273
edits
Changes
→Altai mission
Fr. Makarii's first convert was one Elesk, an Ulala native who received the [[baptism|baptismal]] name of Ioann. <ref> AMG:FAM pp. 106-107. </ref> According to his records, Fr. Makarii made a total of 675 converts, and baptized 1,047 children (of which 764 were native Altaian and 283 Russian). <ref> AMG:FAM pp. 141-142. </ref>
Fr. Makarii established a [[rule]] for the missionaries under which they were to share goods in common. This rule was maintained until after his death. <ref> AMG:FAM p. 99. </ref>The result was a relatively communitarian social structure in the villages which he supervised--similar, perhaps, to the cenobitic system which he admired.
Fr. Makarii established five Christian villages, in which Russian missionary families guided Altaian natives to adopt a sedentary agricultural lifestyle as well as the Orthodox Christian faith. He also founded two schools, a "poor house," and a hospital. By the onset of World War I, the number of villages had swelled to more than 180, and the number of baptized Altaians to perhaps 40,000, representing 55 percent of the native population. The mission hierarchy grew with corresponding complexity. <ref> AMG:FAM pp. 63-66. </ref>
Opposition emerged not only from local [[shaman]]s and other pagan leaders, but also from the "priestless" [[Old Believers]] (''bespopovtsy'') in the area, as well as certain civil authorities and members of the "white" clergy who had grown accustomed to benefitting financially from their clerical status. <ref> AMG:FAM pp. 123-127. </ref>
Fr. Makarii was usual unusual in his support for women missionaries. A longtime supporter of the restoration of the female diaconate,<ref> AMG:FAM pp. 59-61 </ref> he recruited several umarried women to join his work in Altai as nurses and teachers. <ref> AMG:FAM p. 115-116. </ref>
==Last years==