The Annunciation Monastery in Ufa is one of the most famous monasteries due to the high spiritual status of its nuns. This was the fruit of its founder, Mother Philaret, who was in turn a disciple of St. Seraphim of Sarov and the great Elder Philaret. Her biography is contained in the Glinks Patericon, from which this brief biography is taken.
Stavnid Stavnovna Peshkova, later Mother Philaret, was born in 1807 into a church family. Her mother was illiterate and often asked the children to read aloud from the Word of God or to recite the Scripture readings they heard in church. At the same time, she accustomed them to work. Stavnid, the middle girl, was distinguished by her piety, although she had a very lively nature that sometimes got her into trouble. At the age of ten she was entrusted to a very educated and pious woman who gave her a solid foundation in basic learning skills as well as in various forms of manual labor. Every morning, after her prayers, Stavnid read the biography of the saint of the day and then answered questions about it.
When she returned home years later, her parents thought about finding her a suitable husband, but the girl harbored a secret desire to become a nun. Not daring to tell her parents about it, she turned to her guardian angel and the Lady of Heaven with burning tears and prayers. By God’s providence, circumstances arranged themselves so that the idea of marriage was put aside. Her younger brother John fell ill and suffered for two years from a leg ailment until some nuns from the Seven Swamps Monastery came to the village with the miraculous icon of the Mother of God from Smolensk. The boy knelt before the icon with a heart full of prayer. As the icon was raised above him, the suffering boy experienced a complete cessation of pain. In gratitude for this miracle, the parents allowed Stephanida to accompany the icon back to the monastery, where she spent a month performing various acts of obedience. This experience strengthened her desire for monastic life.
She quickly took the blessing of her parents to go with a friend on a pilgrimage to Kiev. On the way they stopped in Sarov where Father Seraphim (the saint) warmly welcomed them and told Stavneda that she was to go to Ufa where there was a monastery and there she would be abbess and find salvation. He then directed them to Glinsk to meet Elder Philaret. This they did on their way back from Kiev. The insightful Elder showed special warmth to the young traveler Stavneda and became her spiritual father and guide.
After returning home, Stafnida received permission to join a group of young aspiring nuns who lived in a house that her parents had built and supported. The bishop was drawn to the exemplary life of this small community, blessed their efforts, and appointed Stafnida its leader. In 1832 the young community moved to a larger house in Ufa. Two of the sisters were sent to the monastery of St. Seraphim in Arzamas to learn embroidery and other handicrafts. Upon their return to Ufa, they shared their knowledge with the other sisters, and the community soon gained a reputation for the high quality of its work.
It was not long before the number of sisters outgrew the space. At the same time the bishop felt that it was possible to recognize the community as a monastery. When the matter was submitted to the Holy Synod for approval, the rules required a large sum of money as a reserve for the monastery, so the sisters were left with no money to buy land. In her grief, Stavneda turned to Elder Philaret, who took the initiative to write recommendations. The money was collected, but the Synod’s representative did not give permission to open a monastery. In St. Petersburg, Archimandrite Palladius urged Stavneda to pray before the relics of St. Alexander Nevsky, saying: “Our saint was a warrior and through his prayers you will soon obtain what is necessary.”
The sun had not yet risen the next day when the council’s procurator summoned Stephanida. That night Saint Alexander had appeared to him in a dream and forcefully asked him why he did not want to open a monastery in Ufa. The procurator immediately promised to take care of everything, which he did. On her return from the northern capital, Stephanida stopped in Glinsk to ask Elder Philaret what saint or feast the monastery was dedicated to. He advised her to wait until she received the official papers from the council with permission, and then to name it after the first feast of the Mother of God that fell after that date. He also gave her a rule for the monastery. According to his instructions, the monastery was dedicated to the feast of the Annunciation. In the same year, 1838, Stephanida was ordained Philaret and shortly afterward was appointed abbess.
Under her capable and wise care, the monastery began to flourish quickly, both internally, in the spiritual life of the nuns, and externally, in the buildings, church and property. It had a candle factory and a mill. The church authorities recognized the high level of the nuns, and appointed a number of them as superiors of other monasteries.
Mother Philaret was an example to all by her ascetic life and by her apparent love and concern for the nuns. The Ufa Monastery became a shining beacon, spreading its light into the distant wilderness of Siberia, where other monasteries were founded, following the same rule as Elder Philaret. This God-pleasing work angered the sleepless enemy of our salvation, who raised a storm of lies and slander against Mother Philaret. It came to the point that she was expelled from her position as abbess and several nuns who had stood by her were punished. But she did not object and patiently bore the cross of persecution, comforted in prayer before the icon of the Crucified One. The Lord did not leave her without comfort either, for once she heard a voice coming from the cross: “Look at me: I was nailed to the cross naked, but you are clothed and free.” Four months later, Mother Philaret was summoned to St. Petersburg, where she proved herself innocent and a victim of slander. She was appointed abbess of a monastery in Beltava, where she spent the next ten years. Under her able management this monastery also flourished and this again angered the evil one. Mother Philaretta was accused of embezzlement and although she was acquitted it became difficult for her to remain there.
God allowed His faithful servant to drink the bitter cup of suffering out of His love for her, and she was purified from the many passions and weaknesses common to all human beings. All these difficulties helped her to reach spiritual maturity, so that when she returned to her beloved monastery in Ufa, she was the elder of the nuns who loved and respected her greatly. The evil one continued to trouble her as before, but Mother Philaretta overcame him with humility, always saying, “It is good that the Lord has placed me.”
As she approached the end of her earthly pilgrimage, she was granted to see in a dream the Most Holy Mother of God, who promised her never to leave her. Mother Philaretta knew in advance the day of her death and prepared herself by receiving the hosts and anointing with oil. In peace with everyone, she said her last farewell to all the nuns before the Lord took her to Himself on March 2, 1890, at the age of eighty-three.
Thus ended the life of the righteous Elder Philaret, a disciple of the great Saint Seraphim and the holy Elder Philaret of Glinsk. Through her prayers may the Lord have mercy on us sinners. Amen.
