The film tells about the monastery "The Brotherhood of Mercy" of the Holy Alekseevskaya desert and about the priest Alexei Vasilenko. The film uses the following filming: a view of one of the landscapes of the Yaroslavl region - dawn over the river, a church; a blacksmith at work in a smithy, a man at a sawmill, a girl riding a horse, a monk grazing a herd of cows and sheep in a meadow, pupils of the monastery walk with one of the monks, sit with a teacher by the fire; general view of the zoological museum in the monastery grammar school, the collection of fish, birds and butterflies in the museum; pupils of the monastery in the reading room of the library, in the gymnasium class at the computer, in labor and history lessons; the abbot of the monastery, Father Alexei Vasilenko, walks along the bridge, talks (sync. and off-screen.) about his life, about his life in the monastery "Brotherhood of Mercy" in the St. Alexeevskaya desert; Father Alexei performs a baby baptism ceremony in the church (sinhr.), a general type of service in the church, parishioners pray; General view of the St. Alekseevsky monastery, procession of the cross.