The activities of parochial guardianships and the monastic brotherhoods in the social space of Saratov and Penza provinces in the 1860-1880's

The article is devoted to the activities of parochial custody and monastic brotherhoods in Saratov and Penza province in the 1860-1880s. The author reveals that the clergy activities in general, as well as that of parochial custody and Orthodox brotherhoods, in particular, played an important role in social processes. By carrying out both the periodic and the constant assistance to the indigent people, by involving the laity and government officials into the charity, the Orthodox Church greatly contributed (perhaps often indirectly) to promotion of civil activism of the local community, and the development of private initiative aimed at solving of the painful social problems.