Description of the attraction
The male monastery in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Malye Lyady, Minsk region, was built in 1732. It was originally built as a Catholic monastery. The initiator of the construction was Teresa Tyshkevich, the wife of the Minsk governor. This devout woman was ill for a long time and was seriously ill, asking for healing from the Zhirovichi Icon of the Mother of God. A miracle happened, and the worthy woman was cured. To celebrate, she presented a copy of the miraculous icon to the Lyadan temple. Miracles continued to happen, pilgrims began to flock from various cities, wishing to touch the shrine. Then Teresa Tyszkiewicz persuaded her husband to donate a lot of money to the church and the Basilian monastery. In 1794, the monastery already owned vast lands and a solid treasury.
In 1837, a quiet and imperceptible reform took place in the monastery. Gradually, Catholic monks were introduced to Orthodox spiritual reading, the Mass was replaced by the Orthodox service, and then the remnants of Catholicism in the form of an organ, benches and decorative interior decorations were completely removed from the church. Why did the monks agree to reform? They faced a difficult choice - to accept Orthodoxy or leave the monastery. Of course, there were those for whom Catholicism turned out to be more valuable than the well-fed, calm monastic life, but most of the monks did not want to leave their homes.
After 1920 the monastery was abolished and the church was destroyed. Only the miraculous image remained hanging on the wall. However, in the 1960s, the icon mysteriously disappeared. First, a warehouse was set up in the temple, and later it was abandoned altogether.
In 1992, the church and monastery were given over to the Orthodox Church. Within the ancient monastery walls, the Holy Annunciation Stavropegic Monastery was reopened.
