[000:00:00;00] lendl . rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want. a little. the windswept journey to villa can be an act of penance in itself. doesn't all for excitement or adventure give many come here for months at

a time some never leave it's all they say that the love saves them. this is one of the holiest sites of the russian orthodox church home to a thriving ministry the lay community that would exclude it and groups of volunteers that come and go throughout the year for the face full this is a journey for the soul the pilgrimage. this is the plays that has been consecrated to god for almost a thousand of years. people came here twenty some years ago and some stablished the mastic life on this island. they did that believing that.

christ is the only source of true joy and happiness in the life. that understanding penetrated into everything that surrounds us in a monastery and people i suppose feel that feel the love of christ working on. so girls will divide into groups now so we need about. how many people do you need seven seven people who only choose one two three four five. six seven seven people good the rest will split into two one half will go to the farm the other to the op a girl who's already been to the upper garden you know that we're. going to go to the apple garden i'm allergic to any mother can go to the farm and me go to the

fire of cows. what comes of along with a group of volunteers men and women of all ages who are here to give something back to god and in this case it means hard work this is the middle of the busy tourist season and there's plenty to do down on the farm. i mean coming into the chicken coop like into the lion's den. thank you so much i. like your careful catherine household she doesn't know you japhet but i this came under your letter in your hand she'll sit on your hand. of state it's a bit stressful for them. on the neck like this ok so it would. finally be like having their what'll start at this one has gone. far away from there try

this. still. there we go mother what's that like this on the wall i'm the sanctified on vellum and they're very kind to me to see ok and they are you do do do do do go good go through. a long special eggs. see what the fuss is all about. the most one two three. whether it's the saintly atmosphere or something in their feet they certainly fantastic layers two gigantic seconds here and then. ok very much one and. that's if one two three four for. one set done.

only another seven hundred seventy five to go. the volunteers come from a huge variety of different backgrounds svetlana is a model for moscow but she's not afraid of getting a hamster well it's probably not normal that a girl like me came here instead of going to turkey or enjoying summer in a beach town where but here i am living with monsoon wedding someone else's garden there is the bit there are other people that look at themselves and at life in a completely different way and they're not held back really you know we're all here . little answer for me is a place of strong spiritual power i've wanted to come here for a long time now there is a possibility i can become a volunteer. here to work for the glory of god and how priests or this place. there are common threads that bind many of the people here together and the group also becomes like a surrogate family. mostly these outward x.

people who came here to find. brotherhood but of course there is some percentage that come here looking for their way in life. than i take them for a walk in the woods. try to know what they were come to help them find a ounce. many people simply come for the islands outstanding natural beauty. edged by rugged shorelines and covered with lush greenery this is truly a tranquil getaway but there are some visitors to the long term who have no families to return to his trip to the island is a welcome break from a difficult life. leaker's ill as new york runs a camp for children from local orphanages who also have learning difficulties for many it's the first time they've spent nights away from the city. because it the

first time we came here with disabled children for many years before we used to take the kids on trips which is that because we understood that nature does children a world of good and that you were decided to try working with children with the help of allah is the nature of this place turned out to be totally unique and it's not just the nature here that works. him you should bear in mind that these children are from a correctional orphanage they are believed to be unable to go to an ordinary school because of some mental disability and in fact this isn't true they are not mentally retarded whatsoever. that these are the first kids that just sit on the shore of lot of god and watch the storms the splashing water and they say thank you for choosing that you beautiful place. it was simply amazing. that they feel it that they can feel the beauty of the apparently they don't have

good feelings in their lives. hardly any. fifteen year old denise is just one of the youngsters reaping the benefits this is his second so i'm on the island and he says it's changed his life but it's. rocky road that's brought him here. i can't say that i had a good childhood. my dad was an alcoholic my mom was too mom ended up in prison that's how i ended up in an orphanage. everything changes as time goes by. at the moment i have no grudge against anyone my life has become so much better. but i've forgotten my past it's no good remembering it. and he's a humvee meant to have

a room when you catch something to. pull it into the sure. through. the. docs. yeah. this is silly. yes it love. the model that you. did you did you.

know i was staying in the volunteers dormitory normally men and women are kept segregates it's both the old get together is allowed especially for a meet and greet session. everyone says where they're from what they've come to the law and then name. then all you've got to do is remember them being here yes. you. did. oh i've done that that's ok let's have a good. amount of volunteer you know. cynics saying you know. i live. in the midst of a game out here oh do you know. that on a case of homicidal. saying.

i'm going you said he wouldn't be able to do it you know and sometimes sometimes it works. sometimes who. work at the mall mistreat takes us all around the island along roads that people have travelled here for more than one hundred fifty years. although most of the brothers live in the center of the ministry a small selection choose to isolate themselves from the rest of the community retiring to hermitages where only men are allowed to enter the grounds. the russians call these places. and they're among the holiest centers of the law. each one is way off the beaten track and for some of the volunteers. the journey to gold has been anything but straightforward to. use to be an atheist and believed in nothing but science logic and facts i was looking for truth everywhere. that people

write books about make films about. only after twenty years of searching did i become an orthodox christian off the printing of the coffin of a famous russian saint i discovered that many things have changed because first of all the pain in my leg that i'd suffered for ages had disappeared and last but not least i discovered the ability to read in the old church slavonic even though i'd never learned how to do that. those who've been here more than once say you have to put the toyman to understand it fully but living and working here is the only way to really tap into it's energy the job is tough. but none of the volunteers complain everyone is confident of a spiritual rewards and happy that they're working to reestablish a face that was so persecuted during the soviet union. is the only branch that has managed to keep the tradition alive that's not changed since the time of the apostles but maybe that's why it was preserved the bread of life the jesus christ spoke of the living would that's what russia is experiencing

a spiritual rise now. wealthy british style. markets. can. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike scott brown no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to kaiser report on our. did you know the price is the only industry specifically mentioned in the constitution and. that's because

a free and open press is critical to our democracy schreck albus. role. in fact the single biggest threat facing our nation today is the corporate takeover of our government and across the cynical we've been hijacked trying handful of transnational corporations that will profit by destroying what our founding fathers one school class i'm tom hartman and on this show we reveal the big picture of what's actually going on in the world we go beyond identifying the problem to try rational debate and a real discussion of critical issues facing up to five different job ready to join the movement then walk a bit but. i

would rather ask questions to people in positions of power instead of speaking on their behalf and that's why you can find my show larry king now right here on our t.v. question more. blonds pride and joy is its transfiguration of the savior cathedral and the sound of its bells st tourists pilgrims and volunteers to worship or to work. ok let's work for the glory of god. all the skilled workers conks hammer and replace the volunteers keep supplies coming and clean up the mess it's

a massive job the cathedral is seventy six meters high and in some areas they're having to remove more than one hundred twenty years of to that. when they came here last year it was seen approximately the same condition. here it's a long process this is serious work and it's very expensive and requires a high degree of professionalism with what i was surprised when they invited volunteers to work here at best their trusted with work like this. is it enough or do we need more you know what i think it's enough. you'll have to carry it let's go . to his or heavy. back up or to move i'll take it. to waste has to go somewhere and again i am responsible for getting it off the scaffolding

as quickly as possible we need to take the direct route. the buckets and probably a transport system but it would. for a career forty years it had no proper roof it wasn't looked after properly and still it enjoyed all these conditions that any means that the cathedral was made really very well it was built with a huge margin for safety by cathedral will stand like this for many years to come what right now we're trying to save what's been preserved this work should be done

and it should be preserved this is truly part of the national heritage. so. we can then. form. the board. or. board. leaker into a team of volunteers want their children to leave with a new perspective also the work they do here fosters a spirit of cooperation and they can see the efforts developing before their eyes is lifted so are you here it's hard to explain everything is so natural this is the way people should live i guess. you know what.

we wanted to show these children that there is a place where they can ask for help in case something really bad happens to them i don't think they understand completely that bad things will happen to them in the future. they are perfectly aware of what life has in store for them and they know that there will be a lot of drug dealers and alcohol and then the stand how hard it is to resist those things so it's very important for them to know that there is a place where they're always welcome that they should know how to find the way to this place where. around stepping back into a different age and it's easy to see why so many regard it as a sanctuary away from the real world. it seems to have a physical and emotional energy which the monks say is

a manifestation of god's grace. it's had such a profound effect on so many that there's even a syndrome named after it. the compulsion true turn to the island again and again it's not just adults who experience it. my mom first brought me here i started going to scone i liked it very much and it's become my third place now is it your favorite place i like it because of its weather because of the monastery in here they've got a farm and. people are very kind you know what you want to do when you grow up to be a monk you want to be a monk why it's just what's in my heart i can't explain why i feel this way. and since then the live hit he has i want to live on balaam what he actually wants at this point is not to be a monk but he once he wants

a purpose here once something pure something which dignifies him. something which speaks of him as a man as a human being people became knights and soldiers for the same reason. i would certainly encourage him. to. use its journey to the brotherhood here was more unusual than most after tending university in st petersburg he spent fifteen years living in ministering in the us before retiring to villa he says each monk must earn his place in the monastery. spiritual pastors of the monitor will just say the word or you're prepared to become a novice and you'll become officially a novice on the part of the brotherhood and spend some time that way and the few

years or maybe months later if you still decide to embrace this kind of wife and people see your. as a benefit to the community you'll be ta'en sure and perhaps when are they and the priests. the monastic community has been rebuilt in the last twenty years older a period during the soviet union when the areas served as a mental asylum now there are around a hundred brothers living here permanently but before the russian revolution of nine hundred seventeen there were more than a thousand some of them left a legacy down the ages. this quiet scene is called the smolensk skeet and it's famous in particular because of one monk efraim he took it upon himself to pray for the souls of dead soldiers and he took his work so seriously that he dug his own grave and every night he would lie in his own coffin. and since then

the chapel has been dedicated for the souls of the diet for the faith and for the mother. even if a life of extreme self-sacrifice doesn't appeal it is at least possible to follow in the footsteps of some of these old saints and one of the most popular pilgrimages is to the lomas most famous. for this is the cave where saint alexander of sphere lived. this is the place where alexander of spirit spent hours praying in solitude here he would make a fire is real the stones got warm and gave heat back so he could spend winters here can he lead such a righteous life that he was granted

a vision of the holy trinity came to him in the form of three angels. and ordered him to go to the river speared and found a monastery there it is still functional. excursions like these opponents of the joy of a prison archipelago of small islands just waiting to be explored and the landscape always provides some great photos. but many of the loam secrets are only revealed in the churches themselves. bell ringing here is a real and the company ologists trained for years to master the difficult rhythms they need to control up to a dozen bells at once and make it look effortless. it's part of the limbs proud

musical tradition displayed in its full glory during the solemn services. gemzar isn't the best aboard a bus and i think we should fill our lives with as many rich and diverse impressions as possible today i'm a developer in two months i'll be working somewhere else in such a way your worldview builds up on different things or you can develop yourself and create your personality. that presumed this earth is like a hotel that we're only here temporarily which is well go to hell or to have on god tests us on the earth if you're a me and phone my laws then you'll go to heaven what if if you don't then you'll go

to how. we have to move on and there's lies here you get some kind of luggage that you will a jury take with here into the city that we have to move on and make plans build families and realize in your family what you've learned here there will. the full over. but moving back to real life is easier for some than for others but children from leakers often each camp had reached the end of their stay and it was time to see

them off for the docs. but. it's clear to leak here that these are the same kids that arrived on the island just a few weeks ago that at least for a while the lawn is worked its magic and brought a little joy into their lives. but it coming this moment any less painful. perhaps the monks of old settled here because they felt there was something otherworldly about. it it was always a place with special energy by the from nature or from something more divine. for

the pilgrims and volunteers who journey here one visit is rarely enough and many

will return to the. place with the power to heal the spirits. that was a new alert animation scripts scare me a little. there is breaking news tonight and they are continuing to follow the breaking news maybe. alexander's family cry tears of joy at every grave things other than just there has to be adequate regard headed for a wall around a liar is a story made sort of movie is playing out in real life. i'm . a society. i'm big corporation mind to. do and the banks are trying to get all that all about money and i was actually

sick for politicians write the laws and regulations. they're just too much. of a society. that. i think. that you know the press is the only industry specifically mention in the constitution which says that's because a free and open press is critical to our democracy which i call folks. that again i'm sorry and i'm this show we reveal the picture of what's actually going on and we go beyond identifying the truth rational debate real discussion critical issues facing america i'm ready to join the movement and welcome big. time service action for tom hartman here in washington d.c.