When the children played in the yard, which was shared by the church, someone would always find cause to complain about them. Parishioners constantly dropped by unannounced, often casting a critical eye at Matushka Alexandre's housekeeping. Popadija Maria's father died just a week after she lost her first child. She became very depressed and entered hospital for treatment. When popadija returned home, she was shocked by the lack of sympathy.
Divorce is difficult for any family, but it presents special problems for clergy families.
Always having to take second place to the congregation, having to repeatedly cancel plans for someone else's often very petty concerns and having one's children constantly being judged and accused creates more stress than some wives can bear. Presbytera Juliana was full of zeal when she married Nicholas, who was about to graduate in Boston. Her husband was very zealous and threw himself into his work Before long, Presbytera found herself going to art galleries, exhibitions and even walks in the park alone. I may as well have been a widow. We had one daughter, and I wanted another child but there wasn't even time for that.