i88 ST. TRIPHON'S MONASTERY 



On the spot of the ancient monastery, close to the tomb of the 

 1 1 6 martyrs, the foundation is laid of the new church ; and the 

 colonists who had settled there are being transferred at the expense 

 of the monastery to another place. It is also proposed, and already 

 decreed by the Holy Synod, to erect a monastery here sixteen versts 

 nearer the sea ; and where the monastery now stands will be the 

 hermitage. In this manner a fresh field opens for the labours of the 

 monks, and for the benevolence of the pious. 



The number of constant inhabitants of the monastery now reaches 



120. 



Evidently now and henceforth, as formerly, and at all times, be- 

 ginning from the ages when the orthodox faith was first planted in 

 Holy Russia, the wilderness attracts with irresistible force pious souls 

 seeking salvation and saint-like life. And this is only too natural ; to 

 man, overwhelmed by life's afflictions and reverses, ensnared in the 

 meshes of worldly temptations and allurements, buffeted by sinful 

 thoughts, desires, and passions ; to the sinner, weak, and sorrowful in 

 mind, longing to be at peace with his own conscience and to find 

 mercy with the heavenly Judge, to him the wilderness is a peaceful 

 welcome harbour, where according to the words of the Psalmist, men 

 go in the hope of God to escape from faint-heartedness and tempest (Psalm 

 liv. 8, 9). 



That is the reason why monasteries in lonely situations have been 

 famous more than others for the severity of their monastic life, for 

 the harmonious beauty of their church service and ritual, and for 

 their frequent and lengthy prayers for the living and masses for 

 the dead. 



At the end of our narrative, let us conclude with the words of the 

 acathistus to the Holy Triphon : " Be joyful, child of honoured parents, 

 dearly beloved of God ; be joyful that called from above you wandered 

 to the shores of the Ocean ; be joyful that there you carried the light 

 of God's love to the Lapland people, dispersing the cold and darkness 



