Holy Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchi Monastery

Stefan Makhrishchsky

Stefan Makhrishchsky

Very little is known about the childhood and youth of the future ascetic. He was born in Kyiv at the very beginning of the 14th century and labored for many years in the Kiev-Caves Monastery, where he was tonsured with the name Stefan. Saint Stephen was well educated and well-read. Ascetic in the monastery under the guidance of experienced elders, he learned to live a spiritual life, refrain from passions, unceasing fasting, vigilant prayer and unquestioning obedience, setting an example of the strict monastic life of all the brethren. The contemporaries of St. Stephen were many, glorified as saints, reverends, whose incorruptible relics to this day rest in the Far Caves of the Lavra. Among them are Rev. Silouan the schemer, Archimandrite Ignatius, hermits Lavrenty and Rufus, Hypatius the healer, warrior Titus, Arseny the industrious, deacon Macarius, canonarch Leonty…

Perhaps because of the oppression of the Uniates, which began in the lands of the Kyiv principality after the great Lithuanian prince Gediminas took possession of it, or perhaps because of the general disorder of the South Russian church, St. Stephen was forced to leave his native places and go to Moscow land. This happened, probably, even under Metropolitan Theognost, who blessed the ascetic for the feat of hermitage. Despite the persuasion of Grand Duke John Ioannovich the Meek (1353-1359) to stay in any of the Moscow monasteries, St. Stephen asked permission to settle in a deserted and solitary place.

Meeting of St. Stephen of Makhrishchsky with Grand Duke John Ioannovich the Meek. Stamp of the icon "Reverend Stefan of Makhrishchsky with his life". 17th century

The ascetic went to the northeast and, after a long search, chose a quiet place for himself in the wilds of the forest, 35 versts from the monastery of the monk, in the former principality of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, in the Kinelsky volost, near a small river called Makhrishche.

Saint Stephen erects a cross on the site of the foundation of the monastery. Stamp of the icon "Reverend Stefan of Makhrishchsky with his life". 17th century

Here, around 1353, he erected a cross, built a wretched cell and began to cultivate the land, and soon the surrounding residents began to flock here, in need of spiritual advice and blessings. Heeding his relentless requests, the monk allowed those who wished to share with him the labors and sorrows of the desert life to settle nearby.

The arrival of the first monks to St. Stephen. Stamp of the icon "Reverend Stefan of Makhrishchsky with his life". 17th century

Around 1358, St. Alexis of Moscow blessed with a letter the consecration of the church in the Name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity and the establishment of a monastic monastery under it, while Stephen himself was appointed abbot of the assembled brethren. From the Grand Duke John, Saint Stephen received a deed of gift for the use of the land and significant donations for the construction of the monastery.

"Reverend Stefan meets the Monk Sergius." Engraving by L. Shelkovnikov. 1851

The proximity of the location of the two monasteries and spiritual friendship closely connected St. Stephen and the abbot of the Russian Land, St. Sergius. They visited each other, each time having kind and lengthy conversations with each other, mutually comforting them in earthly sorrows. Once, enduring sorrows from the brethren, the Monk Sergius left his native monastery and came to the Makhrishchi hermitage, where he spent several days. In anticipation of him, the abbot of Makhrishch blessed him to strike the beater and with all the brethren went out to meet him. Bowing mutually to the ground, the ascetics asked each other for blessings, out of great humility not wanting to take on the primacy. As soon as St. Sergius, as a guest, was begged to bless Stephen and the brethren, after which the saints entered the church and, after performing prayer singing, talked for a long time about the salvation of the soul. The Monk Sergius spent several days in the Makhrishchsky Monastery, after which, with the monk of this monastery Simon, who knew the surrounding places well, he set off further on his way and in a picturesque area on the steep bank of the Kirzhach River, with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexy, founded a monastery in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, in which he lived for about three years.

Meeting of Saints Stephen and Sergius

St. Stephen also had to endure many sorrows in the matter of organizing monastic life. The peasants of the village of Yurtsovo rudely rebelled against the monk, fearing that he would take possession of their lands. Ignoring the meek exhortations of the monk, they threatened to kill him if he did not leave the Makhrish desert. “God will forgive you, children,” the saint answered humbly, “it’s not you who are malicious, but the crafty devil!” With these words, the meek abbot left the monastery, entrusting the management of it to the holy monk Elijah. Secretly at night, with his disciple Grigory, he left the monastery, going to the North, where, 60 miles from the ancient city of Vologda, in the specific principality of Avnezhsky, near the Sukhona River, in 1370 he founded the Trinity Avnezhskaya hermitage. The first inhabitants of the Avnezhsky monastery - Gregory and his disciple Cassian were killed by the Tatars in 1392 during the invasion of the Tatar prince Bekhtut, sent by Tokhtamysh to Northern Russia. The relics of the venerable martyrs, discovered in 1524, rested in the parish church of the abolished monastery.
The fame of the newly built monastery spread far and wide and reached the Grand Duke Dimitri Ioannovich, who commanded the Monk Stephen to appear in Moscow and granted land and forest land and lakes to both of his monasteries.

Conversation of St. Stephen with the Grand Duke of Moscow Dimitry Donskoy

While in the capital, the Monk Stefan, at the request of a relative of the grand-ducal okolnichy Timofey Vasilyevich Velyaminov - Kosma - secretly tonsured him into a cassock with the name Cyril, seeing in him the future Belozersky ascetic. At the request of Rev. Stefan Monk Kirill was accepted into the Simonov Monastery, the abbot of which was Archimandrite Theodore, the nephew of St. Sergius. In this monastery, Cyril was soon tonsured a monk.

Having accepted the blessing of St. Alexis never to leave his monastery again, the monk returned to the Makhrishchi hermitage, where he served as abbess until the end of his life. He lived, according to the testimony of an ancient life, “struggling about the church dispensation and the hedgehog in the monastery for the copulation of the brethren, and about these salvations, like a father who loves children; to them: but he was meek from youth, and quiet and silent, and by divine scripture not only a listener and guardian, but also a creator.Many who see his humility and meekness, moreover, sacrificial thinness, do not crush his rector of the brethren, but one from the latter in the brethren. Nicole to see him when he happened to be angry with someone sinning, but teaches quietness, word and humility; run so merciful, as if asking a poor man or strange to let go of his vain hands. living people of Christ-loving parishioners for the sake of it." Having reached a ripe old age, foreseeing the approach of his death, the monk gave his last instruction to the brethren, entrusting the management of the monastery to the holy monk Elijah. Having put on the great schema, on July 14/27, 1406, the Monk Stephen gave up his spirit to the Lord. His honest remains were buried near the wall of the temple he had cut down. The fragrance emanating from the body of the monk assured the orphaned brethren of the holiness of their abbot, strengthening in them their zeal and desire to live according to the precepts of the elder who had departed into eternity: to keep the fear of God, to bear the tireless monastic feat, to remember the hour of death, to have unhypocritical love in communion and complete renunciation from the world.

Memory

Cancer over the relics of St. Stephen of Makhrishchsky

Troparion of St. Stephen of Makhrishchsky, tone 8

Zealot Orthodoxy, piety mentor and purity, seeking salvation as a guide lamp, monastic God-inspired fertilizer, St. Sergius the spiritual interlocutor, Stefan the Wise, with your teachings and good deeds enlightened your souls and inhabited the desert, / pray to Christ God to be saved to our souls.

Kontakion of St. Stephen of Makhrishchsky, tone 8

Having divinely armed yourself with purity of soul, you made a blessed life, settled in the desert, as if in a city, you received grace from God to heal the ailments of those who come to your honest race and raise everyone to Divine heights, the same, having boldness to the Holy Trinity, remember us who honor your memory, let us call you: rejoice, reverend Stefan, fasting fertilizer.

After the repose of St. Stephen, the monastery founded by him experienced a variety of times. There were periods of decline and periods of prosperity in its history. But always in this holy place one could feel the presence and grace-filled help of the hegumen of Makhrishchi, St. The first successors of Saint Stephen, Abbots Elijah and Nicholas, strictly observed the precepts of the saint, and the day of his righteous death, according to the established custom, was sanctified by intense prayer. However, subsequent abbots did not observe in all strictness the charter introduced by Stephen, and the veneration of the memory of the founder of the monastery was no longer so zealous.

Trinity of the Old Testament. (end of the 15th century) - an ancient temple image of the Makhrishchi monastery. Now it is stored in the Andrei Rublev Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art.

In con. 15th century in the monastery there was a strong fire that destroyed the temple, the refectory and the cells. Only a few monks remained on the ashes, who did not maintain the cenobitic charter. But even in these years, people came to bow to the grave of the reverend elder, over which, according to legend, three birch trees grew from one root, closed and fused with crowns. This green tent, spread over the resting place of the righteous, was, as it were, a prototype of that Trinity Church, which was later erected on this site.

Icon of the Mother of God with St. Sergius and the Archangel Gabriel. Icon of the 15th century. from the Makhrishchi monastery. Now kept in the State Historical Museum

In 1525, Elder Jonah became hegumen, who ruled the monastery for 32 years during the reign of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible. According to the records of the monastery deposit book, under Jonah the monastery was granted many landed estates, the monastery is gradually beautifying, the works of the abbot in the monastery were put a clock with self-beating, and new bells were hung on the bell tower ...
The legend about the hundred-year-old elder Herman, who spent days and nights in prayer and was awarded a wondrous vision, dates back to the same time. One night, leaving his cell, the elder saw a burning fire on the grave of St. Stephen, which illuminated the entire monastery with its light. The astonished elder hurried to wake up the abbot, and he, having gathered the brethren in the church, performed prayer singing to the holy Life-Giving Trinity. Soon Arseniy Sakharusov, abbot of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, visited the monastery, and by his command a tomb covered with a veil was placed over the burial place of St. Stephen, and on it was a large candle.

In 1557 Varlaam, the future (Varlaam I, 1571-1585), became hegumen of the monastery. His great-grandfather, hieromonk Serapion, labored in the Makhrishchi monastery, remembered the Monk Sergius and Stefan, and, being already an ancient elder, told his great-grandson a lot about them. From a young age, ascetic in the holy monastery, Varlaam had great faith in the prayerful intercession of St. Stephen, and, becoming abbot, more than once received help in difficult circumstances, turning to the monk with fervent prayer.
The abbess of Varlaam was the heyday of the monastery, the number of brethren was more than 60 people.
With special zeal, he collected all the information about the life of St. Stephen and the miracles that were from his tomb, and presented his work to Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible, as well as Metropolitan Macarius, who left a noticeable mark on the church and cultural life of Russia. The monumental multi-volume work of St. Macarius - the Great Makarievsky Cheti-Minei became an outstanding monument of the spiritual writing of the Russian Church. St. Macarius also had a great influence on the young Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who called him “a wisher of good deeds and love.” With the blessing of the Metropolitan, Hieromonk of the Moscow Danilov Monastery Joasaph wrote a life and service to St. Stephen. Apparently, the repeated visits by the tsar to the Makhrishchi monastery and his donation of 200 rubles for the construction of the stone church of the Holy Trinity on the site of the burned one are not accidental.
During the construction of a new stone church of the Holy Trinity in 1557, the relics of St. Stephen were found incorrupt. Upon opening the coffin, a fragrance was wafted. On the monk's chest was an undecayed leather belt with an embossed image of the Twelfth Feasts. At the behest of Metropolitan Macarius, the belt was invested in a gilded silver cross, from which many began to receive healing.
With the blessing of the hierarchy, the relics of the saint were left under a bushel (in the grave). Over the relics of St. Stephen, a stone church (in honor of the monk) was soon built, which became the northern chapel of the new Trinity Church (the construction of the Trinity Cathedral Church continued for about ten more years). The aisle was consecrated in 1558 in the presence of Tsar Ivan the Terrible himself and Tsarina Anastasia, who donated vestments for the throne, shrouds for icons and a cover for the shrine of the saint. The king himself repeatedly visited the Makhrish monastery during his pilgrimage trips, making large financial contributions and bestowing lands.
With the blessing of St. Macarius, Abbot Varlaam participated in the restoration of the devastated Avnezhskaya Hermitage, once founded by St. Stephen and his disciple Gregory. The Monastic Martyrs Gregory and Cassian of Avnezh were killed during a raid by the Vyatchans and Kazan Tatars in 1392. Their memory is celebrated on June 15/28.
In con. 1560s Trinity Cathedral was built. It was a single-domed temple with four pillars on the basement with stone galleries from the west and south and a second (besides Stefanovskaya) chapel in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, located in the deacon of the altar of the Trinity Church.
In 1571 hegumen Varlaam was elevated to the rank of Bishop of Suzdal and Tarusa. As head of the Suzdal See, the saint labored hard to glorify the Monk Euphrosyne, Princess of Suzdal, whose life he was fortunate enough to find in the book depository of the Makhrishchi Monastery. The fame of the venerable princess spread far beyond the boundaries of the ancient city, when the saint presented all the collected materials to the court of the Moscow Metropolitan. Saint Euphrosyne was canonized in 1698, under Patriarch Adrian, with the veneration of her memory on September 25, the day of the blessed death of the saint.
In 1583 the saint returned to rest in the Makhrishchi monastery, where he spent his last years until the day of his righteous death on August 21, 1585. Leaving the Suzdal cathedra, Saint Varlaam took with him the Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God, which later became famous in the monastery for many miracles. Later, during the reconstruction of the Trinity Cathedral under Metropolitan Platon of Moscow, the grave of the saint was located in the lower church in a special tent on the north side. Two inscriptions were carved on the dark gray marble tomb:
"Saint Barlaam rests his body here,
But in spirit he dwells with God in heaven.
Good servant and faithful, enter into the joy of your Lord!
Now the relics of St. Varlaam, found in 1998 during excavations, rest in the restored church of the Holy Trinity.

In the second half of the 16th century, the Makhrishchi monastery became a major church landowner. The deposit book of the monastery mentions many eminent landowners who suffered during the years of the oprichnina policy of Ivan the Terrible. Among them are the Krotkovs, the Klobukovs, the Makarovs, the Taratins, the Obukhovs, the Baskakovs... Being ruined, such estate owners donated their lands to a neighboring monastery, some of them joined its fraternity. So, representatives of the old family of patrimonials of the Kinel camp, the sons of Peter Zubov - Gabriel and Philip (in monasticism - Gerasim and Philotheus) later became elders of the Makhrishchsky monastery, and in 1580, during the interabbots, ruled the monastery.

John the Baptist. Icon of the 16th century. from the iconostasis of the Trinity Church of the Makhrishchi Monastery. Now it is stored in the Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art, named after Andrey Rublev

Time of Troubles - civil strife and interregnum - Makhrishchi Monastery was devastated, plundered and almost completely burned to the ground by the Polish interventionists. “...from the war of the Lithuanian people and from Russian thieves, that monastery was ruined to the ground ...”, - this is how it is written in the charter of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich in 1615.
In 1613, all Zalesye was a desert. The watchman Ivan Voeikov, sent in 1614 by order of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich to describe the villages and camps adjacent to the Great (Aleksandrovskaya) settlement of lands, a terrible picture appeared: devastated burned villages -, Neglovo, Yurtsovo - with abandoned huts and uncleaned corpses ("And now all empty: the villages and villages were deserted by the Lithuanian people"). Dozens of monasteries disappeared forever from the face of the earth. Only the skeletons of the stone walls of the churches survived in the Makhrishchi monastery. The people have long preserved the story of how villainous hands, daring to touch the tomb of St. Stephen, were burned by fire, and how the enemies of the Church of God, frightened by this miracle, fled, leaving the holy monastery.
The Trinity Elders drew attention to the ruined monastery. The brethren with Archimandrite Dionysius beat the Tsar and Sovereign Mikhail Fedorovich with their foreheads and asked to be allowed to rewrite the monastery and the lands in their name. On August 15, 1615 (on the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos), Archimandrite Dionisy and the cellarer Abraham were granted a royal charter, according to which the monastery of St. Stephen was assigned to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The elders "found" the lost charters for the villages and villages of the monastery, and the watchers sent by the king made an inventory and survey of the lands.
Lavra Archimandrite Dionysius Zobninovsky and cellarer Avraamy Palitsyn went down in history as true patriots who put a lot of effort into the liberation of Moscow from the Polish invaders and the pacification of Russia during the Time of Troubles. Outstanding political figures and learned scribes - both of them fell into disgrace in different years and courageously endured slander and persecution, later returning acquitted to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In October 1612, the archimandrite and the cellar, together with the people's militia, headed by Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky and the Zemstvo elder Kuzma Minin, entered the gates of the Moscow Kremlin. Through their efforts, and then through the zeal of other abbots of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the devastated monastery of St. Stephen began to be revived. Having lost its independence since that time, it was subordinate to the management of the "established cathedral", i.e. Archimandrites of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. It was they who determined the builders - the leaders of the brethren - to the Makhrishchi Monastery.

Rev. Stepham Makhrishchsky with life. Icon of the 17th century. Now stored in the State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve Aleksandrova Sloboda

Rev. Stefan Makhrishchsky with life. Fragment of an icon of the 17th century. Now kept in the State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve Aleksandrova Sloboda

But the change in status, apparently, did not soon affect the well-being of the monastery. According to the inventory of 1642, in addition to the Trinity Church with chapels of St. man of the brethren. There was also a refectory in one of the three cells of the fraternal building. There were no outbuildings in the monastery at that time. Despite such a meager situation, the Makhrishchi Monastery, by order of Peter I, was supposed to send young healthy workers with axes, pitchforks and spades from the villages that belonged to him, with axes, pitchforks and spades to build a new city of St. Petersburg.
Russian sovereigns did not forget about the ancient monastery, sending money and gifts here. In the deposit book of the monastery there are records of contributions to the commemoration of the family of Tsars Boris Godunov and Alexei Mikhailovich, with the care of which carved lattices were arranged at the tombs of the miracle workers of Makhrishchsky Stefan and St. Varlaam, temple icons were decorated. There is also a record in the book that in the same year of January 1670, on the 12th day, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich sent five rubles for a prayer service and "the brethren for alms, and five sturgeon, five beluga, and two pounds of granular caviar." Often found in the introductory book and the name of the Empress Anna Ioannovna.

A censer from the Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchsky Monastery. Silver, 1680. Photo from the beginning. 20th century

Until 1764, the monastery owned many lands. According to scribe books of 1627-1629. behind him were four villages, eight villages, 44 wastelands, a lot of timber and 760 souls of peasants. In addition, by decree of 1765, the monastery had the right to fish in the Molokcha and Sherna rivers for 30 versts.

Metropolitan Platon (Levshin)

The new flowering of the monastery is associated with the name of Metropolitan Platon (Levshin). Transferred to Moscow to the archiepiscopal chair by decree of Empress Catherine II in 1775, Metropolitan Platon remained the vicar of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and did not leave the monasteries subordinate to the Lavra with his attention. It happened that in the summer Vladyka sometimes spent many weeks at the monastery of St. Stephen, resting here from his numerous labors in managing the diocese. In the monastery, special chambers were arranged for him, later turned into a monastery hotel. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, during his stay in Makhra, the Metropolitan behaved surprisingly simply. In one simple cassock, he took walks through the surrounding forests and meadows, approached the peasants working in the field, taught them the blessing of the saint, entered into their concerns, often helping those in need with money.

The new rise of the Stefano-Makhrishchsky Monastery is associated with the name of Metropolitan Platon of Moscow (Levshin, 1731-1812), an outstanding theologian and preacher who did a lot to transform theological schools and the Moscow Theological Academy in particular. Vladyka fell in love with the Makhrishchi monastery and spent two or three weeks in the summer within its walls. Under the care of Metropolitan Platon, a stone fence with four towers at the corners was built (1791-1792), over the eastern gate - the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh (1792), and above the northern gate - the stone church of the First Apostles Peter and Paul (1806), fraternal buildings.
By 1807, the main cathedral of the monastery - Trinity Cathedral - was badly dilapidated. It was dismantled and, at the expense of Metropolitan Platon, a new cathedral was built, which was consecrated on August 23, 1808, on the day of the celebration of the feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos. The word for the consecration of the temple was delivered by a young teacher of eloquence and rhetoric at the Moscow Theological Seminary, Vasily Drozdov, the future St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow.
The very planning of the complex and, mainly, in the forms of the Trinity Cathedral, was influenced by the architectural ensemble of the Spaso-Bethany Monastery. The main temple of the monastery in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity was built in the image of the Bethany Transfiguration Church. The cathedral was two-story: in the lower church there was an altar in honor of St. John Chrysostom, in the upper - in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. Wide stairs led to the upper temple, and it itself was a round gallery on columns.

Temple of the Life-Giving Trinity. Reconstruction based on research materials by S. Demidov

Metropolitan Platon was not only worried about external improvement. Over the years, the monastery fell into complete decline. So by 1787 (under the builders Dositheus and Jacob), the brethren remained in the monastery a few people, in connection with which the Lavra's Spiritual Cathedral recommends the new builder "with the blessing of Metropolitan Platon, start a brotherhood ..., like the Berlyukov Hermitage, for which it was ordered to go there, stay in it a week, talking and consulting with that desert builder, who built a monastery out of nothing and maintains well.

For thirteen years he ruled the monastery Hieromonk Astion(1787-1800, † 1801) managed to raise the monastery to its former height. His Eminence Metropolitan Platon, who visited the monastery in 1789, was very pleased with the fact that "the brethren work in obedience, clean the pond themselves, have a common meal, host strangers, set up a mill, conduct church services carefully, according to monastic custom."

For half a century since 1802, thirteen abbots have changed in the Makhrishsky monastery, among which were the builders Paisius (June 1824 - 1825), Gennady (August 1830 - February 1833) and Parthenius (February 1833 - 1839) - students the elders of the Nikolo-Peshnoshsky monastery Macarius and Maxim, known for their high ascetic life. Under them, the long-established charter of church services was strictly observed and pillar singing was preserved.

Surplice. 1st floor 19th century Photo of the beginning 20th century
Felon. 1st floor 19th century Photo of the beginning 20th century

The Trinity Church, built on the site of a dismantled church of the 16th century, was consecrated by Metropolitan Platon on August 23, 1808, on the day of the Giving of the Feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos. The word for the consecration of the temple was given by a young teacher of higher eloquence and rhetoric of the Moscow Theological Seminary Vasily Drozdov - the future Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Filaret (canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992), who often visited the monastery together with his teacher and senior comrade Metropolitan Platon. In a sermon, he, in particular, said: “... Yesterday, a bloodless wanderer stopped to rest in the desert and, taking from the stones of that place, put it at his head: now, opening his eyes, he sees that this place is terrible, that this is not a simple place, but the house of God and the enemy of heaven!.. Vanity would make a home of comfort; pride would build a temple for itself; piety builds the temple of piety and the house of God... Not all those who are within these walls are in the house of God. The house of God is not only condescension of God to man, but also the mutual approach of man to God. Prayer knocks at His door; faith admits inside; love dwells in him incessantly.”
In the Trinity Church, the prototype of which was the Church of the Transfiguration of the Spaso-Bethany Monastery built by Bishop Platon in 1763, there were two altars: the iconostases stood one above the other. Below was placed the throne in honor of John Chrysostom, and above it - in honor of the Holy Trinity. Wide stairs led to the upper temple, and it itself consisted of wall galleries on columns. Forty years after the completion of construction, it was supposed to rebuild the cathedral, however, St. Metropolitan of Moscow Filaret (Drozdov) pointed out that “... everything cannot be changed, out of respect for the labors of the elder St. do not change genders.” During this repair, a two-story extension with vaults was added to the western facade, which housed the sacristy and the library, and from the north a chapel over the grave of the locally revered Bishop Varlaam.

Grave of Bishop Varlaam. Photo of the beginning 20th century








Church of the Life-Giving Trinity (destroyed bell tower in the background). Photo of the beginning 20th century


Interior of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity. Photo of the beginning 20th century



Temple of St. Stephen in the Makhrishchi Monastery. Photo of the beginning 20th century (after 1912)


The interior of the church of St. Stephen. Photo of the beginning 20th century


Cancer with the relics of St. Stephen. Photo of the beginning 20th century

In the 19th century, the monastery continued to be improved: new buildings were built, horse and cattle yards, a greenhouse were erected. In 1887-1890, according to the project of the “non-class architect of architecture” A.P. Beloyartsev, a three-tiered bell tower was added to the Trinity Church, which became the vertical dominant of the entire monastery ensemble.

The brethren of the Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchi Monastery, headed by Hieromonk Alipiy. Photo of the beginning 20th century

In 1900, through the efforts of Hieromonk Alipiy, a orphanage for orphans and children of the poor local population and parochial school. The monastery had a large library, which was replenished with periodicals: “The Russian Pilgrim”, “The Pilot”, “Ecclesiastical Soul Readings” and others.
1904-05 rebuilding the church of St. Stephen.
In 1906, the 500th anniversary of the death of St. Stephen was solemnly celebrated.
In the center of the monastery there were two churches - Stefanovsky and near it, from the south - Trinity. In the first, the relics of the founder of the monastery rested under a bushel. This temple was repeatedly rebuilt and at the beginning of the century according to the project of the architect I.F. Meisner was crowned with a tent.
The last rector of the Makhrishchi monastery, hegumen Eugene (in the world Ephraim Lukyanov) laid the foundation for monastic life in the Gethsemane skete, where he labored for almost thirty years, passing the obedience of a sexton, sacristy, and a regular clergyman. On April 6, 1916, Hieromonk Eugene was appointed builder of the Makhrishchi Monastery, and on May 8 (new style), 1918, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon was elevated to the rank of hegumen in the Trinity Cathedral of the Lavra. The centuries-old beauty and measured order of monastic life, outward splendor and the spiritual height to which the monastery rose in the early twentieth century, did not have long to bloom. Six anxious years before the closing of the monastery, monastic life does not stop, tonsures are performed, monastic prayer does not fade away. But the dry lines of archival documents convey to us the echoes of terrible revolutionary events: searches, pogroms, the arrest of monks who accompanied the miraculous Tikhvin Icon during the procession, the seizure of church valuables. According to the latest service records, before the closing of the monastery, no more than thirty monks remained in the monastery, of which more than half were already elderly monks. All of them met the year 1922 and witnessed the closure and destruction of their native monastery.

People's House. 1905–1918

The monastery was legally closed on January 5, 1923. In 1922-1924. an agricultural school was located within the walls of the monastery, in 1924 the church of St. Stephen was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Glavmuseum, and the rest of the buildings - to the Aleksandrovsky district executive committee, some of the buildings were leased to the Karabanovsky weaving factory, part - was given to the orphanage of homeless children.

Stefano-Makhrishchi monastery, refectory. 1873–1905


Rest house on the territory of the Stefano-Makhrishchi monastery, refectory.

In 1925, the ancient monastery bells were removed and placed at the disposal of Gospromtsvetmetall. Before the war, a hospital was set up in the monastery, and warehouses in closed churches.
In 1943 they blew up Stefanovskaya and Trinity churches, the bell tower, the rubble from which was used to build an airfield in the village of Slobodka, Kirzhachsky district. In the post-war years, the surviving buildings housed an orphanage, a recreation center of the Academy of Sciences, and since 1989, a pioneer camp of the Murmansk Department of Public Education. The monastery was losing its appearance more and more, rebuilt, dilapidated and destroyed. And it was no longer believed that someday monastic service would be revived here again. But nothing is impossible with God.

In 1993, Archbishop Evlogii of Vladimir and Suzdal set up a memorial cross in honor of the 600th anniversary of the repose of St. Sergius who had been to this monastery more than once.
Following this, in a dilapidated building adjoining the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, the first residents settled with their elder sister, nun Elisaveta, who soon became their abbess.
The resumption of the monastery as a skete of the Assumption Convent in the city of Alexandrov.
Many difficulties had to be endured before life got better and the first divine services began in the Peter and Paul Church.

In 1995, the monastery was given the status of an independent one.
Many difficulties had to be endured before life got better and the first divine services began in the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. God's blessing to this monastery was manifested in the repeated myrrh-streaming of the icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov, consecrated at the beginning of the 20th century on the relics of this saint.

A miraculous image of the face of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov on the glass of the icon case. 1997

Miraculously, benefactors of the monastery were also found. Invaluable assistance was provided to him by the state concern Rosenergoatom and its president Erast Nikolaevich Pozdyshev with their employees. Despite the economic difficulties in the country at that time, they did everything possible to revive this ancient holy monastery.
Gradually, residential buildings and an old refectory rose from the ruins. The boiler room was rebuilt. Laid communications. Organized farm. A new secondary school has been built in the village.

Abbess Elisabeth of the Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchsky Monastery, sisters and confessor Hegumen Porfiry discuss with the brigadier the issues of restoring the monastery

Excavations of the foundation of the church of St. Stephen

Prayer service on November 14, 1996 and the laying of the first stone in the foundation of the recreated church of St. Stephen with the participation of Archbishop Evlogy of Vladimir and Suzdal and representatives of the Rosenergoatom concern, headed by President E. N. Pozdyshev

On November 14, 1996, the solemn laying of the first stone in the foundation of the recreated church of St. Stephen took place. Monastic buildings are gradually being restored from the ruins. With the constant care of the ruling bishop, Archbishop Evlogy of Vladimir and Suzdal, the sisters of the monastery, headed by the abbess, nun Elisaveta, are gradually reviving the holy monastery. They enter the monastic life, strive to find the salvation of the soul in their monastery, to be useful to the suffering world.
In 1997, 20 nuns lived in the monastery, carrying out daily monastic obediences - reading the Psalter, klirosny, sewing, refectory and various household chores. The serving priest and rector of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was Abbot Porfiry, a former resident of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where he carried out monastic obedience for 20 years. The confessor of the monastery was a resident of the Lavra of St. Sergius, Archimandrite Bartholomew.

Church of St. Stephen under restoration (July 1997)






Temple of Stefan Makhrishchsky.






Service in the monastery in the Peter and Paul Church. Photo 1997


Sisters of the Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchi Monastery for obedience. Photo 1997



Church of Peter and Paul. 1806


The temporary belfry of the monastery and the church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. 1997

Icon of St. Sergius. Workshop O.S. Chirikov. 1903 Gift to the Makhrishchi monastery.







Gate Church of Sergius of Radonezh


Monastery refectory














Belfry


Holy Spring of Sergius of Radonezh

Makhrinsky parish

Sloboda Makhra is located 130 versts from the provincial town, 10 from the county and near the Makhrish monastery.
It got its name from the monastery founded by St. Stephen, whose relics rest here... The present settlement of Makhra was formed from the former sub-monastic settlement, and the parish, from the villages that previously belonged to the Makhrin monastery. Since 1615, the monastery itself, by order of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, was under the jurisdiction of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and was not subordinate to the Vladimir diocesan authorities, and the Mahrinsky parish was listed in the Vladimir diocese.
In the hundredth letter of possessions of the Makhrishsky monastery of 1563, the following villages are listed: “the village of Zelentsyno, and in it the Church of the Most Pure Mother of God stands empty, without singing, in the village there is a monastery courtyard and 16 peasant courtyards; the village of Neglovo on the Molokhcha River, and in the village the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker stands empty, without singing, in the village there is a monastery courtyard, 6 peasant yards and 4 empty ones; the village of Yartsovo, in it is a monastery courtyard and 12 doors. peasant, the village of Polosino, in it is a monastery courtyard and 12 doors. peasant and 7 empty, the village of Konkovo ​​- 7 yards and 4 empty, the village of Zaprudnoe - 2 yards, Lukyanovo - 3 yards, Vysokoye on the Sera River 3 yards, Zakharovskoe - 3 yards, Krasnoye - 4 yards, Onisimovo - 2 yards, Danilkovo - 13 yards and 1 empty, Popovo - 8 yards and 3 empty, Ploshchitsyno - 1 yard, Malinovo - 7 yards, Glinkovo ​​- 3 doors. and 2 empty and 2 deserted villages. In this list, the suburban settlement is not mentioned; Obviously, it had not yet formed at that time.
Information about it is found already in the census books of 1678, in which the following is said about the possessions of the Makhrishchsky Monastery: a white deacon lives in it, 1 monastery yard, and in it a janitor, a stable yard, a cattle yard, a blacksmiths yard, a service yard, and in total in the settlement there are 3 service yards, there are 13 people in them, 4 yards of cubs, there are 9 people in them, 1 yard of grooms - 3 people, 3 yards of Bobylsky - 10 people, 1 yard of blacksmiths - 4 people.
“Makhrishchsky monastery of the village: 1) Yartsovo - 21 yards, 2) Zelentsyno - 19 residential yards and 1 empty, a backbone lives in it; 3) Rykulino - 6 yards; 4) Raspberry - 12 yards; 5) Afanasovo - 4 yards; 6) Strip - 6 yards; 7) Danilkovo - 9 yards; 8) There are only 14 households, and in the old census books behind the Makhrishchsky monastery, the village of Zaprudnaya is recorded, but it has become deserted to the point of pestilence, and in total there are 94 peasant households, 3 Bobyl villages, 313 people in them.
In 1764, when the monastic estates were abolished, all the possessions of the Makhrishchi monastery were transferred to the state property department and formed an independent parish. But this independent parish did not have its own church: the parish clergy and parishioners used the monastery church. Metropolitan Platon in 1788 ordered to build a special church over the monastery's eastern gate with a special entrance for parishioners; funds for the construction of the church were given partly by the parishioners. In 1791 the Church was consecrated in the name of St. Sergius. This church became a parish. It was cold, and in winter the parishioners preferred to go to services in the warm monastery church, which caused mutual dissatisfaction between the parish clergy and the monastery. In 1821, the builder of the monastery reported to the Lavra Cathedral about the extreme dilapidation of the church in the name of St. Sergius and the established cathedral ordered to seal it.
Thus, the parish was again left without its church; in this predicament, the local clergy turned for advice and guidance to His Grace Parthenius, Bishop of Vladimir. Vladyka already knew the abnormal conditions of the Makhrinsky parish; on the way to Vladimir, he stopped in Mahra and spent the night in the priest's house. He advised the parishioners to buy a wooden church in the village of Yam, which turned out to be superfluous after the construction of a stone church, and he himself wrote a letter to the landowner of the village of Yam Yakovlev about this. After that, the landowner ceded the wooden church with icons and the iconostasis to the Makhrinsky parish for 300 rubles. In 1824 the church was moved and since that time the parish had its own church.
In 1857, a stone church with the same bell tower was built in the settlement at the expense of the parishioners.

Mahra village, temple of St. Sergius of Radonezh

There are three thrones in it: in the cold one in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh, in the warm aisles in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and in honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God.
Utensils, sacristy, St. icons and liturgical books the church was supplied enough. Church documents were kept intact: copies from parish registers from 1802, confessional paintings from 1824. The clergy according to the state is supposed to be: a priest, a deacon and a psalm reader. For its maintenance it turned out: a) from arable and hay land up to 210 rubles; b) interest from the credit capital (386 rubles) - 15 rubles; c) 60 rubles from the grain collection; d) from services and trebocorrections up to 500 rubles, and in total up to 785 rubles. in year. The clergy have their own houses on church land.
Land at the church: manor 3 des., arable 18 dess. and haymaking 11 acres.
The parish consisted of Makhrinsky Sloboda and villages: Yurtseva (1 ver. from the church), Koshmilov (2 ver.), Rykulin (2 ver.), Afanasov (1 ver.), Malinova (3 ver.), Polosina (5 ver. The village of Polosino was bought by the Makhrishchi Monastery from a certain Sharan Gavrilov in 7040 (1532), Danilov (2nd ver.) and Neglov (2nd ver.), in which, according to the clergy's records, there were 836 male souls. gender and 966 female; all Orthodox.

In the provincial government, on November 12, 1890, the attitude of the Aleksandrovskaya district government was received, dated November 8 of the same year, No. 4,087, with the following content: factories of the Makhrinsky monastery, Serpukhov tradesman Karl Yakovlevich Reiner, and at the same time added, in the 1st, that the factory rented by Mr. Reiner, according to its latest assessment, made by the technician of the provincial government, Mr. Svirsky, was entered according to the salary of the council for 1889 in the same figure of value, in which it was entered in 1888, namely, 19,685 rubles, with taxation by zemstvo taxes: district 98 rubles. 42 k. and provincial 90 p. 55 k.; 2-x, in view of the inquiry submitted by a member of the council, Dmitriev, that the factory rented by Reiner really ceased to operate on April 1, 1889, on the occasion of the expiration of the term of the condition concluded with the monastery, and is currently inactive, since all the machines belonging to Reiner were taken away by him, why would the council consider it fair in view of the disrupted affairs and the loss incurred by Reiner, during the flood, from which the dam was completely destroyed, not only the accrued fees for 1888 and 1889, and for the latter in particular, should not be subject to taxation, since Rainer's rented factory in 1889 had an operation of no more than two or three months, and then, in all probability, as at the completion of its work in the most limited production; but no less than that, she would consider fair the county zemstvo tax calculated for the factory for the three years 1883, 1884 and 1885. from an exalted value (11,575 rubles) to add up, based both on the fact that the provincial zemstvo tax, at the request of Reiner, was folded by the provincial zemstvo assembly on March 15, 1888 from the same exalted value (11,575), and for the same time for 1883, 1884 and 1885. ... "

Makhrinsky school , Makhri volost, in the village of Makhra, founded by hereditary honorary citizen Ioasaf Ivanovich in 1873. The nearest schools: Karabanovskoye in 4 ver., Semenovsko-Shuyskoye and Smyatyevskoye - 7 ver. In 1884 “Own premises, donated by I. I. Baranov, wooden, separate; comfortable in terms of light and warmth; the teacher has an apartment; There is one class room - 10 ½ long, 9 wide, 3 ½ arsh high. There are enough teaching aids - for 143 rubles. 23 kop. There is no library, except for 121 books. There is no earth. The teacher of the law, Priest John Solovyov, who completed a course at the Vladimir Theological Seminary, has been teaching since 1873; teacher Fodor Sadikov, from the lower. the Department. the same seminary, he has been teaching since 1869, and in the present school since 1877. The trustee is a peasant Ivan Gavrilov; made no donations. By January 1, 1883, there were no students who dropped out before the end of the course and completed the course with certificates. Again received 19 small. and 2 dev. By January 1, 1884, there were 47 m. and 8 maidens. Everyone learns together. Age: 7 - 8 years. 7, 8 - 9 liters. 11, 9 - 10 liters. 14, 10 - 11 y.o. 15, 11 - 12 years old 4, 12 - 13 y.o. 3, 13 and above 1. Of the students: 9 from s. Makhry, 16 - the village of Yurtseva in ½ ver., 7 - the village of Malinova - 2 ver., 2 - the village of Komshilov - 2 ver., 7 - the village of Rykushina - 2 ver., 6 - the village of Polosina - 5 ver. ., 5 - d. Danilkova - 2 ver., 2 - d. Neglova - 2 c. and 1 - d. Ivankova - 20 ver. There is no overnight shelter. They live in apartments of 7 accounts, with a fee of 1 p. per month. Orthodox religion. By estate: spirit. 1 m. and 1 day, mesch. 1 m and 1 day, cross. 45 m. and 6 girls. Funds: from the Zemstvo 320 rubles. 70 k., from society 90 rubles, from individuals 25 rubles; there is no tuition fee. Expenses: heating, lighting, servants and repairs 75 rubles. 87 k.; salary - 60 rubles for a teacher of the law, 240 rubles for a teacher; for books and teaching aids 20 rubles. 70 kop. Attended classes incorrectly 13 uch. Reception in September; all were illiterate. Denied due to cramped premises 6. Academic year from September 1st to May 14th. Singing is taught simply. Study daily 6 ½ hours. and home lessons are given. Departments 3. Lessons per week: in 1 department. - according to the Law of God 3, according to the Russian language 12, according to the Slavic language 2, according to arithmetic 5, according to singing 1; in 2 sec. - according to the Law of God 3, according to the Russian language 12, according to the Slavic language 3, according to arithmetic 4, according to singing 1; in 3 sec. - according to the Law of God 3, according to the Russian language 12, according to the Slavic language 2, according to arithmetic 5, according to singing 1. There were no winners. Nobody looked at the school. There is no training in crafts and needlework. There are no Sunday conversations and readings" (Vladimir Zemsky collection, 1884. No. 12. December.). Students in 1892-93 study. year was 62.
“At the request of the Aleksandrovsky district zemstvo to increase funds for the equipment of workshops at the Makhrinsky Agricultural School.
The following materials were forwarded to the provincial government by the Aleksandrovskaya Uyezd Council on this issue:
1. Decree of August 11, 1916 of the county government with the participation of members of the school editorial commission, “to ask for the next, in 1916, zemstvo assembly for the allocation of 2,500 rubles. for the purchase and repair of a building for workshops at the Makhrinsky Agricultural School, which building is supposed to be bought from a peasant of the village of Makhry A.P. Plyaskov. In addition, ask for an allocation of 1000 rubles. for the equipment of workshops and apply to the Ministry of Trade and Industry with a request for a subsidy to the zemstvo within two years for 2,500 rubles. annually for the best equipment of these workshops.
2. A copy of the protocol of the Makhrinsky credit partnership with the resolution of the following kind.
Having heard the message of the board about the proposed opening in the village. Mahre of the craft and educational workshop by the Aleksandrovsky district zemstvo with the assistance of the Ministry of Trade and Industry:
a) The general meeting of the Makhrinsky credit partnership considers this case to be highly important and useful for its region.
b) Wishing to take part in the creation and maintenance of a craft and training workshop, the assembly decides to allocate annually two hundred (200 rubles) for this business, and when accepting students in the workshop, in case of a lack of space there, preference was given to the children of members of the Makhrinsky kr. partnerships.
c) The Assembly recognizes as very important and useful the direct participation of the t-va through its representative in the organization and conduct of the work of the educational and craft workshop.
3. Report of the county government with the following conclusion: “to allocate 2,500 rubles for the purchase and repair of a building for workshops at the Makhrinsky Agricultural School.”
4. Extract from the report of the editorial commission.
The commission considers it possible and desirable to allocate 2000 rubles for the construction of workshops at the Makhrinsky school, requesting that half of this amount be assigned from the provincial zemstvo.
5. Decision of the county assembly "to agree with the opinion of the editorial commission."
The provincial government considers the petition of the Aleksandrovsky district zemstvo unclear, on the one hand, the materials presented by the district government meant the creation of a training and craft workshop similar to the training workshops of this kind of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, on the other hand, the appropriations made indicate that under the Makhrinsky agricultural the school is supposed to organize workshops; the tasks that will be carried out by these workshops are not mentioned anywhere in the materials delivered by the county government.
If the county zemstvo intends to organize training workshops, then the provincial government, for its part, considers that it is desirable to organize them in the village of Makhre on their own and elaborate on the issue of their organization.
The conclusion of the provincial government. In view of the ambiguity of the petition filed, leave it open.”
« Makhrinsky village-farm. school.
Makhrinskoye s. X. The school is located 5 versts from the railroad. dor. station and postal "Karabanovo". It embraces an area with 18 villages, with a radius of location of villages from ½ verst to 8. The population of the adjacent districts to the school was little engaged in agriculture and did not try to improve the latter, thanks to the surrounding factories, where the peasants found their earnings.
But over the past three years, the situation has changed and interest in the land has chained everyone. The closest demonstrative agronomic assistant to the farmer was the Makhrinskoe S.-Kh. school with its grain-cleaning, rolling and breeding stations, the benefits of which the population understood and tested in their households. Along with this, theoretical propaganda was carried out on agriculture, touching on the most burning questions on the rational management of the peasant economy and ways to improve it. In general, the entire school economy is accessible to the surrounding peasants, and the school has never been fenced off by an impenetrable wall and has not been closed within the boundaries of its possessions, but has responded to all serious cases, situations and difficulties in agriculture. Another of the activities of the school should be noted the organization of courses for crippled soldiers in agriculture in 1917, in 1919 - for students of several districts of the Vladimir province in gardening, horticulture and natural science methods, and in 1920 periodic courses for students of the Makhrinsky volost in gardening and horticulture with the purpose of performing labor processes, which were set for students according to the principles of the Unified Labor School. The course of study at the school is 4 years, has 4 classes, of which the first two are general education, and the last two are special with two departments: 1) agricultural and 2) craft and construction. The purpose of the first department is to develop self-activity among students in the field of agriculture and instill in them reasonable skills in the latest techniques for processing, fertilizing and caring for field and garden crops, and ultimately graduate agricultural technicians. The purpose of the second department is to train technicians for the repair of agricultural products. machines and tools, in their care and in the manufacture of new tools and several parts for them. The number of students is currently 60, of which 50% are peasants and 25% are factory workers. Pupils live in a hostel and only a small part of those who come. In all this difficult and complex work there are many unfavorable conditions, among which in the first place it is necessary to note the insecurity of the teaching staff and employees in material terms, since the salary received is only enough for bread. The lack of educational, visual aids, reagents, tools and materials hinders the implementation of curricula and program work in the 1922/23 academic years and strongly affects students who are looking for light and knowledge in the field of agriculture ”(the newspaper“ Call ”, December 26, 1922 ).

In 1931 he was shot (martyr), a parishioner of the Mother of God-Christmas Church in the village. Mahra.

Website of the Holy Trinity Stefano-Makhrishchi Monastery - http://www.stefmon.ru/letopis.htm

Compound in the village of Talitsy

The monastery owns a courtyard in the Moscow region in the village of Talitsy near Sofrino. There are several temples and chapels in the courtyard, including a restored cave temple.