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A small minority of people take predictions of the 2012 apocalypse very seriously. Some families even go so far as to up sticks and move to the village of Diveyevo in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Here they believe they will be spared the horseman’s scythe. According to Christian legend, the Diveyevsky monastery is one of the four domains of the Blessed Virgin.
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Diveyevo is situated some 180 km off the city of Nizhny Novgorod , Russia.
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On Saturdays believers make a sacred pilgrimage to a cross erected in honour of Nicholas II, who came to the monastery in 1903.
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The Bronnikov family have lived in Diveyevo for a long time. Aleksei, the father of the family, says: “Some people come here to die, but then a year later they get a new lease of life – they have children; acquire a herd of cattle, build a house...”
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Filipp Bronnikov near the saint spring "Pokrov".
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The Bunkovs have moved here from Novosibirsk to ‘survive the end of the world’. Parents Vyacheslav and Irina treat new passports and credit cards as “signs of the Antichrist”.
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Cabinet-maker Sergei Ivashinnikov has moved to Diveyevo from Pyatigorsk together with his family. He, by the way, sees nothing wrong with passports. This master-craftsman received commissions even from Patriarch Kirill.
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In Diveyevo you won’t see any expensive cars or European-style houses.
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The Diveyevsky monastery is famous for housing the relics of Saint Seraphim of Sarov. Whilst children are being introduced to the faith their fathers work hard, inspired to follow the example of the blessed Saint Seraphim.
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Several generations of the Vasiliev family live together under one roof in Diveyevo.
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Oleg Panteleev: "The apocalypse? Passports? We don't have time for thinking about it anymore. We have decided just to live a life".
