Vladychny convent, Serpukhov: reviews. Who helps the Vladychna convent in Serpukhov?

On the low canopy bank of the river Nara, near its confluence in the Oka, stands to this day the monastery, founded in 1360. Now it is known as the Lord 's Convent, the oldest on the Moscow land.

The cause of the occurrence is the planting of Orthodoxy

Metropolitan Alexy (Eleutherius Byakont) actively built monasteries outside of Moscow. Being outstanding not only as an ecclesiastical but also as a statesman, he understood that faith can become the unifying and cementing basis of the Russian state. His rightness was confirmed by the first victory of the united Russian army over the Golden Horde, which was won on the Kulikovo field (1380), which happened only 20 years after the Vladychny monastery was laid.

To the glory of who built the monastery

The legend says that the site for the current Vladychny convent was chosen at the behest of the Mother of God: St. Alexius of Moscow heard her voice coming from the icon, indicating the exact place (right bank of Nara, Serpukhov's neighborhood). Then there were impassable pine forests. The Metropolitan entrusted the construction of the monastery to his pupil and cell attendant (servant under high dignitaries of monastic rank and under the elders) Varlaam, who before the laying of the monastery also had a vision, as the Most Holy Theotokos was brought to the temple. These visions and gave the name of the erected shrine - Vvedensky Vladychny monastery (now the Lord's Convent). The first wooden church erected on this territory was also dedicated to the Introduction of the Virgin.

Introduction to the Holy of Holies

Immediately after the death of the Monk Varlaam Serpukhovsky in 1377, at the behest of Metropolitan Alexy the icon of the same name was painted, which immediately became revered as miraculous. What does its name mean - "The introduction of the Blessed Virgin into the Holy of Holies"? According to the church legend, the Virgin Mary her parents Joachim and Anna at the age of three were brought to the Jerusalem temple. Thus they fulfilled their vow and dedicated it to God. In the Holy of Holies the girl was up to the betrothal with Joseph. This icon was revered for many centuries as the main shrine of the temple.

Outpost Monastery

The present Vladychnyi nunnery throughout its existence has been repeatedly abandoned and restored again. After the death of Metropolitan Alexy, the monastery, which was on the southern boundary line of the Moscow Principality and was part of the watchdog system, began to gradually decline. It was repeatedly raided, as it was near the most convenient place for crossing the Oka. The monastery was surrounded by a defensive wall, and on its territory there were guns.

Ups and downs

The revival and flourishing of the monastery occurred during the reign of Boris Godunov, who was to fight under his walls in 1598 with hordes of the Crimean Khan Kazy-Girey. But the enemy troops retreated without taking a fight. Considering this miraculously, Boris Godunov ordered to restore and improve the monastery. The time has passed, and the man's monastery is again in decline. The case was so bad that in 1806 the question aroused seriously about its abolition. Metropolitan Platon of Moscow and Kolomna appealed to Alexander I with a request for the re-profiling of Serpukhov Monastery from male to female.

The nunnery and its inhabitants

After the arrival to the destination of the first abbess of Dionysus with five nuns and four novices, the Lord's Convent (Serpukhov) blossomed. And although it was defined as a monastery of the third class, which was supposed to have only 17 nuns, the monastery under the wise management of the former treasurer of the Novodevichy monastery of Dionysius began to develop intensively. Old churches were restored, new buildings were built, and by the middle of the 19th century the Vvedensky Vladychny Convent had more than 300 inmates. This monastery was famous for its inhabitants. Here from 1806 to 1845 lived the famous blessed elder Efrosinia, who in the world was known as Princess Evdokia Vyazemskaya.

Among its abbesses was Mitrophania, in the world - Baroness Rosen, in which the monastery flourished in a magnificent color. She was abbess from 1861 to 1773. Extraordinary and interesting is the fate of this extraordinary woman, who became the heroine of the works of AN Ostrovsky, NA Nekrasov, ME Saltykov-Shchedrin.

Hard times

In 1919, the Vladychny convent (Serpukhov) is not destroyed - it is closed, evacuating all inhabitants, and in the strong walls of the monastic buildings there is the "School of Red Warlocks". Flight school was here until 1978. And then a real trouble came to the walls of the former temple - he was systematically looted for 17 years. Local residents literally smashed it into bricks, from which they put their garages and dachas for fun.

The Last Revival and Flowering

In 1995, work began to restore the complex, followed by the heyday of the monastery - the ruins settled nuns. The Holy Synod blessed the resumption of the monastery. Mother Alexia (Petrova) and several ascetics came to the vacant lot, where there was nothing - neither communications, nor living quarters. And only thanks to their exploit, now Vvedensky Vladychny female monastery (Serpukhov), this outpost of Holy Rus, looks the same as under Boris Godunov. But the restoration work continues.

Help revival

To recreate the former appearance of the monastery, make it suitable for living, few works of conscientious nuns. They themselves, even reviving the ancient craftsmanship of gold embroidery, which the monastery is now famous for, could not have recruited a small part of the necessary amount. The question arises: "Who is helping the Convent of Women?" Serpukhov is a district center, and this small town is also unable to restore the monastery, although the administration is doing its best. Of course, there are donations, and we can say that the monastery is being restored by the whole world.

Demanded shrine

But the Vladychny convent has one priceless shrine - an icon of the Mother of God "The Inexhaustible Chalice". The acquisition of the icon dates back to 1878 and it is associated with the Monk Varlaam, the first abbot of the monastery. In this year, the dying soldier who was living in the Tula province, drank from drunkenness, Barlaam appeared in a dream and sent him to Serpukhov Convent, saying that there is an icon "The Inexhaustible Chalice", which alone can save him from death. The healing was so fast and strong that the glory of the miraculous image rushed first across the district, and then on. The icon was in the convent before 1919. After the closure of the Vladychny monastery, it was moved to the cathedral of Nikola Bely. After 1929, when the St. Nicholas Cathedral ceased to exist, the traces of the shrine disappeared. But there is a version that she is now in a private Moscow collection, whose owner, being an absolute atheist, demands money for the transfer of the shrine to the monastery.

Miracle-working lists

In 1993, two esteemed miraculous lists of this icon were made - one is in the Vladychny convent, the other - in Vysotsky masculine, located on the opposite high bank of Nara. And the people's path to these shrines is not overgrown. Here people come and go from different parts of the country: in the Vladychny monastery an icon is waiting for the icon - it heals people from drunkenness, drug addiction and tobacco smoking. This image makes the monastery the main attraction of Serpukhov.

An original metochion

It should be noted that it is not so easy to get to the monastery, that's why tourists do not visit it, and the monastery loses from it. People go here purposefully, for help. Their donations are the main income item of the complex. The monastery of the nunnery has the best reviews. In such places they come for spiritual peace and healing, but when pilgrims are met with cleanliness and well-being, it becomes pleasantly doubly. It is interesting that on the territory of the monastery there is a peacock farm, and it is so appropriate, because in the arms of Serpukhov there is a peacock feather. And it is depicted there because in these two monasteries, which are opposite each other on the different banks of Nara since ancient times, since 1691 peacocks were bred.

Temples and shrines of the monastery

On the territory of the monastery there are several temples. The first is the Vvedensky Cathedral, erected in 1362 and rebuilt by Boris Godunov. In this form, the five-domed temple exists even now. The second is the church of St. George the Victorious, built in the late 16th century. He is very handsome. In the following, XVII century, the church of St. Alexis was erected. Another nadvorna church, built in 1599 in honor of the martyr Theodotus of Ancyra, complements the general picture of an unusual monastery. In the monastery there are several miraculous shrines, including the relics of the Monk Varlaam, each of which is surrounded by legends. How do you get to the monastery? By train from the capital they go to the station "Serpukhov". From here and to the monastery bus number 4 Oktyabrskaya runs. The route is called so because the monastery is on Oktyabrskaya Street, at No. 40.