Novice Sania: The Life of Underground Orthodox Communities through the Testimony of a Witness for the Prosecution

On January 19, 1918, Patriarch Tikhon (born Vasilii Ivanovich Bellavin) issued a message to the faithful, urging all Orthodox believers to establish spiritual unions, “which will oppose the strength of their holy inspiration to the external force.”1 This call was prompted by the onset of widespread persecution of believers in the newly formed Soviet state on the territory of the former Russian Empire. Initially, Orthodox unions and communities, often referred to as brotherhoods and sisterhoods, operated legally and openly, as believers had not fully grasped the extent of the changes the Soviet regime was introducing into society. However, by the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s, many church communities were compelled to enter the new “catacombs,” adopting a secret, unofficial nature, and their religious life became largely hidden and closed.