Pokrovsky convent description and photos - Russia - Moscow: Moscow

2024 Author: Graham Hoggarth | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-09 10:26

Description of the attraction

The Intercession Monastery in Moscow has stavropegic status. This term means that the monastery is directly subordinate to the patriarch or synod and is independent of the local diocesan authority. The literal translation of the word "stavropegia" from Greek means "to raise the cross." In the old days, in such monasteries, the cross was installed by the patriarch himself.

The Moscow Monastery at the Pokrovskaya Zastava is known to believers as a center for the spread of veneration Blessed Matrona of Moscow.

History of the monastery

In 1635 Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the first Russian tsar from the Romanov dynasty founded a men's monastery in honor of the memory of his father. He died on the day of the Protection of the Virgin Patriarch Filaret … Before the tonsure, which over Fyodor Nikitich Romanov was committed by force, he was considered a possible rival Boris Godunov in the struggle for the throne. During the Time of Troubles, Filaret held an important church post. He was Metropolitan of Rostov, and in 1619 he was solemnly elevated to the cathedra. Patriarch Filaret paid great attention to the printing of Orthodox books and the proofreading of ancient manuscripts. Under him, the most important reforms of church government took place, and the patriarchal power was finally formed and began to represent a state within a state.

The site chosen for the construction of the monastery was located for many years a cemetery for vagabonds, executed criminals, people who died without repentance, and wanderers, and therefore the monastery was often called Bozhedomsky … The successor to Mikhail Fedorovich, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, collected funds for the continuation of construction in various ways. In particular, the money received for the lease of land holdings was used, which is why the monastery was often called "indoor" by the people.

Two churches were built on the territory of the monastery. The first monastery cathedral made of stone with a chapel in honor of St. John of Damascus was founded in 1655. He was consecrated in honor Protection of the Virgin … Later, the temple was radically rebuilt, and at the beginning of the 19th century, four thrones were already consecrated in it: in honor of the Protection of the Theotokos, St. Jonah, Nicholas the Pleasant and the apostles Peter and Paul.

The second most important on the territory of the monastery was considered All Saints Temple, built in 1682 by order of Fyodor Alekseevich. A hundred years later, the church was replaced with a new one, but the building of the refectory with the chapels of the Resurrection of the Word was preserved with it. A three-tiered bell tower with a height of 30 meters was built nearby. At the end of the 19th century, the temple was rebuilt again. The project was developed by an architect M. D. Bykovsky … As a result of the reconstruction, the church was crowned with a large dome with a dome at the top, the central drum was decorated with an arcade, and small domes were placed at the corners of the quadrangle. From the former temple, there are domed pillars with arches and one of the walls of the main altar. In 1856, the church was consecrated in honor of Resurrection Word … The side-altars placed in it were dedicated to the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God and the Martyr Alexandra. The interiors of the temple were decorated with frescoes painted by Moscow icon painters. The murals were created on the themes of the earthly life of Jesus Christ.

In 1812 the monastery was destroyed. During the siege of Moscow by the French, the commander of the Polish corps, General Michel Claparede, quartered in it, and before their departure, Napoleon's soldiers plundered and partially destroyed the monastery.

In the 70s of the XIX century, after the restoration, the monastery was transformed into a missionary one. Under him, an institute was created, where they train monastics who want to engage in educational work. The educational mission is led by Saint Innocent. Several dozen missionaries are sent from the monastery to different parts of the country and the world.

With the advent of Soviet power, the fate of the monastery becomes unenviable. In 1926, the temples are closed, the bell tower is demolished, and three years later the monastery officially ceases to exist. On the site of the cemetery at the monastery, an amusement park was set up, and several secular institutions were opened within the walls of the monastery: a cinema administration, a gym, an editorial office of a magazine with a printing house and even a billiard room.

Return of the monastery

In 1994, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to reopen a women's monastery within the walls of a dilapidated monastery. The first liturgy in the officially revived monastery was held in October 1995 … The Church of the Intercession was then in a dilapidated state, the iconostasis was cut out of plywood, and only five nuns were praying at the service that day.

The next year, all the buildings that belonged to him historically were transferred to the Intercession Monastery for perpetual use. Soon, three chapels of the Intercession Church were consecrated, and On May 1, 1998, the monastery received the remains of Matrona Nikonova, glorified among the locally revered saints as Blessed Matrona of Moscow.

In 2001, on the day of the 120th anniversary of the saint's birth, the monastery consecrated Resurrection Cathedral, and a few months later - a rebuilt exact copy of the destroyed bell tower.

In 2013, on the day of the 15th anniversary of the uncovering of the relics of Blessed Matrona, the first stone was laid in the foundation of the new church in the monastery. He was consecrated in honor Saints Peter and Fevronia … The chapel-temple was recreated in detail from photographs - it existed behind the fence of the monastery and was destroyed after the revolution. Today in the chapel of Peter and Fevronia, the sacraments of baptism and wedding are performed.

Today, about fifty sisters live in the Intercession Monastery. The monastery is known as a center for the spread of the veneration of Matrona of Moscow and a place of national pilgrimage to her relics.

Matrona of Moscow

Life Matrona Dmitrievna Nikonova is now described as the living of the saint. She was born, according to some sources, in 1881, according to others - in 1885 in the Tula province in a large family and was completely blind from birth. Her middle-aged parents even wanted to send the blind girl to an orphanage, but her mother had a prophetic dream about a beautiful blind bird the day before. The girl remained in the family, and at an early age she showed the ability to heal the sick. She was deeply religious and often made pilgrimages to holy places with the daughter of a landowner who lived next door. In the Kronstadt Cathedral, she once met with the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, who distinguished her from the crowd of pilgrims and called her the future "eighth pillar of Russia."

After the death of her father and the revolution that broke out soon, Matrona Nikonova and her friend went to work in the capital. She had to live with friends and acquaintances, and Matrona was engaged in taking patients and treating them, giving advice, predicting the future. They say that even Stalin turned to her for advice, as the plot of the so-called icon "Blessed Matrona blesses Joseph Stalin" tells about. The leader of the USSR, as Zinaida Zhdanova writes in the book "The Legend of the Life of the Blessed Eldress Matrona", came for advice at a difficult time, when German troops were practically on the doorstep of Moscow. Matrona Nikonova predicted the victory of the Russian people. However, both the researchers of the life of Matrona of Moscow and the chroniclers of the glorious deeds of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin cannot provide sufficient evidence that their meeting really took place. There is also no reason not to believe Zhdanova, who as a girl lived with her mother in the same room with Matrona in Starokonyushenny Lane.

Matrona Nikonova died in 1952 and was buried at the Danilovskoye cemetery. She herself chose this place to “hear the service”, because this particular cemetery church was one of the few that continued to work in the capital during the Soviet era.

March 8, 1998 the grave of the saint at the Danilovskoye cemetery with a blessing Patriarch Alexy II was opened, and her relics were first delivered to the Danilovsky Monastery, from which they were later transferred to the Intercession Monastery. They are placed in a silver shrine in the Intercession Church. You can also see there the image of the Mother of God "Seeking the Lost" - an icon painted at the request of Matrona of Moscow in 1915 and having been with her all her life.

In 1999, Matrona of Moscow was canonized as a locally revered saint of the Moscow diocese, and in 2004 she was canonized for the whole church.

Daily the relics of St. Matrona of Moscow become the subject of pilgrimage for thousands of people … People believe in the healing power of the holy relic and ask Matrona of Moscow for help and support. Pilgrims from different cities of Russia and from other countries come and come to bow to the relics. There are numerous testimonies of miracles and healings that occurred after visiting the Intercession Monastery, not only by believers, but also by unchurched people. The Russian Orthodox Church, headed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, recognizes the miraculous power of the saint and calls on believers to turn to her for healing from ailments and for help in solving problems.

Pokrovsky monastery for pilgrims

In 2015, the construction of a hotel for pilgrims was completed at the Intercession Monastery. It was erected according to old photos and now, like a century ago, those wishing to bow to the relics of the Blessed Matrona of Moscow can stay in a hotel at the monastery and receive not only shelter, but also food.

On the days of the memory of the blessed saint, the first floor of the Intercession Church, where the relics of Matrona of Moscow rest, is open around the clock. On the monastery square, a screen is installed on which the service is broadcast, and therefore even more than usual number of believers manage to attend the service.

There is a church shop on the territory of the monastery, where believers and pilgrims can buy candles, literature, a description of the life of St. Matrona of Moscow, icons and church utensils.

Pilgrims can dine at the Monastic Trapeza, opened in the Intercession Monastery, and on the days of the memory of Matrona of Moscow and on major church holidays, the monastery organizes charitable meals.