“Even on the Bolsheviks’?” asked Artiom. He didn’t really like the priest’s answers.
Father John smiled and, it seemed, decided to start over from scratch.
“Even in previous times, monks experienced a lack of love for the priesthood. After all, they live as celibates, in constant labors and in considerable poverty. They probably thought that they had the right to rebuke some of us for indulging the flesh. Well, I won’t say that it’s a completely false accusation. But here on Solovki, as soon as the Bolsheviks closed the monastery, many monks went to work for the Chekists. Now they, my dear, are considered members of the OGPU — helpers with the housekeeping, if you will — and they treat the inmate-bishops extremely badly, as though they were carrying out a secret vengeance. But what did w
