The role of woman in missionary work of the Russian Orthodox Church (based on the letters of Archimandrite Makariy (Glukharev))

The relevance of woman in the missionary work of the Russian Orthodox Church at the present stage actualizes the study of the historical experience of women’s participation in the church mission. The purpose of the article is to study the role of women in the work of the Altai Spiritual Mission at the initial stage of its development. For the first time, the article systematically analyzes the activities of women in the context of the main areas of work of the Altai Mission and characterizes its results. The social work of women, their pedagogical, educational and catechetical activities, assistance in the scientific and publishing work of the mission, assistance in the improvement of churches, and support for missionaries with financial donations are studied. Thanks to the labors of women, a hospital worked in the mission; orphans and poor residents received help; translations of biblical books were prepared and the work of St. Barsanofy the Great was published. The author comes to the conclusion that women played a significant role in the Altai Spiritual Mission: with the participation of women, the foundations of social work were laid; conditions were created for the development of primary education in the region; the scientific and publishing activities of the mission were initiated. Women provided a link between society and the mission. In general, thanks to the activities of women in the Altai Spiritual Mission, prerequisites were formed for the institutionalization of women’s missionary service in the Russian Empire in the pre-reform period.