On August 15-16, 2026, the first graduation of basic training courses in the field of theology for the monastics of the Russian Orthodox Church took place on the basis of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Solovetsky Stavropol Monastery.
After the Divine Liturgy at the Trinity Cathedral of the monastery, Metropolitan Theognost of Kashira, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism, presented graduation certificates to students from the main monastery estate and nearby hermitages, and after the night Divine Liturgy at Golgotha-Crucifixion Skete on Anzer Island to students from hermitages on Anzer Island.
21 residents and employees of the Solovetsky monastery received graduation certificates.
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The courses began their activities in the fall of 2023, when the Interdepartmental Commission for the Education of Monastics received a submission on the right of the Solovetsky Monastery to provide basic training in the field of theology for the monastics of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the first recruitment took place from among the inhabitants of the Solovetsky Monastery and workers who would eventually join the brethren.
The training lasted three years. Russian Russian Orthodox Church students studied eight subjects: "Orthodox Doctrine and the Foundations of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church," "The Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament," "The Holy Scriptures of the New Testament," "General Church History," "The History of the Russian Orthodox Church," "The Foundations of the Liturgical Rules and Liturgics," "The History of Monasticism and Asceticism," "The Holy Scriptures of the Russian Orthodox Church," "The Holy Scriptures of the Russian Orthodox Church," "The Holy Scriptures of the Russian Orthodox Church," "The Holy Scriptures of the Russian Orthodox Church," "The Holy Scriptures of the Russian Orthodox Church," "The Holy Scriptures of the Russian Orthodox Church," "The Holy Scriptures of the Russian Orthodox Church," "The Holy Scriptures of the Russian Orthodox Church."The Church Slavonic language", and then passed the tests in accordance with the church standard of basic training courses in the field of theology of the monastics of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The courses are taught by the vicar and the monks of the monastery with the necessary level of education.
Due to the presence of many remote hermitages and farmsteads in the Solovetsky Monastery, the courses have a well-developed platform for remote participation in lectures and exams, so that all residents and employees of the monastery, including those from the most remote hermitages and farmsteads, have the opportunity to study there.
This year, the courses were accredited by the Interdepartmental Commission for the Education of Monastics, and the field inspection commission noted the diligence of the students and the competence of the teaching staff.
The second set of courses will be held in the fall.
The decision on the need for such education for monastics was made by the Bishops' Councils of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2013 and 2017.