Feofania (Gottsova)

Childhood and Youth

Alexandra Sergeevna Shchulepnikova was born on February 15, 1787 in the village of Treskovo in the Soligalichsky district of the Kostroma province with the noblemen Sergei Afanasevich Schulepnikov and Dominika Ivanovna, nee Belkina . Her father came from an ancient boyar clan, and her mother was the daughter of the Vologda governor. In addition to Alexandra Sergeevna, the family had four brothers and seven sisters. Alexandra Sergeevna’s sister Elizabeth married Pavel Antonovich Shipov - one of their daughters, Maria , became the head of the Smolny Institute, the other, Nadezhda , the first head of the female school in Tsarskoye Selo.

In 1798, her parents assigned her to the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens in St. Petersburg, where her older sister was already studying. In 1805, Aleksandra Sergeevna was graduated from the institute with a golden cipher of the Empress Maria Fedorovna , who was her patron, the wife of Emperor Paul I. Later, in 1829, she brought this golden cipher as a gift to the icon of the Mother of God in the Resurrection Goritsky Monastery . Upon graduation, she returned to the estate in Treskovo.

At the beginning of 1809 in St. Petersburg she married General Semyon Stepanovich Gotovtsov . The couple spent a little more than a month together. There was a Russian-Swedish war , and Semyon Stepanovich Gotovtsov was sent to the front, where he was soon injured and died on August 8, 1809.

Remaining a widow, on November 8 of the same year, Alexandra Sergeevna gave birth to a daughter, whom she baptized with the name Anna in the church of the Winter Palace . The Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna became godmother .

During a visit to the Kirillo-Novoezersky monastery, she met the famous old man, Archimandrite Theophanes (in the world of Fedor Sokolov, 1752-1832), who became her confessor. After a short illness on November 8, 1813, the daughter of Alexandra Sergeevna died. The Dowager Empress offered her the position of director in one of the metropolitan girls' institutes, but she rejected this offer.

At the Resurrection Goritsky Monastery

In the Great Lent of 1818, having sent a donation of vestments and utensils to the Voskresensky Goritsky Monastery , Alexandra Sergeevna went there under the pretext of Gowan . At Easter, I sent a letter to the estate in which I informed my relatives about the decision to accept monasticism.

Seven months later, she came to the village to say goodbye to relatives and hire builders to build a cell . Together with her, she decided to become nuns of her twelve former maids. On September 16, 1818, Alexandra Sergeevna was tonsured a Riasophore , with the name Feofania, archimandrite Feofan, whose leadership she entrusted herself.

She carried various obediences in the monastery: she had supervision over singing and reading, worked at a bakery, dug up kitchen gardens, carried water from the river for meals, engaged in needlework (wove carpets, embroidered with gold thread, painted icons). She painted the iconostasis in one of the monastery churches. She sent her icons to St. Petersburg and decorated the sacristy with the proceeds. In the monastery she received the nickname "Monastic Zlatoust" and "Our White Stone".

In 1823 she accompanied the abbess, the elder abbess Mauritius (in the world, Maria Khodneva) to St. Petersburg. Here she was introduced to the members of the royal family and last time met with the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna, who again offered her the position of director of the Catherine Institute, which she could take without removing the monastic rank.

In 1835, she made a pilgrimage to Voronezh and Zadonsk , during which she spoke with the elders: Saint Anthony, Archbishop of Voronezh and the recluse George Zadonsky . Both during the conversation called her abbess .

In 1836, she turned to Emperor Nicholas I with a request to preserve her pension for her deceased husband, and after her final tonsure as a monk. The request was granted.

November 8, 1837 was sheared in the mantle with the same name.

At the Voskresensky Novodevichy Convent

In 1845, Emperor Nicholas I ordered the restoration of a convent in St. Petersburg, founded in 1744 by Empress Elizabeth and converted by Empress Catherine II to the Institute of Noble Maidens. She was appointed to the place of the abbess of the restored monastery on the proposal of Metropolitan Anthony .

With her, the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent was completely restored: on November 3, 1849, the laying of the monastery took place in the presence of the emperor, and already on June 5, 1854, Mother Superior Feofaniya and all the sisters moved to a new place. Until her death, she enjoyed the special respect of members of the reigning house.

Died on May 16, 1866, on Spirits Day , in the eightieth year of life.

• Ignatius Brianchaninov, saint. T. 2. Correspondence with the monks // Complete collection of letters: in 3 t / sost. O. I. Shafranova. - M .: Pilgrim, 2011 .-- 704 p. - ISBN 5-88060-249-4 .
• Igumenia Feofania (Gotovtseva), founder and abbess of the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent in St. Petersburg / [with the blessing of Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Vladimir]. - SPb .: St. Petersburg. Resurrection Novodevichy Convent: St. Trinity St. Sergius Lavra, 2001. - 349, [2] p. - Contents: Letters from the Kirillo-Novoyezersky archimandrite Feofan to Alexandra Gotovtseva (Shchulepnikova), later the nun Feofania.
• The peasant E. Igumenya Feofania (Gotovtseva), founder of the St. Petersburg Resurrection Monastery // Russian ascetics of the XIX century. - M .: Terra - Book Club, 2004 .-- 384 p. - (Russian Orthodox). - ISBN 5-275-00985-2 .