In mid-May 1911, a group of students of the Kargopol Theological School made a pilgrimage to the Alexander Oshevensky Monastery. This extraordinary event was covered in the Olonets “Eparchial Bulletin”.

A detailed account of the pilgrimage begins with a description of the morning the journey began. Father Ioann Venustov, a priest of the church at the school, addressed the children with a speech about the spiritual meaning of pilgrimage and a feasible religious feat, reminded them of the need to make the sign of the cross “when passing by chapels and crosses, ” after which he led a prayer service to Alexander Oshevensky.

After dinner, having sung the troparion and the kontakion to the Venerable Alexander, the pilgrims set off on their journey; the assistant caretaker and the warden accompanied the students. Their things and food were loaded onto two carts, which the tired pilgrims could use on the way. In the photo, horses with carts are visible in the upper left corner.

A note from the “Eparchial Bulletin” allows us to trace the entire route of the group: the school — in 12 versts (about 12 km) Poluborye (having tea in the house of Father Lutyev) — Verkhnechuryevsky Spassky Parish (overnight) — St. George’s River Parish — turn to the Oshevensky Monastery, which was about ten versts away.

The author of the note emphasizes that the long journey was not easy for many of the children, which is also evidenced by the canes in the hands of some of them. Nevertheless, “they got into carts only with considerable fatigue, ” since “this feat was valued in… a pilgrimage”.

Having put themselves together, the pilgrims lined up in pairs, went through the gates of the monastery with uncovered heads, approached the church where the relics of St. Alexander were kept and sang the troparion and kontakion to the saint. On the territory of the monastery, the pilgrims were greeted by the abbot, hieromonk Father Theodoret who personally escorted them to the refectory.

“The news of the arrival of the students at the Oshevensky monastery, ” the note reported, “apparently spread to the surrounding villages and the people, expecting good singing, gathered in large numbers and crowded in the church.” According to the inhabitants of the monastery, they never saw such a crowd. After the liturgy and prayer service at the shrine of the monk, the young pilgrims were able to kiss the shrine and the cross, fulfilling the purpose of their journey.

The presented photo is part of a series of official photographs taken during that pilgrimage.