Marvellous was your call to the Lord, glorious and angel-like your life, gentle your bearing of the Cross, wondrous your humble wisdom. You were obedient even to the cup of death, and from the Diveyevo Convent you entered the Kingdom above. Rejoice, venerable Elena, and do not abandon us with your prayers.
(Troparion, tone 5)
Not far from the Sarov Hermitage, about forty kilometres from Diveyevo, lies the pretty village of Nucha*. In the days of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, a brother and sister lived there on their family estate — Mikhail and Elena Manturov — left orphans at a young age. Mikhail, a few years older than his sister, served in the army in Livonia**. While there, he married Anna Mikhailovna Ernst, a young woman of Lutheran faith. During his service, Mikhail fell gravely ill: the bones in his feet began to waste away. The young man was in despair, as no doctor could help him. His incurable sickness brought him on the long road to Sarov, to the elder Seraphim. Upon their meeting, the holy man said, “By the grace given me by the Lord, I will heal you first.” When Manturov, now healed, rushed to thank him with deep joy and amazement, the elder replied, “Let all thanks be to Almighty God and to His Most Pure Mother!”
But Elena Manturova, then seventeen — a maiden of worldly ways and bright spirit, strikingly beautiful and full of charm — came to the elder by a different road. In 1822, the Manturovs’ grandfather, sensing his end was near, wished to leave his estate to his grandchildren, Mikhail and Elena. Mikhail Vasilyevich was away at the time, so Elena Vasilyevna set out alone with the household servants to avoid delay.
On the way back, they stopped at the post station in the county town of Knyaginino, in Nizhny Novgorod province. Elena Vasilyevna fancied a cup of tea, so she sent the servants to arrange it while she waited in the carriage. When they returned, they found her standing by the coach, clutching the half-open door, her face pale with dread. Certain she was at death’s door, they rushed her inside and called for a priest.
After confession and Communion, the young woman slowly stirred back to life and shared what had happened. As she stepped out of the carriage, she looked up to see a monstrous serpent, poised to devour her whole. The beast swooped lower and lower, and in her terror she cried out to the Mother of God: “Queen of Heaven, save me! I vow never to marry, and to go to a convent!” In a flash, the awful creature shot up into the sky and vanished. Still, the shock lingered. Her family tried to comfort her, suggesting it was only a dust devil, nothing more. Yet life changed completely for Elena Vasilyevna when she returned to the village. That foul breath from the depths forced her to think of God, Whom she had sometimes forgotten amid laughter and lightness, and to ponder how swiftly worldly things pass, how near eternity must be. The once cheerful girl turned thoughtful, and left behind worldly amusements. She spent hours in prayer, read spiritual books, and lived quietly at home like a recluse.
Church of the All-Merciful Saviour, Nucha, Nizhny Novgorod region
Ordinary life had grown hollow, so Elena Vasilyevna resolved to enter a convent. She travelled to Sarov to ask for Father Seraphim’s blessing. But unexpectedly, the elder told her, “No, my child, what are you thinking! The convent — no, my joy, you will marry!”
“What do you mean, Father?” Elena Vasilyevna replied in alarm. “I shall never marry. I simply cannot. I gave the Queen of Heaven my promise to go to a convent. She will punish me if I break my word!”
“No, my joy,” St Seraphim went on, “why shouldn’t you marry! Your husband will be a good man, a pious man, my dear, and everyone will envy your match! No, don’t think any more about the convent, my dear, for you will surely marry, my joy!”
Troubled at heart, Elena Vasilyevna headed home. She wept and prayed, asking the Queen of Heaven for wisdom and direction. The more tears she shed in prayer, the deeper grew her longing to give her life to God. For three whole years, Father Seraphim readied the future saint for life in the Diveyevo community. In 1825, as Elena Vasilyevna turned twenty, the holy father said at their next meeting:
“Well then, if your heart so desires, go on — twelve versts from here is a small community of Mother Agafia Semyonovna, Colonel Melgunova’s widow. Go there as a guest, my dear, and put yourself to the test!” Overflowing with joy, Elena Vasilyevna left Sarov and headed straight for Diveyevo.
Lithograph of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Convent, Nizhny Novgorod province, 1876
A month after her arrival, Father Seraphim called for Elena Vasilyevna and announced, “Now, my joy, it is time for you to be betrothed to the Bridegroom!” Startled and alarmed, Elena Vasilyevna broke down in tears. “I do not wish to marry, Father!” she cried. But Father Seraphim hurried to calm her. “You still do not understand me, my dear! Simply go to Abbess Ksenia Mikhailovna and tell her that I have told you to become betrothed to the Bridegroom and to clothe yourself in the little dark habit... For, you see, what a ‘marriage’ this is, my joy! What a Bridegroom you have, my joy!”
He went on, “I can see your whole God-loving path laid out before you. This is the place set for your life — there is no place better for salvation. Here lies Mother Agafia Semyonovna in her relics; each evening visit her, as she went daily. Follow her steps, for this is the very way you must walk. Fail in this, and you cannot be saved.
“Live as a dove, and among yourselves be as little doves. Live here three years as quietly as a dove. I will stand by you. Keep these rules: always read the akathist, Psalter, psalms, and the daily prayers as you are told. Sit and spin, and you will learn to weave. Let a sister sit beside you and show you how. Remain in silence at all times; speak only when truly needed, and even then, answer ‘with some strain.’ If many questions come, reply: ‘I do not know!’ Never be idle; guard against wandering thoughts, and always stay busy. Eat little, so you do not fall into sleep. On Wednesdays and Fridays, eat just once. From waking until midday, pray: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ From noon until night, repeat: ‘Most Holy Mother of God, save us!’ In the evening, step quietly into the yard and pray the Jesus Prayer one hundred times, and one hundred to the Lady. Tell no one — pray so quietly not even a hint of it may be seen, and you will be like an angel.
While your Bridegroom is away, do not lose heart, be bold and grow in strength. Prepare yourself, my joy, with unceasing prayer for three years, so that all will be ready at the end. Oh, what unspeakable gladness you will know, my dear! I speak of your tonsure, my dear; after three years, take the veil, once you are prepared — no sooner. And when you do, grace will begin to rise and fill your heart, growing more and more. How glorious that will be! When the Archangel Gabriel stood before the Mother of God to bring her the good news, she was troubled for a moment and then spoke: ‘Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.’”
Then you too should say the same: “Let it be to me according to your word!” This is the marriage and Bridegroom I speak of, mother; listen closely, and for now, tell no one. Only believe that all I have told you will come to pass, my joy!”
Swept away by gladness, Elena Vasilyevna returned to Diveyevo. She put on the full monastic habit and eagerly resumed her life of discipline, devoting herself to unceasing prayer, constant reflection, and perfect silence.
Portrait of Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov in the museum of the village of Nucha, on the site of the Manturov family estate
Father Seraphim guided the life of the Diveyevo Convent from Sarov. He needed a faithful and obedient helper to manage matters on the ground, and God sent him one: Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov. The saint knew that both Mikhail and his sister, Elena Vasilyevna, would show total devotion to God and a rare willingness to cast off all worldly ties. For this, he deeply loved them both. Meeting Father Seraphim changed their lives at the deepest level. After receiving a miraculous healing, Manturov undertook the calling of voluntary poverty. With Father Seraphim’s blessing, in 1822 he sold the estate at Nucha, freed his serfs, and moved to Diveyevo. There, as instructed, he bought fifteen desyatins of land for the future convent. Later, with the money left from the sale, he built two churches beside the porch of the Kazan church in Diveyevo — one in honour of the Nativity of Christ, and the other for the Nativity of the Mother of God. He also bought the land for the Trinity Cathedral of the future monastery, where the relics of Saint Seraphim of Sarov now rest. Mikhail Manturov became the elder’s nearest and dearest disciple — Seraphim fondly called him “Mishenka.” For ten years, he had the good fortune to serve in obedience to Saint Seraphim — as both spiritual son and friend. Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov lived as a true example of the Gospel way of life and trust in his spiritual father.
Venerable Seraphim wished to name Elena Vasilyevna as abbess of his new Mill Convent. When he told her, she flushed and begged him: “No, I cannot, Father! All my life, I have obeyed you in all things, but this I cannot do! Better bid me die here at your feet, if you must, than make me abbess — I do not wish it, and I cannot do it, Father!” Yet, once the mill rose and the first seven young women settled there, Father Seraphim ruled that in all things they should seek a blessing from, and look up to, Elena Vasilyevna. Still, she remained until her death in the community by the Kazan church.
Though named as abbess of the Mill Convent, Elena Vasilyevna always worked alongside the other sisters. She was gentle by nature and quietly gave to those in need. Knowing how many of the sisters and the poor lacked the bare essentials, the venerable one would silently share all that she had and all she received from others.
After the Christmas churches were blessed, Father Seraphim appointed Elena Vasilyevna to be sacristan and keeper of the vestments. For this, he asked Father Illarion, a hieromonk from Sarov, to clothe her in the ryasophor, which he did.
Nun Elena rarely left the church. Since there were few literate sisters, she would read the Psalter for six hours at a time and often stayed overnight, resting briefly in a quiet corner on the bare brick floor. Her passing, too, was both striking and steeped in mystery.
When Mikhail Manturov fell gravely ill and hovered at death’s edge, Father Seraphim called Elena Vasilyevna to him and said, “You have always listened to me, my joy, and now I wish to give you obedience... Will you accept it, Mother?” “I have always listened to you and am always ready to obey!” she replied. “You see, Mother,” the elder went on, “Mikhail Vasilyevich — your dear brother — is ill here among us. His hour has come. He must depart this life, yet I still need him for our convent and for the orphans. So here is your obedience: you, Mother, must die in place of Mikhail Vasilyevich.” “Give your blessing, Father,” answered Elena Vasilyevna humbly, as if at peace. Father Seraphim then spoke with her for a long while, bringing comfort to her heart and touching upon death and the life to come. She sat quietly as he spoke, but then her face clouded and she cried, “Father! I am afraid of death!” “What have we to fear in death, my joy?” replied Father Seraphim. “For us, it will be eternal gladness!”
Once back in her quarters, Elena Vasilyevna grew weak, took to her bed, and never rose again. One day, her face changing, she cried out with joy, “Holy Abbess! Mother, do not forsake our convent!” During her last confession, as she lay dying, she revealed that she had received a vision and a revelation.
“Until now, my lips were sealed on this matter,” she whispered, “but the time for silence has passed! While at prayer, I gazed through the open Royal Doors and beheld the splendid Queen of matchless grace who, with a gentle wave of her hand, said, ‘Follow me, and witness what I shall reveal!’ She led me to a grand palace; oh, how I long to paint its wonders with words, but my skill fails me, father! I saw a vast hall, its tables and chairs ablaze with ornaments beyond words.
“The palace lay crowded with nobles and young men of remarkable beauty, seated in quiet dignity. As we stepped inside, all stood without a word and bowed deeply to the Queen. ‘Look, see,’ she said, sweeping her hand over them all, ‘these are My faithful merchants...’
“The chamber shone with even greater splendour, as if flooded with light. Inside were only young women, each outshining the next, dressed in gowns of astonishing purity, with shimmering crowns upon their heads. The crowns differed in form, and some wore two or even three. Then, at the Queen’s gentle nod, I turned to the other side of the room. There I noticed one girl with such a stunning crown, so lovely, I could not help but feel a pang of envy!” Elena Vasilyevna confessed with a sigh. “And all of them, Father, were our sisters — those who once lived at the convent before me, those living now, and others yet to come! But I cannot name them; I am not allowed to speak.
“We stepped out from that chamber, and its doors closed behind us on their own. We moved to a third entrance, finding ourselves then in a hall far dimmer, where, once again, our sisters gathered. They, too, were from the past, present, and future. Everyone wore a crown, though the brightness was not the same. I may not name them either.
“Next, we entered a fourth room, almost dusky, filled as before with sisters — some from our own day, others still to come. They sat or lay on the floor, bent by illness; none had crowns, and on every face was stamped a look of deep sorrow and affliction. ‘These are the careless ones!’ the Queen said, pointing. ‘They too are maidens, but by their own neglect they can never taste true gladness!’”
Elena Vasilyevna reposed on the eve of Pentecost, on 28 May 1832. She was twenty-seven years old, and had spent seven years at the Diveyevo convent. The next day, on Trinity Sunday, during the memorial Liturgy and the singing of the Cherubic Hymn, in plain sight of all those gathered in church, the departed Elena Vasilyevna, as if alive, smiled three times with joyful radiance from her coffin. The elder cried out, “Her soul soared up like a bird! The cherubim and seraphim made their way! She was granted to sit near the Holy Trinity, as a pure maiden!”
Elena Vasilyevna rests beside Mother Alexandra, the first abbess, to the right of the Kazan church.
Reliquary with the holy remains of St Elena of Diveyevo in the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God, at the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery
The veneration of St Elena began in Diveyevo not long after her repose. From the late 1850s, the convent kept written accounts of wonders and healings received at her grave, though sadly, these records have not survived.
After the Diveyevo Convent closed in 1927, and later, the parish Kazan church shut its doors, the graves near the church were razed to the ground. In late September 2000, as plans were made to canonise the holy women of Diveyevo, archaeologists uncovered their relics on 27 September. By 22 December that year, Elena Vasilyevna joined Venerable Alexandra and Marfa of Diveyevo among the locally honoured saints of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese. In 2004, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church gave its blessing for her veneration throughout the Church. Her relics now rest in the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God, at the Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery.
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends (John 15:13). These words of our Lord Jesus Christ were fulfilled in the life of the blessed sister of Diveyevo, the young Russian noblewoman Elena Manturova. With gentle steps and under the blessing of Father Seraphim, she came to the birth of eternal life. The wise elder saw her soul had borne its rich spiritual fruit and stood ready to meet her Creator. No serpent could ever again block her endless joy. Venerable Mother Elena, lift your prayers to God for us!
Prayer
O venerable and God-bearing Mother Elena, pride of Diveyevo, from the fiery serpent that sought to consume you, you were saved by your prayers to the Lord and your vow of chastity; foreseen to monastic life by St Seraphim and betrothed to the Lord Himself; chosen as the head of the convent, yet showing yourself to all in humility as a servant of all, obedient even unto death to your elder. By his word, you, still young, laid down your life for your ailing brother. You beheld the Queen of Heaven and Christ the Lord even while still on earth, and were carried up to the heavenly kingdom. Pray for us, the faint-hearted and disobedient, that we too may be granted the gift of understanding, swift change of heart, and eternal salvation. Amen.
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* The village took its name from the river. Tradition tells that, during Tsar Ivan the Terrible’s campaign against Kazan, the residents of the village of Molyaksa led his army through dense forests to a good road. The Tsar ordered a stone church to be built and stopped by an unknown stream for tea. He was handed a cup, took a sip, and said, “What tea!” From that day, the river was named Nucha.
** The Livonia Governorate (1713–1918) included what is now Latvia and Estonia.
Prepared by the team of obitel-minsk.ru
Photographs from the internet
Sources:
1. The fledglings of Seraphim’s nest: Motovilov and Manturov / V. I. Melnik. — Moscow: Dar, 2007.
2. Chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Convent. In two parts. Compiled by Archimandrite Seraphim Chichagov. 2nd edition. St Petersburg, 1903.
3. St Elena of Diveyevo – Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery (diveevo-monastyr.ru)
4. Diveyevo saints — 104 photos | VKontakte (vk.com)
