Among the numerous monasteries near Moscow there is a monastery, which is often compared with the Trinity-Sergius Lavra itself. This is the pearl of the ancient Zvenigorod - Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery, founded at the end of the XIV century. The history of this man’s monastery is inextricably linked with the fate of the monk, and later of the old man, Alexander Mezenets.
Biography
Alexander Mezenets, in the world of Stremoukhov, is a rather mysterious person. Not a single image of his face has survived to this day. The biography of the monk is almost unknown. The origin of Mezenets can only be found from the manuscript, which he wrote personally and presented to one of his associates.
It is known that the elder lived in the 17th century. The exact date of birth is unknown. Historians have found genuine information about his father in the so-called "murals" - books of servants. Comparing the information, the researchers came to the conclusion that Mezenets came from the noble family of the Stremoukhovs. The father’s name was John, he was born in the city of Novgorod-Seversky, near Chernigov. During his life, this city was Polish. It is likely that Mezenets himself was born there too. His father was in the military Cossack service, and especially distinguished himself during the battles with troops from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Crimea in the first half of the 17th century.
Approximately in the 1640s, Mezenets studied at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. After graduation, he moved to Moscow. Then he came to the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery. The exact date and place of tonsure Mezenza in monasticism has not been established. Within the walls of the monastery, he was a kliroshanin (choir singer).
Mezenets had a semi-graceful graceful handwriting, so along with singing he was involved in rewriting hook collections. So in those days they called song books in which the melodies of church chants were recorded not with the usual notes, but with hooks or banners - with special signs. A similar record of music existed in Ancient Russia, but by the end of the 17th century it was almost completely supplanted by the Western European way of writing. However, the Old Believers did not accept the new system and over the next three centuries used hooks in their singing collections, passing on from generation to generation the traditions of ancient Russian musical literacy.
In the library of the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery, six manuscripts of singing books have been preserved, in the design of which Mezenets took part.
Presumably in 1668, Mezenets became an old man of the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery. Only the Russian Orthodox Church did not canonize him, unlike the same Savva Storozhevsky or Seraphim of Sarov.
Personal life
Alexander Mezenets was not married. He made a monastic vow, which implies a complete renunciation of all worldly things, including carnal pleasures. In those days, the abandonment of monasticism was not provided for by the church in Russia. Unauthorized escapees were delayed and returned to the walls of the monastery, and in some cases were placed in a monastery prison. Mezenets kept a vow of celibacy until the end of his days.
