1. The abbess is appointed by the ruling Bishop and confirmed in this position by the Holy Synod.
2. According to monastic tradition, the name of the Mother Superior is exalted at all Divine services.
3. She manages all monastic affairs, and therefore must know well all the needs of the monastery in order to have constant care for everything.
4. The abbess is authorized to: conclude and sign contracts, manage funds and material and property assets of the monastery, develop internal rules, use the seal of the monastery and keep it, issue powers of attorney.
5. The abbess, after a certain test, enrolls newly admitted novices among the sisters and expels those who are unable to live in the monastery, bringing her orders to the attention of the ruling Bishop.
6. The duties of the Mother Superior lie in every possible way to maintain high spiritual discipline and good order in the monastery; concern for spiritual work and improvement of nuns; observation of the splendor and regulations of worship in monastery churches; care for the household, the external condition of churches and other monastery buildings.
7. The abbess, as an official and responsible for her monastery, receives various visitors: pilgrims, foreign and domestic guests, employees of church and government institutions, guided in this by good intentions and her own good judgment, which will serve for the good and benefit of her monastery.
8. The main concern of the Mother Superior is to take care of the spiritual state of her sisterhood, their diligence in prayer, in the divine services of the monastery, their zeal in obedience and, especially, in the pursuit of purity and holiness of life. The abbess constantly keeps in touch with the confessors of the monastery and observes how often the sisters begin the Sacrament of Confession and Communion.
9. The abbess, cultivating the will of the nuns, instilling humility in them, checks the fulfillment of the obediences assigned to each of the members of the monastery, and, if necessary, makes comments, and even severe reprimands, even penances, in order to admonish and correct the sinning sister, seeking from her recognition and repentance for the mistakes made. According to St. Basil the Great, nuns must reveal even the innermost secrets of their hearts to the Mother Superior. In a cenobitic monastery, everything that happens must be brought to her attention in order, on the one hand, to convey to the entire internal administration the nature of unity, and on the other, to free officials from the sin of arbitrariness, which burdens the conscience of the novice and causes confusion in the sisterhood. The abbess directly monitors the correctness of the actions of officials and often visits places of general obedience.
10. In the event of absence, illness or death of the Abbess, the treasurer of the monastery takes over the temporary administration of her duties. In exceptional cases, the deputy abbess of the monastery may be another person from the monastery’s Spiritual Council.
11. All officials of the monastery, except for the treasurer, are appointed by the Abbess by written order for the monastery.

Treasurer

1. The Treasurer is appointed by Decree of the ruling Bishop upon the recommendation of the Mother Superior. The Treasurer in his activities is directly subordinate to the Mother Superior.
2. The duties of the treasurer include careful monitoring of the receipts and expenditures of the monastery treasury and maintaining receipts and expenditure books, in compliance with reporting rules. These books are presented monthly to the Mother Superior for review. Prepares an annual report to the Mother Superior for presentation to the ruling Bishop.
3. The treasurer also monitors the condition and movement of all other types of material assets of the monastery.
4. The treasurer maintains an archive of the most important monastic documents, both economic and financial.
5. The Treasurer monitors the condition and storage of inventories of the monastery property and valuables entering the monastery.
6. With the blessing of the Superior, the treasurer gives advance money to the steward and other persons sent for purchases, and demands an account from them. The treasurer is responsible for taking care of the daily needs of the sisters.
7. On the last days of the month, the treasurer, in the presence of three senior sisters, opens the church mugs, counts the money and enters the total amount in the cash book.
8. The keys to the monastery mugs are kept in the treasury. The candle maker, accountant, cashier, and librarian report to the treasurer.

Dean

1. The duties of the dean include supervision over the preservation of external order and moral behavior of the sisters of the monastery, over discipline and their attitude towards their obediences, both in the church and in the monastery. She makes sure that everyone does their work conscientiously at the appointed time.
2. The dean ensures that complete silence and strict order are maintained in the church during the service. For this purpose, he appoints nuns to ensure discipline in the temple. Monitors the correct reading of synodics and notes and commemorations submitted by parishioners at the Liturgy, prayer services and memorial services.
3. In the event of violations of discipline by any of the sisters, the dean gives instructions, admonishing her with a sisterly word.
4. The dean has the right to enter the sisters’ cells in order to know their everyday needs, as well as to monitor the order and cleanliness in them.
5. In order to maintain monastic discipline, the dean must ensure that there are no strangers in the cells of the monastery - even close relatives, meetings with whom can only be allowed in a reception room specially designated for this purpose, and then with the permission of the Mother Superior. Makes sure that the sisters do not unnecessarily visit people staying in hotel cells.
6. The dean will place the monastic guests in the living rooms and take care of them. Obliges workers and pilgrims to obey monastic rules and regulations.
7. Subordinate to the dean are gatekeepers, janitors, church watchmen, and bell ringers.
8. The dean may have an assistant who, in his absence, performs the same functions.
9. The dean reports all violations of discipline among the sisters to the Mother Superior. She daily brings to the attention of the Mother Superior how the sisters spent the day, whether there were any deviations from obedience or deviations from the rules of monastic life.
10. The dean is responsible for the strict observance by the sisters of the monastery of the daily routine of the monastery. Through successive clergy, it satisfies the spiritual needs (demands) of parishioners and pilgrims.

Sacristan

1. The sacristy is under the direct authority of the dean. The duties of the sacristans are the management of church utensils, vestments and all temple property, as well as their careful storage and use for their intended purpose.
2. The sacristan keeps an inventory of all church property and all sacristy items, especially newly received ones, establishing the inventory number, indicating the source of receipt, century, and price. If possible, the history of especially valuable temple relics, icons, and relics is included in the inventory. Vestry valuables should be kept in a safe place. Without the blessing of the Mother Superior, the inventory should not be given out to anyone. Periodically introduce them to the Mother Superior of the monastery for acquaintance.
3. The sacristan must keep the keys to the sacristy and churches.
4. The sacristan, at the direction of the dean, issues vestments for the priesthood and other items of the sacristy, and ensures that items requiring repair or washing are carried out; were corrected and washed in a timely manner, and church utensils were regularly cleaned and wiped down.
5. The sacristan may have one or even two assistants at his disposal, if necessary. Subordinate to her are the ecclesiarch, the tailors of the monastery sewing room, and the prosphora makers.
6. While serving as a sacristan, with the blessing of the Mother Superior, he can purchase the necessary utensils, with subsequent reporting to the treasurer.

Economy

1. The housekeeper is under the direct supervision of the Mother Superior. The responsibilities of the housekeeper include managing and supervising the economic and construction parts of the monastery and supplying the necessary materials.
2. Particularly cares about churches and chapels, as the first shrines of the monastery. The care of the housekeeper extends to the nursing buildings, as well as to all utility rooms.
3. The steward has at his disposal both nuns engaged in monastic economic work and hired workers, whom the steward accepts and assigns at the right time to perform various types of work, coordinating his work plans with the Mother Superior and with her blessing. Subordinate to the housekeeper are: the cellar attendant, the junk attendant, the heads of the workshops, the refectory attendant, the cook, and the buyer. Controls the use of monastery transport.
4. The distribution of time for working sisters depends on the discretion of the Mother Superior or Dean, and the housekeeper only makes sure that everyone works at the appointed time.
5. The allocation of time for hired workers depends on the discretion of the housekeeper, who assigns the necessary work and monitors the quality of its execution.
6. If the steward finds it necessary and useful to make any improvements in the monastic economy, then she is given the right to present her considerations to the Mother Superior, and after approval and blessing she can begin to implement her plans.
7. The steward has a special monastic obedience - to carry out construction and housekeeping work with minimal costs, protecting the monastery treasury, carefully guarding and spending household goods. materials.
8. The housekeeper, if desired and necessary, can have an assistant.
9. The housekeeper receives the right from the monastery to communicate in business matters with government departments.
10. Work on the monastery farm begins and ends in the church way - with prayer.

Kelarsha

1. Kelarsha is under the direct supervision of the housekeeper. The duties of the kelarsha are to purchase the necessary food products, as well as monitor their safety.
2. Under the supervision of the cellar she is the monastery kitchen, food warehouses, prosphora and the refectory, in which cleanliness and tidiness must be maintained.
3. Kelarsha ensures that what is required according to the monastic Rules is always prepared at meals.
4. Without the special blessing of the Mother Superior, the cellar should not release food into the monastic cells.
5. Kelarsha, together with the housekeeper, takes care of the timely preparation of vegetables and fruits for the winter.
6. The following persons report to the Kelarsha: the refectory attendant, the cook, and all kitchen workers.
7. In the absence of a cellar, his assistant, the refectory, replaces him in everything.

Rakhlyadnaya

1. Rakhlyadnaya is under the direct supervision of the housekeeper. Rukhlyadnaya oversees the acquisition and production of shoes or clothing for the sisters, as well as their repair. In her relations with her sisters, a junk woman should be impartial and attentive, for it often happens that one, out of her modesty, does not ask, but needs things, while another demands unnecessary things.
2. New entrants, instead of a cassock, which should be issued only after some time, should be given special black clothes.
3. As for the material from which clothes should be made for the sisters, the material should be bought simple, more durable than sophisticated, and not colored, but black or gray (for cassocks), for ostentation in clothing is indecent to monastic humility.

Instructor

1. The director is under the direct supervision of the dean. The responsibilities of the charter member are to strictly monitor the order of all church services, so that they are performed in accordance with the Typikon and local monastic customs.
2. The teacher monitors the daily readers, their correct and statutory administration of the hours, troparions, kontakia, kathismas and other readings, which must be performed without errors, reverently, distinctly and traditionally.
3. Beginners and readers with little knowledge should be taught by the charterer how to read correctly in church.
4. The director must monitor the condition of church liturgical books, and those that have fallen into disrepair must be promptly restored or, with the blessing of the Mother Superior, destroyed if they cannot be repaired.
5. In obedience to the charter are: the regent, the honorary readers and singers.
6. The charterer may have an assistant to whom she must transfer her knowledge and experience.

Regent

1. The duties of the regent are to manage the monastery choir and to establish exemplary order in the choir.
2. The choir must sing harmoniously and prayerfully, so that the singing touches, touches and brings spiritual benefit to all those praying.
3. Neither the regent nor the singers should allow jokes, laughter, quarrels, idle talk and noise in the choir.
4. The regent instructs the canonarch to review the texts of the stichera in advance so that he can canonarch clearly and distinctly, making meaningful stops between phrases.
5. The regent is obliged to systematically organize choir rehearsals, in which all singers must take part.
6. The regent submits to the charterer and coordinates all services with her.
7. The list of chants is submitted to the Mother Superior for approval.

Ecclesiarch

1. The duties of the ecclesiarch are to supervise the service of Altar girls in the Altar and the temple, the cleanliness and neatness of the temple, the timely production of the gospel for church services, the lighting of the altar and the temple, as well as the reverent performance of religious processions and other liturgical processions (burial of the deceased, blessing of water, Easter cakes, fruits).
2. The ecclesiarch is subordinate to the sacristan. The Altar Girls are subordinate to the Ecclesiarch.

Altar girl

1. The duties of an altar attendant require a very attentive attitude towards oneself, since this obedience is associated with her presence in the altar near the Holy See and the Altar, in which idle talk, laughter, jokes and everything indecent to this holy place are unacceptable. The altar server must come to the altar in advance to prepare everything necessary for the service.
2. The altar server is responsible for serving during the divine service, lighting the lamps and censer, preparing prosphora, wine, water, warmth and other things related to the divine service.
3. The altar attendant has the responsibility to look after the cleanliness of the altar and the temple; clean the censer, candlesticks, remove dust and cobwebs from windows, icons, look after the carpets, pour water from the washbasin into a specially designated and arranged place, ventilate and sweep the altar. She monitors the lighting of altars and temples.
4. The duties of the altar server include constant monitoring of the correct reading of the synodics and notes and commemorations submitted by the laity at the Liturgy, prayer services and memorial services.
5. At the end of the service, the altar server carefully checks the altar for fire safety. Usually the altar side doors are unlocked and locked by the altar server herself.

Candle holder

1. The responsibility of the candle maker is to accept donations, memorials, as well as other receipts, which she must hand over to the treasurer.

Zvonarsha

1. The bell ringer rings the bell for the service at the appointed time.
2. Blagovest or trezvon is carried out in accordance with the charter and custom of the monastery. The nature of the ringing must correspond to established traditions.
3. The bell ringer should not allow unauthorized persons into the bell tower without special orders and need.
4. The bell-ringer monitors the condition of the entire belfry.

Clerk

1. The duties of the clerk are to conduct all clerical work of the monastery.
2. All written files of the monastery, including archival ones, must always be in perfect order and properly registered.
3. Correspondence between the monastery and various organizations and individuals should be conducted carefully and not delayed.
4. The scribe accepts the monastic correspondence and presents it to the Mother Superior. She also deals with issues of postal orders, parcels and processes them properly.
5. The scribe may have an assistant who delivers and receives all monastic correspondence at the post office.
6. The scribe reports to the Mother Superior or the treasurer and is guided by their instructions.

Librarian

1. The duties of the librarian include managing the monastery library, acquiring the necessary books, as well as other publications, compiling a catalog and card index.
2. The librarian issues books to the nuns of the monastery, keeping records of who and what was issued. It is not permitted to transfer a book taken from the library to another person. The librarian is obliged to demand the return of the books taken from those leaving the monastery.
3. The position of a librarian requires a person experienced in spiritual work, who would issue books in accordance with the development and spiritual preparation of everyone who wants to borrow a book.
4. The librarian promptly sends damaged books for restoration. Monitors the book depository, monitors its internal conditions and especially fire safety.

Prosphora girl

1. The prosphora maker is under the direct supervision of the dean. The prosphora maker is responsible for the quality and timeliness of making prosphoras, especially liturgical ones.
2. Prosphora is baked from pure, fresh premium wheat flour.
3. The prosphora maker herself must live in purity and reverence, being in prayer, especially while working in the prosphora pan, where outside conversations, laughter, and jokes are unacceptable, since holy bread is being baked for the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist.
4. The prosphora maker receives flour and everything she needs from the cellar she.
5. The prosphora room is kept in proper cleanliness and order. The housekeeper reports the need for repair work in the prosphora.

refectory

1. The refectory is under the direct control of the housekeeper. The refectory monitors the timely and high-quality preparation of food for the sisters in the cook's room and keeps order during the meal.
2. While eating in the refectory, the lives of the saints, the prologue, or something from the writings of the holy fathers are usually read. The refectory provides this spiritual book to the designated reader and stores it.
3. The refectory every day (or once for the whole week) asks the Mother Superior for a blessing on what food to prepare and in what quantity.
4. At the end of the common meal, in the second place, the refector, the reader and those of the sisters who, being in urgent obedience, did not get to the first place, eat. After the second meal, the refectory does not release food to anyone, unless on special instructions from the Mother Superior.
5. The refectory monitors that the cleanliness of the room, tables and utensils is always maintained in the refectory.
6. Sets the tables for the sisters' established meal times and then clears away the dishes.

Sick leave

1. The duties of the sick person are to care and supervise those undergoing treatment in the monastery isolation ward.
2. The sick person should be gentle, patient, compassionate and caring towards the sick.
3. The hospital provides patients with food, drink and medicine at the appropriate time.

Hotel

1. The hotel room is subordinate to the dean. Serves those who come to the monastery with the obligatory maintenance of a guest journal according to the established pattern, in accordance with the established procedure.
2. Familiarizes all temporary residents with a signature in the guest register with the following requirements: a/ obey the requirements of the daily routine of the monastery; b/ perform obediences received through the hotel; c/ do not visit the cells of the sisters of the monastery; d/ in case of violation of discipline, leave the monastery upon request.
3. Do not accept for residence without the blessing of the Mother Superior or Dean.

Head workshops

1. The responsibility of the manager of any workshop is to supervise the work carried out in it, as well as the nurses and order in the workshop.
2. Irregularities or abuses must be reported to the Superior.

I. General provisions

1.1. These recommendations for the activities of a full-time assistant dean for religious, educational and catechetical service include an approximate list of duties, rights and responsibilities of a full-time assistant dean for religious, educational and catechetical service.

1.2. In his activities, a full-time assistant dean is guided by:

— the current legislation of the Russian Federation or other countries of the canonical presence of the Russian Orthodox Church;

— the canonical Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church;

- resolutions of Local and Bishops' Councils;

— definitions of the Holy Synod;

- decrees of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus';

— the document “On religious, educational and catechetical service in the Russian Orthodox Church”;

- decrees and orders of the ruling bishop;

— Charter of the parish of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate;

— orders of the Diocesan Department of Religious Education and Catechesis (hereinafter referred to as EOROiK);

- orders of the dean's district;

— other (including civil) regulations.

1.3. A full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical services belongs to the category of specialists, that is, employees who have the special knowledge necessary to perform a particular job.

1.4. A full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical services is an employee of the parish headed by the dean of the district, or another parish belonging to this district.

1.5. An Orthodox believer is appointed to the position of full-time assistant dean for religious, educational and catechetical services:

- regularly participating in church Sacraments;

- having a good reputation among parishioners;

- Actively involved in the life of the parish.

1.6. An applicant for the position of full-time assistant dean for religious, educational and catechetical ministry receives education or confirms his qualifications in an educational institution for the training of catechists. The presence of a document confirming graduation from an educational institution for the training of catechists (or training in it) or a document confirming certification is a necessary condition for appointment to the position of a full-time assistant dean for religious, educational and catechetical ministry.

1.7. Appointment to the position of a full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical services and dismissal from it are made in accordance with the procedure established by the current labor legislation after the approval of his candidacy by the ruling bishop on the proposal of the dean of the district.

1.8. The dean's full-time assistant for religious, educational and catechetical services reports to the dean and coordinates his activities with the chairman of the EOROiK (the relevant responsible diocesan employee).

1.9. The full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical services is part of the Parish Assembly in accordance with the rules established for this.

II. Job responsibilities

2.1. The full-time assistant dean for religious, educational and catechetical services carries out and/or helps rectors of parishes within the deanery, whose staff does not include the assistant rector for religious, educational and catechetical services, organize and develop catechetical activities in the following areas:

- clarification conversations with adults, children of conscious age, as well as with parents and foster children of young children, differentially choosing the content and duration of the clarification course;

— conversations with persons wishing to get married;

— Sunday school classes for adults in order to expand the knowledge of parishioners and parish staff on the basics of Orthodox doctrine;

— biblical (gospel) conversations, conversations on issues of worship;

— work of the parish consulting service on the basics of Orthodox doctrine, church life, Orthodox ethics and rules of behavior in the church;

— catechetical work in preparation for and during pilgrimage trips organized by the parish;

— development, publication and distribution of catechetical leaflets for Orthodox holidays, days of remembrance of the dead, historical church dates after the text has been agreed upon by the EOROiK.

— preparation and regular updating of the contents of the parish information stand materials related to catechetical activities and posting information about major educational and catechetical projects of other parishes and diocesan educational events;

Full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical services:

— organizes events in the field of education and catechesis on a deanery scale;

— analyzes parish reports on catechesis and the activities of Sunday schools.

2.2. The full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical services carries out regular interaction with:

— full-time assistants to the rector for religious, educational and catechetical services, directors of Sunday schools and coordinates their activities;

— directors of Orthodox educational institutions, participates in representing their interests before state and municipal authorities;

— EOROiK within the framework of the work of the EOROiK Board.

2.4. The full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical services is:

- an annual work plan, correlated with plans for other activities of the deanery’s parishes, and submits it for approval to the dean and to the EOROiK, and then for approval to the dean;

- an annual report on activities in the appropriate form and submits it to EOROiK within the established time frame.

2.5. A full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical services is obliged to:

- observe the rules of church piety and morality;

- conscientiously fulfill his labor duties and obediences assigned to him by these recommendations;

— perform other duties arising from these recommendations;

— follow the instructions of the ruling bishop, dean and EOROiK;

— do not disclose confidential information;

- do not express in public speeches (orally or in writing) your position that contradicts the official position of the Russian Orthodox Church, diocese, deanery.

2.6. A full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical ministry regularly improves his qualifications at diocesan or church-wide advanced training courses.

III. Rights

3. In order to fulfill his duties, a full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical services has the right:

— participate in the work of the Parish Assembly;

— request from EOROiK information necessary to optimize spiritual and educational work in the parish, teaching aids, etc.;

- submit to the dean’s consideration proposals for the optimization and development of one’s activities and the creation of the necessary conditions for the performance of official duties, petition the dean for the provision of premises, equipment, and other material and monetary resources;

— with the blessing of the rectors of the parishes in which he operates, engage parish employees to assist in the performance of their official duties;

— recommend to the rectors of the deanery parishes candidates for parishioners and employees of this or another parish as teachers and consultants in certain forms of educational and catechetical activities;

— monitor the quality of work of the involved persons;

- contact the rectors of the parishes of your deanery, the heads of spiritual and educational centers, Sunday schools to obtain the necessary information about the activities of the parish in the field of religious education and catechesis;

— visit parishes, Sunday schools, spiritual and educational centers, Orthodox educational institutions of the deanery in order to monitor their activities.

IV. Responsibility

4. The full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical services is responsible for:

— for non-compliance with the norms of behavior accepted within the framework of Orthodox ethics;

- for improper performance or failure to fulfill their official duties provided for by this job description, within the limits determined by the canon law of the Russian Orthodox Church and the labor legislation of the Russian Federation;

— for untimely provision of reports on the work done;

— for non-compliance with the work schedule;

— for violations of the requirements of the acts specified in clause 1.2 of these Recommendations committed in the process of carrying out their activities;

— for causing material damage within the limits determined by the labor and civil legislation of the Russian Federation.

4.2. The main criteria for assessing the activities of a full-time assistant dean for religious, educational and catechetical service may be:

— accurate and timely performance of their duties;

— the number of parishioners participating in catechetical programs;

— increasing the level of church literacy of parishioners and employees in the parishes of the deanery district;

- regular participation of parishioners in divine services and church sacraments, especially the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ.

An indirect criterion could be an increase in the number of parishioners of deanery churches.

V. Removal from office

5.1. A full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical services is relieved of his position for failure to fulfill the duties set out in Part 2 in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

5.2. In addition to the general grounds for termination of an employment contract, an employment contract with a full-time assistant dean for religious, educational and catechetical service must provide, in accordance with Art. 347 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, additional grounds for its termination:

— the presence of heretical errors and their spread using one’s status;

— lack of necessary skills (cannot cope with one’s responsibilities);

- unauthorized leaving the place of service.

5.3. A full-time assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical services may cease his activities at his own request. In this case, he submits a written petition addressed to the dean and notifies the EOROiK of his desire to terminate his activities in the position of assistant to the dean for religious, educational and catechetical service at least two weeks before his dismissal.

I have read the document

dean's assistant

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(signature) (signature decryption)

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Welcome to the page dedicated to the definition of dean.

This page can be improved by anyone with good intentions. Thank you. -

V.S.Kutaev 09:26, July 31, 2011 (EEST).

Dean- in the Orthodox Church a special position intended to oversee order in a certain church district within the diocese. The dean is a kind of intermediary between the parish and the diocesan administration on a number of issues. The dean is appointed by the ruling bishop of the diocese from among its clergy (as a rule, living in this territory).

In the Catholic Church, the equivalent of a dean is a dean (archpresbyter), in Lutheran churches it is a provost. The dean's supervision of the clergy is entrusted to 10-30 surrounding churches, which make up the dean's district in the diocese, and if there are more than 15 parishes in the district, then the dean may be assigned an assistant; Over the monasteries, one or several Deans are determined in the diocese, depending on the number and distance of the monasteries in the diocese.

The rights and obligations of the Dean of both types are determined by special instructions approved by the Holy Synod. The duties of the Provost over the churches are very complex, and the subjects relating to their activities are very varied.

They are as follows:

1) Through the Dean, the diocesan authorities exercise immediate and comprehensive supervision over the churches and clergy of the district with the goal of “preserving order in the church and the integrity of its ministers for the benefit of Christians and the glory of God.”

2) Through the Dean, the orders of the diocesan authorities relating to parish churches and church clergy are carried out. And finally, the Dean allows priests to travel further than 25 miles from their parish in the same diocese.

3) The dean has some leadership power in relation to the clergy of his district; Thus, he resolves the clergy’s misunderstandings regarding the meaning of superior orders, has the power to give the necessary instructions, etc.

4) The dean has some right of court in such controversial cases and complaints between clergy or between them and parishioners, which can be ended by reconciliation, or in such misdeeds of clergy, which by law do not require formal legal proceedings and can be eliminated by measures of admonition and reprimands , suggestions, etc. He has the right to fine priests with suggestions during the clergy, and deacons and clerics, in addition, with prostrations in the church.

The instructions for the dean of the monasteries indicate a wide range of responsibilities and powers due to the special organization of monastic administration and the power of the abbots of the monasteries. The main objects of the Dean's supervision over monasteries are:

• worship
• piety,
• moral
• farming.

Those entrusted to special overseers to help ruling bishops have been known since ancient times. Such overseers were known as chorepiscopes and periodeuts in ancient times. In Rus' in the early centuries there were tithes And priestly elders, and from the first half of the 18th century - deans. In older usage, dean districts were called protopopiae, and magpies- hence the well-known name of Moscow “the city of forty forties”. With the spread of Orthodoxy in the century to countries historically belonging to the Western cultural sphere, Orthodox deaneries there usually began to be called dean's offices, and their overseers - deans(literally from Greek through Latin - “foremen”).

By the beginning of the 21st century, despite the similarity of their structure, various names were assigned to intra-diocesan associations of parishes in different local Churches.

• Russian: deanery, deanery district
• Bulgarian: spiritual neighborhood (the center of the deanery is the bishop's viceroy; the dean is the bishop's viceroy)
• Romanian: protopopiate
• Polish: dean's office
• Czechoslovak: protopresbiterate, deanery
• in America: deanery

History in the Russian Church since the 18th century

In the Spiritual Regulations of the year, the bishops of the Russian Church were charged, for more thorough and enhanced supervision, to order:

"archpriests or deans specially designated for this purpose, as spiritual fiscals, would inspect everything, that is, related to the duties of the bishop, and would report to him to the bishop whether there was such something, that is, contrary to the promise given by the bishop, where it manifested itself, under the guilt of the eruption who would want to hide."

By the highest personal decree of December of the year, explained in the decree of the Holy Synod of March 24 of the year, in order to better fulfill the duties of the abbots of the monasteries, the bishops were ordered to appoint from among the abbots one dean over the monasteries of the diocese.

Thus, since the beginning of the 19th century, two types of deaneries have developed in the Russian Orthodox Church: 1) on a territorial basis, uniting parishes in close proximity to each other; and 2) monastic deaneries, uniting the monasteries of the diocese. By the beginning of the century in the Russian Church, the parish deanery included 10-30 surrounding churches; depending on the number of monasteries, there could be several monastic deaneries. If there are more than 15 parishes in the district, then an assistant could be assigned to the dean. In the case of supervision of women's monasteries, a “superintendent of the deanery” could be appointed from the abbess (or the elder sisters of the monastery if there is only one). There was also one dean of the stauropegial monasteries.

In the century, the so-called patriarchal or stauropegial deaneries abroad also appeared in the Russian Church. The care of them may be entrusted to any bishop, but these deaneries are under the direct authority of the patriarch, without being included in the diocese. These were the Dutch, Turkmenistan and Yugoslav deaneries.

Nowadays in the Russian Church the dean is appointed by the ruling bishop from among the rectors. The dean is a comprehensive observer of the life of the district entrusted to him; a link between the diocesan administration and the clergy of the deanery; an adviser, and in matters that do not require recourse to the bishop, also a judge for the clergy entrusted to him. At the direction of the bishop, he can hold parish and district meetings. In some dioceses, special deanery councils have been established under dean districts, consisting of a chairman - the dean and two of his assistants.

Used materials

• encyclopedic Dictionary History of the Fatherland from ancient times to the present day.
• Page of the official website of the Vidnovsky deanery:
• "Dean," encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron:

adm. an official in the Russian Orthodox Church who heads one of the districts into which the dioceses are divided; There are also B. Mon-Rei, who are responsible for the order of worship, piety and morality of the brethren.

In the ancient Church, similar duties were performed by periodeuts (Greek: περιοδευτάς), who in the middle. IV century replaced chorebishops (τῶν χωρῶν ἐπίσκοποι), who depended on the diocesan bishop and were limited in their episcopal powers and rights (Ankyr. 13; Antioch. 10). 57th rights. Laodice. The Council states: “It is not proper to install bishops in small towns and villages, but periodeuts; and those who have already been appointed do not do anything without the will of the bishop of the city.” After the abolition of the institution of chorebishops, periodeuts, appointed by diocesan bishops from among the presbyters, governed individual parts of the diocese.

Later, from the position of periodeut, the position of archpriest arose (πρωτοπαπᾶς; mentioned in Byzantine sources: Const. VII Porphyr. De ceremoniis aulae Byzantinae; Scylitza I. Synopsis historiarum; Cedrenus G. Compendium historiarum; Zonara I. Epitome historiarum). The positions of periodeut and archpriest, unlike the chorebishop, were not for life. In Greek Churches where there are many bishops, but the flock of dioceses are few, neither in antiquity nor in the present. At the time, this or a position similar in function to it did not receive such development as in glory. Churches, and especially in Russia, where the dioceses are many times larger than the Greek ones. the number of flocks and the number of churches, and where it is therefore difficult for the diocesan bishop to exercise constant supervision over all parishes.

In the Russian Orthodox Church until the 18th century. local supervision of the clergy in individual districts, into which the diocese was divided, was carried out by governors, customers, ten-tenants, archpriests and priestly elders. The term "B." entered office life gradually. It was first used in relation to priestly elders in the “Instruction for priestly elders and dean overseers” by Patriarch Adrian (1697). The “Spiritual Regulations” (1721) provided: “customers, or deans specially appointed for this, as if spiritual fiscals, would inspect everything (that is, related to the duties of the bishop - V. Ts.) and would report to him to the bishop if there was such something appeared where, under the guilt of the eruption, who would want to hide it” (Part 2. Chapter “The Affairs of the Bishops.” 8).

During the era of reforms of the 60s. XIX century Deanery councils were formed in individual dioceses. During these same years, candidates for the position of B. began to be elected by the clergy of the district by ballot, with the subsequent approval of the chosen one by the ruling bishop. But the election of B. was abolished by a decree of the Holy Synod of 1881. In the process of preparing the Local Council in 1905-1907. the idea of ​​electing B. was again put forward. In 1865, Archbishop. Minsky Mikhail (Golubovich) for the first time convened a meeting of the B. of his diocese. The ruling bishops of other dioceses followed his example. The agenda of such meetings included, in addition to the church administration. educational issues, in particular, the selection of delegates to district and diocesan school congresses, and the raising of funds for theological schools. In the 80s under Chief Prosecutor K.P. Pobedonostsev, such meetings were either stopped or were limited to discussing only the adm. business

According to the personal decree of 1797, explained in the decree of the Holy Synod of 1799, the position of B. mon-rey, appointed from among the monastic abbots, was introduced to supervise the monasteries of the dioceses. B. Mont-Rey was appointed by the diocesan bishop upon the recommendation of the spiritual consistory. In a diocese with a large number of mon-rays there could be several. monastic B. Supervision of wives. The monks were entrusted with B.'s husband. Mont-Rei, in some cases - to the caretakers of the deanery from among the abbess or older sisters - nuns, if there was only one wife in the diocese. mon-ry. The B. of the stauropegial monasteries was appointed by one of the abbots of such monasteries who was also a member of the Moscow Synodal Office. In 1828, the Holy Synod drew up special instructions for B. mon-ray: they were entrusted with the responsibility of Ch. arr. for monastic worship, for the piety and moral condition of the brethren, as well as for the monastic economy.

Local Council of the Orthodox Russian Church 1917-1918. with his “Definition on Diocesan Administration” he established an order according to which “the boundaries of deanery districts are determined by the Diocesan Assembly” (V 66). The Council approved new collegial governing bodies in deanery districts: pastoral and general district deanery meetings (V 68) and deanery councils headed by B. (V 77, 78). The Council introduced an electoral procedure for filling the position of B.: the election of B. for a 5-year term was entrusted to dean meetings; the elected candidate was subject to approval by the diocesan bishop (V 79). The Local Council entrusted B. with: “a) immediate leadership and instructions to the clergy of the district in his official activities; b) collecting taxes from churches and parishes and issuing forms, receiving parish reports for submission to the diocesan authorities, metric, search and income and expenditure books for the entire district; c) announcing the orders of the diocesan and higher church authorities and the resolutions of the Deanery meetings and the Council and monitoring their implementation; d) monitoring and caring for the performance of clerics of their direct official duties and their good behavior, and the Dean reports to the Deanery Council about careless clerics or those leading a shameful life, according to the first and second admonition; e) concern for satisfying the religious needs of believers in parishes that do not have temporary clergy; f) dismissal of clergy members on leave for a period of not more than 14 days within the diocese; g) audit of parish churches and documents... h) supervision of the repair and construction of churches in the district” (V 83).

In conditions of persecution of the Church, the provisions adopted by the Local Council of 1917-1918 could only be partially implemented. In accordance with the circumstances of the time, the Local Council of 1945 in the “Regulations on the management of the Russian Orthodox Church” returned to the practice that existed before 1918. The Regulations say nothing about dean’s meetings or dean’s councils introduced by the Council of 1917-1918. B. in accordance with the Regulations are appointed by the diocesan bishop (III 29). B. is the supervisory and executive body of the bishop. He monitors the activities and behavior of the parish clergy, visits parishes at least 2 times a year and every six months submits to the bishop a report on the state of the district entrusted to him, in especially important cases he reports to the bishop without delay. B. petitions for awards to the clergy and laity under his jurisdiction. If necessary, he makes fraternal admonitions to parish rectors and other clergy, and takes care that the laity of parishes temporarily left without clergy are not deprived of spiritual guidance (III 30).

The Charter on the Governance of the Russian Orthodox Church, adopted by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988, did not introduce significant changes to the procedure for managing deanery districts. The charter imposed on B. the obligation to visit all the parishes of his district at least once a year (VII 58) and gave him the right to hold meetings of the parish meeting at the direction of the bishop, at the request of the rector, as well as the parish meeting and the parish council (VII 59). With the blessing of the bishop, B. could convene the priests of his district for fraternal meetings (VII 60).

In accordance with the current Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church, adopted by the Bishops' Jubilee Council in 2000, the diocese is divided into deanery districts headed by B., appointed by the ruling bishop (X 5. 50). Their boundaries and names are determined by the diocesan council (X 5.51). B.’s responsibilities include taking care of the purity of the Orthodox Church. faith and worthy church-moral education of believers (X 5. 52a), monitoring the performance of divine services, the splendor and decorum in churches, the state of church preaching (52b), “caring for the implementation of decrees and instructions of the diocesan authorities” (52c), “ care for the timely receipt of parish contributions to the diocese" (52d), "giving advice to clergy both regarding the performance of their duties and regarding their personal lives" (52d), eliminating misunderstandings between clergy, as well as between clergy and laity "without formal legal proceedings and with a report on the most significant incidents to the ruling bishop" (52f), preliminary investigation of church offenses at the direction of the bishop (52g), petition to the bishop for rewarding clergy and laity (52z), making proposals to the bishop for filling vacant positions in the district (52i), caring for religion caring for believers in parishes that temporarily do not have clergy (52k), “monitoring the construction and repair of church buildings within the deanery” (52k), taking care of the availability at churches of everything necessary for performing divine services and normal parish office work (52k), “carrying out other duties assigned to him by the bishop” (52n). In comparison with the previous charter, B.’s responsibilities no longer include granting vacations to clergy.

B. is obliged to visit all the parishes of his district at least once a year, checking the liturgical life, the condition of churches and other church buildings, as well as the correct conduct of parish affairs and the church archive, getting acquainted with the religious and moral state of believers (X 5. 53). At the direction of the ruling bishop, at the request of the rector, the parish council or the parish meeting, B. may hold meetings of the parish meeting (X 5. 54). With the blessing of the bishop, B. can convene priests for fraternal meetings (X 5.55). B. annually submits a report to the ruling bishop on the state of the deanery and on his work (X 5. 56). B. may have an office whose employees are appointed by B. himself, but with the knowledge of the diocesan bishop (X 5.57). The activities of B. and the office attached to him are financed from the funds of the parish he heads, and, if necessary, from general diocesan funds (X 5. 58).

Local Council 1917-1918 included Mon-ri in the deanery districts along with the parishes. In connection with this, the position of B. Mont-Rey was also abolished in its former meaning as an administrator, who was in charge of all the Mon-Reys or part of the Mont-Rey diocese. Since then, the position of the monastic B. is internal to the monastery: B. is subordinate to the abbot and viceroy and is primarily responsible for the performance of divine services in the monastery churches, as well as for the piety, moral condition and discipline of the brethren.

Lit.: Spiritual regulations. M., 18974; Nicodemus [Milash], bishop. Dalmatian. Orthodox church law. St. Petersburg, 1897. pp. 388-393; Pavlov A. WITH . Church law course. Serg. P., 1902. S. 246-247; Berdnikov I. WITH . A short course in ecclesiastical law of the Orthodox Church. Kaz., 1913. P. 87-96; Council, 1918. Definitions. Vol. 1. pp. 28-33; Regulations on the management of the Russian Orthodox Church. M., 1945; Charter, 1988; Tsypin V., prot. Canon law. M., 1994. S. 284, 288, 292, 295-296; Smolich. History of the RC. Part 1. pp. 275-276; Charter, 2000.

Prot. Vladislav Tsypin