Until recently, here, on the outskirts of Kirzhach, desolation reigned, and now the ancient temples of the revived Holy Annunciation Monastery are pleasing to the eye. Some have already been restored, others are in the woods. But something cannot be returned: in the godless years, the temple of St. Sergius of Radonezh was blown up. Now in its place is a memorial cross, at the foot is a consecrated stone, which will become the foundation of a new temple in honor of the great Sergius.
Two pillars: Sergius and Roman
Every Russian knows the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and its great builder Sergius of Radonezh, many have heard that his students became the founders of other famous monasteries, but few know that even during his lifetime, in 1358, Abbot Sergius laid the foundation for the Holy Annunciation Kirzhach Monastery.
It so happened that the monk left his native monastery, not wanting to quarrel with his brother Stephen, who wanted to take precedence in the Trinity Monastery. Near the river Kirzhach Sergiy found a new place for solitude. Soon the Trinity monks found him and began to move to him: they built cells, erected a wooden church in honor of the Annunciation of the Virgin.
Four years later, returning at the call of Metropolitan Alexy to the Trinity Monastery, Sergius chose his successor - a faithful companion of Roman. He became the builder of the monastery, which was erected following the example of the Trinity Lavra: "The four-cornered image of the monastery, cells to cells are a set, churches are in their midst, as if some eyes are seen everywhere."
Among the hard work, the abbot and the brethren did not forget about spiritual science. Not without reason from the distant XIV century miraculously came down to us the handwritten books of the Kirzhach monastery: the lives of the saints, the Ladder of St. John, the Apocalypse with the interpretation of St. Andrew of Caesarea.
Promotional video:
Tsar-boyar favors
Over time, the Holy Annunciation Monastery turned into a picturesque white-stone fortress on a high bank at the bend of the river. The decoration of the monastery was a new church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, erected on the site of the old wooden one, and a large refectory church in honor of Sergius of Radonezh. Villages appeared near the monastery and the town of Kirzhach grew up.
By the middle of the 16th century, the Kirzhach monastery became one of the preeminent ones in Russia: 90 monks labored here, princes and boyars endowed it with villages and lands. By order of Grand Duke Vasily III, in the basement of the Annunciation Cathedral, the side-chapel of Constantine and Elena, the heavenly patroness of his second wife Elena Glinskaya, was erected. It is known that the royal couple visited the monastery after the birth in 1530 of their long-awaited son - the future Ivan the Terrible.
The prosperity of the monastery was shaken during the Time of Troubles, when the monastery was ravaged by the Poles, but already three decades later it began to flourish. In the inventory of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and the monasteries assigned to it in 1642, it is said that the temples of the Kirzhach monastery are magnificently decorated, and many of the holy icons are in silver, gold and stones.
In 1656, a tent-roofed church-bell tower of the All-Merciful Savior was built here, which was erected over the graves of his parents by the boyar Ivan Miloslavsky, a relative of the first wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich - Maria. This temple became the family tomb of the Miloslavsky family.
While welcoming high patrons, the monks did not forget the disadvantaged. "Reasoning in poverty and wretchedness", next to the monastery, two churches were built in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker with cells for old beggars.
From destruction to rebirth
The manifesto of Catherine II on the transfer of the monastic possessions and the peasants inhabiting them to the state crossed out the history of the monastery: in 1764, the monastery was abolished, its churches became parish, and the monks moved to the monastery.
For a whole century this holy place was in decline and poverty, until local benefactors appeared: they were the founders of the silk industry in Kirzhach, the father and sons of the Solovievs. With their funds, the churches of the former monastery were decorated and repaired, and in 1869 the All Saints Church with a high bell tower was built.
Alas, the restored splendor was destroyed by the revolution half a century later: after 1917, a terrible ruin began. The St. Sergius Church was blown up, and in other churches they set up an ammunition depot, a kerosene shop, a sausage shop, or a canteen. And in the 1980s they even wanted to open an entertainment center. The most decent were, perhaps, the projects of organizing a museum … But, fortunately, the monastery was returned to the church, and since 1995 there has been a women's monastery. Despite the abundance of worries, the hospitable sisters warmly welcome the pilgrims and introduce them to the history of the monastery.
Patron Saint Roman Kirzhachsky
In November 1996, the relics of the Monk Roman were uncovered, which rested under a berth (at great depths) and, thanks to this, miraculously preserved. Now the holy relics rest in the basement of the Annunciation Cathedral - in the small church of St. Roman of Kirzhach. Here, under the low arches, you feel the comfort of home, it seems that warmth emanates from the saint's shrine. You sink down on the rug, tell Saint Roman about your troubles, sorrows, and feel how the heaviness falls from the soul …
Yes, it is not without reason that the Kirzhach abbot has been revered for a long time: already in the handwritten calendar of the 17th-18th centuries he is called a miracle worker.
Although no written evidence of the ancient miracles of the Monk Roman has survived, fortunately we have wonderful evidence of today. Moreover, amazing things began to happen immediately upon the acquisition of the relics of the Kirzhach abbot: the master who worked on the manufacture of the shrine noticed that the icon of the Monk Roman was pacified.
A striking story took place in the 1920s. On the day of the memory of the Monk Roman (July 29), a woman came to the Annunciation Cathedral from the village of Ratkovo with her daughter, who could not walk. The tired child asked for a drink. Suddenly, an elder monk approached them and handed them a can of milk. The baby drank a little and returned the kinka. And a few minutes later she exclaimed: "So good, still have a drink!" But the monk disappeared.
In the church, the girl noticed on the wall the image of this good old man - it turned out to be the Monk Roman. After the service, the baby went home with her legs.
History repeated itself in 1990. One of the young novices of the monastery had swollen legs, the pain was unbearable, no medicine helped. In the evening, the novice recited the Akathist to the Monk Roman over his tomb, and the pain subsided. The next morning she repeated the akathist and was finally healed.
A nine-year-old girl from Kirzhach had a tumor in her mouth. Before going to the hospital, she went to the tomb of Saint Roman. Together with her mother, the girl confessed and prayed. And immediately I felt pain under the tongue: as if the tumor was being removed. The girl went home healthy.
Guarding the city
During the Patriotic War, there was a kerosene shop in the Annunciation Church, which was always crowded with people. One day people saw an old monk on the roof of the cathedral, who incensed the city.
Yes, it was not for nothing that not a single bomb fell on Kirzhach, although there was a military airfield very close. Now we know that the front line stopped quite far away, but in 1941 the fate of Moscow hung in the balance and the war could well come to Kirzhach. The Monk Roman still cares about his monastery, parishioners, about Kirzhach.
And Sergius of Radonezh does not forget the monastery - it is not for nothing that the source, discovered by him in time immemorial, still beats out of the ground. Once a bowl of water from this well always stood over the grave of the Monk Roman - as a symbol of their spiritual connection.
Now the Sergievsky well on the ledge of the hill has been re-equipped, the chapel has been restored over it. People are always crowding here, because the holy spring quenches not only physical but also spiritual thirst.
And after drinking the wonderful water, you can lean against the white chapel and admire the beautiful valley with a rivulet and clumps of trees. And to feel the Russian expanse, the undying Holy Russia.
Irina Gromova
