The beginning of the history of the monastery is associated with miraculous phenomena, which, according to legend, took place in these densely forested mountains in the year. According to the narrative compiled on behalf of Turkul, a pious landowner from Tarnopol (now Ternopil), on the night of November 25 of that year he was in the forest along with other hunters, numbering up to thirty people. When the hunters lit a large fire and gathered around, peals of thunder were heard from the western side, gradually heading towards the mountain on which the hunters were located. 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 came closer, the deer disappeared, leaving behind a trail in the form 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 conviction that this was some kind of incomprehensible mystery of God. We 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 wondrous visions and saw something new: the fireball that appeared on one mountain moved to another mountain - the one where the Pochaev Lavra subsequently arose.

The actual foundation of the monastery-monastery on the site of miraculous visions is attributed by legend to the year. According to this narrative, the monastery of the Holy Spirit was founded by the Greek ascetic St. Methodius.

The main sources about the ancient history of the monastery - the Pochadiv Chronicle (once lost and partially recovered) and the Biography of St. Methodius - remain controversial.

Uniate period and the extinction of the monastery

After monastic life on Skit Mountain ceased, the remaining buildings collapsed over time and became covered with debris. The mountain turned into an abandoned place, which over time was overgrown with forest. Only the memory of the monastery has been preserved, enshrined in the popular name of the mountain - “Skitok”.

Revival and closure

The design of the temple for the revived monastery was drawn up by the senior engineer of the construction department under the Volyn provincial government, L. I. Albertus. Bishop Modest approved the plan of the temple, and regarding the name of the new monastery he indicated the following in his resolution:

it is advisable to dedicate it to a holiday that people could flock to in the summer... perhaps it is possible to dedicate it to the Holy Spirit and celebrate it on the second day of Pentecost, so that a procession of the cross from the Lavra and other neighboring parishes will transfer the holy Icon to this day, or for a greater celebration something else install. People celebrate Pentecost for three days, therefore they can go to the monastery to pray .

In an effort to speed up and reduce the cost of the initial construction work, the spiritual cathedral of the Lavra on March 15 of the year blessed the transfer of the empty house with the All Saints Church from the Lavra monastery 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, the foundation stone of the cathedral church was celebrated in honor of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. The rite was led by Archbishop Modest of Volyn with a gathering of many clergy and laity who converged on the “Skeet” in four processions of the cross.

The construction of the Holy Spirit Church required 64 thousand bricks. The plaster was made of alabaster. The builders of the temple were residents of the village 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 carver Makariy Vasilyevich Shishkin from pine and linden wood covered with red gold; The iconostasis was delivered to the monastery in January of this year. In the year the lower temple of the cathedral church was consecrated, becoming one of the first altars in the name of the newly glorified St. Seraphim of Sarov.

The rise of nationalist intolerance in the West of an 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 monastery, or transferring these monasteries to the state with the prospect of further conversion to Uniatism, has been discussed more than once. During this period, threats and political attacks became a common background of monastic life.

Abbots

• St. Methodius (1219 - ?)

Uniate period Seraphim-Diveevo Holy Trinity Monastery

Documents, literature

• Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Lvov, f. 684, op. 1, d. 3266, l. 1-3; d. 3264, l. 1-15.
• State Archives of Ternopil Region (GATO), f. 258, op. 1, d. 4409, l. 2-5; d. 4757, l. 14; op. 2, d. 1565, l. 85-87; op. 3, d. 295, l. 261.
• Ambrose (Lototsky), archim., The Legend of the Pochaev Dormition Lavra, Pochaev, 1878, p. 12.
• Levitsky V., Materials on the history of the Pochaev Lavra, Pochaev, 1912, vol. 1, p. 156, 160.
• Pochaev leaf, 1903.
• Description of the Pochaev Dormition Lavra, Pochaev, 1904, p. 118.
• Pochaivsky Holy Spirit Monastery, Pochaev, 2003, p. 19, 33.

Materials used

• Serpeninov Valentin, “The Holy Spirit Skete of the Pochaev Lavra: the historical path,” official website of the Department of Church History of the 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.

Urban. Holy Spiritual Monastery. Several years ago, among the forest in the Korostyshevsky district in the Zhitomir region, Bishop of Zhitomir and Ovrutsky Izyaslav had an accident. The Zhiguli was in pieces, the driver was left without his front teeth. His life was saved by a large stone that lay at a crossroads. It was he who prevented the ruler’s car from “cutting” the pine trees.

« Apparently, God wanted me to walk around the world a little more.”, explains Father Izyaslav.

The amazing rescue gave the father 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 UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate (two of them are women’s), and two recently founded ones of the Kyiv Patriarchate.

The monastery is located in the Korostyshevsky district near the village Novogoroditskoe, you need to drive past houses, flooded granite and crushed stone quarries, to get to a dense pine forest, which can only be seen in Polesie. And out of the bushes, as if into another world, the car suddenly drives out onto the shore of a large lake.

On the other side you can see structures made of yellow pine round timber. About what it is Holy Spirit Monastery, church bells announce. The monastery has already celebrated three years since the temple was consecrated.

For a long time I was looking for a quiet place for the monastery, where nature itself would speak about the grace of God. And the Lord himself pointed us to it,” says Abbot Anthony (Kiev Patriarchate). - And thanks to the faith of God, we built the rest with our own hands.

By all appearances, the four monks of the Holy Spirit Monastery were working hard. A small church appeared in the middle of the courtyard, with a refectory, cells and utility rooms on both sides. There are about a dozen wooden structures in total. Only a large foundation with columns was built from stone. They plan to build a majestic stone church on it.

Every day peasants come to the holy place for services. As one resident of a nearby 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 area where the service is performed. And in difficult times, you can ask the monks for advice. The monks are very pleased that among the faithful there are many young people and children. Every time more and more.

The laity really does not leave the brothers alone. When going to the church, they always bring flour or cereal as a gift to the monks. Because they know: they have nowhere to get food. The three hectares of forest allocated to the monastery were not harvested, because the needles “clog” every garden. But even here it could not have happened without God’s kindness. The monks managed to get the most delicious things from the lake! The many kilogram carps and pikes that decorate the festive refectory table eloquently testify that the monks should be fishermen! Like Saint Peter.

The city of Timashevsk in the Krasnodar region is known for the monastery located there - the Holy Spiritual Monastery. It is located on the outskirts of the city, but even during its construction the future rector said that it would become a “center.”

Where is the Holy Spirit Monastery located on the map?

You will find it in the Southern microdistrict of Timashevsk, where Malo-Vygonnaya and Druzhby streets intersect. A branch flows nearby - Kirpiltsy.

History of the sacred place

In 1987, Father George took over the leadership of the Holy Ascension parish in Timashevsk. Then he wished to build a temple here. To do this, it was necessary to obtain territory for development. Local authorities were in no hurry to allocate land. The priest had to endure many difficulties and oppression from them.

The way out of the predicament was to purchase a house on 15 acres of marshy land. There is a legend about this hut: in the 20th century, a certain perspicacious holy fool living nearby predicted the construction of a monastery on this site.

In the fall of 1991, the church was completed and consecrated in honor of the descent of the Holy Spirit. At this time, Father wanted to go to the place of his previous ministry, but God’s will was different. Bishop Isidore opens a monastery here, ordains him to the rank of archimandrite and appoints him to the position of governor.

The monastery has shrines:

• reliquary with particles of 23 holy saints of God;
• list of images of St. healer Panteleimon, brought from Athos;
• icons of the Mother of God “Vladimir” and “Burning Bush”;
• a piece of Mamre oak brought from the Holy Land.

The story of the “Vladimir” icon

To Father George, when he was still serving in the Epiphany Church in the Arkhangelsk region, a parishioner brought the face of the “Vladimir Mother of God” and told the following story:

This woman's grandfather was a priest. In the 1930s, when the clergy were massively arrested and an anti-religious struggle was waged, this also affected her grandfather. One evening the commissioners came into the house and ordered him to “get ready for the road.” The priest was confused and asked for time to get ready, but he himself turned to the holy corner and began to pray. Everyone noticed how drops of tears appeared on the image of the Mother of God. The commissioner got angry, took out a revolver and started shooting at the icon, after which he shot the priest in a rage.

Relatives hid the shrine and carefully preserved it, passing it on from generation to generation. Over time, the grandmother gave it to her granddaughter, and she brought it to church. This image was brought by Archimandrite. George in the Holy Spirit Monastery of Timashevsk. Now it is kept in the temple altar.

About the confessor of the Timashevsky Monastery

Fr. was born. George February 6, 1942 After graduating from school, he entered obedience at the Transfiguration Monastery in Transcarpathia. In 1961, when the monastery was closed, he left for the Nikolaev region. In 1962 he was drafted into the army. Upon his return, he went to live in Irkutsk. There, in December 1968, he took monastic vows with the name George. Then he was ordained a hierodeacon and then a hieromonk. He served first in the Murmansk region, and then in the Arkhangelsk region. In 1978 he studied at the Moscow Seminary.

To the Krasnodar diocese, Fr. George arrived after Metropolitan Isidore, who was still a bishop at that time. He devoted 19 years to improving the “island of spirituality” in Timashevsk. Here he was tonsured into the great schema with the name of Savva. During the years of his ministry, many changes took place - the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord was rebuilt, buildings for household purposes and four farmsteads were added in nearby settlements.

However, the abbot is better known for his gift of healing with herbs and prayer. He was a herbalist who knew his business well. He learned the art of using the gifts of nature in the treatment of various diseases in his youth, as a novice in the city of Chernivtsi (in Ukraine), on the border with Romania.

There was always a queue for him. People came to receive spiritual and physical treatment; the Holy Spirit Timashevsky Monastery was visited by thousands. Father gave herbal teas that helped cure those diseases that doctors of official, recognized medicine could not cope with.

Life of monks today

At first it was inhabited by only 12 monks. Over time, their number grew to 80. Following the ancient rules of residence of monastic communities, they feed themselves from the labors of their own hands.

Today, 400 hectares of land have been allocated for the monastery for planting agricultural crops. The brethren bear different obediences. Some are engaged in growing vegetables, fruits, grains, herbs, others work in the fraternal refectory, on prosphora, in garages. There is poultry, cattle and pig farming. Excess products - eggs, milk and meat - are sold.

During the construction of the church, all finishing work was carried out by monks: they painted the temple walls and made wooden carved icon cases. Today, all the splendor of the temple can be seen in the photo.

In 2011, Fr. George went to the Lord, but the monks continue his “work” - they collect herbs and make all kinds of infusions and teas for various ailments according to preserved recipes. All this is sold in the monastery shop. Those who have already tried herbal preparations many times leave positive reviews about them.

How to get there (get there)?

The easiest way to get here from the Timashevskaya railway station is by minibus No. 2, get off at the final stop “Naumenko Street”. From here you will need to walk about 1 km in a southeast direction.

It’s easy to get from the center of Timashevsk to the monastery by car like this:

Contact information

• Address: Druzhby street, 1, Timashevsk, Krasnodar region, Russia.
• GPS coordinates: 45.601274, 38.954505.
• Phones: +7-86130-4-01-24.
• Official website:
• Opening hours: from 4:00 to 19:00.

Timashevsk made the Holy Spirit Monastery a spiritual center not only for monks, but also for everyone who comes here. Divine services are held there every day; on Thursday, an akathist is read in front of the image of that very “Vladimir” icon. In conclusion, we offer a video about this monastery, enjoy watching!

It’s not me who heals, Father George said, God heals through our faith.

Father Georgy (Yuri Yuryevich Savva) is known not only to many Russians in Russia, but also beyond its borders. Firstly, because he devoted his life to serving God and for many years was the abbot of the Holy Spiritual Timashevsky Monastery. And secondly, because Father George was an amazing herbal healer. Sometimes, with his recommendations, he managed to pull a person out of the most difficult health conditions.

Despite the proximity of the city of Timashevsk, only 200 km, we did not have time to visit Father George, either we couldn’t get around to it, or the knowledge that the trip would not be easy stopped us. But my friend took her daughter to him. I pass on Lena’s story and the recommendations she brought from Father George without any cuts.

To Father George

“Our family friend decided to take their daughter to her father George and since there was free space in the car, they invited us to go with them. Of course, I happily agreed. Their girl, like my Anya, has severe cerebral palsy.

We left Rostov very early; we were warned that there would be a long line and we wanted to arrive early. When we arrived at the monastery, we saw that the queue of people suffering just like us was not just long, but huge.

People came from all over Russia and lived near the monastery, waiting for their turn, for weeks, renting housing from local residents. Every morning everyone gathered for roll call according to the list. And almost everyone did not leave the monastery gates until the evening, until Father George finished the reception.

In addition to the general queue, there was another one - for seriously ill patients, whose lives were counting down to days, and for children with serious illnesses.

We stood at the gates of the monastery all day and, like everyone else, looked at the gates with hope when a monk would come out of them and invite the next one.

There were a lot of seriously ill people, so there was no particular hope that we would get to Father George that day.

But we were lucky; we were invited late in the evening. As we walked through the monastery premises, excitement overwhelmed me and almost deprived me of strength. But as soon as Anya and I entered the small room where Father George was hosting the reception, and I heard his calm, quiet speech, the excitement immediately receded.

He asked questions, listened carefully to me, talked with Anya, and then gave recommendations and recipes for treatment.

First of all, Father George spoke about the need to heal the soul. Without the health of the soul, bodily recovery is doubtful.

It’s not me who heals, Father George said, God heals through our faith.

For spiritual healing it was recommended:

go to church and give communion to parents and the child 7 times a year; read morning and evening prayers every day, at least one at a time; read one chapter from the Gospel every day; read the Psalter every day, one kathisma per day, and on Friday always add the 17th kathisma from evil spirits, corruption and deceit; Read Psalms 11 and 26 three times a day throughout your life.

The course of physical treatment was designed for 70 days. There were a lot of treatment recommendations. All of them were prepared and written down in advance, and they were given to us as a set of leaflets with recipes.

Upon returning home, I let many people copy these recipes; unfortunately, not all of them came back to me. But the main thing was preserved, and I remember a lot of things very well, because everything was repeated day after day for 70 days.

Rubdown with pine needle extract. Dilute 1 tbsp in 7 liters of water. a spoonful of pine needle extract, 2 cups of string decoction and 1 tbsp. spoon of holy water. Every day, until the water runs out, in the morning and evening, wipe the child, starting from the head and the whole body with horizontal movements, with a waffle towel. Then dry the body with a hard towel and read the “Creed” prayer. Eat 1 tuber of Jerusalem artichoke 3 times a day, and from late spring to autumn you can replace it with Dolgolet tablets, they are sold at the pharmacy. In the morning, before breakfast, take a mixture of unrefined vegetable oil (corn or olive), liquid honey, alcohol, taken 1 teaspoon each. Eat one prune seed a day and drink a tablespoon of a decoction of 16 herbs. Father George recommended washing the body with laundry soap, as it has antimicrobial and antiseptic properties. A tea recipe that cleanses the body, improves immunity and is also very tasty.

half a glass of rose hips, 1/3 cup elecampane bark.

Pour the mixture into a saucepan and pour 5 liters. boiling water Simmer covered over low heat for 3 hours. Then add:

1 tbsp. a spoonful of St. John's wort, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of oregano, 1 gr. rosehip root, 2 teaspoons of your favorite tea (except green) and simmer for another hour.

Anyone can drink this tea for the rest of their life, whenever they want, without any norm.

Collection of 16 herbs. It has a beneficial effect on the entire body, cleanses the blood, normalizes metabolism, and improves immunity. It was recommended to drink it 1 tbsp. spoon a day before meals. The collection included: nettle, sage, immortelle, rose hips, string, bearberry, yarrow, wormwood, thyme, birch buds, buckthorn, linden flowers, cudweed, motherwort, chamomile, dried flowers (cat's paw). After preparing them, add 1 tbsp to teas, decoctions, and baths. spoon of holy water. Do not boil holy water.

I’ll say right away that it took the whole day to implement all these recommendations, without a trace. It was very difficult to do everything, especially if there was no one to help. We tried to do everything, and mostly we succeeded. With rare exceptions, we completed the 70-day course.

I won’t lie, my expectations from the treatment were greater than the results. Why? It seems to me that there was not enough faith. And by faith it will be given to you!

Unfortunately, in 2011, Father George passed away from earthly life. Therefore, all that remains is to use the recommendations that you have remembered and saved.

To all parents and children, I wish you Health, Goodness and Faith!

Special mother Lena Landsberg."

Where to buy herbal teas

Father George's herbal teas can still be bought in the monastery shop. Monastery address: Russia, Krasnodar region, Timashevsk city, Druzhby street, e-mail: [email protected], Phone for inquiries: 8 (861 30) 4-01-24, gatekeeper.

All herbs are collected by monks in the fields and forests of the Krasnodar region and the foothills of the Caucasus. The collections are prepared with prayer and blessing.

You can prepare the necessary mixture yourself; no one keeps secrets about the composition of teas. You just need a pharmacy scale. Since, for example, in a collection of 16 herbs, the composition is collected in grams.

The line of Monastic teas is also widely represented on the network. I was interested in this site offering, the recipe in it coincides with the collection of 16 herbs recommended by Father George.

On the outskirts of Timashevsk - a small town, of which there are many in the warm, generous and beautiful land of Kuban - near the busy Krasnodar - Yeisk highway, not far from the calm and smoothly flowing Kirpili River, rises a white stone temple with sky-colored domes. By the will of God, a monastery of the Holy Spirit was built at this place for the consecration of Kuban.

It is visible to everyone entering the city from the regional center. This beautiful temple, rapidly soaring upward with its bell tower, is consecrated in honor of the Holy Spirit. It is the center and focus and the main shrine of the monastery, which bears the great and glorious name of the third hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity. By the Holy Spirit all God's creations are given life, move and have their being. He gives life to everything and in Him everything lives. The Spirit of God fulfills everything with His power and grace. He is the giver of life, the Life-giving Comforter, the Treasure and the Source of blessings.

Construction of the temple

The monastery began as an architecturally designed structure with the construction of a church. In 1987, Archimandrite George (Sava), with the blessing of the ruling archpastor, then bishop, now metropolitan, Bishop Isidore, headed the parish of the Holy Ascension prayer house in the city of Timashevsk. After accepting the parish, Father George began to worry about building a real, beautiful stone church. Father George, a worker in the cause of God, had to endure many obstacles, oppression, insults and other hardships: firstly, from the godless authorities who prevented the allocation of land for the construction of a new church, practically drove it into a swamp, and forbade the construction of a temple with a bell tower, a dome and an altar apse ( the authorities were allowed to build only an ordinary building and equip it as a house of worship); and secondly, from members of the church council who harmed the cause of the revival of Orthodoxy in the Kuban, chosen at the direction of the Commissioner for Religious Affairs, and not by the voice of believers.

We had to acquire a plot for our temple only by purchasing a hut on the outskirts of the city with fifteen acres of marshy land. Archimandrite Georgy reasoned this way: “One of the most beautiful cities in the world, St. Petersburg, was built on a swamp. If there is no other possibility and if there is God’s will for this, then we must build where God favors. Regardless of people's judgments. Not human judgment, not God’s court.”

Some complained that the site for the construction of the temple was chosen on the outskirts of the city, far from the center. To which the priest replied: “Over time, this place will be the center.”

And today it has already come true. Two residential microdistricts, “Yuzhny” and “Vostochny”, have grown up. This truly was the will of God. From the time he arrived in Timashevsk, Father Georgy very often walked on foot to this outskirts; he was drawn here inexplicably. Subsequently, when the place had already been chosen and the construction of the temple began, the old-timers said that in the fifties, now the twentieth century, a weak sick holy fool lived not far from this place, who told everyone that a church and a monastery would be built in this lowland. Apparently, the Lord prepared this place to show unbelieving people that there are no obstacles for a believing heart. And just as the humiliated and crushed Russian Church rose from dust and decay, planting the “villages” of the true faith in the hearts of the lost and abandoned people of the Russian people, so on this wretched, despised swamp a beautiful temple grew, sanctifying and beautifying the city.

Opening of the monastery

After the completion of the construction of the temple, in the fall of 1991, Archimandrite George, responding to the requests of the spiritual children of the entire northern region of Russia, orphaned after the departure of their spiritual father to the Krasnodar region, wanted to leave Kuban for one of the monasteries of the Arkhangelsk Diocese. But when everything was ready to return to the north, the priest fell ill. At this time, Bishop Isidore proposed opening a monastery in Timashevsk. Seeing that his illness did not allow him to leave, Father George agreed with the bishop’s decision to found a monastery in Kuban. Soon the illness, which happened by God’s providence, passed away. In June 1992, at the request of the ruling Archbishop Isidore of Krasnodar and Kuban, by decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Holy Spirit Monastery was opened in the city of Timashevsk. Archimandrite George was appointed vicar of the monastery.

Difficulties in the beginning of the life of the monastery

The opening of the monastery coincided with a difficult, turning point period in the life of our Motherland. The ongoing reforms, the introduction of the so-called “market economy,” have not spared a single resident of our country. Everyone knows how these transformations affected the common people - many went hungry, many were left homeless and without a means of subsistence, old people died, young people became drunkards and became drug addicts, there were many cases of suicide. During this period, the monastery also experienced difficulties. The brethren needed housing. Father Georgy did not dare to build then, but the Lord sent sympathetic, kind, Russian people in the person of Mikhail Mikhailovich Lomach, Vladimir Kirillovich Kochetov and Nikolai Mikhailovich Coverage. As a charitable donation, the confectionery factory provided building materials for the construction of the fence. The governor decided to build not just a fence, but a fence-frame; fortunately, after the construction of the church there was still brick left. With great effort, two buildings were built with an arch connecting them and an entrance gate.

Initially, the brethren were twelve people. In ancient monasteries and monastic communities there was a rule - to feed from the labors of your own hands. It is based on the words of St. ap. Paul, who said: “... these hands have served my needs and the needs of those who were with me.” (Acts 20:34); “...in labor and in exhaustion, in watching often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often...” (2 Cor. 11:27); “...if anyone does not want to work, do not eat; ... some of you act disorderly, do nothing, but fuss. We admonish and convince such people by our Lord Jesus Christ, so that they, working in silence, eat their bread.” (2 Thess. 3:10-12).

St. Basil the Great, in the rules for cenobitic monasteries, in rule 172, says: “In the ascetic rules, this necessity of labor and work is proven by the example of the Lord and St. Apostles."

Therefore, the monastery petitioned the secular authorities to allocate land plots for economic needs. Thanks to the help of the head of the administration of the Krasnodar region, Nikolai Ignatovich Kondratenko, and the head of the Timashevsky district, Alexander Alexandrovich Chernyshenko, the monastery was allocated almost three hundred hectares of arable land. Currently the monastery has about four hundred hectares. There are two farmsteads where the brethren work, growing the necessary agricultural crops for the needs of the monastery. The monastery is engaged in grain crops, grows vegetables, potatoes, perennial grasses for animal feed, and there are young plantations of fruit trees. In addition, there is a small population of cows, pigs, and poultry. Have your own milk, eggs; the meat goes for sale. The brethren carry out many other labors and obediences: performing and participating in divine services, working in the prosphora, in the candle workshop, driving cars, preparing meals, carpentry, carpentry, plumbing, construction, etc.

The main thing for a person living in a monastery is not life in a society of like-minded people of the same faith, not endless work, but spiritual prayerful unity with God. Prayer is the basis of a monk’s life.

“Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit.” (1 Thess. 5:16-19).

In the monastery, worship begins early, at four o'clock in the morning. First, the Midnight Office is served, then the morning prayers are read, and Matins is performed. After it, the first, third and sixth hours are read. The morning service ends with the Divine Liturgy. In the evening at eighteen o'clock Vespers is served, preceded by the reading of the ninth hour. Evening prayers are read after dinner. During the day, the brethren follow the cell rule, read the Psalter, the Gospel, and the Apostle. Throughout his vigils and labors, he practices the Jesus Prayer, following the words of the Lord: “... when you pray, enter your room (the solitary soul) and, having shut your door, pray to your Father, who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.” (Matt. 6:6).

Although people come to the monastery by the will of God and at the behest of the soul, not many are kept within the monastery walls. Self-love, self-indulgence, self-will, arrogance, self-confidence, complacency, lack of humility and meekness, pride, despondency, obstinacy, condemnation and talkativeness, disobedience, laziness, ingratitude, unrepentance and other passions hinder the spiritual strengthening of those entering the path of spiritual monastic work. A person comes to the monastery from the world, for, according to the Holy Scriptures: “The world lies in evil.” (1 John 5:19), evil consists in the fact that “he who commits sin is a slave of sin...” (John 8:34). Leaving the world and entering the monastery, he carries with him the worldly skills and habits acquired from birth. In the world, a person is brought up on the principles of self-affirmation, pride, self-love, and denial of the authority of elders; If a person does not know how to stand up for himself, insist on his own, rise above others, then for the world he does not have vitality within himself. Therefore, the world forms in people the qualities necessary for survival in this world. And even people prone to spiritual impulses are subject to passions common to the world around them. According to the words of the psalmist, the prophet King David: “With the venerable you will be, and with the chosen you will be chosen, and with the obstinate you will be corrupt.” (Ps. 17:26-27).

In the monastery, completely different character traits are required from a person - according to the words of the Holy Apostle Paul: “... put aside everything: anger, rage, malice, slander, foul language of your lips; do not tell lies to each other... clothe yourself, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; ...most of all put on love, which is the sum of perfection...” (Col. 3:8-9;12;14).

If the apostle speaks these words to all Christians, then all the more so should a person entering the monastery fence possess these Christian virtues or at least strive for them. Most of all, from those entering the path of monastic life, the highest virtue is required - humility, for it is said in the Holy Gospel: “... for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humiliates himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11), and the holy Apostle Peter: “... clothe yourself with humility, because God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter:5:5), and the prophet David says to the Lord: “For You have saved the humble people and humbled the eyes of the proud.” (Ps. 17:28). The reverend fathers of antiquity said that the beginning of humility is obedience.

Abba Moses said to a certain brother: “Let us ask for obedience, which gives rise to humility and brings patience, and generosity, and contrition, and brotherly kindness, and love, for these are the essence of our military weapons.” He also said: “A monk who fasts, being under the command of a spiritual father, but lacking obedience and humility, will not acquire any virtue, because he does not know what a monk is.” (Ancient Patericon. 14.6;8). The same book says: “The elders said: God requires nothing more from novice monks than the work of obedience.” (Ibid. Ch. 14.23). St. John Climacus says: “The Fathers call psalmody a weapon, prayer a wall, immaculate tears a laver, and blessed obedience they call confession, without which none of the passionate will see the Lord.” (Ladder. Degree 4.8). Precisely, the lack of humility is a stumbling block for many who follow the path of monastic activity. Some, having lived in the monastery for many years, do not acquire this virtue, without which there is no salvation according to the word of the Holy Scriptures and, having put in a lot of work, patience, hardship and oppression, having endured deeds for the sake of the Lord, not having the inner spiritual stone of faith - humility, they leave the monastery . It is true: “...many are called, but few are chosen” (Matt. 20:16). The Lord Jesus Christ taught: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit...” (John 15:16), everyone who enters into the service of God does not choose this service himself, but God Himself pre-elects him. And, leaving the monastery of his own free will, he leaves the cross given to him by God.

Over the years since the founding of the monastery, many people have passed through who wanted to find refuge in it, but few cemented their desire with patience and humility. The Ancient Patericon describes the image of monastics in the form of three flying birds: monks from different centuries of Christianity - middle and last times. The first two birds had enough strength to, avoiding temptations, reach the Kingdom of Heaven; the third bird, representing the image of a monk of recent times, either soared to the sky, then fell powerlessly to the ground, then rushed upward again. The ancient fathers very accurately depicted in this picture the spiritual power of monks from different eras. The ascetics of the first centuries of Christianity surprise us with their exploits. It is not for nothing that many of them were called Great: Anthony the Great, Theodosius the Great, Pohomius the Great, Onuphrius the Great, Arseny the Great, and many, many other saints spent their lives in the same severity. Monks of later times, also imitating the venerable fathers of antiquity, bore their burdens on the cross in patience and humility. Nowadays, monks also strive to imitate the godly life of the ancients, but the world around us has changed far from for the better...

Spiritual and moral activities of the monastery.

Ten years have passed. Is this a lot or a little?... For the life of humanity, this is nothing. This can be an entire era for the life of society. For a person's life, this can be a huge part of their life. What are ten years for a monastery? The monastery is now in its infancy. Starting is always difficult. It is very difficult to restore lost spirituality. It is not easy to strengthen people in the truth and teach them to live in truth. It is difficult to leave established habits that are incompatible with the monastic way of life. It is difficult to build a spiritual life, because evil lives in the world. Evil does not need to be taught, it impudently climbs in on its own, instigated and taught by the spirits of evil. Good is difficult to instill because of the spiritual damage of humanity, about which the Apostle Paul says: “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh, because the desire for good is in me, but in order to do it, I cannot do it.” I find it. I don’t do the good that I want, but I do the evil that I don’t want.” (Rom. 7:18-19).

Therefore, it is difficult to change for the better - towards goodness, humility, love. Just like it’s hard to climb a mountain, but easy to fall…. Ahead of the climber awaits the peak and indescribable joy; The bottom and death await those who fall. Therefore, it is better to endure and move forward. The construction of a monastery is also difficult, since the monastery is built on its own and only at its own expense.

Many people visit our monastery in order to get an appointment with the abbot of our monastery, Archimandrite George. Most turn to mental and physical pain, illness, grief, for spiritual, everyday and medical advice. And very many are given help and consolation through the prayers of our elder. Father instructs everyone to follow the rules of the Orthodox way of life. Most of all, he teaches to constantly visit the temples of God and regularly partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. To preach to the people the basic rules and truths of the Orthodox way of life, morality, ethics and worldview, Archimandrite George collaborates with the editors of the newspaper “Heal by Faith,” which publishes answers to pressing questions and selects Orthodox material of instructive content for fragile and new believers.
Monastery in our time.

Currently, about eighty people live and serve in the monastery. The monastery is headed by the viceroy, Archimandrite George. Under his spiritual leadership are six holy monks, two hierodeacons, three monks, twenty-four monks and novices. Painting is underway in the temple... The decoration of the temple was started by the icon painter Rekukha Nikolai. After his death, in the fall of 1998, icon painting was continued by the inhabitants of our monastery - Hieromonk Martyry (Knyazko) ​​and monk Procopius (Syroegin). The temple is decorated with a plaster iconostasis and wooden carved icon cases. Wood carving is carried out by a worker of the monastery, Vladimir Nikolaevich Kobzev. In the future, it is planned to build a refectory building, a residential building for the brethren, a residential building for the monks, and a hotel in the monastery. Architectural calculations and technical supervision during construction are carried out by architect Alexander Ivanovich Kolesnikov. A temple was built on the farmstead, in the Nekrasovo farmstead. Near it, the foundation has been laid for a bell tower, which is also planned to be built. There are many plans for the construction, improvement and decoration of the monastery. But whether they are destined to be fulfilled depends on the will of God and God’s favor.

In the temple there are revered shrines: the icons of the Mother of God “Burning Bush” and “Vladimir”, the icon of the Holy Great Martyr and healer Panteleimon, painted on Mount Athos; there is a reliquary with the relics of the saints of God. Archimandrite George has a cross - a reliquary, given to him by the elder Archimandrite Job (Kundrya), with rare relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Holy Great Martyr and healer Panteleimon.

The history of the “Vladimir” Icon of the Mother of God is very interesting. When Father Georgy served in the Arkhangelsk diocese, the granddaughter of the murdered priest brought him this icon and told him about the miracle that happened at the time of her grandfather’s execution. This happened in the thirties. Three commissars burst into the priest's house and ordered the father of the family to get ready for a long journey without delaying a minute. Worried by this sudden invasion, the priest asked for a little time to pray to God and turned his face to the icons. Tears flowed from the eyes of the Queen of Heaven, written on the tree. Seeing this miracle, one of the commissars flew into a rage and, drawing a revolver, began shooting at the icon, after which he killed the praying priest. Blood flowed from the bullet holes of the pierced icon, as from human wounds. By morning, the blasphemous commissar committed suicide by shooting himself. The relatives of the murdered priest hid the holy icon, which had shed blood, and preserved it. This icon is currently located in the altar of the temple.