the new cathedral is fraught with some secret. His two outfits - the north and southern - are consecrated in honor of the two saints with the same name, Mark.

The construction of the cathedral was personally supervised by Yanukovych, investing in it considerable amounts of his difficult labor acquired by difficult labor. So now they say that Mark is the name of a fugitive president in a secret monastic tonsure ...

***

In general, Pochaev keeps many secrets. But his main secret is an unshakable faith in “Mother Russia”, guaranteed by European democracy and “unbridled” freedom of speech, a faith that is already impossible in such tones in Russia itself.