The beginning of the history of the monastery is associated with miraculous phenomena, which, according to legend, took place in these mountains overgrown with dense forest in a year. According to the story compiled on behalf of Turkul, a pious landowner from Tarnopol (now Ternopol), on the night of November 25 of that year, he was in the forest along with other hunters, up to thirty people in number. When the hunters lit a big fire and gathered around, thunder rolled from the western side, gradually heading towards the mountain where the hunters were. Then the thunder stopped and a deer appeared above the fire. The hunters began to shoot at the deer and fired fifteen arrows, but he still stood calm and motionless. When they got closer, the deer disappeared, leaving a trace of a fiery cord, one end of which was on the ground, and the other was hidden in the clouds. Struck by this vision, the hunters returned to their place. They all came to the conclusion that this is some kind of incomprehensible mystery of God. They spent the night until morning without sleep, and the next day everyone went home. After some time, the hunters again arrived at the place of marvelous visions and saw something new: the fireball that appeared on one mountain moved to another mountain - the one where the Pochaev Lavra subsequently arose.
Actually, the foundation of the monastery-skete on the site of miraculous visions is attributed by tradition to the year. According to this story, the skete of the Holy Spirit was founded by the Greek ascetic Saint Methodius.
Main sources about ancient history monastery - the Pochadev Chronicle (once lost and partially regained) and the Life of St. Methodius - remain controversial.
Uniate period and the extinction of the monastery
After monastic life on Skit-mountain stopped, the remaining buildings from time to time collapsed and were covered with debris. The mountain turned into an abandoned place, which eventually became overgrown with forest. Only the memory of the monastery has survived, fixed in the common name of the mountain - "Skitok".
Revival and closure
The project of the temple for the skete being revived was compiled by the senior engineer of the construction department under the Volyn provincial government L. I. Albertus. Vladyka Modest approved the plan of the temple, and regarding the name of the new skete, he indicated the following in his resolution:
it is desirable to dedicate such a holiday to which people could flock in the summer ... maybe you can dedicate it to the Holy Spirit and celebrate on the second day of Pentecost, in order to transfer the holy Icon to this day with a procession from the Lavra and other neighboring parishes, or something else for a greater celebration install. People celebrate Pentecost for three days, therefore, they can go to the skete to pray .
In order to speed up and reduce the cost of the initial construction work, on March 15, the spiritual cathedral of the Lavra blessed the transfer of the empty house with the Church of All Saints from the Lavra kennel to the monastery. On March 17 of the same year, work began on dismantling the house. Meanwhile, on March 18, a resident of Pochaev, Arkady Godovitsky, built a house for workers from Lavra material, under which there were two cellars. On May 21, 1901, on the second day of Pentecost, a solemn foundation stone was laid for the cathedral church in honor of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. The Chin was led by Archbishop Modest of Volhynia with a confluence of many clergy and laity who converged on the Skitok in four religious processions.
It took 64,000 bricks to build the Holy Spirit Church. The plaster was made from alabaster. The builders of the temple were residents of the village of Radzivilov Stefan Lukasevich and his assistants. In March 1901, a bell was delivered from the Moscow bell-foundry of the Samgin brothers, cast at the expense of the pious resident of St. Petersburg Anna Ilyina. She also donated many icons and utensils, as well as two thousand rubles for the improvement of the monastery. The temple iconostasis was made by the Kalyazin merchant and iconostasis cutting master Makariy Vasilyevich Shishkin from pine and linden wood covered with red gold; the iconostasis was delivered to the skete in January. In the year the lower temple of the cathedral church was consecrated, which became one of the first thrones in the name of the newly glorified St. Seraphim of Sarov.
The escalation of nationalist intolerance in the West of isolated Ukraine made the monastery one of the targets for fighters against Russian influence and the Orthodox faith. The idea of closing the monastery and the skete, or transferring these monasteries to the state with the prospect of further conversion to Uniatism, has been exaggerated more than once. During this period, threats and political attacks became a common backdrop for monastic life.
abbots
- Rev. Methodius (1219 - ?)
Uniate period Serafimo-Diveevsky Holy Trinity Monastery
Documents, literature
- Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Lvov, f. 684, op. 1, d. 3266, l. 1-3; house 3264, l. 1-15.
- State Archive of the Ternopil Region (GATO), f. 258, op. 1, d. 4409, l. 2-5; house 4757, l. 14; op. 2, d. 1565, l. 85-87; op. 3, d. 295, l. 261.
- Ambrose (Lototsky), archim., The legend of the Pochaev Assumption Lavra, Pochaev, 1878, p. 12.
- Levitsky V., Materials on the history of the Pochaev Lavra, Pochaev, 1912, v. 1, p. 156, 160.
- Pochaev sheet, 1903.
- Description of the Pochaev Assumption Lavra, Pochaev, 1904, p. 118.
- Pochaivsky Holy Spirit monastery-skete, Pochaev, 2003, p. 19, 33.
Used materials
- Serpeninov Valentin, "Holy Spirit skete of the Pochaev Lavra: historical path", official website of the Department church history Moscow Theological Academy, May 26, 2015: http://history-mda.ru/publ/svyato-duhov-skit-pochaevskoy-lav...tml, with reference to the State Archive of the Ternopil Region (GATO), f. 258, op. 1, d. 4757, l. 14.
Date of publication or update 01.02.2017
Anniversary of the Holy Dormition Pochaev Lavra
Holy Spirit Monastery.
The chronicle of the history of the Holy Spirit Skete goes back to the gray centuries, when St. Methodius performed his exploits here. On one of the Pochaev mountains, in the late autumn of 1197, Methodius erected a small chapel. And in 1219, on the top of that mountain, a monastery was founded with the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The monastery was distinguished by the severity of monastic life; The rector of the monastery, Methodius, was an example for the brethren in prayer and work. The glory of the holy monastery, covered with the miracles of the Mother of God, grew and expanded, and the monastery itself became the center of spiritual enlightenment in Western Rus'. A theological school was founded here, and a little later, a printing house. The walls of the chapel and the monastery church were chronicle pages of the monastery. Its inhabitants recorded everything here important events monastic life.
It was also inscribed about those disasters that, by the permission of the Lord, did not escape the monastery: twice it was subjected to devastating attacks, three times a pestilence raged - the third time so cruelly that almost all the monastics died. Only five monks survived in the monastery. All these troubles hit the monastery at the end of the XVI - early XVII centuries. The monks move to their brothers on the neighboring western mountain, where the Mother of God left a trace of Her right Foot, exuding healing water, and where miracles were performed from Her icon. With the resettlement of the brethren to the Pochaev Monastery, the history of the monastery of St. Methodius is lost.
Gate Church of St. Onufry the Great.
To restore ancient monastery out of desolation, the Pochaev Lavra in 1901 laid the present skete in the name of the Holy Spirit on the site of the ancient monastery.
The pilgrims climb the skete-mountain, overgrown with shady forest trees and an old garden. The pilgrims who have climbed the mountain are met by the gate church of Onufry the Great. On a spacious, flat area stands a slender stone Holy Spirit Church, with its architecture reminiscent of the ancient one. To the left of it are cells for the brethren, and behind it is a church in the name of All Saints and the house of the abbot of the skete. Down under Holy Spirit Church there is a winter church in the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov. It was here that one of the first thrones in the world was consecrated in memory of Seraphim of Sarov and an icon was donated to the temple Reverend Seraphim, written on a piece of the very stone on which the holy ascetic stood in prayer for a thousand days and nights.
Cathedral of the Holy Spirit.
Church of All Saints.
Chapel in honor of the Epiphany.
During the times of atheistic persecution, the skete was closed. The monks were resettled in Lavra, the economy of the monastery was ruined, the temples were defiled. Everything that was of any value was then taken to the local museum of atheism. For almost three decades, atheists dominated skit-mountain, and only in 1990 divine services were resumed, the spiritual and economic life of the Holy Spirit Monastery began.
By the diligence of the brethren of the monastery, the gate church of Onufry the Great and the Church of All Saints were restored, a fraternal building was built, and a stone wall-fence was erected. The brethren, who came here from different parts of our fatherland to save their souls, reintroduced the same ancient cenobitic rule. Their prayerful, spiritual and labor life is accomplished in the spirit Orthodox tradition Russian monasticism.
The formation of the Holy Spirit Monastery dates back to the first quarter of the 12th century. It was founded by the disciples of the educator of the Vyatichi - the Monk Hieromartyr John Kuksha.
Initially, the monastery was located near the current village of Crosses, Novosilsky District, Oryol Region, and consisted of about 600 brethren, who knew how not only to fulfill church requirements, but also, if necessary, to stand up with weapons in their hands. Orthodox faith and the Fatherland... For example, in 1380 a group of monks from the Holy Spirit Monastery as part of an ambush regiment, which included the Novosilskaya squad, participated in the Battle of Kulikovo.
In 1495 the monastery was transferred from the big Yelets to the Lithuanian road and was located near Novosil. Over time, three magnificent temples, residential and outbuildings, surrounded by a stone monastery fence, were erected here. The outpost of Orthodoxy had a strong subsidiary farm. But, as before, in a difficult time he always put up his warriors to defend the Fatherland. In particular, there is a direct relationship between the Holy Spirit Monastery and the results of the famous Battle of Judgment (1555).
According to the petition of Abbot of the Holy Spirit Monastery Simon about the need to strengthen the Novosilskaya fortress and, in general, the defensive line from the Crimean Tatars and Nagais (this is also a genuine historical fact!) In 1644, the first sovereign of the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich, visited the monastery. He stayed with the abbot for several days, then carefully examined the city fortress, talked with the military leaders. Having drawn the necessary conclusions, the sovereign immediately ordered to significantly strengthen the garrison of the fortress. Novosilsk gunners, archers and Cossacks were issued a certificate for land ownership. Then this sovereign's decision was extended to all the marked borders of Rus' the Great.
Repeatedly visited the Holy Spirit Monastery and Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, the quietest and wisest ruler of the Russian state, who, as you know, managed to significantly streamline domestic legislation (Code of Laws). There is no doubt that the spiritual instructions of Alexei Mikhailovich in the monastery also had a beneficial effect on his activities.
It can be said without exaggeration that the Holy Spirit monastery From time immemorial it has been a place especially revered by Orthodox Christians. Not only emperors and influential statesmen came here for spiritual advice. Strings of pilgrims from all over the Russian land stretched here. Here was one of the greatest Russian shrines - the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas, brought to Novosil in 1153 by the second wife of Yuri Dolgoruky Olga, who was also the sister of the Byzantine emperor Manuel. This icon was so revered in Rus' that in the favorable summer time it was regularly taken around the cities and towns of Russia (until 1917). After coming to power obsessed with the satanic idea, the Bolsheviks miraculous icon is lost. What her future fate is unknown.
The Holy Spirit Monastery was closed in 1918. The communists destroyed it in 1934: two churches were blown up - St. Nicholas with the Exaltation of the Cross and in the name of the Image of Christ the Savior Not Made by Hands. Miraculously, only the Church of St. Life-Giving Trinity, since it was decided to use it as a warehouse for storing grain and spare parts for agricultural machinery. The residential and outbuildings of the monastery, as well as the monastery fence, were completely destroyed.
During the Great Patriotic War Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity was badly damaged. Only the central part with a dilapidated dome, the altar and some supporting structures of the refectory remained from it.
After the war, the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity was also used as a warehouse. On the territory of the monastery, the leaders of the local collective farm arranged an engine yard, put containers with fuel and lubricants. And this bacchanalia continued for decades ...
By the time of the resumption of monastic life, most of the buildings were partially or completely destroyed. Originally had the status of a parish.
The revival of the Holy Spirit Monastery was started in 2004 with the blessing of the shiigumen and confessor of Optina Hermitage, and now the confessor His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' Schema-Archimandrite Elijah.
By the decision of the Holy Synod of December 27, 2005 (Journal No. 117), the parish was transformed into a diocesan monastery of the Holy Spirit.
In 2010, the laying of the western and southern parts of the monastery fence with watchtowers and a chapel continued, and the construction of the southern part of the monastery fence with a platform began. Restoration of the monastery church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity continued. Active work was underway to build temple complex, distributing the gas pipeline and heating networks. The landscaping of the monastery territory continued. To date, the narthex and the refectory part of the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity have been restored, work is underway to restore the central part and the altar of this temple. The northern part of the monastery fence with entrance gates and two watchtowers has been built, the brickwork of the eastern and western parts of the fence has been completed by 70 percent, and the construction of the southern part has begun. A gatehouse, an almshouse, a refectory with a kitchen for monks and novices have been built, the construction of a two-story fraternal building and a warm garage is being completed. An artesian well was drilled and a water supply and sewerage system was installed in the almshouse. An underground gas pipeline has been laid to the main monastic facilities.
The restoration of the Holy Spirit Monastery is being carried out in accordance with a long-term development plan based on the preserved historical and architectural information and photographs of the monastery from the beginning of the 20th century. Everything is done in order to recreate the ancient Orthodox shrine in its former glory and grandeur.
We feel constant patronage and support in the difficult and difficult task of reviving the monastery from our confessor, Fr. Or me. God bless him for many years to come. He patiently and persistently works to form a friendly and close-knit team of the brethren of the monastery. Newly arriving novices we receive with the blessing of Father Elijah. He always comes to us for tonsure with great joy. Brothers in the Holy Spirit Monastery, thank God, every year everything is added. To date, there are already nine monks (including three hieromonks and two hierodeacons) and seven novices. In good faith, for the glory of God, fifteen laborers carry out the work on the restoration and construction of monastic objects.
Hegumen Alexander (Maslov)
Urban. Holy Spirit Monastery. A few years ago, among the forest in the Korostyshevsky district in the Zhytomyr region, the lord of Zhytomyr and Ovrutsky Izyaslav had an accident. "Zhiguli" - shattered, the driver was left without front teeth. His life was saved by a large stone that lay at the crossroads. It was he who did not let the lord's car "cut" the pines.
« Apparently, God wanted me to walk around the world a little more.- explains Father Izyaslav.
An amazing rescue prompted the father to the idea to start in the middle of the forest - Holy Spirit Monastery. By the way, in the Zhytomyr region today there are four monasteries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (two of them are female), and two recently founded ones of the Kyiv Patriarchate.
The monastery is located in the Korostyshevsky district near the village Novogoroditskoe, you need to go past houses, flooded granite and crushed stone quarries, get to a dense pine forest, which can only be seen in Polissya. And out of the bushes, as if into another world, the car suddenly leaves on the shore of a large lake.
On the other side you can see structures made of yellow pine logs. About what it is Holy Spirit Monastery, announce church bells. The cloisters have already celebrated three years since they consecrated the temple.
For a long time I was looking for a quiet place for the monastery, where nature itself would speak of the grace of God. And the Lord himself pointed it out to us, - says hegumen Anthony (Kyiv Patriarchate). - And the rest, thanks to the faith of God, we built with our own hands.
From everything you can see that the four monks of the Holy Spirit Monastery worked hard. A small church appeared in the middle of the courtyard, on both sides - a refectory, cells and utility rooms. There are about a dozen wooden structures in total. Only a large foundation with columns was erected from stone. It is planned to build a majestic stone church on it.
Every day, peasants come to serve at the holy place. As one resident of the nearest farm said, she is infinitely grateful to God and the people who built the temple here. After all, this is the only place in the district where the service is sent. Yes, and in a difficult hour, you can ask the monks for advice. The monks are very pleased that there are many young people and children among the faithful. More and more each time.
Lay people do not really leave brothers alone. Going to the church, they always bring flour or cereals as a gift to the monks. Because they know they have nowhere to get food. Three hectares of forest allotted to the monastery were not deformed, because the needles “clog” every vegetable garden. But even here it was not without God's grace. The monks contrived to extract the most delicious from the lake! Many kilogram carps and pikes, which decorate the festive refectory table, eloquently testify - the monks should be fishermen! Like Saint Peter.
The formation of the Holy Spirit Monastery dates back to the first quarter of the 12th century. It was founded by the disciples of the educator of the Vyatichi - the Monk Hieromartyr John Kuksha.
Initially, the monastery was located near the present village of Crosses in the Novosilsky district of the Oryol region and consisted of about 600 brethren who knew how not only to fulfill church requirements, but also, if necessary, to stand up for the Orthodox faith and the Fatherland with weapons in their hands ... For example, in 1380 a group of monks of the Holy Dukhov Monastery, as part of an ambush regiment, which included the Novosilsk squad, participated in the Battle of Kulikovo.
In 1495 the monastery was transferred from the big Yelets to the Lithuanian road and was located near Novosil. Over time, three magnificent temples, residential and outbuildings, surrounded by a stone monastery fence, were erected here. The outpost of Orthodoxy had a strong subsidiary farm. But, as before, in a difficult time he always put up his warriors to defend the Fatherland. In particular, there is a direct relationship between the Holy Spirit Monastery and the results of the famous Battle of Judgment (1555).
According to the petition of hegumen of the Holy Spirit Monastery Simon about the need to strengthen the Novosilskaya fortress and, in general, the defensive line from the Crimean Tatars and Nagais (this is also a true historical fact!) In 1644, the monastery was visited by the first sovereign of the Romanov dynasty - Mikhail Fedorovich. He stayed with the abbot for several days, then carefully examined the city fortress, talked with the military leaders. Having drawn the necessary conclusions, the sovereign immediately ordered to significantly strengthen the garrison of the fortress. Novosilsk gunners, archers and Cossacks were issued a certificate for land ownership. Then this sovereign's decision was extended to all the marked borders of Rus' the Great.
Repeatedly visited the Holy Spirit Monastery and Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, the quietest and wisest ruler of the Russian state, who, as you know, managed to significantly streamline domestic legislation (Code of Laws). There is no doubt that the spiritual instructions of Alexei Mikhailovich in the monastery also had a beneficial effect on his activities.
Without exaggeration, we can say that the Holy Spirit Monastery from time immemorial has been a place especially revered by Orthodox Christians. Not only emperors and influential statesmen came here for spiritual advice. Strings of pilgrims from all over the Russian land stretched here. Here was one of the greatest Russian shrines - the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas, brought to Novosil in 1153 by the second wife of Yuri Dolgoruky Olga, who was also the sister of the Byzantine emperor Manuel. This icon was so revered in Rus' that in the favorable summer time it was regularly taken around the cities and towns of Russia (until 1917). After the revolution, the trace of the miraculous icon is lost. What her future fate is unknown.
The Holy Spirit Monastery was closed in 1918. The communists destroyed it in 1934: two churches were blown up - St. Nicholas with the Exaltation of the Cross and in the name of the Image of Christ the Savior Not Made by Hands. Miraculously, only the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity survived, since it was decided to use it as a warehouse for storing grain and spare parts for agricultural machinery. The residential and outbuildings of the monastery, as well as the monastery fence, were completely destroyed.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity was badly damaged. Only the central part with a dilapidated dome, the altar and some supporting structures of the refectory remained from it.
After the war, the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity was also used as a warehouse. On the territory of the monastery, the leaders of the local collective farm arranged an engine yard, put containers with fuel and lubricants. And this bacchanalia continued for decades ...
By the time of the resumption of monastic life, most of the buildings were partially or completely destroyed. Originally had the status of a parish.
The revival of the Holy Spirit Monastery began in 2004 with the blessing of the schihegumen and confessor of Optina Hermitage, and now the confessor of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus', Schema-Archimandrite Iliy.
By the decision of the Holy Synod of December 27, 2005 (Journal No. 117), the parish was transformed into a diocesan monastery of the Holy Spirit.
In 2010, the laying of the western and southern parts of the monastery fence with watchtowers and a chapel continued, and the construction of the southern part of the monastery fence with a platform began. Restoration of the monastery church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity continued. Active work was carried out on the construction of the temple complex, the layout of the gas pipeline and heating networks. The landscaping of the monastery territory continued. To date, the narthex and the refectory part of the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity have been restored, work is underway to restore the central part and the altar of this temple. The northern part of the monastery fence with entrance gates and two watchtowers has been built, the brickwork of the eastern and western parts of the fence has been completed by 70 percent, and the construction of the southern part has begun. A gatehouse, an almshouse, a refectory with a kitchen for monks and novices have been built, the construction of a two-story fraternal building and a warm garage is being completed. An artesian well was drilled and a water supply and sewerage system was installed in the almshouse. An underground gas pipeline has been laid to the main monastic facilities.
The restoration of the Holy Spirit Monastery is being carried out in accordance with a long-term development plan based on the preserved historical and architectural information and photographs of the monastery from the beginning of the 20th century. Everything is being done in order to recreate the most ancient Orthodox shrine in its former beauty and grandeur.
