Through various publications, the English speaking world is gradually becoming acquainted with the great monastic fathers and elders of Holy Russia, especially those of such renowned monasteries as Optina and Valaam. Almost nothing, however, is said about those abbesses and nuns who made equally important contributions to the flowering of monasticism and the dissemination throughout society of the Christian ideal.
Few people realize that women' s convents by far outnumbered men's monasteries.
Women struggled just as manfully in the spiritual arena and were found on all paths of the monastic life, whether as hermits, in desert sketes, or in large convents. Some struggled in obscurity while others enjoyed the patronage of some pious members of high society. But whether the convent was large or small, rich or poor, the common goal of union with God produced a spiritual fragrance which attracted and encouraged many on the path to salvation. The Annunciation Convent of Ufa was among those well known for the high spiritual caliber of its nuns. Such was the fruit of its foundress, Abbess Philareta, who was herself a disciple of St. Seraphim of Sarov and the great Glinsk Elder Philaret.