DOI: 10.17916/p6v880
title: CHARITY OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH DURING THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR (1877-1878)

description:   The article is devoted to the study of the charitable
 activities of the Russian Orthodox Church during the Russian-Turkish war
 (1877-1878). During the war years, the Church always took an active part
 in protecting the state from enemies. Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878 is
 one of the most significant examples of such interaction. It should be
 noted that this military campaign was of particular importance for the
 Russian Orthodox Church, since its goal was to liberate the Orthodox
 peoples of the Balkan Peninsula from the power of the Ottoman Empire. For
 many years, Russian clergymen maintained contact with the Balkan clergy,
 providing them all possible assistance. During the Russo-Turkish war the
 Church’s charitable activities have reached unprecedented proportions.
 Such activities began before the outbreak of war. The church hierarchs
 contributed to the creation of sisters of mercy organizations capable of
 working in military conditions. During the military campaign period, the
 Russian clergy launched active efforts to organize assistance to the
 active army and wounded soldiers. During the sermons, the priests urged
 the congregation to actively donate money and things. Representatives of
 the Church themselves also made a significant contribution for this
 purpose. A special role was played by the provincial, primarily the rural
 clergy, since the bulk of the population of the empire at that time were
 peasants. In our opinion, the Russian Orthodox Church made a very
 significant contribution to the organization and implementation of
 charitable activities during the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878. This
 greatly helped the soldiers, and also assisted the families of those
 killed in the war.  
description: The article
 is based on a systematic approach. Its usage in considering the problem
 allowed the author to research the interrelation of general trends in the
 relations between the Church and the army in the sphere of
 charity. Also the principles of historicism and complexity have been
 used. Based on the principle of historicism, the author comprehensively
 evaluated the facts and documents of the past taking into account the
 specific features of the studied period. Following the principle of
 complexity, it was possible to obtain scientific knowledge about the
 general trends in the development of the Church charitable activity on the
 basis of a variety of identified sources and scientific works.
description:   <strong> I. INTRODUCTION</strong>
 The XIX century is one of
 the most important periods in the history of the development of relations
 between the Church, state, and military force in the Russian Empire. The
 alliance of the Russian army and the Church was severely tested during
 major military campaigns. Such interaction was carried out not only at the
 national, but also at the regional level.<br> The article studies
 the Russian Orthodox Church charitable activity during one of the most
 significant military campaigns in the XIX century Russian history. In
 wartime, the Church has always been actively involved in helping those in
 need. Charity during the Russo-Turkish war (1877-1878) reached
 extraordinary proportions. Donations were received from ordinary people,
 monasteries and the highest Church hierarchy.     <strong>II.
 DISCUSSION</strong> Such an important aspect of the activity of the Orthodox
 Church, especially significant during the period of hostilities, as
 charity, began to be studied in the XIX century. This issue was
 researched, in particular, by Russian religious philosophers. N.A.
 Berdyaev believed that the basis of true Orthodox spirituality should be
 based not only on the desire for personal salvation, but also on
 participation in social transformations, since, according to the
 philosopher, social life depends entirely on the spiritual qualities of
 people.<br> Among the representatives of the secular
 pre-revolutionary historiography, was V.O. Klyuchevsky. In his opinion,
 charity in Russia was not so much a means of improving public
 beautification as a necessary condition for improving moral
 health.<br> Modern researchers also pay attention to some issues
 related to the charitable activities of clergy. The article of V.M.
 Moskvina is devoted to the study of the role of the clergy in cultural and
 educational work among military personnel. In the paper of B.A. Ershov,
 “Sisters of Charity Communities and the Orthodox Church of the Russian
 Province of the XIXth Century,” the role of the Church in creating and
 organizing the activities of provincial sisters of charity communities
 that participated in military campaigns is studied. The article written by
 S.V. Arkhipov examines the charitable activities of the Church during the
 Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, regarding the organization of assistance
 to the Slavic peoples of the Balkan Peninsula and the wounded Russian
 soldiers.<br> However, issues related to the charity of the Russian
 Orthodox Church during the Russian-Turkish war have not been studied in
 sufficient detail. <br> <strong>  III.
 RESULTS</strong> The charitable activities of the Church started on the
 eve of the military campaign. The Synod (the highest governing body of the
 Russian Orthodox Church between 1721 and 1918)  issued a decree of
 November 24, 1876, required all female monasteries and communities to form
 "compassionate sisters" groups consisting of nuns and novices
 for working in military hospitals. The same monasteries were ordered to
 engage in the manufacture of lint, bandages, dressings, and all that was
 required for the wounds treatment. According to the decree of March 3,
 1877, men's monasteries were also involved in the formation of
 "compassionate brothers" groups of monks and novices who were
 able to do the same work. And immediately after the declaration of war,
 the Holy Synod published the required number of copies of the war
 declaring manifest and sent them to the dioceses with the instruction to
 read the manifest in cathedrals, churches and monasteries. The members of
 the Holy Synod, the clergy and the laity called for donations for the army
 needs. Since the autumn of 1877, taking into account the upcoming cold
 weather conditions, the ongoing military operations and a substantial
 increase in the costs of war, the Synod urged monasteries and hermitages
 along the railways to provide all available and reserve room for arranging
 hospitals for convalescent or sick soldiers, having made all the necessary
 materials for them.<br> Collecting donations for military purposes
 was a sphere of activity of two organizations: The Slavic Benevolent
 Society, also known as the Slavic Committee, and the Society for the care
 of sick and wounded soldiers, which was renamed the Red Cross Society soon
 after the war. Slavic Benevolent Society was founded in Moscow in 1858,
 then opened two branches - in St. Petersburg and Kiev. The Society for
 care the sick and wounded soldiers, founded in 1867, had its own
 warehouses to store humanitarian aid in the large cities of the Russian
 Empire.<br> Like during the Crimean War, women's organizations
 played a large role in charitable activities.<br> All communities of
 this type can be divided into 3 groups: 1) communities realizing a wide
 charity activities, including the poor and orphans support; 2)
 communities, whose main activity was to help sick and wounded soldiers
 (these communities closely co-operated with the Ladies' Committee
 caring wounded and sick soldiers); 3) communities that existed at the
 convents and under the jurisdiction of the Holy Synod (these communities
 were often involved in extensive charity work and worked on monastic
 principles).<br> Along with the belonging to a particular community
 sisters of charity, for whom the care of the sick and wounded was a
 professional affair, there were Red Cross sisters who were trained for the
 case of hostilities. In fact, the Red Cross nurses were the women ready to
 abandon their everyday life during the war in order to serve the sick and
 wounded. There were lots of such not only in the capital, but in
 provincial cities too.<br> Legal and administrative provisions of
 the Sisters of Charity during the war were regulated by published in 1875
 "Rules for the Sisters of the Red Cross," and the rules drawn up
 for those wishing to join the Red Cross sisters only during the war.
 Accordingly, the status of permanently working in communities sisters and
 those who would like to perform the duties temporarily (popularly called
 "volunteers" or "civilians") had been
 delineated.<br> Participation in the Orthodox religion for the
 sisters of the Red Cross, according to the specified rules, was optional.
 Women of other faiths could join their ranks. Age limits ranged from 20 to
 45 years. In contrast to the period of the Crimean War, when many of the
 Holy Cross community sisters, after the expiration of the one-year period
 for which they made a vow, were returning home, these women now had to
 serve indefinitely until the end of the war. Freelance sisters recruited
 in excess of the state, initially in the communities, were placed on full
 allowance of the Red Cross. As for administrative functions, they were
 only allowed to exercise control over hospital workers, and their
 professional activities were limited to the preparation of the simplest
 drugs and materials.<br> The start of training for women who
 volunteered to join nursing communities was laid out by the so-called
 Medical Community, which consisted of professional physicians who
 conducted theoretical and practical classes for all comers. They sent the
 corresponding proposal to the Headquarters of the Red Cross Society. The
 first course took place from February to May 1877. The number of students
 was about 500 people, but only 171 of them received certificates according
 to the results of final tests. The majority of the attendees of the
 courses were Orthodox, but there were also Catholic, Lutheran and Jewish
 women among the students.<br> Later, at the initiative of local
 women's committees, similar courses, most often six months, began to
 operate in other cities: Tambov, Kursk, Poltava, Chernigov, Saratov,
 Kostroma, etc. Theoretical studies in these short-term "schools"
 included elementary material on pharmacology, compounding, anatomy,
 physiology, hygiene and surgery; women were taught to bandage, assist with
 operations, read and understand recipes, they were told about hospital
 procedures.<br> Naturally, those who had undergone such short-term
 training did not have a high level of qualification.<br> Long before
 the main stream of civilian sisters, the troops of the “oldest”
 communities that had already been tested and proved to be effective went
 to Bulgaria. In June-July 1877, seven groups left for Romania and the
 Caucasus, less than 20 people each. 32 cross sisters led by Shchekhovskaya
 and Nadezhdina operated at the main crossing of the Russian units across
 the Danube near Zimnitsa, where they were later replaced by sisters of the
 community of St. George.<br> 27 sisters of the St. George community
 headed by E.P. Kartseva before the crossing of the Russian troops served
 at stages in Romania, and then were sent to Bulgaria: Tarnovo, Gorni
 Studen, Gabrovo and Bogota. They were among the few who were allowed to
 take advanced positions near besieged Pleven, where the famous surgeon
 N.V. Sklifosovsky, whose attitude towards the presence of women on the
 front line was negative. Moreover, such permission could only be obtained
 from the main representatives of the Red Cross Society. Sklifosovsky
 believed that individuals and detachments of private societies should not
 appear at all near the battlefield, since this entailed a violation of
 subordination and military discipline.<br> The sisters headed by
 Kartseva, who followed the rapidly advancing Russian detachments, overcame
 the Shipka Pass and, passing through almost the entire territory of
 Bulgaria, worked in Adrianople and Philippopolis, in close proximity to
 Turkey.<br> 120 sisters of the community called “Quench my sorrows”
 under the leadership of Princess N. B. Shakhovskaya served on the
 territory of Romania, through which Russian troops passed, heading to
 Bulgaria, where the main battles of the new war unfolded. In particular,
 they worked near Galats and Brailov, where the crossing of part of the
 Russian divisions across the Danube took place, as well as in Bulgareni,
 already in Bulgaria, near Pleven.<br> 90 representatives of the
 “Blagoveshchenskaya” community headed by Sabinina were transferred from
 Crimea to the stages of patients’ transportation in Romania: from Yassy to
 Fratesti, between which the railway were laid. These sisters worked mainly
 on the Red Cross sanitary trains. In July 1877 the group of sisters headed
 by E.M. Bakunina directed to the Caucasian theater of military operations,
 to the Armenian city of Dilijan.<br> Since June 1877, sisters of the
 Holy Trinity Community (20 people) had been working in Yassy under the
 leadership of E.A. Kublitskaya. Baroness Y.P. Vrevskaya, a friend and
 correspondent of the writer I.S. Turgenev, was in this group.<br> By
 the end of 1877, the authorities considered the number of sisters in
 military hospitals sufficient and the flow of small groups of community
 sisters and female volunteers was suspended. However, at the beginning of
 1878, a massive outbreak of typhus began in the army, which also affected
 a large part of the medical staff. In this regard, in February, the second
 stream of newly trained sisters was organized at the site of the battles.
 Moreover, about 50 women, who returned to Russia because of their poor
 health, again went to Bulgaria and the Caucasus, trying to go there with
 enviable persistence. According to rough estimates, about 1,300 women
 participated in this war as medical and sanitary personnel. Of these, more
 than forty died, and almost all suffered one or another form of typhoid
 fever.<br> As has already been noted, in all sections of Russian
 society, ideas connected with sympathy for the Slavic peoples of the
 Balkans and for rendering all possible assistance to them were very
 popular. Even before the outbreak of hostilities, various charitable
 organizations, including church organizations, collected and sent
 humanitarian supplies there. Since the beginning of the declaration of
 war, the help of the Russians had increased tenfold.<br> Diocesan
 priests actively promoted such undertakings and set their own example.
 Donations of some of them were very significant. For example, the
 Archangelsk Archbishop Makarii donated 2.0 thousand rubles; Archbishop of
 Lithuania Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow Innokenty and Bishop of the
 Caucasus Herman contributed 1.0 thousand rubles each, the Right Reverend
 Pavel of Kishinev - 875 rubles; Archbishop of Astrakhan Chrysanth,
 Archbishop of Kharkov Savva and Archbishop of Vyatka Apollos - 500 rub.
 The total sumo which dioceses themselves donated to the army was about 600
 thousand rubles, including: Moscow (104.784 thousand rubles), St.
 Petersburg (up to 56.0 thousand rubles), Kiev (30.907 thousand rubles),
 Vyatka (21.602 thousand rubles), Vologda (19.586 thousand rubles),
 Vladimir (19,127 thousand rubles), Ekaterinoslav (17.818 thousand rubles),
 Poltava (17.735 thousand rubles), Caucasus ( 16,701 thousand rubles.),
 Yaroslavl (15,398 thousand rubles.).<br> In addition to cash things
 were donated in large quantities everywhere. The total value exceeded
 300.0 thousand rubles throughout Russia. For example, residents of the
 Vyatka province transferred clothes, shoes, household utensils. Bishop
 Apollos, Bishop of Vyatka and Sloboda, donated a gold pocket watch to the
 General Directorate of the Society for the Care of Wounded and Sick
 Soldiers, asking to use them for their intended purpose. On the initiative
 of the Local Government in 1877, 58,467 sets of top and bottom clothes,
 shoes, bed linen, etc. were manufactured and sent to Moscow and Chisinau.
 The donations were so significant that from 6 to 12 women worked daily in
 the Vyatka warehouse engaged in sorting things. Under the supervision of
 the managers of the warehouse AM. Mender and A.F. Subina cut canvases, of
 which were sewn shirts, aprons, sheets, pillowcases etc. Sewing itself was
 issued to the peasant families for a fixed fee, which supported poor
 women, mostly soldiers’ wives. There were a lot of things needed in
 hospital life. Vyatka warehouse sent to the front 900 sets of hospital
 linen.<br> In the first place among the donors were Vyatka priests.
 Priest Andrei Zagarsky, senior priest of the Lebyazhsky church in
 Urzhumsky district, gave two canvases, one tablecloth, two women's
 shirts, nine skeins of thread, and so on. Other priests also made their
 own contribution: Archpriest Farmakovsky, priest Nikolai Olyunin, priest
 Aristarkh Avvakumov. Residents of the village of Bogorodsky in Vyatka
 County sent 41 yards of canvas.<br> The clergy and laity of the
 Voronezh province also took an active part in helping the Slavic peoples
 of the Balkans on the eve of the war and in supporting the army during the
 war.<br> Voronezh poet Ivan Savich Nikitin in the period of the
 Crimean War in his publications expressed hope for the liberation of the
 enslaved Slavs. A native of the village of Korshevo, Bobrovsky district,
 Alexei Suvorin made a great contribution to the timely familiarization of
 the people of Russia with the events on the fronts of the Russo-Turkish
 war, being the editor of the newspaper "Novoe Vremya". In its
 views, Voronezh publicist and historian Mikhail Fyodorovich De-Pule was
 close to the Slavophiles. And the governor himself - Prince Mikhail
 Obolensky - was a relative of the active member of the Slavic committees
 Yury Samarin.<br> However, on the pages of the provincial
 newspapers, their names stand next to the names of priests, officers and
 peasants undeservedly forgotten in our day, animated by patriotic
 feelings.<br> Voronezh province was not among the most well-to-do
 and well-maintained, but all of its inhabitants, even the poorest
 peasantry, united to gather for the needs of the Slavs and the Russian
 army, which were heroically fighting in the Balkans.<br> Many
 citizens of Voronezh sacrificed their lives for the sake of the freedom of
 fraternal peoples.<br> In 1875, an uprising of the Serbian
 population began in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Nevesin gun), to suppress
 which the Turkish government used the most brutal methods. In the Serbian
 principality and border areas of Austria-Hungary and Montenegro, a stream
 of refugees rushed. The Serbs who were driven out of their homes often had
 neither food nor warm clothes. Slavic Committees in St. Petersburg,
 Moscow, Kiev and Odessa immediately began to raise funds to assist
 them.<br> Already in 1875, a representative of the Voronezh Noble
 Assembly sent a letter with a money transfer to the chairman of the Moscow
 Slavic Committee, Ivan Sergeyevich Aksakov: "I have the honor to send
 you 39 rubles collected by subscription in the Voronezh Noble Assembly in
 favor of the affected families of Herzegovina and Bosnia."<br>
 In total, according to Boris Firsov, in 1876–1877 members of the Voronezh
 Noble Assembly donated 1,000 rubles to the Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula
 and for the construction and maintenance of a hospital for wounded and
 sick soldiers in Voronezh.<br> In 1876, Russian society was shocked
 by the cruelties shown during the suppression of the uprising in Bulgaria.
 Voronezh province did not stand aside.<br> In the seventeenth issue
 of the newspaper "Voronezh Diocesan Gazette", published on
 September 1, 1876, a letter of July 24 was published, which was forwarded
 from the Voronezh Spiritual Consistory. The letter recommended everyone to
 acquire the newly published collection “Slavic thoughts and voices”, with
 poems by Pushkin, Lermontov, Zhukovsky, Pleshcheyev, Khomyakov, as well as
 Bulgarian, Serbian and Montenegrin, Galician, Polish, Slovenian, Croatian
 poets.<br> The authors of the letter, in particular, wrote: “Our
 sympathies for the Slavs are understandable, because we are Slavs
 ourselves. The point is that we are strong and free. They are politically
 fragmented and dependent on other nations. In order to strengthen these
 sympathies even more, so that the instinctive love of a Russian person for
 his Slavic brothers can be converted into conscious, rational love — for
 this you need knowledge; it is necessary that the Russian people - all in
 general, and not only the highest educated layers of it - become familiar
 with the rest of the Slavic world, with their thoughts and feelings,
 sorrows and dreams, and in general with the whole structure of its diverse
 life.”<br> In the same issue of the newspaper, a document
 characteristic of that period was published. This is a letter from Novy
 Kalitva, by a priest of the settlement of Vasily Apollosov, dated November
 26, 1876. It states: "In our diocese, every priest directly from
 himself sent and sends ... donations either to Charity Committees existing
 in the capitals, or through various newspaper editorial offices
 ...".<br> According to the estimate attached to the letter,
 from the settlement of Novaya Kalitva on June 12, 1876, 30 rubles were
 sent to the St. Petersburg Slavic Committee, on September 18 to the Moscow
 Committee 25 rubles, on October 21 to the Moscow Committee 10 rubles, to
 November 12 to the Moscow Committee 50 rubles.<br> These sums “make
 up for the most part labor pennies donated by peasants of
 commoners”<br> Priest Vasily reports that 14 people have pledged to
 continue to make money for the needs of the Slavs: this is, in particular,
 assistant parish clerk Andrei Dmitrichenko, state peasant Efimiy
 Yakovenko, village elder Nikolai Krasnoyaruzhsky.<br> These
 donations were not the only ones: on September 20, 1876, peasants of the
 Voronezh province donated money and 50 yards of canvas to families
 affected in Bosnia, Herzegovina and Bulgaria.<br> April 15, 1877 in
 Voronezh Troitsko-Smolensk Cathedral in the presence of the governor MA.
 Obolensky a manifest on declaring war on Turkey was read.<br> By the
 end of April, the city council decided to allocate 20 thousand rubles for
 the needs of the army and to take over the maintenance of 50 beds in a
 local military hospital. In response to the Governor’s report on this
 donation, he received a telegram of thanks from Empress Maria
 Alexandrovna. The amount of donations to the needs of the army by January
 1, 1878 reached 145,224 rubles.<br> The following “Statement to the
 Editor” appeared on the pages of the Diocesan newspaper:<br>
 "In 1877, May 5, we, the undersigned, Bogucharsky district of the
 settlement of the New Assumption Church, sacredly and clergymen, after
 reading in the church of the Imperial Manifesto about the entry of Russian
 troops into the Turkish possessions and after serving the Lord God the
 prayer for giving our Orthodox Christian victory to the Orthodox over the
 enemies, expressed their zealous desire during the whole continuation of
 the war to sacrifice to the sick — wounded soldiers of 2% from the ruble
 of all our monetary incomes coming into the general circle, and in what we
 subscribe.<br> Sloboda Novobelo Assumption Church priest Yevgeny
 Prokopiev, assistant abbot priest Gregory Manuilov. Deacon Mokiy Chuev.
 Deacon Vasily Rajewski. Psalms: Peter Krasnobashtov, Dimitri Stefanov,
 Ivan Popov.<br> On May 29, 1877 a hospital of the Red Cross Society
 was opened in Voronezh, designed for 350 wounded, which operated for
 almost a year. On July 27, 1877, the vicar Bishop of Ostrogozhsk,
 Benjamin, consecrated in the provincial city the temporary church of the
 Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon at the hospital for wounded
 soldiers.<br> In the summer of 1877, Metropolitan Michael of Serbia
 was staying on the territory of the Voronezh diocese. On July 7, he
 arrived at the Zadonsky Bogoroditsky Monastery, where on July 8 he served
 the Divine Liturgy, and in the evening of the same day he left for Moscow.
 He was presented with the icon of St. Tikhon.<br> On June 6, the
 provincial leader of the nobility P.F. Panyutin informed the acting
 Governor I.A. Zvegintsov that on June 5 an extraordinary provincial
 nobility meeting took place, at which it was decided to donate 20 thousand
 rubles for families of officers and lower ranks participating in the
 military campaign. Then a printed sheet was published “for general
 information” - an announcement to the residents of the province. It was
 reported: "Mr. Voronezh provincial leader of the Nobility has the
 honor to make it universally known that the Voronezh extraordinary
 provincial nobility meeting, according to his decision, on June 5, 1877,
 approved by Mr. Minister of Internal Affairs, donated twenty thousand
 rubles for the issuance of cash benefits, in 1st, for families of
 gentlemen officers and lower ranks of the natives of the Voronezh
 province, who are in a helpless position, due to the lack of the sole
 breadwinners called up for service, be able to work their representatives,
 and at 2nd, families of the officers and lower ranks of Voronezh province
 natives who have undergone extremes of wounds due to injuries or death in
 war members of those families. The basis for the families of such
 gentlemen officers and lower ranks of monthly and one-time allowances
 should be the certificates of the Voronezh provincial leader or county
 leaders of the nobility of those districts of the Voronezh province where
 the families needing allowance both the marital status and the inadequate
 status requesting allowance. On the basis of these certificates, the
 issuance of benefits is made in the Voronezh provincial district council,
 or through the district councils, who apply for allowance at the place of
 residence.”<br> The diocesan newspaper published lists of the died
 and missing residents of the Voronezh province in the Russo-Turkish
 war.<br> The Kostroma Diocese, whose borders coincided with the
 borders of the Kostroma province, also provided significant support during
 the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Russian army and southern
 Slavs.<br> In Kostroma diocese groups of compassionate brothers and
 sisters were formed. The main work in this area was carried out in the
 Kostroma Epiphany Anastasiinsky monastery, where a detachment of 66
 compassionate sisters was created and material was collected for hospitals
 from most diocesan monasteries. As a result, the Makariyev-Unzhensky
 monastery transferred to the Red Cross Society 320 arshins of canvas and
 15 skeins of thread for 30 rubles, the Avraamievo-Gorodetsky 775 arshins
 of canvas for 70 rubles, the Forerunner Zheleznoborovsky donated 6 pounds
 of canvas, more than 10,000 arshins, for 100 R. The Kostroma Ladies
 Committee of the Society for the Care of Wounded and Wounded Soldiers
 acted in the Epiphany Monastery itself. By January 1, 1878, 800 poods of
 linen, clothes and other accessories were manufactured and sent to
 operating army units through central warehouses.<br> Galichsky
 Trinity Belbazhsky maidens, Nikolaevsky Starotorzhsky maidens, the
 Virgin-Fedorovsky monasteries, as well as the Virgin-Fedorovskaya and
 Kineshma-Voznesenskaya women's communities also took an active
 part.<br> By the lace collection was collected 833 p. 66 kopecks in
 the monastery, and 5489.44 rubles. in parish and cathedral
 churches.<br>  A hospital for sick and wounded soldiers was also
 created in the Epiphany Monastery: in the subordinate Holy Cross Monastery
 under its jurisdiction, 2 rooms with 60 beds were allocated for these
 needs, 1 building with 15 beds, the house adjacent to the monastery -
 under the Ladies workshop Committee, outbuilding of the building - under
 the warehouse of donations things. The monastery, at its own expense,
 repaired buildings: renovation of exterior wall cladding and painting,
 provision of water from the city reservoir, upholstery of the warehouse’s
 internal walls and installation of stoves in it, at a cost of about 2,000
 rubles. The Ipatiev Monastery provided a reserve building located outside
 the monastery, with the possibility of accommodating up to 10 beds, with
 the availability of a kitchen, and also provided an unlimited and
 completely free supply of all the necessary food for cooking.
 Makariyevo-Unzhensky, Bogoroditsa-Igritsky, Gorodetsky Avraamiev,
 Nikolo-Babaevsky and Predtechensky Zheleznoborovsky monasteries, as well
 as the Krivoezerskaya desert, expressed their willingness to rebuild
 adjacent monasteries, monastic hotels and some outbuildings that could be
 converted for a short time and sick.<br> During the years of the
 Russo-Turkish war 1877-1878 in the cities and villages of the Tambov
 province guardships were established to assist families called up for war.
 A significant role in their activities was played by the parish clergy.
 According to the testimony of the report on the state of the Tambov
 diocese for 1877, the Bishop of Tambov and Shatsk Palladium “Despite the
 unequal security, all monasteries, both male and female, responded readily
 to the appeals of various people of charitable societies to donate to the
 Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula and in favor of our Russian Orthodox
 soldiers who have shed their blood for the holy work of freeing their
 brothers by faith and blood from the Muslim yoke. They were donated by ...
 female monasteries: Sukhota’s 124 rubles in money and 6 pounds of things.”
 The donation of the monastery was significant at that time and was not
 inferior in size to the aid of the larger monasteries. Further in the
 report it was noted that “the last war caused the desire of many brothers
 and sisters to work hard to help the wounded and sick of our soldiers.
 During the past year, they expressed a desire to enter the orderlies and
 sisters of mercy: 2 hieromonks, 2 monks, 1 deacon, 2 novices, 2 nuns and
 23 novices. According to the actual need of the Red Cross, 12 novices of
 the Tambov Sukhota monastery were sent to the sisters of mercy.”
 <br>
 <strong>IV. CONCLUSION</strong> <br> Thus, the Russian
 Orthodox Church rendered significant assistance in the provision of
 materials for the army and in helping the wounded during the years of the
 Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Church organizations not only organized
 charitable activities on their own, but also called on all representatives
 of Russian society to do the same. It can be argued that the clergy were
 among the main instigators and organizers of various actions aimed at
 supporting the Russian army and the liberated Slavic peoples.<br>
 Significant was the role of the Church in the activities of the new for
 Russia charitable organization - the Red Cross Society. It began in the
 years of the Crimean War, when, with the blessing of the Church, the
 sisters of mercy for the first time in large numbers began to serve the
 wounded and sick during military operations. On the eve and in the years
 of the Russo-Turkish war in 1877-1878. This organization received its
 legal and administrative clearance. The Russian Red Cross Society was not
 exclusively Orthodox, nevertheless the overwhelming majority of
 professional sisters of mercy who served in it and volunteers professed
 Orthodoxy.<br> The Russian provincial clergy made a major
 contribution to the organization of charitable assistance to the military
 and civilian population during this war. The sufferings of the Slavic
 peoples of the Balkans and the difficult conditions in which the Russian
 army found itself during the foreign campaign were constantly in the
 center of attention of the clergy of the Russian provinces. These problems
 were widely reported on the pages of the local church press. Provincial
 clergymen actively participated in the propaganda of the war of
 liberation, made significant donations themselves and called for their
 parishioners to do the same.   <strong>REFERENCE LIST</strong>
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 the Russian Orthodox Church during the Russian-Turkish war (1877-1878).
 History and political science. Pp. 126-127.<br> Ashmarov I.A.,
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