Общее дело / Projects / The Easter Scholia Youth Seminar

The Easter Scholia took place in the Bright Week (28 April - 6 May 2003) in the town of Protvino in the Moscow Region

Sixth of May of the year 2003 A.D. Yesterday I stepped out of a bus onto the Moscow pavement. This was preceded by seven days of rest and studies. People say that the word ‘scholia” originates from the word “school”. I am not a philologist, so I do not know.

Protvino, the town of scientists, is often called the Switzerland of the Moscow Region. However, we were able to fully enjoy the beautiful scenery of our local piece of the above mentioned European country for only one day. The rest of the week was cloudy and rainy. As for the name of the town, we heard the following legend in the museum of local lore:

When the Mongolian invaders came up to the local river their prince (or whatever was his title) scooped some water from it and said something like “pro-tva” which meant “cold river”.

From those days the river is called Protva and the town built on its banks – Protvino.

In the War there was the defense line here. One can still see the ruins of a mill used by the Nazis as a sniper’s nest. Now it serves as a meeting place for the local Tolkien fans.

In the Soviet era the largest electron accelerator in Europe was built here. Then someone decided to build a larger one, 20 (twenty!) kilometers in diameter. A tunnel was dug out, equipment was moved down into it. But at that point it turned out that the country was in need of “some other thinking” and that it was time for perestroika. The tunnel was left intact, but the installation of equipment was stopped.

When you come to Protvino for the first time you get fascinated by the abundance of green color. Can you imagine a housing area standing in the midst of a thick pine forest? In fact there was no felling of trees anywhere but in places reserved for houses and streets. Protvino is considered to be the cleanest town in the south of Moscow Region.

Quite naturally, a reader of these lines might ask: what were the author and other participants of the scholia doing in this beautiful town? His or her curiosity should be bated.

So, eight days ago a group of people who were quite friendly with each other but did not know each other very well boarded a Moscow – Protvino bus. The boarding was quite noisy as the bus driver refused to believe that we had the genuine tickets for his bus. The conflict was settled and we departed. Strong wind was blowing and sleet was hitting the windscreen. We felt sad as though we were Africans spending their holidays on the North Pole. But everything turned out fine in the end.

Peculiar things started happening right after our arrival. It turned out that we were the only guests in 12-storey sanatorium. And later… Each day was full of meetings and walking tours – to the town of Serpukhov to see the miraculous icon of the Holy Mother the Non-Drinking Chalice, to the museum of local lore, to the exhibition of children’s paintings. We also had a flight on an airplane. And, of course, we had a shashlik… Quite an adventure it was! We arrived to a picnic spot at 7 p.m. and left it at 3.a.m. The luckier ones were came and went by car: there was a guy who took a few people there by car for free, had some shashlik with us and took them back to the sanatorium. But the author of these lines and some friends had a night walk (or rather a morning walk) around Protvino, having lost two fellow travelers along the way (they successfully came back half an hour after our arrival). The outcome of the event was the consumption of seven kilos of excellent shashlik. In fact, the food and the living conditions were top level.

No one ever felt bored. There was not a single case of anyone going his or her own way after the meals. It was just exciting for us to be together. By the way, no one in those seven days even uttered the word “discotheque”. We had a music center at our disposal so we could have inserted a cassette with some dance music in the evening, but no one ever felt any need to do so. Communicating with each other was the most important thing for us. This always happens when like-minded persons meet.

I will never forget the lectures of Catechist Alexander Bozhenov which enabled me to systematize my knowledge of the fundamentals of Orthodox faith. Konstantin Povarov’s lectures gave me an insight into the “national features” of the structuring of youth associations. I believe that the Common Cause could be a model of Orthodox activity among youngsters. Although one year old, it has already implemented a number of large scale youth-oriented projects.

And finally I would like to thank the organisers for the unforgettable trip and express the hope that our contacts will continue after the Scholia.