"An Enviable Lot Befell Me which Will Teach Me to Endure Hardship in the Life of a True Servant of his Church and Fatherland!" Archim. Moisey (Rubalskiy) in his Letters to the Bishop Jeremiah (Solov’ev)
The contribution is devoted to Archimandrite Moisey (Rybalskiy), an outstanding representative of the scholarly monkhood, who dedicated almost 30 years of his life to the religious educational system: serving as a mentor in the Seminary of Stavropol (1849-1852), then working as inspector in the Tiflis Seminary (1853-1858), being the Rector of the Smolensk Seminary (1858-1861) and the Tomsk Seminary (1861-1877), and thereupon acting as the Father Superior of the Khirskiy monastery of St. Stephan and the Spasso-Preobrazhenskiy monastery (i. e., on the Transfiguration of the Saviour). Archimandrite Moisey was sent for three times (in 1853, 1854 and 1856) to the Imperial Russian Missionery Office in Tehran to celebrate the Divine Service on the Easter. He was also invited to visit the Iranian Court and received precious gifts from the Persian Shah - a walking stick and a shawl; he was awarded with a golden pectoral cross and with the orders of St. Anna (2-nd degree) and St. Vladimir (3-rd and 4-th degrees). After his retirement from the religious educational system he became the Father Superior of the Bogoroditskaya (Holy Virgin) Ploschanskaya Pustyn (hermitage) in 1877-1884. He also wrote religious works. The article is based on Fr. Moisey’s letters to his spiritual Father and instructor, Bishop Jeremiah (Soloviev, John in the scheme) who was famous for his ascetic life; Father Moses stayed in obedience to Fr. Jeremiah till he died. Special attention is given to the personality of Father Moisey, to his loyal and devoted service to the ecclesiastical school in spite of any difficulties of time and space.