Holy Trinity Stephano Makhrishchi stauropegial convent. Mahra. Holy Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchi Convent. And now I have to

The Stefano-Makhrishchi Monastery is located fifteen kilometers from the city of Alexandrov (Vladimir region), at the confluence of the Molokchi and Makhrishchi rivers. The monastery was founded in the middle of the 14th century by the Monk Stefan, who came from the walls of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery, who erected a temple here in the name of Life-Giving Trinity, built a cell, and soon the brethren gathered around him, and he himself became abbot.

At the end of the 15th century, there was a strong fire in the monastery, which almost completely destroyed all the buildings. The monastery found itself in extreme desolation. In 1557, Varlaam became hegumen, whose great-grandfather, Hieromonk Serapion, labored in the Makhrishchi Monastery, remembered the Monks Sergius and Stephen and, already an ancient elder, told his great-grandson a lot about them. The abbess of Varlaam was the heyday of the monastery, the number of brethren amounted to more than 60 people.

During the construction of the new stone Church of the Holy Trinity in 1557, incorruptible relics Venerable Stephen. With the blessing of the hierarchy, the relics of the saint were left hidden, and a church was built above them in honor of the Monk Stephen, which became the northern aisle of the Trinity Church (later rebuilt into a separate church). The chapel was consecrated in 1558 in the presence of Ivan the Terrible and his wife Anastasia, who donated vestments for the throne, shrouds for the icons and a cover for the shrine of St. Stephen.

After the Time of Troubles, the new rise of the Stefano-Makhrishchi Monastery is associated with the name of Metropolitan Platon of Moscow (Levshin, 1731-1812), an outstanding theologian and preacher. Vladyka fell in love with the Makhrishchi Monastery and spent two or three weeks within its walls in the summer. Under the care of Metropolitan Platon, a stone fence was built (1791-1792), above the eastern gate - the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh (1792), and above the northern - the Supreme Apostles Peter and Paul (1806), fraternal buildings; the ancient Trinity Church was rebuilt (1807-1808)

In the 19th century, the monastery continued to be improved. In 1900, through the efforts of Hieromonk Alypius, an orphanage for orphans and children of the poor surrounding population and a parochial school were established in the monastery. There was a large library at the monastery.

In 1922, the monastery was closed, and its churches and buildings were transferred for economic needs. On the territory of the monastery, an orphanage for street children, a hostel, and a camp site were alternately located. During the war, Stefanovskaya and Trinity churches were dismantled into bricks for the construction of an airfield.

In 1993, the first nuns from older sister nun Elizabeth, who soon became their abbess. The Makhrishchi Monastery, founded again as a monastery of the Alexander Dormition Convent, became an independent monastery in 1995.

The temple in the name of the Most Holy Trinity was restored, the temple was rebuilt in honor of St. Stephen of Makhrishchi. In 2004, the monastery acquired stauropegial status.

The Holy Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchi Monastery belongs to the Alexander Diocese. It is female, stauropegic. This monastery is located 120 km from Moscow, in the Vladimir region near the ancient village of Makhra.

Story

The monastery was founded in the 14th century. Venerable Stefan Makhrishchsky, who arrived in Moscow from Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The Holy Father was looking for a secluded place not far from the monastery of St. Sergius of Radonezh, whose friend and interlocutor he was. Having settled in a wretched cell, the Monk Stephen carried out his monastic labors in solitude. But residents of the surrounding villages came to share the life of a hermit with him. As a result, a monastery was founded near the Molokcha River and a church was built in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity.

Although St. Stephen received a charter for the land and donations for the establishment of the monastery, the local peasants created many obstacles for him. Due to dissatisfaction, the holy father temporarily left the Makhrishchi monastery and went to the North, where he founded the Avnezh hermitage not far from Vologda. Dmitry Donskoy, having heard about the deeds of St. Stephen, invited him to Moscow for conversations. Grand Duke granted land to the monasteries, and after that Stefan returned to the Makhrishchi monastery. The next abbot was Saint Varlaam. Under him, the brothers compiled the Life and Service of St. Stephen of Makhrishch.

Under Ivan the Terrible, the monastery received funds for the construction of a stone church of the Life-Giving Trinity. The relics of St. Stephen, discovered during construction, were left at the base of the temple. The main chapel was consecrated in 1558 in the presence of Tsar John and Tsarina Anastasia.

During the Time of Troubles, the Makhrishchi Monastery was devastated by Polish troops. There remained a small number of monks who were assigned to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Under Metropolitan Platon, the monastery was rebuilt: the Trinity Cathedral, the churches of Stephen of Makhrishchi and Sergius of Radonezh, and the Peter and Paul Church were restored.

In the 20s of the XX century. the monastery was completely destroyed. The authorities closed the monastery itself in 1922. The Trinity and St. Stefan, like the bell tower, was blown up in 1942. The remaining buildings were located in different years: orphanage, warehouses, pioneer camp, agricultural school. By the beginning of the 90s, on the site of the Trinity Church, under the cover of which were the relics of St. Stefan, there was a paved area.

The Holy Trinity Makhrishchi Monastery was revived as a monastery for women. The first nuns appeared here in 1993. Led by nun Elisaveta, the current abbess, they occupied a dilapidated building near the Church of Peter and Paul.

Three years later, archaeological research began. As a result, the foundation of the Church of St. Stephen and his grave were found. In 1997, the temple was restored.

The monastery was upset until 2010, when the Trinity Church was consecrated by His Holiness the Patriarch. In 2004, the monastery became stauropegial. Now more than 80 sisters serve in obedience at the Makhrishchi Monastery. The farm has a barnyard, a cheese factory, and a prosphora shop. The sisters also work in a sewing and icon-painting workshop.

Temples

The Church of St. Stephen of Makhrishchi was built under St. Varlaam, as the northern aisle of the wooden Church of the Life-Giving Trinity. Then a separate stone temple was built in the Russian-Byzantine style. Completely destroyed, the church in the name of St. Stephen was rebuilt in 1997, the first among all in the monastery.

The Church of the Life-Giving Trinity was the first among the monastic buildings, built during the reign of St. Stephen. The church underwent several reconstructions and complete destruction during Soviet power. The current cathedral, consecrated in 2010, is a majestic single-domed temple with a bell tower in the classicist style.

The Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh is the oldest building of the monastery and dates back to 1791. The temple was built above the eastern gate in honor of the meeting of Sergius of Radonezh with his spiritual friend Stefan Makhrishchsky.

The Church of St. Peter and Paul is a brick parish with an apse, built under Metropolitan Plato in early XIX V. in honor of the chief apostles. The church escaped destruction, and the restoration of the monastery began from there.

Description:

Story

Stefano-Makhrishchsky Monastery is located 15 km from the city of Alexandrov, Vladimir region. The monastery was founded in mid. XIV century St. Stephen, a native of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, who erected a temple here in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity. In 1558, the northern limit of the Trinity Church in the name of St. Stephen, whose relics rested there under the soup, was consecrated in the presence of Ivan the Terrible and his wife Anastasia.

In 1923 the monastery was closed. Within the walls of the monastery in different time There were: an agricultural school, an orphanage for street children, a hospital, and warehouses in closed churches.

In 1993, in a dilapidated building adjacent to the Church of St. App. Peter and Paul, the first nuns settled with their elder sister, nun Elizabeth, who soon became abbess. The Makhrishchi Monastery, founded again as a monastery of the Alexander Dormition Convent, became an independent monastery in 1995.

In 2004, the monastery acquired the status of stauropegial.

Temples

temple in honor of the Holy Trinity;
Church of St. Stephen of Makhrishchi;
Church of the Holy Chief Apostles Peter and Paul;
Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh.

Shrines

The relics of St. Stephen of Makhrishchi, the relics of St. Varlaam, Bishop of Suzdal, the miracle worker of Makhrishchi.

The abbess is Abbess Elisaveta (Zhegalova).

Official pages.

I decided to stop for desert living. From the Grand Duke he received not only a charter for the use of the found place, but also abundant donations for the construction of the monastery. Stefan spent his time in the wilds in tireless work and incessant prayers. The rumor about his piety quickly spread among the surrounding residents, and a considerable number of people began to flock to the saint to settle in his desert.

Soon the need arose to build a temple, a refectory, cells, and a fence. Through the common efforts of the brotherhood, all this was built, and Stefan went to Moscow to St. Alexis for a blessing to consecrate the church he built in honor of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity.

In the Makhrishchi Monastery, as in the monastery of St. Sergius, a communal charter was introduced.

The Monk Stefan was warmly received by both the prince and Saint Alexy, who ordained him to the rank of presbyter and made him abbot. The monasteries were again granted lands and lands. In the capital, the Monk Stefan, at the request of a relative of the Grand Duke's okolnik Velyaminov, Cosmas, performed a minor order of monastic tonsure (Rassophore) on him with the name Cyril, and at his petition, the monk Cyril was accepted into the Simonov Monastery, where the abbot was Archimandrite Theodore, the nephew of the Monk Sergius.

In this monastery, Kirill was soon tonsured a monk, and in the future he became a Belozersk ascetic. Upon returning to the Makhrishchi Monastery, the Monk Stefan continued his spiritual life, which he had learned from his youth. Through his prayers and labors, the monastery was in a flourishing state. Having reached a very old age and sensing the approach of his death, the Monk Stephen gathered the brethren and gave them the last instruction, drawing attention to the acquisition of the fear of God, unceasing mortal memory and especially unfeigned love while strictly maintaining the monastic community. He entrusted seniority in the monastery to Hieromonk Elijah. He himself, having put on the schema, soon gave up his spirit to the Lord. It was July 14, 1406. The saint was buried near the walls of the Trinity Church he built. Over time, three large birch trees grew over the grave from one root, and in their tops they shaded the resting place of the righteous man like a tent. With the relics of St. Stephen, many healings took place.

The disciples of the Venerable Stefan of Makhrishch were the Venerables Cassian and Gregory of Avnezh, the founders of the Avnezh Trinity Monastery (abolished), 60 versts east of the city of Vologda.

The Monk Gregory, a wealthy landowner, followed the Monk Stefan and took monastic vows when the latter established the Makhrishchi Monastery, which he founded. Together with Stefan, Gregory then retired to the Vologda region and here in the Avnezh region (in Totemsky district), near the river. Sukhona, near the Yuryev stream, they founded a monastery (around 1370). The local wealthy landowner Konstantin Dmitrievich helped the newcomers a lot with generous donations, who later took monastic vows in the monastery with the name of Cassian. The Monks Gregory and Cassian continued their labors and exploits in establishing the Avnezh monastery and removing St. Stephen from it, Gregory as abbot, and Cassian as cellarer. In 1392, they died as martyrs during the looting and burning of the Avnezh monastery by the Kazan Tatars, who were plundering the Vologda region.

At the end of the 15th century. There was a strong fire, the monastery found itself in extreme desolation.

In 1557, Varlaam became hegumen, whose great-grandfather, Hieromonk Serapion, labored in the Makhrishchi Monastery, remembered the Monks Sergius and Stephen and left notes about them. The abbess of Varlaam became a time of new prosperity for the monastery; the number of brethren amounted to more than 60 people. With special zeal, he collected all the information about the life of St. Stephen and the miracles that took place from his tomb, and presented his work to Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible and Metropolitan Macarius. With the blessing of the Metropolitan, the hieromonk of the Moscow Danilov Monastery, Joasaph, wrote a life and service to St. Stephen. Apparently, it was not accidental that the Tsar repeatedly visited the Makhrishchi Monastery and donated 200 rubles to them for the construction of the stone Church of the Holy Trinity on the site of the burnt one. During construction in 1557, the incorruptible relics of St. Stephen were found. Upon opening the coffin, a fragrance was wafted. On the saint's chest was an undecayed leather belt with an embossed image of the twelve feasts. By order of Metropolitan Macarius, the belt was placed in a silver gilded cross, from which many began to receive healings. With the blessing of the hierarchy, the relics of the saint were left hidden, and the Church of St. Stephen was built over them, which became the northern aisle of the Trinity Church. The chapel was consecrated in 1558 in the presence of Ivan the Terrible and his wife Anastasia, who donated vestments for the throne, shrouds for the icons and a cover for the shrine of St. Stephen. The construction of the Trinity Cathedral Church continued for about ten years. It was a four-pillar, single-domed temple with a stone gallery on the west and south and a chapel in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.

In 1570, Abbot Varlaam was consecrated Bishop of Suzdal and Tarusa. He remained at this department until 1583, when he retired and returned to the Makhrishchi Monastery, where he died two years later.

During the Time of Troubles, “from the war of the Lithuanian people and from Russian thieves, that monastery was devastated to the ground” - it is written in the charter of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich in 1615, when the Makhrishchi monastery was assigned to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.

According to the inventory of 1642, in addition to the Trinity Church with the chapels of St. Stephen and the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, three wooden residential buildings are mentioned: mansions for the arrival of the clergy, construction cells where hieromonks sent from the Trinity-Sergius Monastery lived, and a fraternal building in one of the cells which had a refectory. There were no outbuildings in the monastery at that time. But, despite such a meager situation, the monastery, by order of Peter I, had to send young healthy workers with axes, pitchforks and spades from the villages that belonged to it to build the new city of St. Petersburg.

The new rise of the Stefano-Makhrishchi Monastery is associated with the name of Metropolitan Platon of Moscow (Peter Levshin, 1731-1812), an outstanding theologian and preacher who did a lot to transform theological schools. Vladyka loved the Makhrishchi Monastery and spent two or three weeks within its walls in the summer. Through his care, the Trinity Cathedral, the gate churches of St. Sergius and the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, as well as a stone fence with four towers (1791-1792, one tower was destroyed in Soviet time).

In 1812, the Metropolitan was in Bethany, but when detachments of the French began to appear in the vicinity of the monastery, then he, already a decrepit and sick old man, was taken by his relatives to Makhra. The Metropolitan was buried in Bethany, which he created. in the Transfiguration Church, destroyed by atheists. After his bodily death, he had the grace to heal children, whom he loved very much during his lifetime. The father of the future metropolitan was a poor rural cleric, his name was Yegor Danilov. The mother of the future saint, Tatyana Ivanovna, as soon as the child began to speak, taught him to pronounce the name of God, and taught him prayers. At the age of 6, they began to teach him to read and write, and at the age of 8, he was already free to read and sing in the choir, and could alone lead the service in the choir during the liturgy. He had a pleasant voice, for which he was loved in the village, and later at the academy. By the age of 9, Pyotr Levshin was sent to the Kolomna Theological School, because... his father by that time had been ordained a priest, but not in the Moscow, but in the Kolomna diocese.

The father insisted that his son be accepted into the best school in Russia at that time - the Slavic-Greek-Latin school, later the academy. During his studies, Pyotr Levshin lived in great poverty with his older brother Timothy, the cleric of the Church of Sophia the Wisdom of God. He went to school barefoot, and only put on his shoes at the door. He was of a cheerful disposition. He studied very well, even was transferred through the class in which they began to study Greek. Not having the means to buy a textbook, Peter begged a friend to borrow a Greek textbook on Latin, rewrote it and began to self-taught. At first he turned to the help of his comrades, and then he began to go to a Greek monastery, listened to the reading and singing of the Greeks, and noticed their pronunciation.

Over time, he achieved such perfection that upon graduating from the theological academy he was appointed teacher of the Greek language. He was also self-taught in geography, history, French and other sciences, studied something new all my life. Success in his studies led to the fact that when a university opened in Moscow, Pyotr Levshin was appointed there as a student, but refused because he sought to become a monk. According to academic custom, Pyotr Levshin was entrusted with the responsibility of interpreting the Catechism on Sundays. For these interpretations he was called the “second Chrysostom” and the “Moscow apostle.” A lot of people came to the interviews, some with children.

In the room where Pyotr Levshin talked with the people, the crowding and stuffiness were excessive, so that the young preacher was sweating during his two-hour sermon. The zeal of his listeners inspired him. Subsequently, he said that he had never been as happy as at this time, and never had anyone listened to him with such zeal and greed, even when he became a bishop. He explained that “his heart was purer then,” and with humility he said that now his sins had multiplied. A year after graduating from the Theological Academy, Pyotr Levshin was transferred as a teacher to the Theological Seminary at the Lavra. He was soon tonsured a monk with the name Plato, and a year later he was ordained a hieromonk. The archimandrite of the Lavra at that time was Gideon (Krinovsky; later Bishop of Pskov, Izborsk and Narva), a court preacher and member of the Holy Synod. While living in St. Petersburg, the young man more than once summoned Hieromonk Plato to his place. Sermons by Fr. Platon in St. Petersburg brought him to the attention of some high-ranking officials. He became known to Empress Catherine, who appointed him teacher of the law to the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich, and 10 years later, when Plato was already Archbishop of Tver, and the heir’s bride, Natalya Alekseevna.

Plato’s appointment was insisted on by the bride’s mother, the Duchess of Hesse-Darmstadt, who read German the work of Archbishop Plato “Abridged Christian theology" After the death of Natalya Alekseevna, His Eminence Plato was also the teacher of the law for Pavel Petrovich’s second wife, Maria Feodorovna. This situation forced the Right Reverend Plato, despite his monastic rank, to sometimes act as a secular person. He attended receptions in the palace, even visited the theater, in the large box assigned for members of the Synod. But he was burdened by court life, and he was glad when he was appointed archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and, due to his position, he could live in the quiet Sergius courtyard. In September 1770, Plato was appointed archbishop of Tver, and in January 1775 he was transferred to Moscow, leaving the Trinity-Sergius Lavra as archimandrite. But, as a member of the Synod and a teacher of the law to the Grand Duchess, he still had to live in St. Petersburg. Only with great difficulty, citing either illness or the need to personally attend to diocesan affairs, did he manage to “ask for leave” for some time in the Lavra and the diocese. Metropolitan Platon dealt with diocesan affairs with his characteristic energy.

He paid special attention to theological schools and monasteries. He asked for an increase in the funds of the Tver Theological Seminary from 800 rubles a year to 2,000, he also increased the number of students. He built a hostel (bursa) at the Moscow Theological Academy and increased the number of students from 250-300 people up to 1000. He started small schools in monasteries using monastery funds. He took care of the development of the spirit of true churchliness in his pupils, nominated the most talented to serve the Church. There were a lot of his disciples-hierarchs, and he filled almost all of Moscow and even the surrounding area with learned and respectable priests . A strict monk, he built and beautified many monasteries and resurrected in them the spirit of true monasticism, calling for this the disciples of the great elder Paisius (Velichkovsky). Of the monasteries he renovated, the Peshnoshskaya and Optina monasteries were especially remarkable. Metropolitan Plato from childhood was a deep and reverent admirer of the monk Sergius of Radonezh He composed an akathist for him and throughout his life he took great care of the splendor and well-being of the Lavra.

At the beginning of his ministry in Moscow (1778), using 30,000 rubles received from the treasury, he richly decorated the Lavra, making wall paintings and new iconostases in almost all churches (in the Trinity Cathedral - overlaid with silver), erected the Serapion and Maximov tents and much more. In 1808, the heads of the Trinity and Assumption Cathedrals, and the Spiritual and Refectory Churches were covered with copper and gilding. In the Trinity Cathedral, over the relics of St. Nikon, a silver canopy was made on pillars, worth 20,000 rubles, and a silver shrine. In 1795, the Metropolitan donated a silver seven-branched candlestick, a tabernacle weighing 9 pounds of gold and 32 pounds of silver to the Trinity Cathedral. This seven-branched candlestick in the form of a branch divided into seven parts with embossed leaves is an example of artistic jewelry work and at the same time the Christian mood of the donor. On the seven-branched candlestick there is an inscription: “Yours from Yours, brought to You through Your Bishop, the All-Honorable and Great Bishop, sinful Plato in the summer... like a widow, accept my contribution.” Metropolitan Platon founded the Bethany monastery, in 1779 he restored the Nikolaev Berlyuk Hermitage, and in 1808 he built a temple in the name of the Holy Trinity in the Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchi Monastery. Restored the bishop's chambers in Moscow, destroyed and looted during the plague rebellion in 1771.

The great merit of Plato (then still an archbishop), soon after his appointment to the Moscow see, was the destruction of the notorious “sacrum” at the Spassky Gate, where priests exiled from their places, and some banned or on trial, gathered. For the smallest price (5-10 kopecks) they were hired to serve mass. “This was an unbearable temptation, but God helped the archbishop endure all this, so that not a trace remained, although it continued, perhaps, after several hundred years, and although the previous bishops tried the same, they did not have time.” And not only did they not have time, but just a few years ago Bishop Ambrose’s attempt to destroy this sacrum was one of the reasons that led to the rebellion and his murder, so, among other things, this matter required considerable courage. Metropolitan Plato also reduced the number of house churches and united parishes so that they could comfortably support priests, since he noticed that the poorer the clergy, the more susceptible they were to various vices. He also “didn’t have much respect” for the then-accepted election of clergy and clergy by parishioners, which often led to abuses. At first many were dissatisfied with this, but then they saw that good priests were assigned to them and much better than those they had chosen, and they stopped grumbling.

As Plato himself wrote, “in the proceedings of affairs, he did not look at strong faces, or requests, or tears, if he found it inconsistent with legal justice and with disorder general order flock." When he considered it necessary, he did not take into account the fact that he could incur the royal displeasure. This was taken advantage of by the Metropolitan's enemies, who feared his intelligence and influence. There was a time when only friendship with Potemkin saved him from royal disgrace. For communication with I.V. Lopukhin and I.P. Turgenev almost accused him of Freemasonry.

He was justified only by what was found in N.I.’s papers. Novikov’s letter from Lopukhin, who wrote that “he could not convince Plato to join their society.” Emperor Paul ascended the throne. He loved his former teacher very much, corresponded with him for 15 years, but he was unpleasantly impressed by the fact that during the coronation, the Metropolitan suggested that he take off his sword at the entrance to the altar. Paul noticeably cooled towards him after the Right Reverend Plato began to protest against awarding orders to the clergy.

Meanwhile, the metropolitan's strength was running out. Even at a relatively young age, he suffered from severe renal colic (from kidney stones), which sometimes brought him to complete exhaustion. Over the years, the attacks intensified, causing him to fear for his life. More than once he asked for retirement, but received the answer that he could, whenever he wanted, live in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, entrusting affairs to the vicar. In 1805 or 1806 he suffered a blow from which the Metropolitan never recovered. His strength was weakening. He gradually transferred the management of affairs to the vicar, Bishop Augustine (Winogradsky). Finally, in 1811, he was released completely until he recovered.

But after this (already at the very end of his life) Metropolitan Plato had to endure a terrible mental shock - the invasion of Napoleon, the capture and fire of Moscow. When the capital had already begun to empty, its streets were filled only with those departing from it or with convoys with military shells and the wounded, then Metropolitan Platon arrived from Bethany for the last time to look at his beloved Moscow. They say that he wanted to go to the Borodino field or Poklonnaya Gora and with your blessing to inspire the army for the battle for Moscow. Arriving at the Chudov Monastery on August 28, he sat down in an armchair on the entrance porch and looked at the Kremlin for a long time with tears, as if saying goodbye and as if anticipating his eternal separation from him and his lot. On September 1, Metropolitan Platon returned from Moscow to Bethany, and on September 2 the French occupied the capital. But even after this, the Metropolitan did not want to leave Bethany, and only when the enemy began to appear in nearby villages, forced by those around him, did he leave for Makhrishchi.

Metropolitan Platon was one of the greatest Russian saints of the 18th century and the most prolific spiritual writer of his time. He not only wrote and preached, but also encouraged others to do the same. He had the gift of speech both in preaching and in telling stories. His sermons are not an example of eloquence, but it was necessary to see and hear his recitation - without impulses, always moderate, always worthy of dignity and shrine. His speech was full of life, and if not everyone, listening to his sermons, wiped away their tears, then, of course, no one left the church without regret and the desire to listen to him again. Intelligent and educated, possessing a rare ability to distinguish and promote talented people, he loved church and worship, valued church antiquity and cared about its preservation. The deep sensitivity of his soul was manifested during divine services; Almost every time he read the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, he burst into tears from emotional tenderness; He always approached the Divine Meal with tears. The distinctive qualities of his noble soul were gratitude, straightforwardness and sincerity. His memory is reverently revered from generation to generation, and the signs of God's mercy and healings at his tomb that occur from time to time serve as an undoubted messenger that beyond the grave the deceased has found himself a blessed part of those being saved.

They talked about Metropolitan Plato and told instructive incidents from his life. This is a sign of love and respect. Once at the Trinity Lavra, a monk brought him a piece of black moldy bread with a complaint that they were feeding him such bread. The Metropolitan, taking this piece, began to eat it, meanwhile started a conversation with the monk, and when he ate it, he asked, as if he had forgotten what the monk had come to him with. “Complain about bad bread,” answered the monk. “Where is he?” - asked the Metropolitan. “You deigned to eat it.” “Well, go ahead and do what I did,” the Metropolitan told him calmly. The abbess of the Novodevichy Convent, Methodius, loved to remember how the late Metropolitan Platon visited her during it. When he came to her unexpectedly and she asked him to stay for dinner, he would certainly ask: “Do you have any old buckwheat porridge?” Otherwise I won’t sit down for lunch with you.” If there was no old buckwheat porridge in the abbot's cell, then the novices went in search of all the cells and, of course, almost always found the bishop's favorite food. Taking advantage of the suspicion of Emperor Paul, court intrigue abused this weakness of a sovereign who was kind by nature.

The envious people, wanting to harm Plato in the eyes of the sovereign, knowing that the emperor was corresponding with the metropolitan, told him: “Your Majesty, you write everything to Plato, but he values your letters little, because he pastes them over (the windows.” Pavel flared up, and suspicion sank into his soul. Arriving in Moscow, he unexpectedly arrived in Bethany for Plato. Plato greeted him with joy, but the gloomy appearance of the emperor made it clear to Plato, who studied him, that he was going through a painful state. “Lead me through your rooms,” said the emperor. Plato drives him, and the emperor keeps looking closely at the windows.

You didn't show me all the rooms!

Sovereign! “You saw everything,” answered Plato.

No, not all,” the emperor objected irritably.

And if you are in doubt, sir, take a chalk and mark every door. If you see a door without a mark, that means you haven’t been there.

Convinced that the Metropolitan was telling the truth, Paul, entering the hall, revealed to him the reason for his strange act: “They told me that you are covering the windows with my letters.”

The Metropolitan kneels down and says: “Sovereign! I begged you and now I beg you: don’t believe the slander. It is doubly detrimental to you: detrimental to you as a person, detrimental to you as a monarch.”

Touched by the sincere words of his spiritual mentor, Paul threw himself on his neck, as he was kneeling, and began to kiss him. Meanwhile, the Empress, who had previously been admiring the laurel from the living room window, suddenly turned to the side of the hall. Seeing how the emperor almost covered the kneeling metropolitan with himself, she rushed there. "What's happened? What's happened?" - she shouted desperately. The Emperor, realizing her mistake, laughed. He raised the Metropolitan and told him: “Call, Vladyka, your cook and order him lunch. I will have dinner with you and stay overnight.”

The emperor was cheerful, examined the area and spent the whole day in conversation with the famous saint, and when leaving the next day, he ordered him to arrange imperial coats of arms in the living room, in memory of his stay and overnight stay. One day, Metropolitan Platon stood in the choir of the Transfiguration chapel, and next to him stood some priest who had never seen the metropolitan with whom he was dealing. Before leaving with the Gospel, the priest put a candle in the northern door, and, believing that while they read “The Blessed Ones,” he would have time to run downstairs, he ran down the stairs. Meanwhile, the deacon approaches the northern doors with the Gospel, and there is no one to carry the candle. The Metropolitan, noticing him, says to the priest: “Take the candle and carry it.” “It’s not appropriate,” the priest answers, “I’m a priest.”

Then the Metropolitan goes himself, takes the candle, presents it, and upon the deacon’s entrance into the altar, he stands opposite the royal doors while the priest gives the blessing, then takes the candle to the south side and, putting it in its place, bows to the priest: “And I am the Metropolitan!”

The big is seen from a distance, Metropolitan Plato took his place in the history of the Russian Church, but for contemporaries, often the little things in life obscure its main content. Vladimir Governor Prince I.M. Dolgorukov in his notes expresses dissatisfaction with the metropolitan, precisely in connection with the arrangement of the Makhrishchi monastery: “In the district we will notice the Makhrinsky monastery, a deserted place beloved by Plato. According to its position, it is in the department of the Vladimir bishop, but, since ancient times belonging to the Trinity Lavra, it remained under the direct command of the Moscow metropolitan. Plato especially talks about the beauty of the interior and exterior of the monastery. Through his labors and his own support, a new temple was built following the example of his Bethany hermitage, in two tiers through with choirs and an elevated throne on the mountain. The entrance to the church is majestic. It is a pity that the saint disgraced his gray hairs here with undertakings completely indecent to his rank and the house of God. Firstly, the royal doors are made of piece mirrors, in which every object before the prayerful priest and deacon is reflected a thousand times. I talked about this with Plato himself, and out of respect for his excellent talents, I will not say anything here about the seductive jokes with which he responded to my comments. Secondly, on the local image of John Chrysostom, the saint’s mouth is gilded, in order to distinguish the image of Christ’s saint from others before the people. Finally, enslaved to the spirit of pride more than many worldly people, Elder Plato placed in the temple opposite the royal doors his own portrait in ribbons and secular honors with the inscription: “Image of Plato.” Is this how our divinely inspired forefathers and teachers lived, felt and thought?”

In the 2nd half of the 19th century. There is a gate in the southern monastery wall. The Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh was built in 1792 over the eastern ones, and over the northern ones - the Supreme Apostles Peter and Paul (1806, destroyed in Soviet times). Nowadays the temple has been restored.

The abbot's cells and the fraternal corps were placed near the northern wall of the fence in 1768-1769. The building received its present appearance in the 2nd half of the 19th century.

In 1807-1808 Trinity Church was rebuilt on the site of a dismantled 16th century church. It was consecrated by Metropolitan Platon on August 23, 1808, on the day of the dedication of the Feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The sermon was delivered by a young teacher of eloquence and rhetoric at the Moscow Theological Seminary Vasily Drozdov, the future Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Philaret (canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992), who often visited the monastery with the metropolitan.

In the Trinity Church, the prototype of which was the Church of the Transfiguration of the Spaso-Bethany Monastery erected by Bishop Plato, the iconostases stood one above the other: below was a throne in honor of John Chrysostom, and above it in honor of the Holy Trinity. Wide staircases led to the upper temple, and it itself consisted of wall galleries on columns. After 40 years, it was supposed to rebuild the cathedral, but Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow pointed out that “everything cannot be changed, should we not, out of respect for the works of the elder Saint Plato, leave the internal arrangement as it was arranged by him, and not change the altars when arranging the floors.”

During this renovation, a two-story vestibule with vaults was added to the western facade, in which the sacristy and library were located on the second floor, and on the north, a chapel over the tomb of the locally revered Bishop Varlaam. About spiritual life in the monastery at the end of the 18th century. can be judged by the following remark of Metropolitan Plato: “His Eminence found it most worthy of praise that the brethren work obediently, clean themselves, have a common meal, receive strangers, set up a mill, carry out church services carefully, according to monastic custom... they do everything with consent and love ... May the Lord grant the builder good diligence, skill and success, especially in building the souls of the brethren.”

Until 1833, the builder of the Makhrishchi Monastery was Hieromonk Gennady. He was a cell attendant for the builder of the Nikolo-Peshnoshsky monastery, Hieromonk Maxim, known for his high life. At Peshnosh he successfully served as a treasurer. Transferred by the builder of the Makhrishchi Monastery, by the resolution of Metropolitan Philaret of January 13, 1833, from where he was transferred to the Davidov Hermitage, on February 2, 1836, he was dismissed from his post with a transfer to the brotherhood of the Catherine Hermitage, Podolsk district of the Moscow province. He died in 1851 and was buried in the cemetery of the Moscow Intercession Monastery.

In 1850, Hieromonk Varlaam (1854-1865) was appointed as the builder of the Makhrishchi monastery. He came from freed people, was tonsured as a monk at the Oransky Mother of God Monastery, Nizhny Novgorod diocese, from 1834 he was the builder of the Ostroyezersky monastery, and in early 1845 he was accepted into the monastery. Spaso-Bethans Monastery, in 1848 he was made the builder of the Gethsemane monastery, in 1849 he was dismissed from his position due to illness and placed in the Lavra Hospital. On July 3, 1853, he was appointed economist of the Lavra and a member of its established council. On July 23, 1854, he was assigned to the builders of David’s Hermitage. He was promoted to abbot on September 2, 1856 by Metropolitan Philaret at the Trinity Metochion. He had a gold pectoral cross. Died January 11 1865, 64 years old. According to Archimandrite Pimen, rector of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery, Varlaam is “a good-natured and hospitable man.” He was buried in the David Hermitage near the St. Nicholas Church.

In the 19th century The Makhrishchi Monastery continued to be improved: in the 1850s. The hotel was built in the 2nd half of the 19th century. refectory.

In 1887-1890, under the abbot of the monastery, Abbot Amphilochia, according to the design of a non-class architectural artist Alexander Petrovich Beloyartsev (1858-1892), a three-tier bell tower was added to the Trinity Church. Horse and cattle yards and a greenhouse appeared. In 1900, through the efforts of the builder, Hieromonk Alypius, a shelter for orphans and children of surrounding residents was established in the monastery. There was a parish school and a large library.

In 1906, the 500th anniversary of the death of St. Stephen was solemnly celebrated. In the center of the monastery stood two churches - Stefanovsky and near it, from the south, Trinity. In the first, the relics of the founder of the monastery rested hidden. This temple was rebuilt several times and at the beginning of the century, according to the design of the architect Alexander Felitsianovich Meisner (1859-1935), it was crowned with a tent.

In 1792, by order of Metropolitan Platon (Levshin), during the construction of the stone fence of the monastery, the Church of St. Sergius was built above its eastern gate with a special entrance to it from the side of the monastery settlement. This church was given to the parish clergy for worship and church requirements. It was not heated, and there were no services in it in winter. In 1824, the church was sealed due to dilapidation, and the parish was left without a church at all. The parish did not have money for the construction of a new one, and the clergy of the monastic settlement turned to His Eminence Parthenius (Chertkov) for instructions. His Eminence Parthenius knew the needs of the parish; in 1821 he was traveling through Makhra to Vladimir and stopped to spend the night here. At this time, Archbishop Simeon (Krylov-Platonov, in 1821 moved to the Yaroslavl see, d. 1824) passed through Makhra on his way from Tver to Yaroslavl; his sister was married to a Makhrin priest. The saints were good friends and spent several days in Makhra, then they went together to Aleksandrov and parted ways there.

Vladyka Parthenius, when he learned about the sealing of the temple, took the most energetic measures to establish a parish church in Makhra, separate from the monastery. 6 versts from Makhra, in the village. Yam, at this time the landowner Yakovlev built stone church, no services were held in the still strong wooden church that stood in the village. His Eminence Parthenius advised the Makhrinsky parishioners to buy this church, and he himself wrote to Yakovlev, asking him to give up the wooden church to the Makhrinsky parish. Yakovlev gave up the church with the iconostasis and icons for 300 rubles. In 6 weeks, the temple was transported and assembled in a new location.

In 1857, in the monastery settlement, a stone church of St. Sergius of Radonezh with chapels of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra and the Tikhvin Icon was built Mother of God. The wooden church was abolished.

The clergy consisted of a priest, a deacon and a psalm-reader. Since 1843, priest John Solovyov served at the temple. The clergyman had his own wooden houses, standing on church land. In 1873, the district zemstvo opened a school in the village, which was located in a separate house built on church land. In 1884, 47 boys and 8 girls studied there.

During Soviet times, the temple was closed, in the 1950s. The rotunda that crowned it, the temple building itself, and the upper tier of the bell tower were destroyed. A club was set up in the temple.

During the period of persecution of the Church, clergy and clergymen and active parishioners of the temple were repressed. Ivan Abrosimovich Zabnin (b. 1869), hieromonk of the Makhrishchi Monastery, after the revolution did not have a fixed place of residence, wandered, and in 1937 sometimes served illegally in the church of the village. Makhra, Alexandrovsky district. Arrested March 7, 1937

Anisim Ignatievich Slinko (b. 1877) before the revolution of 1917 was a peasant in the village. Chernigovka Nikolsko-Ussuriysk district of the Far Eastern region. In 1926 he became a deacon and until 1930 he served in one of the churches in the city of Rostov, Yaroslavl region. In 1931 he was arrested and sentenced by a board to three years of exile in the Northern Territory. He served his sentence and entered the service as a deacon of the Makhrishchi Church. Here he “joined the counter-revolutionary group “Brotherhood of Secret Monasticism” (an organization invented by the investigation), became one of the leaders of this group, carried out active anti-Soviet agitation among the population,” was arrested in March 1937 and on June 15, 1937 sentenced to exile in Kazakhstan for 5 years. Then he lived in the Vladimir region. In 1959, the case against Slinko A.I. terminated for lack of evidence of a crime.

Dmitry Andreevich Danilin (b. 1880), from a family of peasants, from 1912 in the city of Kineshma he was a regent and teacher of singing at a primary school. Since 1913 he was in the ranks of the old army in Kostroma. In 1918 he returned to Kineshma and began to serve as a psalm-reader in various places, from 1926 - in the village. Mahra. Arrested in February 1931, he was slanderously accused of “gathering together with other citizens to discuss methods of fighting against social events, conducting anti-Soviet agitation and fighting the collective farm movement.” Danilin D.A. sentenced on July 3, 1931 to deportation to the Northern Territory for two years.

Agafya Nikanorovna Orlova (b. 1869), a native of the village of Vyazmino, Aleksandrovsky district, was a peasant woman until 1916, then a nun. After the revolution of 1917, she worked in Moscow, in an almshouse. In 1937, without any specific occupation, she lived in the village. Mahra. Arrested March 6, 1937

Anna Ivanovna Pichugina (b. 1877), a native of the village of Stepkovo, Alexandrovsky district, was a nun at the Assumption Monastery in the city of Alexandrov from the age of 15.

Since 1918, she lived “wherever she had to: in the village of Stepkovo, village. Kara-banovo, in the village. Mahra, near the church.” In 1929, “for anti-Soviet agitation,” she was expelled to the Rostov district of the Yaroslavl province, where she lived until 1933. In 1937, she was a cleaner in the church of the village. Mahra, arrested March 6, 1937

Dmitry Nikolaevich Shikalev (b. 1883), a native of the village of Neglovo, Aleksandrovsky district, where he lived. He served as an elder in the village church. Mahra. Arrested on March 6, 1937. Orlova A.N., Pichugina A.I., Shikalev D.N. were accused of “being active participants in the counter-revolutionary group “Brotherhood of Secret Monasticism”, participating in anti-Soviet gatherings, where they conducted anti-Soviet agitation and spread provocative rumors.” At a special meeting at the NKVD of the USSR, D.N. Shikalev sentenced on July 15, 1937 to 5 years in a forced labor camp, the rest were sent to Kazakhstan for 5 years.

In 1922 the monastery was closed. The buildings housed either an orphanage, a tourist base, or a pioneer camp.

A modern researcher (T.P. Timofeeva) writes: “In 1923, bells from the closed monasteries of the Alexander district - Stefano-Makhrishchsky, Lukyanova Hermitage and Zosimova Hermitage - began to spread throughout the surrounding villages. On July 31, 1923, the Makhrinsky VIC received a telephone message: “The management department invites you to urgently notify the villages of the volost entrusted to you: Malinovo, Kamshilovo, Korovino, Stepkovskaya Gora, Kovedyevo, Stepkovo, Gideevo, Lizunovo, Afanasyevo for satisfaction with the bells from the Makhrinsky monastery according to the applications they submitted,” there are a whole bunch of such statements; Here is one of them, from the village of Afanasyevo, Moscow province: “We hereby request... the sale of two church bells weighing from 1-1.5 pounds from the Makhrinsky Monastery or Zosimova Hermitage...In the Stefano-Makhrishchi Monastery in 1925 the largest bells remained, because the surrounding villages took away only the smaller ones. On April 24, 1925, in response to the request of the believers of the Makhrinsky sub-monastery settlement to leave them a large bell, the provincial executive committee replied, “that the requested bell, and all other bells of the former Makhrinsky monastery, are at the disposal of Gospromtsvetmet (...transferred under an agreement with the provincial executive committee) and the latter are already being removed for pouring into other products."

In 1943, the churches of St. Stephen and the Holy Trinity were destroyed into rubble for the airfield (which was never built).

In 1993, a memorial cross was erected on the territory of the monastery in honor of the 600th anniversary of the repose of St. Sergius, the monastery was restored as the monastery of the Assumption Convent in the city of Alexandrov.

The first to be restored was the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. A wooden bell tower was built next to the apse of the temple.

In 1995, the monastery gained independence. On November 14, 1996, Archbishop Evlogy of Vladimir and Suzdal laid the first stone in the foundation of the Church of St. Stephen. E.N. Pozdyshev, president of the Rosenergoatom concern, which took patronage of the restoration of the Makhrishchi Trinity-Stefanovsky Convent, promised to build the temple in a year. On November 25, 1997, guests from many parts of Russia, Archbishop Evlogy, leaders of the Aleksandrovsky district, clergy, monks, and numerous parishioners of various churches came here. The consecration of the temple was headed by Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II.

Last Thursday, on a sunny day, my husband and I, at the invitation, went to the village of Makhra in the Yaroslavl region - to the Holy Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchsky stauropegial convent. I was traveling for work, my husband was traveling for company.
It was a wonderful day, clouds floated lazily across the bright blue bottomless sky, and when the snow-white fortress wall of the monastery appeared ahead, we rejoiced - we found it! We've arrived! Hooray!

This is what the entrance to the modest village of Mahra looks like, named after the river on the banks of which the monastery is located.

If you get out of the car at the sign and look around, you can see beautiful, austere landscapes with forests and fields, between which a road melting in the sun winds.

The first corner tower that met us.

Nearby, literally five meters away, a beautiful church with a bell tower is being restored. The communists cut off exactly half of the entire complex at approximately the third floor level. Today the ensemble is being revived and will soon, rightfully, become another local landmark.

The next day of our arrival, brand new bells were brought, consecrated and dragged into the newly built bell tower in the blink of an eye. The whole village came running to hear the test strikes of the big bell - the sound floated rhythmically in the air, low and impossibly beautiful.

The entire monastery is enclosed by a white wall - in some places it is just a high fortress wall with narrow loopholes, in others it is the back of the buildings (like here). Local residents walk past this wall to shop. I'm jealous. Because personally, I go to the store past a garbage dump and a meeting place for all the local alcoholics.

The windows are narrow, narrow, and located quite high - the photograph does not convey the scale of the buildings well. By the way, opposite this very place, the monastery, with the help of benefactors from Rosenergoatom, built an excellent school for rural children - a large beautiful red brick building in the style of a monastery ensemble. With a cozy green courtyard behind an elegant fence, and a nice sports ground. I would love to study at such a school. Today, thanks to the monastery, rural schoolchildren have a modernly equipped school near their home, and they do not have to travel far and wide for knowledge.

By the way - and this is very important, I think: the monastery houses an orphanage for girls who were unlucky with their parents... Children were collected from train stations, brought from overcrowded orphanages. The shelter, although it is a monastery, has its own regime and routine. Among the sisters of the monastery, almost all have higher education, some sisters, as it turned out, and more than one. There are teachers, psychologists, doctors, engineers, philologists in the world. Now the sisters give their knowledge and experience to the benefit of the monastery and children. The monastery organized lessons of the Law of God in a rural school - and the result is amazing for all skeptics - ALL rural schoolchildren go to these lessons AT THEIR OWN WISH. There are special lessons for their parents and secular teachers - the classes are overcrowded.

When we rode bicycles between the new school and the monastery, I kept thinking how good it must be to go out after classes and, opening the little gate, step into the silence of the monastery.

And to our left is an INCREDIBLY well-groomed monastery barnyard - cows, goats, poultry. They work here in obedience to their sisters. The inside is very clean, cozy, and all the animals are simply polished - you can see how beautiful they are in advertising. (And the curious ones - all the cows sniffed me on the bike).

We were lucky with the weather. And even very All these days that we spent in the monastery, it was real summer. The sun, the azure sky - beauty!

The sky over Makhra.

We were not burdened with obediences, and we immediately went to photograph the monastery. On bicycles. Fortunately, we always take them with us. Fat, unmade-up Anni Manninen in a skirt on her iron horse.

"Quiet" gate. They offer a wonderful view of the lake.

A fleeting cloud came and covered the sun. But the view is still beautiful.

Under the shadow of this cloud, we rolled to the shore, piled up the bikes, and I clicked my dad’s camera. The photo shows the view opposite us.

View to the left.

View to the right.

But five minutes later the sun returned, and in the distance I saw two nuns walking to the holy spring. I couldn’t resist - I zoomed in and captured it for posterity. Idyll.

If anyone is interested, write, and then it will be continued in the next post.