This article is devoted to the characteristic and analysis of the problem of spiritual and sociocultural ministry of the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church in crucial periods of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Reflects the consolidating, mobilizing mission of the Church in the national liberation struggle during the Great Patriotic War. Against the background of anti-religious repression of the post-October period in this difficult period of national history, the Russian Orthodox Church, on behalf of its archpastors, appealed to the patriotic feelings of power and the population of the country, provided spiritual and material support. The article focuses on the study of aspects of the general situation and the social and cultural service of the monasteries - the most important centers of spiritual life and religious and cultural education - in the middle and second half of the twentieth century, which in the postwar period faced a political campaign to mass closure of the monasteries. The fate of the devotees and the lives of the Russian saints, who, in the face of opposition to the repressive regime, continued to serve, accomplished Christian exploits and made their invaluable contribution to the preservation and further development of the spiritual and cultural life of Russia, are described. Article material consists of two parts, the first of which is presented in this publication.

The article is devoted to the disclosure of the content of the creative activities of representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church in a crucial period of spiritual service at the turn of the XX–XXI centuries. During this period, the continuity of religious enlightenment culture was interrupted and needed restoration in order to preserve church culture and art for future generations. In the twentieth century — the century of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, when persecution and oppression in varying degrees affected the fate of every Orthodox Christian, preserved and survived examples of theological and spiritual educational work they represent a special value, which should be available for the study of modern citizens of Russia and, above all, young people. Spiritual mentors and elders of the past century, who have undergone persecution, but survived and managed to directly convey to their spiritual children their own inner experience of God communion and an example of asceticism — the great wealth of not only domestic, but also world spiritual culture. In the second half of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the names of many representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, true devotees of grace, shone with their spiritual experience, wise mentorship and literary works helping thousands of people of different classes to gain faith and the true meaning of earthly existence.