Abbot Moses of the Svyatogorsky monastery of the Pskov diocese (1789-1804 and 1805-1808): “According to my position I am in the church ministry and in the process of building and watching over a monastery”

Abbot Moses (1741-1809), rector of the Svyatogorsk Monastery in the Pskov Diocese at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, is not as widely known as his followers, who spiritually took care of A. S. Pushkin during his Mikhailov exile. At present, only scarce information about him is available. The events that took place in the monastery during the years of his ministry are also little studied. The analysis of archival documents of the Svyatogorsk Monastery, stored in the State Archives of the Pskov Region, given in this article, allows us to shed light on some important aspects of the activity of the abbot and evaluate his contribution to the development of the monastery. Based on the studied materials, it is concluded that the abbot made a huge contribution to the revival and development of the Svyatogorsk Monastery in the difficult post-secularization period. The basis of the success of the abbot was his high personal qualities, pastoral love for the inhabitants of the monastery and responsibility for their future. The result of the ascetic labors of Abbot Moses was an increase in the composition of the brethren, large-scale stone construction that unfolded in the monastery, improvements in the administrative management and economic activities of the well-known monastery.