View source for Barbara (Trofimova) of Piukhtitsa

Schema-Abbess '''Barbara (Trofimova) of the Holy Dormition Piukhtitsa''' in Estonia was a female [[monasticism|monastic]] of the [[Church of Russia]] who was instrumental in the resurgence of Russian monastic life as the Soviet period in Russia ended. She has been called the ''Abbess of all Russia''.

==Life==
Abbess Barbara was born Valentina Alexeyevna Trofimova on [[August 17]], 1930 in the town of Chudovo in Novgorod Province. Her pious family gave her a deeply Orthodox upbringing during difficult times. Valentina moved with her family at the onset of World War II to the town of Luga in Leningrad Province, previously Novgorod Province. There, she completed her education, graduating from high school and, then, from an accounting school, the field in which she began working. Valentina also sang and read in [[church]].

Very soon after she began working, she began to yearn for a different life, a life in monasticism. In 1952, Valentina Trofimova became a [[novice]] in the Convent of the Mother of God &mdash; the Piukhtitsa Dormition Convent in Estonia. In 1955, she moved to the Convent of St. Mary Magdalene in Vilinus where she continued her obedience under the leadership of the eldress Abbess Nina ( Batasheva). Seven, including Valentina, of the wards of Abbess Nina, later Schema-Abbess Barbara, would become abbesses themselves. On [[March 5]], 1958, Ryassafore Nun Valentina Trofimova received the [[tonsure]] and the mantiya, with the name Barbara.

On [[January 3]], 1968, Nun Barbara (Trofimova) was appointed Mother Superior of the Piukhtitsa Convent by His Holiness Patriarch [[Alexei I (Simansky) of Moscow|Alexei I (Simansky)]] of Moscow and All Russia. On the eve of the feast of [[Theophany]], [[January 18]], Abp. [[Alexei II (Ridiger) of Moscow|Alexei (Ridiger)]] of Tallinn and Estonia raised Nun Barbara to the rank of Abbess in St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn, and on the following day, [[January 19]], 1968 he entrusted her with the staff of abbess of Piukhtitsa Convent. Later, His Holiness Patr. Alexei I placed upon her the [[pectoral cross]] in ceremonies in [[Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra[[, near Moscow.

Under the leadership of Abbess Barbara (Trofimova) over the next forty two years, the [[monastery]] of the Piukhtitsa Convent was completely transformed as she  began a comprehensive building program. All the [[church]]es of the monastery were restored, the cupolas and crosses were gilded, and the wall paintings of Dormition Cathedral renovated. New living quarters and stone utility structures, as well as a guesthouse for pilgrims visiting the monastery, were built. At the monastery farm a [[chapel] was built, dedicated to the [[George the Trophy-bearer|Great Martyr George]].

In addition to the restoration of the old monastery buildings and construction of supporting facilities, Mother Barbara expanded the major ecclesiastical buildings with the construction of the St. Sergius bell tower. Following in 1986, a house church was added, [[consecration of a church|consecrated]] to the Hierarch Alexei of Moscow and [[Barbara of Heliopolis|Great Martyr Barbara]]. Then, in 1990, the church dedicated to St. [[John the Forerunner]] and the Hieromartyr Isidore was consecrated.

Also in 1990 a major administrative change occurred as the Piukhtitsa Dormition Convent was placed under the omophorion of the Patriarch of Moscow as a stavropegic monastery under his administrative rule.

Early on [[February 8]], 2011, the Mother [[Superior]] of the Holy Dormition, Piukhtitsa Convent, Schema-Abbess Barbara (Trofimova) reposed in the Lord. Her funeral service was held on [[February 10]], 2011.

==Source==
*[http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/44631.htm   Abbess Barbara of Piukhtitsa Convent Reposes in the Lord]

==External link==
*[http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/7167.htm  Abbess of All Russia]

[[Category: Monastics]]