Lipetsk convent. Monasteries of Lipetsk land: a view from the outside
Zadonsky Nativity of the Mother of God Monastery is considered a monastery, located in the Lipetsk region in the city of Zadonsk, where the Don River flows.
Its founders were Cyril and Gerasim, immigrants from the Sretensky Monastery, who brought a copy of the icon of the Mother of God, which is known as miraculous. The first name of the monastery sounded like the Zadonsk Teshevsky Bogoroditsky Monastery.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a whole area was built, where there were 6 churches, different types of bell towers, houses, pharmacies, brick factories, and hospitals. About 300 people lived in the monastery.
When the revolution occurred, the monastery turned into a “brothel”, and in 1990 its buildings were transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church, where the first divine service was soon held on August 26, 1990, this day was considered the day of remembrance of St. Tikhon of Voronezh, the Wonderworker of Zadonsk.
St. Tikhon's Transfiguration Convent
One of the revered places in Zadonsk is a convent built on the ruins of an old monastery. Many pilgrims come here to pray, plunge into the cold waters of the holy spring and receive healing from mental and physical ailments.
The monastery on the site of the current St. Tikhon's Convent has existed since 1865. Saint Tikhon loved to visit this deserted place in the wilderness for solitude and prayer. On the bank of the Prohodnya River the saint built a spring, which is now healing. After the 1917 revolution, the monastery suffered the same fate as most Russian monasteries. Almost completely destroyed and desecrated, it was returned to the church in 1991. Much has changed here since then. On the territory of the monastery, the revived Trinity Cathedral, the main temple of the monastery, stands majestically. The upper aisle is consecrated in honor of the Life-Giving Trinity, the lower - in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Next to it stands a slender gate bell tower with the Church of the Transfiguration.
In memory of St. Tikhon’s stay in the monastery, a special cell was built in one of the towers of the monastery. It contains an icon of Tikhon of Zadonsk with his life.
Not far from the monastery there is a bath over the spring of St. Tikhon. The water here is always +4 degrees. It takes a lot of courage to take the plunge. But in winter and summer, in snow and rain, people from all over the world gather near the source. They say that after swimming in it you gain fortitude and confidence in your abilities.
With the revival of Christianity in Russia, more and more people are striving to learn the history of the emergence and formation of their native Orthodox faith, as well as to see and feel with their own eyes the beauty and power of our spiritual culture. The Lipetsk region is an excellent example of the development of Orthodoxy in Rus', where, after a long spiritual devastation, the ancient traditions of this religion were successfully revived.
History of Orthodoxy in the Lipetsk region
Orthodoxy came to the Lipetsk land during the times of Kievan Rus. At the turn of the XIV-XV centuries, the entire Upper Don region, as a result of constant Mongol-Tatar raids, turned into wasteland. Only in the middle of the 16th century did the Orthodox population return here, and with the advent of the clergy and the construction of the first churches, the faith began to revive. At this time, the Zadonsky Bogoroditsky, Donkovsky Pokrovsky, Elensky Trinity Orthodox monasteries of Russia appeared. In the 17th-18th centuries, the Lipetsk region belonged to the Voronezh and Ryazan dioceses, and after, until the events of 1917, its Orthodox history is connected with the Oryol, Tambov, Tula, and Ryazan church districts. At the beginning of the twentieth century, about ten monasteries and five hundred churches operated within the modern borders of the region.
After the revolution, during the Bolshevik persecutions, most of the churches were destroyed, and the shrines acquired over the centuries were looted or destroyed. Since then, Orthodoxy on Lipetsk soil has been revived several times with the creation of the Lipetsk diocese in 1926, but constant repression and persecution of the clergy led the church to complete decline. Only in the 1980s, when the state’s attitude towards faith changed, did a new stage in the development of Christianity begin. Temples and monasteries in the vicinity of Lipetsk are being restored, and new ones are being actively built. At the same time, the real pearl of Orthodoxy of the Lipetsk region - the Zadonsky Monastery - was restored.
Lipetsk monasteries
The Lipetsk region is rich in historical religious buildings related to Orthodoxy. On the territory of the Lipetsk region there are 9 operating monasteries, 281 parishes, 316 churches, 34 chapels, and the number of clergy is 365 people. Such spiritual wealth naturally cannot but attract pilgrims and tourists. Some come here hoping for a miraculous healing, others for advice or blessings, others just to admire the monasteries of the Lipetsk region. The following monastic monasteries located in this region can satisfy the spiritual needs of those suffering today:
The Zadonsk monasteries are deservedly the most popular among pilgrims and tourists. Photos of these works of architecture can be seen in this article; the schedule of services and news of the spiritual world can be viewed on the website of the Lipetsk diocese.
Russian Jerusalem
The small town of Zadonsk is located in a picturesque area 60 kilometers from Lipetsk, on the left bank of the Don, near the Rostov-on-Don-Moscow federal highway. This settlement arose at the Teshevsky (from the name of the Teshevka River) monastery in 1620. Later, in 1779, the settlement became known as Zadonsk, and the local monastery acquired the name Zadonsky Monastery. The glory of “Russian Jerusalem,” as Zadonsk is also called, is associated with the city that appeared here in 1769 and dedicated its life to the revival and establishment of Orthodoxy in these parts. In 1861, Tikhon, who gave the spiritual beginning to the Zadonsk monasteries, was canonized. The main ones of the city itself, which has become the largest center of the Orthodox faith and spiritual Christian culture, are three active and one surviving monastery.
Saint Tikhon
The future saint and bishop was born in 1724 in the Novgorod village of Korotsko into the family of a clerk. In the world, Tikhon Zadonsky had the name Timofey Sokolov. His father Savely died early, and given that the family lived very poorly, when his son turned 14, his mother sent him to Novgorod, where Timofey was admitted to the Theological Seminary. Having demonstrated good knowledge, he was transferred to government support, and in 1754, after completing the training course, he remained to serve as a rhetoric teacher at the seminary, but thoughts about monasticism increasingly came to him. After one mysterious incident, when Timofey miraculously avoided falling from the stairs, he finally made the decision to serve God, and in 1758 he became a monk with the name Tikhon. In the same year he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed rector at the Tver Seminary.
Three years later, by decision of the Holy Synod, Tikhon became Bishop of Novgorod, and in 1763 he was sent to Voronezh. At that time, the Voronezh diocese was going through hard times: the Don steppes were inhabited by various sectarians and Old Believers, and among educated people, most of them worshiped pagan gods. There is a known case when a bishop learned about celebrations in honor of the god Yarila in the very center of Voronezh. He personally arrived at the square and made a speech, from which part of the crowd fled, and the other part knelt down asking for mercy. After this event, all pagan celebrations ceased. Taking care of attracting the population of the Voronezh lands to the Orthodox faith, Tikhon opened new schools, read sermons, and also taught his flock to honor the Church and clergy. At night he wrote his works dedicated to the Orthodox faith.
Over time, Tikhon's health began to deteriorate, and he was forced to retire, retiring to the Zadonsk Monastery and giving away all his property. But even here the saint continued to work. He wrote the books “Spiritual Treasure Collected from the World,” “True Christianity,” and “Cell Letters,” which would later play a major role in the development of Orthodoxy. Tikhon had a unique insight that allowed him to predict the war with France, the fire in St. Petersburg and the end of Napoleon. After 15 years of living in the monastery, the saint, overcome by paralysis, fell ill, but continued to pray until his last day.
In 1783, Tikhon Zadonsky died. He was buried in a special crypt under the altar in the Cathedral Church of the Zadonsk Monastery. In 1846, during construction work to restore the temple, the stone altar under which Tikhon rested was dismantled. Despite the destroyed crypt and the time that had passed since the bishop’s burial, his body remained incorrupt, as did his vestments. Archbishop Anthony of Voronezh reported this amazing fact to the Holy Synod and Emperor Nicholas I with the aim of opening the relics of the hierarch. In 1861, the opening of the holy relics of the bishop took place, which was attended by more than 300 thousand pilgrims. In the same year, Tikhon of Zadonsk was glorified as a saint.
Zadonsky Male Nativity-Bogoroditsky Monastery
Historical sources indicate that in 1620, two monks - Gerasim and Kirill from the Moscow Sretensky Monastery, wanting solitude, crossed the Don and settled in a remote deserted desert, the inhabitants of which were only wild animals. The elders had only a copy with them. It was these people of God who founded the first Zadonsk monastery. The wooden buildings of the monastery burned to the ground during a fire in 1692, but the icon brought by the elders miraculously survived.
Since 1798, the monastery began to be rebuilt, the first stone buildings appeared, such as the Vladimir Church, and in 1824 buildings were laid according to the plans of Voronezh architects. The best times of the monastery occurred during the reign of Tikhon of Zadonsk, when the monastery gained unprecedented popularity among pilgrims from all over Russia. Continuing to be restored, by the beginning of the twentieth century it was a whole complex consisting of 6 churches, a hospice, a bell tower, a pharmacy, a hospital, a brick and candle factory.
In the post-revolutionary period, the monastery was completely looted and partially destroyed. Various city services and offices were located on its territory. The desolation of the monastery continued until 1990, when its territory was transferred to the disposal of the Orthodox Church. With the restoration of the main temple of the monastery - the Vladimir Cathedral - a new era began in the history of the Zadonsky Monastery. Today, restoration work is nearing completion, and new buildings are actively being built. Part of the money for reconstruction is allocated by special federal and local programs, but most of it comes from our own funds and donations.
The Zadonsk Monastery has 500 hectares of land at its disposal, which allows it to grow a good crop. Cattle breeding is also practiced here; it has its own apiary. This farm is managed by 500 residents, who also carry out construction work. In addition, about 50 people come from Lipetsk by bus every day, mostly women, who do farming, canning, and harvesting mushrooms and berries free of charge. The Zadonsky Monastery is completely self-sufficient, and in addition, organizes free meals for pilgrims. There are no centers for helping drug addicts and alcoholics, but such persons are accepted for obedience.
St. Tikhon's Transfiguration Monastery
The monastery is located 7 kilometers north of Zadonsk, on the ruins of a former monastery. In 1865, after Archimandrite Dmitry received permission to build a monastery, monks began to live here. Tikhon Zadonsky loved to visit the monastery and lived for some time. It was here that he wrote his main book, “A Spiritual Treasure Collected from the World,” and also dug a well with his own hands on the banks of the Prokhodnya River, where today there is a healing spring. Before the revolution of 1917, about 100 novices lived in the monastery, but after the October events, the monastery suffered the fate of most religious buildings - first it was closed, and later looted and destroyed. Only in 1991 the territory was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. Now the St. Tikhonsky Transfiguration Monastery, or as it is also called the Zadonsky Convent, has been established here.
The main church of the monastery is the Trinity, next to it rise the bell tower and the Transfiguration Church. In memory of the stay of Tikhon of Zadonsk here, a separate cell was built in one of the towers, where the icon of the saint, which streamed myrrh in 1998, is located. A particle of his relics is also kept in eternal storage in the monastery. In 2000, on the Day of All Russian Saints, during a prayer in front of pilgrims in the Trinity Church, the Crucifixion bled. Particles of blood oozing from the Savior’s crown have been preserved in the temple to this day. Currently, 82 nuns live in the monastery, engaged in subsistence farming, sewing and icon painting. The Zadonsk women's monastery, like the men's monastery, provides free shelter and meals to pilgrims. In summer, about 80-90 people eat here every day, and in winter - up to 1000.
Zadonsky Mother of God-Tikhonovsky Monastery
Another monastery is located in the village of Tyunino in the vicinity of Zadonsk. It was founded at the time when Tikhon of Zadonsky ceased to head the Voronezh diocese and retired. Here, in the settlement of Tyuninka, near the spring, the saint loved to retire to prayer. At the beginning of the 19th century, local landowner A.F. Vikulin, inspired by the thoughts of Vladyka Anthony, who visited these places, laid out and built the temple of the icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring”, and in 1814, 30 nuns began their hermit life in the buildings attached to the temple. In the 1820s, Vikulin A.F. began to build another church - in honor of Alexander Nevsky. After the death of the philanthropist, his son Vladimir began to oppress the monastery, and soon closed the main church of the monastery, and turned the Nevsky Church into an almshouse. In 1860, the monastery acquired the status of a monastic monastery, and with it the abbess. She became the nun Polyxenia, who from the first days began active improvement of the monastery, and in 1889, through her efforts, the Church of the Ascension of the Lord was founded.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the monastery numbered 86 novices and 45 nuns. With the arrival of the Bolsheviks, at first nothing changed in the life of the monastery, but already in 1919, after the death of the abbess, all lands and property were confiscated. Melitina became the abbess of the empty monastic refuge, thanks to whom the community was able to exist for more than 10 years. In 1930, local government officials decided to transfer the sacred territory to the benefit of the councils and evict the nuns. In response to this, the novices resisted, for which they were convicted and sent into exile, and Melitina was shot in the prison of the city of Yelets. The revival of the monastic monastery, initiated by the inhabitants of the neighboring Nativity of the Virgin Mary Monastery, began only in 1994.
At the moment, restoration work is being completed. The cathedral church of the monastery is Ascension. Next to it is a sister building with a refectory and the adjacent Alexander Nevsky Church. In 2005, the improvement of Tikhon of Zadonsk was completed, pilgrims and tourists seek to swim in its healing waters. Nowadays the monastic way of life has been strengthened here. The community is headed by Abbess Arsenia. As it should be in monasteries, the novices are busy with housework, and also constantly pray to God, the Mother of God and St. Tikhon. Divine Liturgy is held here five times a week, and prayer services are held daily.
Zadonsky Holy Trinity Tikhonovsky Monastery
The Holy Trinity Convent, formerly called Skorbyashchensky, is located 90 km from Zadonsk, in the town of Lebedyan - the regional center of the Lipetsk region. The monastery arose at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries from a monastic community founded by Matrona Popova, who, having just begun a charitable work, died. The embodiment of Matrona’s dream was continued by her executor, Archpriest Peter, who built the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God with the funds left by the nun. In 1860, the temple was consecrated by Bishop Joseph of Voronezh, and under him the community of sisters of mercy, named after Tikhon of Zadonsk, began to exist.
In the 1870s, a stone fence was built around the community buildings, as well as a bell tower. In 1889, by decision of the Holy Synod, the community was erected into the Zadonsk Holy Trinity Tikhonovsky Convent, which, successfully developing, existed until 1917. After the revolution, the monastery buildings were gradually taken away, and in 1929 the community ceased to exist. Today, the territory of the monastery houses the office premises of Zadonskgaz and a bakery. Of the entire complex, only the Holy Trinity Cathedral was transferred to the disposal of the Church.
Pilgrimage to Zadonsk
Every year thousands of pilgrims flock to Zadonsk. Most visitors come here during the celebration of major Orthodox holidays: Easter, Christmas, Intercession. Most often, the motive for pilgrimage is the desire to confess, pray, touch incorruptible relics or a miraculous icon, find grace, receive a blessing, bathe in a sacred spring, as well as make donations or even take a vow. Many Orthodox Christians come here to order religious services at the Zadonsk Monastery.
It is believed that such sacraments performed here have enormous power. When going on such a trip on your own, you should take into account that during the holidays it is almost impossible to stay in Zadonsk, the city is filled with visitors, so accommodation is agreed upon in advance by ordering accommodation by phone or via the Internet. There are practically no problems with visiting monasteries. The Zadonsky Monastery is a place where no one will be refused, and maybe even fed. Here you can purchase goods and environmentally friendly products produced by community members, ranging from kvass and milk to dishes and wood products, not counting souvenirs and religious objects.
How to get to the monasteries
Getting to Zadonsk is not a difficult task, because it is located near Rostovskaya. Right in the center of the city is the Nativity of the Theotokos Zadonsk Monastery. Any person, including non-locals, can tell you how to get there or get there from the Rostov highway. From Zadonsk to Tyunino, where the Mother of God-Tikhonovsky Monastery is located, you can get by bus, minibus or, like a true Orthodox, on foot. The distance between the villages is just over 2 km. A little further, about 7 km from Zadonsk, is the St. Tikhon Monastery, which can be reached by public transport or taxi. It is more difficult to get to Lebedyan. There is the Holy Trinity Zadonsky Monastery. A road map or auto navigation will help with this. The most convenient and closest way to get there is from Lipetsk. Given this location, visiting all the Zadonsk monasteries in one day is quite problematic.
Description of the presentation by individual slides:
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Monastic monasteries of the Lipetsk region Presentation for the ODNKNR lesson on the topic: “Cultural heritage of Christian Rus'.”
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Where did Christianity come to Rus' from? Christianity spread in Rus' under the influence of Byzantium. Princess Olga was one of the first to convert to Christianity. This happened in the middle of the 10th century in the city of Constantinople. But the people were in no hurry to accept the new faith; even Olga’s sons condemned her for abandoning paganism. Only decades later, in 988, Christianity came to Rus'. This happened during the reign of Grand Duke Vladimir the Red Sun, the grandson of Princess Olga.
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Purpose of the lesson: development of students' creative abilities; developing skills in working with historical concepts, dates, events; formation in the minds of students of a holistic image of the culture of Rus' in the 10th-11th centuries. Cognitive tasks: formation of a Christian approach to events; the ability to establish relationships between past and present centuries; identify the characteristic features of Christian traditions in the culture of Rus'. Developmental objectives: development of creative thinking of students; development of independence; development of abilities to analyze, systematize and generalize historical facts and events. Educational objectives: nurturing a sense of patriotism and involvement in native history; formation of the Christian faith.
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The Lipetsk region is rich in historical religious buildings related to Orthodoxy. On the territory of the Lipetsk region there are 9 operating monasteries, 281 parishes, 316 churches, 34 chapels, and the number of clergy is 365 people. Such spiritual wealth naturally cannot but attract pilgrims and tourists. Some come here hoping for a miraculous healing, others for advice or blessings, others just to admire the monasteries of the Lipetsk region.
5 slide
Slide description:
With the revival of Christianity in Russia, more and more people are striving to learn the history of the emergence and formation of their native Orthodox faith, as well as to see and feel with their own eyes the beauty and power of our spiritual culture. The Lipetsk region is an excellent example of the development of Orthodoxy in Rus', where, after a long spiritual devastation, the ancient traditions of this religion were successfully revived. Orthodoxy came to the Lipetsk land during the times of Kievan Rus. At the turn of the XIV-XV centuries, the entire Upper Don region, as a result of constant Mongol-Tatar raids, turned into wasteland. Only in the middle of the 16th century did the Orthodox population return here, and with the advent of the clergy and the construction of the first churches, the faith began to revive.
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In the 17th-18th centuries, the Lipetsk region belonged to the Voronezh and Ryazan dioceses, and after, until the events of 1917, its Orthodox history is connected with the Oryol, Tambov, Tula, and Ryazan church districts. At the beginning of the twentieth century, about ten monasteries and five hundred churches operated within the modern borders of the region.
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At this time, the Zadonsky Bogoroditsky, Dankovsky Pokrovsky, Eletsky Trinity Orthodox monasteries of Russia appeared.
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After the revolution, during the Bolshevik persecutions, most of the churches were destroyed, and the shrines acquired over the centuries were looted or destroyed. Since then, Orthodoxy on Lipetsk soil has been revived several times with the creation of the Lipetsk diocese in 1926, but constant repression and persecution of the clergy led the church to complete decline. Only in the 1980s, when the state’s attitude towards faith changed, did a new stage in the development of Christianity begin. Temples and monasteries in the vicinity of Lipetsk are being restored, and new ones are being actively built. At the same time, the real pearl of Orthodoxy of the Lipetsk region was restored - the Zadonsky Monastery.
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The Zadonsk monasteries are deservedly the most popular among pilgrims and tourists.
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Russian Jerusalem. The small town of Zadonsk is located in a picturesque area 60 kilometers from Lipetsk, on the left bank of the Don. This settlement arose at the Teshevsky (from the name of the Teshevka River) monastery in 1620. Later, in 1779, the settlement became known as Zadonsk, and the local monastery acquired the name Zadonsky Monastery. The glory of “Russian Jerusalem,” as Zadonsk is also called, is associated with Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, who appeared here in 1769 and devoted his life to the revival and establishment of Orthodoxy in these parts. In 1861, Tikhon, who gave the spiritual beginning to the Zadonsk monasteries, was canonized. The main attractions of the Zadonsk region and the city itself, which has become the largest center of the Orthodox faith and spiritual Christian culture, are three active and one surviving monastery.
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Saint Tikhon. The future saint and bishop was born in 1724 in the Novgorod village of Korotsko into the family of a clerk. In the world, Tikhon Zadonsky had the name Timofey Sokolov. His father Savely died early, and given that the family lived very poorly, when his son turned 14, his mother sent him to Novgorod, where Timofey was admitted to the Theological Seminary. Having demonstrated good knowledge, he was transferred to government support, and in 1754, after completing the training course, he remained to serve as a rhetoric teacher at the seminary, but thoughts about monasticism increasingly came to him. After one mysterious incident, when Timofey miraculously avoided falling from the stairs, he finally made the decision to serve God, and in 1758 he became a monk with the name Tikhon. Three years later, by decision of the Holy Synod, Tikhon became Bishop of Novgorod, and in 1763 he was sent to Voronezh. Taking care of attracting the population of the Voronezh lands to the Orthodox faith, Tikhon opened new schools, read sermons, and also taught his flock to honor the Church and clergy. He wrote the books “Spiritual Treasure Collected from the World,” “True Christianity,” and “Cell Letters,” which would later play a major role in the development of Orthodoxy. Tikhon had a unique insight that allowed him to predict the war with France, the fire in St. Petersburg and the end of Napoleon. After 15 years of living in the monastery, the saint, overcome by paralysis, fell ill, but continued to pray until his last day. In 1783, Tikhon Zadonsky died. He was buried in a special crypt under the altar in the Cathedral Church of the Zadonsk Monastery. In 1846, during construction work to restore the temple, the stone altar under which Tikhon rested was dismantled. Despite the destroyed crypt and the time that had passed since the bishop’s burial, his body remained incorrupt, as did his vestments. Archbishop Anthony of Voronezh reported this amazing fact to the Holy Synod and Emperor Nicholas I with the aim of opening the relics of the hierarch. In 1861, the opening of the holy relics of the bishop took place, which was attended by more than 300 thousand pilgrims. In the same year, Tikhon of Zadonsk was glorified as a saint.
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Zadonsky Nativity of the Mother of God Monastery for men. Historical sources indicate that in 1620, two monks - Gerasim and Kirill from the Moscow Sretensky Monastery, wanting solitude, crossed the Don and settled in a remote deserted desert, the inhabitants of which were only wild animals. The elders had with them only a copy of the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God. It was these people of God who founded the first Zadonsk monastery. The wooden buildings of the monastery burned to the ground during a fire in 1692, but the icon brought by the elders miraculously survived. In the post-revolutionary period, the monastery was completely looted and partially destroyed. Various city services and offices were located on its territory. The desolation of the monastery continued until 1990, when its territory was transferred to the disposal of the Orthodox Church. With the restoration of the main temple of the monastery - the Vladimir Cathedral - a new era began in the history of the Zadonsky Monastery.
« Monasteries- these are, as it were, reserve reservoirs of living water of religious inspiration; they nourish and moisturize
dry deserts of the spirit of worldly life, they give
life-giving and saving moisture
thirsty souls."
Holy Martyr Archpriest John Vostorgov
N
and Rus' has always loved monasteries - the spiritual centers of Orthodoxy. Believers sought to make pilgrimages to monasteries consecrated by the prayers of many generations of monks.
The monasteries founded by the great reverend fathers are truly the lamps of the world.
The history of Russian monasticism goes back more than a thousand years. Most scientists attribute the emergence of monasteries in the Russian state to the time of the Baptism of Rus' by Prince Vladimir. For the first time, monks appeared on its southern borders even earlier - at the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries. In Ancient Rus', monasteries were centers of spirituality, education and learning. In those ancient times, monasteries were mainly urban, and only from the 14th century new monastic monasteries began to be formed through hermitage. At this time, many monasteries arose, without which it is impossible to imagine the history of Russia, among them the monasteries of the Lipetsk region.
Absolutely every monastery has an interesting, instructive history of its creation. Many Orthodox monasteries in our region are connected by their history with the earthly life of saints. With their experience and their wisdom, they suggest to Christians a worthy path of life.
In many monasteries there are miraculous and revered icons of the Lord, the Mother of God, holy saints, as well as holy relics and honorable remains, various shrines and relics, and there are holy springs. In monasteries, the canons of Orthodox doctrine are observed with the greatest precision.
Here the liturgical canon is observed especially strictly, Christian sacraments permitted in monasteries are performed, and all Orthodox rituals are performed. Each monastery lives according to strict monastic rules.
The meaning of the life of monks is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, the achievement of holiness, the acquisition of such qualities of the soul as love, mercy, compassion, dispassion.
Living in a monastery is both simple and extremely difficult.
The brethren work here from early morning until late evening. Some of them work around the house, others serve in the church. Work and prayer make up the life of monks.
Nowadays it is difficult to find out about the foundation and history of the Lipetsk monasteries. There are many legends. Researchers and historians of monasteries literally collect materials bit by bit. One of the documentary sources when studying the history of the monasteries of our region was the “Scribe Books” (1627-1630) of the Voronezh province.
Throughout the history of the Lipetsk region, there were 23 monastic monasteries on its territory. The founding date of many monasteries is unknown. For various reasons, some of them ceased to exist in the 17th and 18th centuries. For example, the Znamensky Monastery (today the village of Znamensky, Lev-Tolstovsky district) was closed at the end of the 17th century. The Danshina men's hermitage on the Don River was abolished in 1699 by decree of Tsar Peter I. In 1724, the Assumption Convent in the city of Dankov was abolished and the Krasnogorsk Spassky Monastery in Romanov (a village near the city of Lipetsk) was closed.
In 1764, the government of Catherine II carried out the secularization of church and monastic lands. Many monastic monasteries on the Lipetsk land were abolished - the Preobrazhensky Krasnogorsk convent in the city of Lebedyan, the Gorodets Hermitage (the village of Preobrazhenskoye, Dobrovsky district) and others.
Two monasteries that were abolished during these years became operational again: the Holy Dormition Monastery (Paroi Hermitage) in Lipetsk and the Znamensky Mother of God Kamenogorsk Convent in Yelets. At the beginning of the twentieth century, more than ten monasteries operated within the modern borders of the region.
The events of 1917 changed the life of the monasteries: they were closed and looted. Many monastic monasteries fell into disrepair during the Soviet years and their churches were destroyed. In the nineties of the twentieth century, the state's attitude towards the Russian Orthodox Church improved. The period of atheistic hard times ended, churches and monasteries began to be returned to believers.
In the Lipetsk region, one of the first to be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church was the Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery, then the St. Tikhonsky Transfiguration and Mother of God-Tikhonovsky (Tyunina) convents.
These are the most famous and revered monastic monasteries in the Lipetsk region. They are, in the words of the historian of the Voronezh diocese A. Pravdin, monuments to St. Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh and Zadonsk the Wonderworker and are historically associated with his name.
Among the monasteries of our region, along with large and famous ones, there are small and very small ones, but their religious service to people remains important and necessary.
In 2013, the Lipetsk Metropolitanate was formed on Lipetsk soil, which included two dioceses of Lipetsk and Yeletsk, containing four men's and six women's monasteries.
Introducing the monasteries of the LIPETSK DIOCESE
Today we strive in the monastery for the “living water” of faith, for spiritual support, for instruction, for resolving our doubts, for finding peace of mind.
By visiting monasteries on our land, you can benefit from your soul, join Orthodoxy and touch the history of the Lipetsk region.
Bibliography
Russian monasteries: the southern part of the Central region of Russia: Tambov and Michurinsk, Penza and Kuznetsk, Lipetsk and Yeletsk, Voronezh and Boris and Gleb dioceses. - Novomoskovsk: Enchanted Wanderer, 2005. - 479 p.
Tsepkov, A.I. Books of salaries for monasteries, churches and chapels of the Ryazan diocese, commissioned under the Right Reverend Joseph, Metropolitan of Ryazan and Murom in 1676. [Book 1] - 2004. - (Sources of history).
Nizovsky, A. Yu. The most famous monasteries and churches in Russia / A. Yu. Nizovsky. -
Moscow: Veche, 2001. - 463 p. : ill. - (Most famous).
Dobrolyubov, John. Historical and statistical description of churches and monasteries of the Ryazan diocese / comp. I. Dobrolyubov. - Ryazan, 1996. - P. 248-345.
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Chief librarian of the circulation department
Kharikova L.I.,
photo by L.I. Kharikova
The history of the Assumption Monastery began in the 17th century. This is the only monastery that existed on the territory of modern Lipetsk in the entire history of the city. The Paroi Monastery, where the Assumption Church was located, was built in the 17th – early 18th centuries. In some cases, the construction of the Ancient Assumption Church dates back to 1730. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Lipetsk ironworks, founded by Peter I, were located not far from the monastery. During the reign of Catherine II, the Paroi Hermitage was closed in 1764. During this period, among the monastery buildings there was a stone church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, a wooden chapel in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Source”, a wooden bell tower, the abbot’s and fraternal cells.
In 1804, the Assumption Church was called a parish church; it was assigned to the Nativity of Christ Church in the city of Lipetsk.
Until the autumn of 1936, services continued in the Assumption Church. In 1938, according to a sanitary inspection act “to avoid contamination of water supplies,” the temple was closed. After restoration in the late 1980s, the temple housed a metal museum. Since 1960, the temple has been a historical and architectural monument of all-Russian significance.
The Holy Assumption Church is unusual in architecture. A peculiarity of the ancient temple is the orientation of its long axis along the northeast - southwest line, that is, with a deviation of 45 degrees. The volumetric-spatial composition of the temple consists of an octagon on a high double-height quadrangle, covered with a high dome with a blind drum, and a low aisle adjacent to the church from the north-west, connected to the refectory located on the south-west side. The temple is pillarless and bellless, built in the Baroque style. The upper part of the quadrangle is decorated with rusticated corner pilasters and a cornice with “crackers”; the octagon is decorated with smooth corner pilasters and a stepped cornice. The facades of the quadrangle and the semicircular apse are decorated with complex Baroque platbands with a high triangular or semicircular (on an octagonal) bezel. The entrance to the refectory is decorated with half-columns and a promising keeled arch of the portal. It is assumed that there was previously a tong above the entrance, repeating the shape of the arch. The refectory and the chapel are decorated with a complex stepped cornice made of two bricks on an edge with “crackers”. The window openings of the refectory and the chapel do not have platbands, and their edges for the installation of single-leaf shutters are decorated around the perimeter in the form of fascias.
In 1996, the temple was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church and restoration work began. On the eve of 2000, regular services resumed in the temple. In 2003, by decision of the Holy Synod, it was decided to open the Holy Dormition Monastery.
The first abbot of the monastery was the rector of the Ancient Dormition Church, hieromonk (now abbot) Mitrofan (Shkurin).
Today, in the only Orthodox monastery in Lipetsk, after centuries of lull, monastic life has been revived; according to the monastery charter, divine services are held daily.
After restoration work, Metropolitan Nikon of Lipetsk and Zadonsk consecrated the temple altars: February 15, 2004 - the chapel in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, August 21, 2005 - the main altar in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
A spiritual and educational center was erected with a fraternal building, a baptismal church in honor of the Hieromartyr Uar, the first Bishop of Lipetsk (consecrated by Metropolitan Nikon on September 24, 2014), and an Orthodox library.
Currently, work continues on the restoration of the monastery complex: the construction of a water-blessed chapel with a font in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Source” in the same place is nearing completion.
Since 2003, the monastery has operated a Sunday educational group of the Holy Dormition Lipetsk Monastery for children from 8 to 13 years old, classes are held on Sundays, and a creative choral singing group operates on Saturdays. On Thursdays and Fridays, catechetical classes are held for those preparing for the Sacrament of Baptism.
Morning and evening services are held daily in the Holy Dormition Church of the monastery. On Thursday evening, the service is accompanied by prayer singing with an akathist alternately to the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Nicholas.
Divine services are held daily.
In the morning the service begins at 8:00 am, in the evening at 17:00.
On twelve days and Sundays - at 6:30 and 8:30.
On Sunday evening, an akathist is read before the icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Source” with a prayer service for those possessed by the disease of drunkenness and drug addiction.