Guardian of piety. Kiev-Pechersk Lavra
The founders of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Saints Anthony and Theodosius of the Pechersk, are rightfully revered as the founders of monasticism on Russian soil. This was that time, blessed by God, when celibate fasters and workers were revered by a real Christian society in Rus'.
Blessing of Mount Athos
The Monk Anthony of Pechersk, revered as the leader of all Russian monks, was born at the end of the 10th century. (c. 983) near Chernigov in the town of Lyubeche; according to some sources, his secular name was Antipas. From a young age, the future saint felt an attraction to spiritual life and, eager to see the places of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, visited Palestine, and on the way back he decided to go to Holy Mount Athos in Greece. In one of the Athos monasteries, Anthony took monastic vows and began a solitary life in a cave. When he acquired spiritual experience in his exploits, there was a notice from God to the abbot - to release the saint to Rus'. “The concepts of renunciation of the world, the oppression of the flesh, hermitage and monastic life came to us, of course, at once with baptism,” writes the outstanding Russian historian Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov. “The true promoters of monastic life were Anthony, and most of all Theodosius, the founders of the Pechersk Monastery.”
As the “Pechersk Patericon” (a collection of stories about the founding of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery and the lives of its holy monks) tells, Anthony first himself dug a cave not far from Berestov, in which he lived for some time. During the princely civil strife and the death of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, the monk returned to Athos. But again the abbot received a message from God: “Send Anthony to Rus' again: I need him there.” The abbot, calling the monk to him, said to him: “Anthony, it is God’s will that you go again to Rus', and may the blessing from the Holy Mountain be upon you.” And the abbot predicted that many monks would come from him, and, blessing him, he released him with the words: “Go in peace.” Returning to Kiev, the monk climbed the hill where the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery is now located, and then there was a dense forest, found Hilarion’s cave and settled in it, praying with tears: “Lord, may the blessing of the Holy Mount Athos and my prayer be in this place the elder who tonsured me, and establish, O Lord, my residence here.” In this cave, Saint Anthony continued the exploits of a strict monastic life, “praying to God, poisonous dry bread, drinking only water, and then in measure, every other day or two, sometimes digging a cave for weeks, not giving himself rest day or night, always staying in labors, prayers, vigils.” His fame spread throughout many Russian cities, and people flocked to the saint.
Some came for a blessing, others wanted to live next to the saint, “and we began to honor the great Anthony.”
N.I. Kostomarov: “In the era when Rus' adopted Christianity, the Orthodox Church was imbued with the monastic spirit, and religious piety was under the exclusive influence of the monastic view... The example of a godly person became a hermit who renounced all connections with people; as an example of high Christian virtue, they set hermits who voluntarily sat in a cramped cell, cave, on a pole, in a hollow, ate the most meager, coarse food, imposed a vow of silence on themselves, tortured their bodies with heavy iron chains... The perfect hermit was the highest ideal of a Christian ; behind him, in a pious view, was followed by the monastic community - a society of celibate fasters and workers, considered a real Christian society, and outside of it there was already a “world”, saved only by the prayers of hermits and monks and as close as possible to the methods of monastic life.
Anthony's first disciples were Blessed Nikon, a priest, and the Monk Theodosius, who came to Anthony at the age of 23 and was tonsured by Blessed Nikon at the direction of Anthony. This is how the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra began to form.
When the number of monks reached 12 people, under the leadership of Anthony, a large cave was excavated, in which a church, a refectory and separate cells for the monks were built (they were preserved in the Far Caves of the Lavra). After this, Anthony appointed Varlaam abbot, left the monastery and, having dug a new cave, went into seclusion. However, monks began to settle next to him again. This is how the Near Lavra Caves were formed.
Even during Anthony’s lifetime, the Monk Theodosius was appointed abbot of the monastery he founded. When the number of inhabitants reached one hundred people, with the blessing of Anthony, the brethren built the first wooden church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the mountain and an above-ground monastery over the first cave in 1062.
The life of Anthony tells that he had the gift of working miracles: he healed the sick by giving them the greens that he ate; predicted the defeat of the Russian troops in the battle with the Polovtsians on the Alta River in 1066. Due to the conflict with the Kiev prince Izyaslav, Anthony left Kiev twice: first, the prince was angry at the tonsure of his entourage as monks, and in 1068 he suspected the elder of sympathizing with the Kyivians, who started a rebellion. The monk had to go to Chernigov, where he dug a cave in the Boldin Mountains. A few years later the saint returned to his second Lavra cave. Here he rested and lay his relics in 1073. The relics of the saint remain hidden. Later, this cave was called Antonieva and Nizhnaya, since it turned out to be closer to the stone Assumption Cathedral and the new courtyard of the monastery built around it. The very first cave, above which the old courtyard remained, acquired the name Dalnaya.
Second of the founders of the Lavra
The Monk Theodosius of Pechersk, who worked hard to establish the monastery on the surface, is revered as the second of the founders of the Lavra. He was born approx. 1008 in the city of Vasilevo, not far from Kyiv, then moved with his parents to Kursk. Apparently, the saint came from a very wealthy and well-born family, but from childhood, as N.I. writes. Kostomarov, “religion began to attract this concentrated nature: a pious feeling awakened in him early and took possession of his entire being. The first thing it expressed was the desire for simplicity; he seemed disgusted by the external differences that his social position gave him in front of the lower ones... The mother was angry at this and even beat her son.”
At the age of 14, he lost his father and remained under the supervision of his mother - a strict and domineering woman, but who loved her son very much. She punished him many times for his desire for asceticism (either for baking prosphoras or for wearing chains), but the monk firmly took the path of asceticism. After 10 years, he secretly left his parental home and took monastic vows, with the blessing of St. Anthony, in the Kiev Pechersk Monastery with the name Theodosius. Four years later, his mother found him and with tears asked him to return home, but the saint himself convinced her to stay in Kyiv and accept monasticism at the monastery of St. Nicholas at Askold’s grave.
The Monk Theodosius worked more than others at the monastery and often took on part of the brethren’s labors: he carried water, chopped wood, ground rye, and took flour to each monk. On hot nights, he exposed his body and gave it to mosquitoes and midges as food, blood flowed through him, but the saint patiently worked on his handicrafts and sang psalms. He appeared at the temple before others and, standing in place, did not leave until the end of the service; I listened to the reading with special attention.
In 1054, the Monk Theodosius was ordained to the rank of hieromonk, and in 1057 he was elected abbot. The fame of his exploits attracted many monks to the monastery, in which he built a new church and cells and introduced a cenobitic charter, copied, on his instructions, from the cenobitic charter of the Studite monastery in Constantinople, which was subsequently adopted by all ancient Russian monasteries.
It is noteworthy that even in the rank of abbot, the Monk Theodosius continued to fulfill the most difficult obediences in the monastery. The saint usually ate only dry bread and boiled greens without oil. His nights passed without sleep, in prayer, which the brethren noticed many times, although the chosen one of God tried to hide his feat from others. No one saw the Monk Theodosius sleeping lying down; he usually rested while sitting.
During Great Lent, the saint retired to a cave located not far from the monastery, where he labored, unseen by anyone. His clothing was a stiff hair shirt, worn directly on his body, so that in this poor old man it was impossible to recognize the famous abbot, whom everyone who knew him revered.
One day the Monk Theodosius was returning from the Grand Duke Izyaslav. The driver, who did not yet know him, said rudely: “You, monk, are always idle, and I am constantly at work. Go to my place and let me into the chariot.” The holy elder meekly obeyed and took the servant. Seeing how the oncoming boyars bowed to the monk as they dismounted, the servant was frightened, but the holy ascetic calmed him down and upon his arrival fed him at the monastery.
N.I. Kostomarov: “The external signs of power not only did not captivate him, but were disgusting to him; But he actually knew how to rule like no one else, and with his moral influence he kept the monastery in unconditional obedience.”
Hoping for God's help, the monk did not keep large reserves for the monastery, so the brethren sometimes suffered a need for daily bread. Through his prayers, however, unknown benefactors appeared and delivered to the monastery what was needed for the brethren. The great princes, especially Izyaslav, loved to enjoy the spiritual conversation of the Monk Theodosius. The saint was not afraid to denounce the powerful of this world. Those illegally convicted always found an intercessor in him, and judges reviewed cases at the request of the abbot, revered by all. The monk especially cared about the poor: he built a special courtyard for them in the monastery, where anyone in need could receive food and shelter.
Having foreseen his death in advance, the Monk Theodosius peacefully departed to the Lord in 1074. He was buried in a cave he dug, in which he retired during fasting. The relics of the ascetic were found incorrupt in 1091 and lie in the Far Caves. The Monk Theodosius was canonized as a saint in 1108.
From the works of the saint, 11 works have come down to us: two epistles to Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich (“About the week” and “About the peasant faith and the Latin faith”), eight words and teachings to monks (“About patience and love”, “About patience and the humility”, “On spiritual benefits”, “On going to church and prayer”) and the prayer “For all the peasants”. The style of his writings is clear, concise, devoid of rhetorical embellishments and at the same time emotional. The Monk Theodosius preached the foundations of Christian morality, called on the monks to completely, “without despondency,” renounce the world, and spoke out against princely civil strife. Information about him was preserved in the “Life of St. Theodosius” by Nestor the Chronicler and in the “Tale of Bygone Years.”
All tourists try to visit the Kiev Pechersky Monastery in Ukraine. This is one of the very first ancient Russian monasteries, which appeared in one thousand fifty-one. Over time, its territory increased, churches grew, numerous cells were built, and in sixteen eighty-eight it received the status of a monastery. Let us study in more detail the history of the emergence of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery.
How it all began?
In the eleventh century, on the site of the monastery, on the right bank of the Dnieper River (not far from Kyiv), there was a dense forest. Monk Hilarion from the village of Berestov often came here to pray. He dug a cave here. When Hilarion was appointed Metropolitan of Kyiv (it was 1051), his cave was empty for a short time. In the same year (this date was taken as the founding of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery), the monk Anthony of the Pechersk settled here, followed by other monks.
As soon as the cave was inhabited by twelve monks, it was decided to build a church here. Anthony dug himself a cave on a nearby mountain. Monks began to flock there again from all sides. As soon as the cell was inhabited by twelve monks, the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built above it.
When the monastery could not accommodate everyone, Anthony turned to the Kyiv prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich for help, and he gave permission to use the entire territory of the mountain for Christian needs. In one thousand sixty-two the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery was built. All this time, the life of the monks attracted followers and ordinary Christians, who generously left them their donations. And after a few years, these donations were enough to erect a new church with fresco paintings and mosaics.
Nomadic raids on the monastery
The church was first robbed by a nomadic people of Turkic origin - the Cumans - in 1906. At this time, the monastery was destroyed, and the Ukrainian capital almost fell to the conquerors.
Only twelve years later the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra began to recover. Hegumen Theoktist, together with Prince Gleb Vseslavich, contributed to the construction of the stone refectory, as well as the new church. At the same time, the territory of the monastery was completely fenced with a palisade. The monks lived in the main building, and the caves were now used as tombs for monks. They were buried in the recesses of the walls of the cave corridor.
At the monastery there was a shelter for the infirm, disabled, and beggars, for whose needs a tithe of the total income was allocated. It was built under Feodosia. By the way, his cave was dug in the village of Lesniki, the territory of which also belonged to the monastery. From the moment of its foundation until this period, the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery produced twenty bishops.
Turkish invasion
From one thousand one hundred fifty-one to one thousand two hundred forty, the monastery was subjected to heavy robberies and burnings. First the Turks plundered the monks' monastery, then burned it. But the monks continued to carry out their service. Afterwards, the church was robbed again by the Polovtsians, but again continued to fulfill its mission. But, unfortunately, during the conquest of Kyiv, the invaders also attacked the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. The caves became a refuge for the clergy, but they did not save most of the monks.
The destroyed laurel stood until the fourteenth century. From this period, under the leadership of the Kyiv prince Simeon Olelkovich, a new construction of the monastery began. The main church became a tomb for the Kyiv nobility. In one thousand four hundred and seventy, the monastery was completely rebuilt, fortified and began to serve as the main shrine of the city. Now even Turkish raids were not afraid of him.
But twelve years later the monastery was burned again, only this time by the Crimean army. It took time to rebuild the church with people's donations. In the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-three, the blossoming of the monks began. The Kiev Pechersk Lavra expanded its territorial boundaries (two cities, fifty villages, fifteen villages with different crafts and trades) and capabilities. Since the fifteenth century, monks have been allowed to travel to Moscow to receive donations. However, trials do not leave the monastery. The year one thousand seven hundred and eighteen was a great shock for him: a fire destroyed all his valuables - the library, ancient manuscripts, all treasures.
War for power
The wealth and glory of the monastery haunted not only foreign conquerors, but also the Brest church union. In one thousand five hundred and ninety-six the first attempts began to subordinate the monastery to the Uniate metropolitan. However, the monks, hardened by foreign raids, put up staunch resistance to the Union of Brest. The monks were led by Archimandrite Nikifor Tur, who, together with the monks, successfully repelled the Uniate metropolitan. Neither the monks nor the lands of the monastery suffered from these skirmishes.
Only at the end of the sixteenth century did the Kiev Pechersk Lavra achieve independence from the influence of local dioceses. She is assigned the status of stauropegia by the Ecumenical (Constantinople) Patriarch. Despite the expansion of Uniate churches, the Pechersky Monastery becomes a stronghold for Orthodox Christians. Thanks to the activities of Archimandrites E. Pletenetsky and Z. Kopystensky, a competent struggle against Uniatism begins through the release of polemical and liturgical books printed by their own printing house (1616).
The Moscow Patriarch will fight for power. The monastery in one thousand six hundred and eighty-eight will submit to the Moscow Patriarch and All Rus'. However, this reign will last ninety-eight years. Then the Lavra will pass to the Kyiv Metropolitan.
History of the development of the monastery from the 17th to the 19th centuries
Despite the bloody opposition to Uniatism, the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery is developing. In addition to the printing house, under the leadership of Peter Mohyla, a school for monks appeared, which over time grew into the Kiev-Mohyla Collegium.
The priest's son Ivan Samoilovich, being a hetman, fortified the entire territory of the monastery with a rampart, and another hetman fenced the church with a stone wall. During the reign of Peter the Great, the territory of the monks expanded, forming the Pechersk fortress. However, a fire in one thousand seven hundred and eighteen destroyed almost the entire monastery. The Kiev Pechersk Lavra was able to recover only after eleven years.
Two years later, construction of the Great Lavra Bell Tower began. It was the tallest building in all of Ukraine (the height was ninety-six and a half meters). It took fourteen years to build the bell tower. The project was headed by Russian architect G.I. Schedel.
Despite the fact that the construction of the bell tower was delayed (according to the architect’s assurances, it was planned to erect the building in three years), and the Lavra’s budget did not allow taking on new projects, by the nineteenth century its territory still included six monasteries (Main, Bolnichny, Near and Far caves, Goloseevskaya and Kitaevskaya Pustyn).
Characteristics of the Lavra buildings
The main monastery is located next to the main church. The hospital monastery was built in the twelfth century near the Lavra Gate with the support of the Chernigov prince Nikola Svyatoshi. In the church itself there was already an icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God, utensils, Gospels, a library with valuable books, portraits and relics of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Here was the tombstone of Prince K.I. Ostrogsky, tomb and tombs of saints.
Near and Far underground passages are located close to each other. The first grottoes were formed around the cave of the monk Anthony, and the second - near the cell of the monk Hilarion. Anthony's Caves have three entrances, the most accessible and popular is the western entrance from the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross. There are three underground passages in total that connect the Temple, the Church of the Entry of the Virgin Mary and the Meal of the Pechersk Fathers.
Since ancient times, caves have been a place for monks to live, and later for their burial. Residential cells had two opposite projections, intended for sleeping and eating. There were also recesses for candles and icons. In underground passages there are loculi. It is believed that they were dug and buried by the monks Mark the Cave. There are also small windows with the names of the recluses. Currently, the size of the cave passages has been reduced due to later reconstructions and amounts to only three hundred eighty-three meters.
Holy churches
Not every monk of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery received the honor of being buried in caves. The distant cells store forty-five relics, and the Near ones - eighty. The distant relics include the relics of St. Theodosius, Hilarion the schema-monk, Pimen the faster, Amphilochius, Euphrosyne, Pior, Paphnutius, Pamva, Sisoy, Theodore the Silent, Zechariah, Agathon the Wonderworker, Longinus, Macarius, Moses, Paul, Arsenius, Silouan, Achila, Benjamin, Gerontius , Euthymius the schema-monk, Hypatius, Joseph the Much-Sick, Leontius, Mercury, Martyria the deacon, Paisius, Nestor the Neknizhny, Titus, Theophioa, Ignatius, Theodore of Ostrog, Paul of Tobolsk, Vladimir of Kiev, Philaret, the hermits Athanasius, Anatoly, Ammon, Mardaria, Pankratius, Sophronius , Cassian, Martyria, Lawrence, Gregory, Rufus, Dionysius.
The nearby caves contain the relics of St. Anthony, Prokhor the Lebednik, John the Faster, Juliana, Theodore, Basil, Polycarp, Damian, Barlaam, Erasmus, Titus, Theophilus, Johnann, Nektarios, Mark the Grave Digger, Alexy, Gregory, Sergius, Savva, Mercury, Pimen, Nestor, Eustratius, Hellas, Jeremiah, Moses, John the Long-Suffering, Onuphrius, Saints, Gregory the Wonderworker, Matthew, Onesimus, Isaiah, Abrahamia, Niphont, Sylvester, Kuksha, Macarius, Pimen the Faster, Lawrence, Anatoly, Sisoya, Theophilus the Recluse, Onesiphorus, Arefy, Alypius, Simon, Theophanes, Nikon, Anastasia, Ephraim, Abraham the recluse, Agapit, Luke, John the infant, Elijah, Nikon Sukhoi, Nicodemus, Spyridon, Isaac, Athanasius the recluse.
All monks of the monastery are venerated on certain days until the twenty-eighth of August, the memory of the monks of the Far Caves is venerated, the twenty-eighth of September is dedicated to the monks of the Near Caves, and the saints of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra are venerated during Lent (usually the second week).
There are believers for whom it is important to touch the relics of saints. But tourists are often interested in interesting facts from the life of monks. Tour guides often talk about the following saints.
- Anthony Pechersky. Founded Since childhood, he was a devout person and devoted his entire life to serving God.
- Nestor the Chronicler. As a seventeen-year-old boy, he was appointed deacon, church writer. He made a significant contribution to ancient Russian literature.
- Agapit the Merciless. The monk had the gift of healing, but did not have a medical education. He treated ordinary people and princes for free.
- Ilya Muromets. The popular ancient Russian hero, who, according to epic legend, became a monk, is buried in the monastery.
- Nikola Svyatosha. The prince who became a monk. Thanks to him, the Gate Trinity and St. Nicholas Church and the Hospital St. Nicholas Monastery were built.
- Twelve builders of Greek origin. Their names are unknown, but the story of their adoption of monasticism is unique. In the eleventh century they arrived specifically from Byzantium to restore the Great Lavra, and after its completion they became monks.
- Varlaam. The boyar's son became a monk and participated in the founding of the first wooden monastery in the Anthony Caves. He is known for the fact that after a pilgrimage from Constantinople and Palestine he bequeathed all his property to the monastery.
- Kuksha. Missionary and martyr. Known for the gift of healing and the ability to perform miracles. He was tortured and executed by the pagans. They say that on the day of his death there were pillars of fire above the monastery.
- Nikon Sukhoi. During the Polovtsian attack he was captured and tortured for three years. According to his prediction, he was supposed to end up in the Pechersk Monastery, so the Polovtsians wounded his legs. However, the saint became invisible and ended up in the Lavra. The miracles associated with his life do not end there. When a few years later a Polovtsian came to the caves and tortured monk Nikon, he saw him alive. He and his entire family immediately converted to Christianity.
- Eustratius the Venerable Martyr. He comes from a noble family who gave away all his property and became a monk. During the Polovtsian attack he was sold into slavery. He was tortured for a long time for his unshakable faith and was crucified on the cross. Miraculously, he lived for another fifteen days, then was thrown into the sea. However, the body inexplicably appeared in the laurel.
Since one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, the caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra passed from the Moscow Patriarch into the possession of the Kyiv Metropolitan. During the Soviet period, the monastery changed one status after another. Since September one thousand nine hundred and twenty-six, the Ukrainian Soviet authorities transferred the territory of the Lavra to a state reserve. The formation of a museum town on the territory of the monastery led to its ruin. During the Soviet period, most of the monks were shot or sent to prison.
During the Patriotic War, the Germans allowed the monks to live in the monastery, but already in November they blew up the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery, having managed to take out the jewelry. Although now the story is being distorted, telling tourists about the explosion of the Lavra by Soviet partisans. This information was refuted when a recording of the explosion, made by the Nazis for their own entertainment, became available. Later, the fact of the explosion of the monastery by the Germans was proven by other researchers and scientists.
After the war, the monastery was no longer closed and was accessible to the people until the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty-one. Later, a new wave of anti-religious views arose, and the monastery began to serve more as a museum than as a shrine. Often, guides conducted tours of the caves and explained the condition of certain relics from a scientific point of view, but still Christians tried to venerate the remains and ask for protection from the saints.
A miracle for Orthodox Christians and scientists is the appearance of three myrrh-streaming heads on the territory of the Far Caves Monastery. From the moment the authorities allowed religious activity, myrrh began to stand out from the chapters. Scientists have not yet figured out what is included in its composition; they only stated that it refers to a living organism and is not the result of chemical experiments.
Modern Kiev-Pechersk Lavra
Photos of the current and original appearance of the church are practically the same. Modern authorities have only restored the building to preserve its historical authenticity. In 1990, the entire territory of the monastery was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
From 1992 to this day, the Metropolitan of Kiev has been the Holy Archimandrite of the Lavra. A year after his appointment, work began on the restoration of the monastery. In 2000, the Cathedral of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra was rebuilt and consecrated.
In addition to the monastery, the Orthodox Academy, and the printing house, there is the Kiev-Pechersk National Nature Reserve. His possessions include the Upper Lavra. For children and beneficiaries, admission is free; others must purchase a ticket at a purely symbolic cost (two years ago a ticket cost three hryvnia).
Tourists can see caves, chapels, graves, monks' cells, towers, walls, gates, educational and printing institutions, monuments, churches. By the way, on the official website of the monastery there is the possibility of a virtual trip, which allows you to see the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery with your own eyes (photos of various attractions are enlarged when you click on one or another cursor).
The Lavra is unique for its historical value, religious shrines, wonderful legends, architectural attractions for all people, regardless of faith and nation. The atmosphere of the monastery allows you to look at many things with different eyes. Many Christians claim that they return from there as changed people. Whether they are miracles of faith or the work of the subconscious, holy places help you reconsider your life path.
Dormition Kiev-Pechersk Lavra: all buildings
There are a lot of buildings on the territory of the monastery:
- bell towers (Lavra, Dalnyaya, Near);
- Gate Temple;
- churches (Gateway Trinity, Exaltation of the Cross, Annozachatievskaya, Refectory, Annunciation, Resurrection of Christ, Savior on Berestovo, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Nikolskaya, “Life-Giving Spring”, “All Reverend Pechersk Fathers”);
- hospital buildings from the Nikolsky Monastery;
- wells of monks Anthony, Theodosius;
- towers (I. Kushchnik, Malyarnaya, Onufrievskaya, Chasovaya);
- buildings (fraternal, economic, typographical, Kovnirovsky);
- the cells of the elders at the monastery;
- houses of governors;
- cave galleries;
- walls (Debosketovskaya, fortress);
- gates (economic western, southern);
- Theological Academy, Seminary;
- Kiev School of Culture;
- Metropolis;
- Chapel;
- Monument to the chronicler Nestor;
- Grave of P. Stolypin.
In addition to architectural buildings, tourists are often interested in Borskaya, the Dormition of the Mother of God, St. Nicholas the Good, the Deliverer, Svenskaya-Pecherskaya, “Pecherskaya Praise”), the relics of the Apostle Stephen, Metropolitan Paul of Tobolsk, the Kyiv fathers Vladimir and Philaret, and myrrh-streaming chapters. The Kiev Pechersk Lavra is rich in all these shrines (photo with icons). The monastery is always crowded (divine services are held daily). To have time to see everything, it is better to come there early in the morning.
Upon his election to the Kyiv See, the cave in Berestov was empty. In the same year, the Monk Anthony of Pechersk, who returned from Mount Athos, settled in it and laid the foundation for monastic work here. It is this date, the year, that Nestor the Chronicler indicates as the year the cave monastery was founded.
With the increase in the number of monks, the caves became too small for the brethren, and they built the above-ground Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and cells. The number of people coming to the monastery kept increasing, so Anthony asked Grand Duke Izyaslav Yaroslavich for the entire mountain above the cave. The resulting monastery was named Pechersky.
After the burial in the caves of St. Anthony (+), the brethren began to be buried here. To do this, niches were dug in the walls of the caves up to two meters deep, up to half a meter high and wide. The body of the deceased was placed on a board and pushed into a narrow niche, which was covered with a wooden shield, and later walled up. According to the custom established in the Pechersk monastery, after two years the burials were opened and the bone remains were transferred to the crypts - ossuaries. If it turned out that the remains of the ascetics were preserved incorrupt, they were left in the same place. The relics of St. Theodosius were solemnly transferred to the Great Assumption Church, built in the year, and the relics of other ascetics until the 17th century. remained in cave crypts. The relics of St. Theodosius were in the Assumption Cathedral until the invasion of the hordes of Batu, due to the danger of desecration, they were hidden, and the place of their burial is unknown. The names and spiritual deeds of the Pechersk monks, whose imperishable relics rested in the caves, were still in the memory of the brethren at the time of their discovery and were briefly written down on the boards covering the burials. From these boards, information about the saints was subsequently copied and preserved in the Pechersk Patericon. The faces of saints were written on the same boards, many of whom, already in the first decades of the existence of the Pechersk monastery, were revered as locally revered saints.
For centuries, the caves served as a place of prayer and ascetic deeds of monks, a repository of shrines and a refuge for the inhabitants of Kyiv during the years of hard times and foreign invasion. Not only in ancient times, but also in times closer to us, when Kyiv was threatened by enemy raids, Orthodox shrines were hidden in the caves of the Lavra. So, in the city, in one of the crypts of the Near Caves, archaeologists discovered a walled-up bottle with a letter signed by Archimandrite Valery (Ustimenko), who had been the rector since January, and since the city - the governor of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (+). In a letter dated July, it was reported that upon returning to the monastery, the brethren found in the sacristy of the Far Caves the holy relics of the Great Martyr Barbara, the Holy Martyr Macarius, and Metropolitan Raphael (Zaborovsky), which were previously located in St. Sophia of Kyiv and the Vladimir Cathedral. The Kiev-Pechersk Lavra in the city was closed by the atheistic authorities and resumed its activities in the city after the German occupation of Kyiv. It was closed for the second time in the city, during the period of the so-called Khrushchev persecutions. A year after decades of atheistic persecution, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was again open to believers as a functioning monastery, and worship and prayer resumed in the caves. The first Divine Liturgy after a long break was celebrated on June 25, 1988.
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Temples of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra
The original layout of the Lavra building has been preserved to this day, in perfect harmony with the relief landscape of the right bank of the Dnieper. The monastery is located on high hills, between which there is a deep ravine, dividing it into the so-called Upper Lavra, where else in the century. The main part of the brethren moved, and the Lower Caves, where the Near and Far Caves and the hospitable courtyard are located. Each of the complexes of the ancient monastery consists of several temples, administrative, residential and utility buildings.
On the upper territory around the Assumption Cathedral (the main temple of the Lavra) there are cells of the monastery's hierarchy and brethren, economy buildings, a printing house, a hospital monastery and workshops. The Great Lavra Bell Tower and the fraternal refectory with the church are also located here. To the south, on the hillside, there is an entrance to the Near Caves, and on the southernmost elevation - to the Far Caves. All parts that make up the Lavra are separated by high stone walls and connected by gates and galleries; they complement each other and generally represent a cross-architectural ensemble.
The State Historical and Cultural Reserve has been located on the territory of the Upper Monastery since the 1920s, since the establishment of the atheistic government, to this day. There are four gates leading to this part of the Lavra: Western (Holy Gates with the Trinity Gate Church); Northern (Economic Gate with the Church of All Saints); Eastern and Southern (or Cave). The main entrance to the Lavra is the Holy Gate. Above the Holy Gates of the Lavra there is a church in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity, the oldest surviving one. It was built in the 12th century. Rev. Nikola Svyatosha, great-grandson of Yaroslav the Wise.
To the northwest of the Assumption Cathedral, next to the Trinity Church, there is the entrance to the former Nikolsky hospital monastery with a church in the name of St. Nicholas, founded by the Monk Nikola Svyatosha in the 12th century. Here he spent the rest of his days, caring for the elderly and sick monks.
The one-story buildings on both sides of the dark granite path, laid from the Holy Gates to the Assumption Cathedral, are the former cells of the cathedral elders. These cells were erected at the beginning of the 18th century. on the site of the former wooden ones that burned down during a fire. Today, the reserve’s shops and exhibition halls are located in the cells of the cathedral elders of the Lavra.
The Northern Gate (Economic) is crowned by the gate church of All Saints, built in - . dependent on Ivan Mazepa.
Leaving the Lavra through the Economic Gate and moving a little to the north, you can see the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, more often called the Savior on Berestov, - a most valuable architectural and historical monument, included, like the entire architectural complex of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, in the list of world cultural monuments, under the protection of UNESCO.
The Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is adjacent to the Refectory Chamber on the eastern side, and on the western side to the house of the Lavra’s abbots - the Kyiv Metropolitans. Currently, the Museum of Ukrainian Decorative Arts is located in the metropolitan chambers and the Church of the Annunciation.To the west of the Metropolitan's chambers is the former house of the Lavra's governor, next to which stands the Lavra's tallest and most majestic building - the Great Lavra Bell Tower, built in - .
On the eastern side of the Great Church there is a printing house of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra established by Archimandrite Elisha (Pletenetsky) (1596-1624).
From the main Lavra courtyard between the buildings of the former printing house and the icon painting school, there is a descent leading to the caves, ending with the so-called Cave Gate.
The modern monastery of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra occupies the territory of the Near and Far caves and several buildings of the former Lavra hostel. Directly opposite the Cave Gate there is a former bookstore adjacent to the monastery garden, in the building of which the Pilgrimage Department of the Lavra is currently located.
The bell tower at the Near Caves was built in – gg. Stepan Kovnir. The two-tier bell tower is 27 meters high. In its architecture, it resembles a gateway, since a hundred-meter-long covered gallery passes through its first tier, connecting the Upper Lavra with the territory of the Near Caves. In the lower part, the gallery passes through the vestibule of the church in the name of All Saints of the Pechersk. Almost at the foot of the mountain there is an area surrounded by the buildings of the Near Caves. On the side of the hill, under one roof, adjacent to each other, stand the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross and the Church of All Saints of the Pechersk (Warm Church).
The Church of All Saints of the Pechersk is the second above-ground temple on the territory of the Near Caves. The building was built in the city as fraternal cells. In the city, on the second floor, a church was built and consecrated in honor of All the Saints of the Pechersk. The courtyard of the Near Caves is supported by a supporting wall, from which a staircase descends, then a paved path leads to the wells of St. Anthony and Theodosius. In the city, chapels were erected over the wells.
At the exit from the Lavra to the Dnieper there is a temple in the name of the icon of the Mother of God, surrounded on all sides by a fortress wall. In - gg. on this site a chapel was built over an artesian well, the construction of which was supposed to improve the drainage of the cave hills.
Coming out of the gallery onto the square near the Far Caves, we will see a majestic temple in the Ukrainian Baroque style rising on a hill - the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Near the city, on this site in the “Old” monastery, the first above-ground church of the Dormition of the Mother of God was built. After the consecration of the Great Assumption Church, the temple above the Far Caves became a cemetery. The ancient necropolis of the monastery was formed around it. No information has been preserved about further reconstructions of the temple, but in the first half of the 17th century. it was already named in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The stone Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built in the city at the expense of a relative of Hetman Mazepa, Belaya Tserkov Colonel Konstantin Mokievsky, under Archimandrite Meletius (Vuyakhevich), is a masterpiece of Ukrainian architecture of the 17th century. Upon the return of the lower territory of the Lavra to the Church, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary was repaired and re-painted. Currently, it is an academic church where students of the Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary gain experience in worship. Clergy and secular persons who had significant services to the Church and the state are buried at the Rozhdestvenskoe cemetery.
To the west of the church stands the beautiful and slender bell tower of the Far Caves, built in - . according to the type of gates by Stepan Kovnir. The height of the bell tower is 41 m.
Above the entrance to the Far Caves, a structure dating from the 18th century has been preserved to this day. used as a sacristy. On the plan of the caves given in the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon, it is indicated as a temple in honor of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called.
Next to the bell tower, in the building formerly occupied by the guardian of the Far Caves, there is the office of the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine.
Lavra map
- Trinity Gate Church. Holy gates of the Lavra
- Fortress walls
- Tower of Ivan Kushchnik
- Clock (South) Tower
- Onufrievskaya Tower
- Painting tower
- St. Nicholas Hospital Church
- Former hospital rooms of the Nikolsky Monastery
- Former cells of the cathedral elders
- Former Lavra icon painting workshop
- Great Lavra Bell Tower
- Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Former economic building
- Church of All Saints. Economic gate
- Church of the Savior on Berestov
- Kovnirovsky building (the building of the former prosphora and bakery)
- Former printing house
- Former house of the Lavra governor
- Fountain, former well
- The building of the former metropolitan chambers with the church in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Former refectory chamber
- South Gate
- Church of the Exaltation of the Cross Church in the name of all the venerable fathers of Pechersk. Warehouse store of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra
- Entrance to the Near Caves
- Bell tower at the Near Caves
- Debosketovskaya (supporting) wall
- Annozachatievskaya Church
- Church shops
- Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Bell tower at the Far Caves
- Residence of the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine
- Gallery of Near Caves
- Gallery of Far Caves
- Church of the Resurrection of Christ
- Linden tree of St. Theodosius
- Conference hall, building 45
- Utility gates
- Church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring"
- Kyiv Theological Academy and Seminary
- Hotel for priests
- Hotel for pilgrims
- Chapel over the spring of St. Anthony
- Chapel over the spring of St. Theodosius
- Pilgrimage department of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, 39th building
- Church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow"
Abbots and governors
- St. Anthony (before 1032 - ?)
- St. Varlaam (1052 - 1062)
- St. Theodosius (1062 - May 3, 1074)
- St. Stephen (1074 - 1078)
- St. Nikon (1078 - 1088)
- John I (1088 - 1103)
- St. Theoktistos (1103 - January 12, 1112)
- Prokhor (February 9, 1112 - 1124)
- Timothy (1124 - 1131)
- Akindin (1124 - 1131)
- St. Pimen Postnik (1132 - 1141)
- Theodosius II (1142 - 1156)
- Akindinus I (1156 - 1164)
- Polycarp I (1165 - July 24, 1182)
- Vasily (1182 - 1197)
- Theodosius III (1198 - 1203)
- Akindinus II (1203 - 1232)
- Polycarp II (1232 - 1238)
- Agapit I (1238 - 1249)
- St. Serapion (1249 - 1274)
- Agapit II (mentioned 1289)
- John II (mentioned 1292)
- Azariah (mentioned 1300)
- Barsanuphius (mentioned 1321)
- Maxim (mentioned 1335)
- David (mentioned 1377 - mentioned 1392)
- Abraham (mentioned 1396)
- Theodosius IV (mentioned 1398)
- Nikita (mentioned 1399)
- John
- Azary
- Barsanuphius
- Nikephoros (mentioned 1416 - mentioned 1434)
- St. Ignatius (1435/1436 - 1438)
- Abraham (October 17, 1437)
- Nicholas (mentioned June 16, 1446 - ?)
- Macarius I
- Nicholas, again (1455 - 1462)
- John III (mentioned 1470)
- Joasaph I (mentioned 1477)
- Theodosius V (Voinilovich (1480 - March 16, 1486)
- Filaret (Volynets) (mentioned April 23, 1494 - ?)
- Theodosius VI
- Sylvester I
- Jonah I
- Sylvester II, Jerusalemite
- John IV
- Gregory
- Filaret (Volynets), again (mentioned 1500 - August 25, 1501)
- Vassian II (November 28, 1506 - 1508)
- Jonah II (1509)
- Macarius II
- Varlaam II
- Nikandr
- Protasius I (mentioned 1514)
- Ignatius II (July 1522 - June 1525)
- Anthony (April 1524 - 1525)
- Anthony, secondarily (mentioned 1526 - 1528)
- Joachim (mentioned 1532)
- Gennady (mentioned 1535)
- Protasius II (mentioned 1535)
- Joacinth (mentioned 1536)
- Joachim (1538)
- Sophronius (1540 - 1541)
- Vassian III (1541 - mentioned 1544)
- Serapion
- Joseph (1550 - 1555)
- Hilarion (Pesochinsky) (1556 - 1572)
- Jonah (Despotovich) (mentioned April 2, 1573)
- Meletius (Khrebtovich-Bogursky) (March 15, 1574 - 1590)
- Nikephoros (Tours) (1590 - 1598)
- Patriarchs of Constantinople (1598 - 1687)
- Patriarchs of Moscow and All Rus' (1688 - 1721)
- Meletiy (Vuyakhevich) (December 9, 1690 - February 6, 1697)
- Joasaph (Krokowski) (June 29, 1697 - August 15, 1708)
- Hilarion II (1709)
- Afanasy (Mislavsky) (July 20, 1710 - 1714)
Kiev-Pechersk Monastery in ancient Russia
The history of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery represents one of the wonderful bright pages of Russian church-historical life. The memory of the founders and devotees of this monastery will always evoke reverent attention; and the services rendered by the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery to the Russian Church will forever remain memorable in history. The Kiev Pechersky Monastery was not only a representative of monasticism in ancient Russia, which left its mark on the external and internal life of ancient Russian monasteries, but also an exponent of the needs of the ancient Russian church, which in turn had a strong, beneficial influence on the affairs of this church; he was, as they say in ancient written monuments, the archimandrite of the entire Russian land.
The factual side of the life of the ancient Kiev-Pechersk monastery is described in detail in historical literature. We are only interested in explaining the main questions from the life of this monastery, namely: what circumstances aroused in the founders and monks of the Pechora monastery a love for monastic life, what character distinguished the Kiev-Pechersk monastery in the external and its internal structure, and what influence did it have on the affairs of the Russian church?
The Monk Anthony of Pechersk, in the world Antipas, was born in the city of Lyubech (now a town in the Chernigov province) in the first years of the 11th century. In the story about the first years of the life of St. Anthony, we read the following remark of the chronicler: “I put in his heart the desire to wander. He went to the Holy Mountain (Athos), saw the monasteries there and fell in love with monasticism.” The fact that young people leave their parents’ home, wander to holy places, go to foreign lands, this fact is not unique in ancient Russian life. Etc. also leaves his home, his mother, to go with the Jerusalem wanderers. In the 12th century. pilgrimage in Rus' became so intensified and took such irregular forms that the pastors of the Russian Church had to issue strict rules in order to weaken it. Where did this Russian love for traveling to monasteries come from? She emerged from the shattered order of pagan life in Russia and the still unestablished order of Christian life. The new kind of life, Christian, did not reconcile Russian Christians with the old pagan way of life; dissatisfied with paganism, they left their family, especially since the family itself looked at them unfriendly, looked for a calmer place to satisfy their Christian feelings and found it in monasteries. The love for monasticism in Rus' was also supported by the fact that the first preachers of Christianity in our country were predominantly monks, who tried to establish in their listeners the same preference for monastic life. The ascetic preaching of monks, which was widespread in Russia, was greatly helped by the influence of Athos on Russia. At the time being described, Athos was the main center of monasticism in the east and, being on the border of the two worlds of Greek and Slavic, became the main conductor of Christian enlightenment in the Slavic lands; in the 11th century there were two Slavic monasteries on it, one of which (Xylurgu) was overcrowded with Russian people. Many Svyatogorsk monks traveled through the Slavic lands, among other things, in Russia. Under the influence of such circumstances and such teachers, the reverend’s life could have arisen. Anthony's idea was to seek salvation and for this to go to Athos, as the main and closest center of monastic life, which then enjoyed fame in the Christian world.
Athos was well aware of its importance in the Slavic world and tried to maintain it. The story about the life of St. Anthony says that when he became stronger in his monastic exploits on Mount Athos, the abbot who tonsured him invited him to go to Russia. "Anthony! go to Russia, may you be there and benefit others with the blessing of the holy mountain.”
Etc. Anthony returns to his homeland, visits Russian monasteries and settles near Kyiv in the Berestovskaya cave, where Hilarion labored before his election to the see of metropolitan. One might think that Hilarion dug a cave and asceticised in it, also under the influence of Athonite, because asceticism in caves was more common on Athos; That’s why, etc. Anthony focused his attention on this cave. This happened no earlier than 1051.
The settlement of Ave. Anthony in a cave near the Russian capital could not hide from public attention. The residents of Kyiv learn about the ascetic, come to look at him, first out of curiosity, then out of surprise at his exploits, bring him food, ask for his blessing and permission to asceticize together in the cave. The first associate of St. Anthony was the priest Nikon, who was assigned to tonsure other people who came to Anthony; the second tonsure was St. Theodosius of Pechersk.
The description of the adolescent years of the life of St. Theodosius clearly depicts the path by which God’s providence led him to tonsure. Theodosius came from a Christian family, was born in Vasilevo and moved with his parents to Kursk as a child. His father gave him to one teacher to study literacy; Initially, education in ancient times was distinguished by a predominantly religious character, and Theodosius, under the influence of such education, showed a special love for church services. In the thirteenth year of his life, he lost his father. Family loss further strengthened his religious disposition and love of solitude, especially since he now fell under the exclusive influence of his widow mother, a woman of character, irritable, who stood firmly for the habits of her family life and, in general, for the habits of wealthy people of her time. Theodosius began to run away from his mother’s irritability and severity; he deliberately went with his servants to the field to work; His dislike for the house reached the point that he decided to secretly run away from it. Once, carried away by the stories about holy places, he himself wanted to travel and, having begged the wanderers passing through Kursk to take him with them, he secretly left his parents’ house at night; but three days later his mother caught up with him on the road, angrily grabbed him by the hair, threw him to the ground, trampled him, brought him home bound, beat him again until he was exhausted from the beatings; She tied the patient up and locked him in a separate mansion, did not give him food for two days, and after releasing him from prison, she still put iron leg shackles on him for several days. Theodosius lived for twelve years in his mother’s house and did not change his intention to doom himself to monastic exploits; went constantly to; Noticing that many times the liturgy was not celebrated due to a lack of prosphora, he began to bake prosphora, sold them, and either distributed the proceeds to the poor or gave them to the church. His mother was very dissatisfied with this, in her eyes humiliating, work of her owl and caressed her, with threats and beatings she thought to distract him from this work. After this, Theodosius left home for the second time to a neighboring city, settled with a priest and continued to bake prosphoras. His mother found him again and brought him home. Then the head of the city drew attention to Theodosius, wanted to caress him, accepted him as one of his youths, gave him light clothes; but Theodosius, not accustomed to luxury, gave away the extra clothes to the poor and put chains on himself. The mother accidentally discovered her son's secret; One day, when he was changing his clothes, she saw traces of blood on his shirt, angrily tore off the shirt and, with further beatings, tore off the chains. After this event, Theodosius did not remain in his parents’ house for long. In the absence of his mother, he decided to go to Kiev, where he heard there were monasteries, stuck to a convoy with goods, followed him from afar so as not to be noticed, and three weeks later he reached Kiev, walked around several monasteries, where he was not welcomed from -for his thin and poor clothes and came to Anthony’s cave. “Son,” St. Anthony said to him, “you see my cave: it is cramped and difficult to live in; You’re still young, you can’t stand it.” But Theodosius begged the ascetic and was tonsured.
In 1054, Grand Duke Izyaslav, upon his accession to the throne of Kiev, came to Anthony’s cave for a blessing. This visit to Izyaslav further increased the glory of the Pechora ascetics in the eyes of the people and attracted new students to them. The respect for monasticism shown by the Grand Duke was primarily reflected in those close to the prince, and new disciples came to Anthony from Izyaslav’s retinue. The first boyar of Izyaslav, the famous commander Yan Vyshatich, had a son who began to often go to Ave. Antonio to listen to his lessons, became carried away by them, and one day rode up to the cave on a rich horse, in rich clothes, surrounded by servants, and asked for tonsure; Ave. Anthony wanted to dispel the passion of the young boyar, pointed out to him the difficulties of monastic feats and, when he remained adamant in his requests, ordered him to be tonsured with the name of Varlaam. At the same time as Varlaam, Izyaslav’s favorite, the grand-ducal treasurer, came to the cave and was tonsured with the name of Ephraim. Shortly before these nobles were tonsured, another ascetic, who had long ago severed ties with the world, came to the cave, Moses Ugrin, who also came from the princely squad, the brother of Ephraim. He served under the Rostov prince Boris, witnessed his martyrdom on the Alta River, one of his entire retinue escaped, and in 1018, during Boleslav’s attack on Kyiv, he was captured and taken to Poland; here he was ransomed by a Polish woman who, captivated by the beauty of Moses, wanted to enter into a secret relationship with him, just as Pentephry’s wife wanted to enter into with Joseph. For Moses’ refusal to satisfy the passions of a Polish woman and for secret tonsure from one traveling monk of Svyatogorsk, she ordered Moses to be castrated, every day to give him 100 blows with sticks and, taking advantage of Boleslav’s mercy, she told him against all the monks traveling in the Polish region. Boleslav expelled all monks from Poland. Moses, exhausted by beatings and the disease of eunuchs, with difficulty reached Kyiv and found peace for himself in the caves. Thus, up to 15 tonsured people gathered at Anthony Ave.
Their life in the caves was characterized by strict hermitism. Each monk dug a cave in the mountain, set up a cell for himself in it, indulged in deeds of piety in it, lived separately from other monks and had little communication with the outside world. The cells in the caves were located on both sides of dark corridors dug into the mountain, called cave streets in the Patericon; a door led into each cell from the corridor, which some hermits tightly covered with earth and stone; The cave cells were mostly narrow and cramped: at the top there was a small window into the corridor for eating and for the flow of fresh air. There was a small church and a meal in the caves. The feats of solitude were difficult, one might even say amazing; not every ascetic was able to endure them; those who were not strong in their exploits experienced various temptations in the form of insurance against demons and visions. Here are several examples of asceticism in the Anthony caves, which will show more clearly how the hermits lived and what they experienced.
A rich Toropets blacksmith came to St. Anthony, distributed all his property to the poor and took monastic vows with the name Isaac. He put on a hair shirt, on top of his raw goatskin, which then dried to his body, shut himself up in a narrow cave 4 cubits long and began to pray to God. His food was one prosphora and then every other day; St. Anthony served it through a small window through which a hand could barely fit. Isaac spent seven years in such feats, without going out into the light, without lying on his side - he could only sleep while sitting. One evening, when the candle was extinguished, Isaac saw a strong light in his cave, two bright young men appeared to him and said: “Isaac!” we are angels; but Christ is coming to you, bow to him “; Isaac bowed; Then the demons exclaimed: “You are now ours,” they picked him up, began to play with him, music and dancing were heard. After such a vision, Isaac fell into relaxation. In the morning, according to the custom of St. Anthony, he went to the window and asked for a blessing; there was no answer; Anthony, thinking that Isaac had died, called Theodosius, together they dug up the entrance to the cave and carried Isaac out into the air; Then only noticing signs of life in him, they put him on the bed and with difficulty brought him to his senses. For two years, Isaac remained in a state of relaxation, could neither stand up nor sit down, he kept lying on his side, and after that he learned to walk with difficulty.
Other examples of asceticism are described in the letters of Simon Bishop of Vladimir to the monk Polycarp and Polycarp to Archimandrite Akindinus, and although they date back to the time after the death of St. Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk, they also clearly depict the nature of seclusion in caves. Athanasius the recluse lived for 12 years in a cave, closing the door to his cell, and never spoke to anyone, never saw the sun, ate only bread, drank water, and then every other day; and prayed. in the retreat of John the long-suffering, Polycarp describes him even more strikingly and with greater warmth of feeling. “Listen,” John said to one brother, who was despondent from the struggle with passionate meanings, “I will tell you what happened to me. From my youth I suffered a lot, tormented by the lust of the flesh, and I don’t know what I didn’t do to save myself. I went without food for two or three days, often didn’t eat anything for a whole week, tormented myself with thirst, and wore heavy chains. I spent three years in such suffering and still could not find peace. I went to the cave where our father Anthony lies, stayed here a day and a night, praying before his tomb, and heard a voice: you need to shut yourself up here. From that time on I settled in this mournful and cramped cave. I’ve been living here for thirty years now, and it wasn’t until many years ago that I found peace. My life was cruel. Not knowing what to do, unable to endure the struggle with carnal passion, I decided to live naked and put on (even more) heavy chains, which have remained on my body ever since, and to this day cold and iron wear me thin. Finally I resorted to what I found useful. I dug a hole up to the depth of my shoulders and, when the days of holy fasting came, I entered it and covered myself with earth with my own hands, so that only my hands and head remained free. Thus, suppressed by the earth, I spent the entire fast without being able to move a single member of my body. But even here carnal lust did not suddenly cease. My legs, covered with earth, were as if on fire, so that my veins writhed, my bones cracked, heat enveloped my stomach and all my members. And then the enemy of salvation struck fear into me, wanting to drive me out of the cave. I saw a terrible snake that wanted to devour me, breathing fire and showering sparks; This action of the evil one continued for many days. On the very night of Bright Resurrection, this snake attacked me so much that my entire head seemed to be in its mouth. I prayed and heard a voice that calmed me: “Pray for yourself buried here, he can help you in this struggle; he is taller than Joseph.” I did not know the name of the deceased; Later I found out that it was Moses Ugrin.” Relics Ave. John remains to this day in Anthony’s Cave in this form: the head and cross-folded hands are visible, the rest of the body is in the ground.
St. Theodosius himself performed similar feats in the cave and endured similar temptations. “At night, sometimes he went out into the air, gave his body to be eaten by mosquitoes, blood flowed through his body, and he spun wool and drank the psalms of David. “This is what happened to me,” he told the brethren: I stood in my cell in prayer and sang ordinary psalms. Suddenly someone black stood in front of me, so that I could not bow. He stood in front of me for a long time; I wanted to hit him, but he became invisible. Then such fear attacked me that I wanted to run away from that place if the Lord had not strengthened me.”
The peace of the Pechersk hermits was disturbed by insurance not only from demons and carnal dreams. The world from which they thought to hide also rebelled against the Pechersk monks. At first, the monks aroused surprised and reverent attention in society; but when society entered into close relations with the monastery and saw that Anthony’s tonsures, settling in caves, were breaking ties with the world, family, social, service ties, developed over centuries, then the world rebelled against the Pechora monks and against monastic life. 4 years after his tonsure, Theodosius’ mother finds out that he has gone to Kyiv and is living in caves; she goes to Ave. Anthony, demands the extradition of her son; Ave. Theodosius did not go to his mother for a long time and only on the advice of Anthony went out to see her and persuaded her to cut her hair. It was more difficult to get along with the noble boyars, Izyaslav’s warriors. When the son of Jan Vyshatich took monastic vows in the caves, his father decided to take him out of the monastery by force; To do this, he came to the cave with his servants, found Valaam, forcibly pulled off his monastic clothes and brought him to his house. But all of Jan’s measures to keep his son were in vain. After bringing him home, Jan sat him down at the table with him, but Balaam did not eat anything and sat with his head bowed; the father ordered the guards to guard him so that he would not leave, and his daughter-in-law to caress her husband, but Varlaam sat in the corner and did not respond to his wife’s caresses; he sat in one place, without getting up, did not eat anything for three days and did not allow him to put on boyar clothes, remaining in one scroll. Then Jan, seeing the inflexibility of his son, and fearing that he would die of hunger, reluctantly, but had to let him go to his cave. Grand Duke Izyaslav himself expressed displeasure with the Pechersk monks. When, following Varlaal, the prince’s favorite Ephraim tonsured his hair in the caves, Izyaslav called Nikon, who tonsured them, and angrily told him: “Did you tonsure the boyar without my command?” Go and convince him to return home, otherwise I will send you and everyone living with you into captivity, and I will order the cave to be dug up.” “Do what you want, but I cannot take away the soldiers from the king of heaven,” answered Nikon.
Izyaslavov’s threat greatly worried the Pechersk hermits. Etc. Anthony decided to leave Kyiv and look for another place for his exploits; the brethren also wanted to follow him. Then, Izyaslav expressed a different view on monasticism: although monks apparently break all ties with the world and society, society needs them; Izyaslav’s wife, born in Poland, told him that when Boleslav launched a persecution against the monks, the wrath of God befell the Polish country for this. Izyaslav then asked Nikon to convince Anthony to stay in the caves, etc. Anthony was returned to Kyiv only after a three-day search.
The disturbance of the peace of the Pechersk hermits and the threat of Izyaslav had a strong influence on the subsequent fate of the Pechersk brethren. Some monks began to leave the caves and look for another place for their exploits. St. Anthony himself gathered the remaining brethren and said to them: “Here I have gathered you, brothers, and the blessing of the Holy One rests upon you.” mountains, given to me by the abbot who tonsured me, and from me passed on to you. Now live on your own, but I want to go to another mountain to live in solitude, as I have been accustomed to for a long time.” Having installed Varlaam as abbot in his place, Anthony dug himself a new cave 100 fathoms away and settled in it. Theodosius was ordained a priest, since the priest Nikon left Kiev and founded his monastery in Tmutorakan. From then on, life in the Kyiv caves changed not in the sense of weakening the moral deeds of the monks, but in the nature of its structure. A hostel is also being introduced at the Pechora Monastery.
There were several reasons for the establishment of a hostel in the Pechersk monastery. The first reason for this was the difficulties of solitary life in caves. Solitary life in caves, no matter how high it was in the matter of personal moral improvement, also had its inconveniences. Not every monk is able to indulge in it and firmly repel all the temptations that come his way; Not everyone had such strong physical strength to endure the lack of fresh air, the lack of light, and some dampness and cold in the caves for a long time. The indicated difficulties of a reclusive life in caves prompted St. Anthony to advise against many who sought tonsure from living in caves, and only monks who had been tested in exploits were allowed to this life. On the other hand, when a few monks settled in the caves, when the number of brethren multiplied, they necessarily had to get closer, establish relationships with each other, help, advise each other, had to establish order and rules for mutual relations; Then their life already lost its hermit character and took on the character of a hostel. Let us not forget that the Pechersk monastery was built near Kyiv, on the edge of a populous city, the Russian capital; It was impossible for a monk to live here alone and not be noticed; the solitude of St. Anthony was violated immediately after his settlement in the cave, violated by both his tonsures and society; Society protested against Anthony because he and his students were withdrawing from society and breaking off family and official ties within it. It is a known fact that the grand-ducal servant, who accompanied Theodosius to the monastery, spoke about the life of the Pechora monks; he expressed the view of a significant part of Russian society on monastic life as an idle life, useless for society; According to this view, it was required that the monks not refuse to provide services to society; and in such a case they could no longer live in solitude.
The first person to organize a hostel in the Pechora monastery was Abbot Varlaam, who came from the boyar house and the princely squad, therefore, the kind of person who could least of all like a reclusive life in caves. When St. Anthony moved to the neighboring cave, Varlaam and the brethren asked him for his blessing, first of all, to build an open church over the caves; Anthony blesses, the church was built, but soon it turned out to be crowded for the brethren who multiplied day by day. Varlaam again turns to Anthony with a request: “Father, the brethren have multiplied, and we would like to build a monastery over the caves”; Ave. Anthony agrees to this too. But the establishment of the monastery on the mountain, on land that was not the property of the Pechersk monks, depended on the permission of the prince. And now a new embassy is being sent to V. to Izyaslav with a request - would he give the monastery the mountain that is above the caves? The prince was pleased with this request; He was pleased that the Pechersk monks recognized his power over themselves, became obligated to him, and that on occasion he could count on their assistance. The mountain was given to the Pechersk monastery; the brethren build a large church, erect cells and fence the monastery with a fence. However, Varlaam was not the organizer of the Pechersk monastery for long; he was recalled by Izyaslav to manage the Dimitrievsky monastery built by the prince. The complete and final structure of the Pechersk monastery was already given by St. Theodosius; appointed abbot after the removal of Varlaam, he gave the brethren a cenobitic charter and strictly monitored the implementation of this charter; That is why he is rightly called “the head of the general monastic life in Russia.”
In the east, in the Christian world, the cenobitic rules of Theodore the Studite then enjoyed special respect. It was this charter that was adopted by St. Theodosius as the basis for the life of the Kiev Pechersk brethren that he organized. Unfortunately, we cannot describe in detail the rules of this charter, as they were introduced in the Pechersk monastery; the lists of the studio charter delivered by St. Theodosius have not been preserved; Theodosius himself did not leave detailed written rules. We can talk about the fate of the Studite charter in the Pechersk monastery only from brief reviews about this by our chronicler, from the surviving teachings of St. Theodosius to the brethren, and from comparing the data preserved in the ancient biographies of the Pechersk monks with the rules of the Studite monastery.
When receiving monks into the monastery, St. Theodosius adhered to the following rules. He accepted into the monastery everyone who sought tonsure, regardless of their rank and condition, because from the experience of his life he knew about the difficulties that poor people encountered in various Kyiv monasteries. St. Theodosius left those who entered the monastery for some time to test whether they would be able to endure the difficulties of monastic life; first he allowed them to walk in their secular clothes, then he blessed them to put on monastic clothes, then, after a more or less lengthy trial, he tonsured them, clothed them in a mantle, and finally, only those who had been tested in deeds were honored with the schema. Those admitted to the monastery were entrusted to an experienced elder who was supposed to guide him in his moral life; and to test and exercise the moral and physical strength of those admitted to the monastery, he was assigned some kind of obedience. Some of the novices worked in the garden, dug ridges, planted vegetables and fruit trees; others worked in the bakery and the refectory; others performed obedience at the monastery gates and in the church; Those tonsured from the boyar and princely families were not exempt from these occupations. Everyone who entered the monastery made three main vows - non-covetousness, chastity and obedience, etc. Theodosius strictly monitored the fulfillment of these vows. The monk was not supposed to have any property; if he had it before entering the monastery, he had to either distribute it to the poor or give it to the monastery; he should not take gifts from pilgrims; everything that he acquired through his own labor and handicraft went into the monastery treasury for the common benefit of the brethren; in his cells he should not keep anything of his own - neither food nor clothing; Anything found here was thrown into fire or water against the rules.
The order of the daily life of a monk was thus determined by Theodosius. At midnight, the alarm clock came to St. Theodosius and asked him for his blessing to call the brethren for matins. At the first blow of the beater, the brother had to get up to pray, at the second, she had to rush to church. Upon entering the church, the monk must bow three times to the ground in front of the image, take his place and stand without leaning on a wall or a church pillar; when meeting, the monks had to bow to each other to the ground; when singing psalms, do not override each other, but listen to the domestik (the leader in singing) and his instructions. At the end of the Six Psalms, the monk in charge of the kitchen received a blessing from the abbot, made three prostrations before the altar, lit a candle from the altar, bowed to the brethren and went with the next monks to their work; With a candle lit from the image, he lit a fire in the kitchen and prepared the prescribed food, otherwise food prepared without the abbot’s blessing was also thrown into the fire or water. The very work in the bakery was accompanied by prayers; some of the monks kneaded dough, others sang psalms of David; the latter, as those who performed easier work, after finishing the work again went to church at the end of the service, and the former went to their cells to rest. At the end of the kathisma, a new blow was heard on the beater, which was used to awaken the monks who were correcting the more difficult monastic work to church prayer. After finishing Matins, some of the monks went to their work, while others either went to the refectory, where they read and studied spiritual books, or went to their cells, where they indulged in contemplation and prayer. After the liturgy, a common meal was offered for the brethren, prepared with the blessing of the abbot, during which the scriptures were read; the meal was the same for everyone; an exception was made only for sick and elderly monks, who were allowed to eat food both in their cells and in an improved form. The fraternal table was not distinguished by the abundance and sophistication of dishes; During the first time of the abbot of St. Theodosius, it was more like the food of the hermits of Pechersk: their food was rye bread, their drink was water, on Saturday and during the week they ate sochi, but many times, even on those days when sochi was not found, they brewed one potion and ate. True, there were cases when the Kyiv boyars, respecting Theodosius, made tables for the brethren in the monastery, and sent cartloads of bread, cheese, fish, millet and honey; but more often it happened that the monks did not know what to feed on; they did not have enough bread or money to buy food, they did not even have enough wine and oil for church services. Only at the end of life, etc. Theodosius, with the organization of the monastic economy, order could be formed in the monastic food, which was later supported by Theodosius' successors. After lunch, midday time was designated for the brethren to rest for the sake of night prayers and morning singing; For this purpose, the monastery gates were locked, and no one was allowed into the monastery until Vespers. Outsiders were allowed to enter the monastery only after the goalkeeper reported to the abbot; guests were received not in cells, but in the refectory and, moreover, in the presence of the elder. After Vespers, the monks were not allowed to visit each other, but each in his own cell had to do handicrafts and indulge in the thought of God.
The monastery was ruled by the abbot in the person of St. Theodosius. He monitored the behavior of the monks, walked around their cells at night. If he noticed that the monks were gathering in someone’s cell at the wrong time and carrying on conversations with each other, then he would quietly hit the door with his hand, letting them know about the violation of the rules, and in the morning he would call the culprits to himself for comments and instructions. His instructions were always gentle, impressive, and came from the heart; Ave. Theodosius himself was sick in soul when he noticed the monk’s misdeeds. He guided the monks who were inexperienced or weakened in the deeds of piety with his advice, and even more so by the example of his own life; consoled and encouraged them; in extreme cases, he imposed penance on them, and only when he noticed dissatisfaction in the monk either with monastic life in general, or only with the orders of the Pechora monastery, did he remove him from his monastery; but at the same time he did not condemn him and curse him, as happened later in other Russian monasteries; St. Theodosius only grieved over the removal of the monk and prayed for his return. The abbess of St. Theodosius was not limited only to his administrative orders for the organization of the monastery and his private instructions to this or that monk; it was expressed in a number of his teachings to all the brethren. These teachings are interesting for us in the sense that they clearly depict some aspects of the moral life of the Pechora monks and the high ideal of monasticism, the achievement of which St. Theodosius set as the task of his Kiev Pechora brethren.
Since most of the teachings of St. Theodosius are directed against the evasion of some monks from the strict fulfillment of the monastic rules, it naturally draws negative sides in the moral life of the Pechersk monks and is distinguished by its “accusatory character. Etc. Theodosius takes up arms against the monks' violation of the rules of the community. Monks sometimes hid property in their cells and the monk taught them: “It is indecent for us, brothers, monks who have renounced all worldly things, to again collect property in our cell. How can we offer pure prayer to God, keeping treasure in our cell!.. We will be satisfied with the prescribed clothing and the food offered at the meal from the cellarer, but we will not keep anything like that in the cell.” A reminder to the Pechersk monks of urgency was also appropriate after the death of St. Theodosius. Polycarp, the monk of Pechersk, describing the ancient life of the Kiev Pechersk brethren, pointed to the monk Theodore, who, having distributed all his property to the poor, entered the monastery and spent many years in strict abstinence; but afterwards grief was born in him over the distributed estate; he was close to despair because in his old age, he thought, it would be difficult to be content with monastic food; By chance he found a treasure - gold and expensive vessels hidden by someone in a cave - he even decided to leave the monastery, buy a village and live in peace; but the brethren persuaded and calmed him down. Simon talks about another monk Arefa in a letter to Polycarp: this monk had a lot of wealth in his cell; he never helped the poor and was so stingy that he starved himself; one night thieves stole all his money; in despair, Arefa wanted to take his own life; the elders consoled him, but he answered them with cruel words; from grief he became sick and was already at the end of his life, but even here he did not let up from murmuring and blasphemy until God brought him to his senses. Those assigned to the management of the monastic property sometimes withheld from the common property for their own benefit, etc. Theodosius, once handing over the keys to the new cellarer, gave him a decent instruction: “brother, if your heart deviates from stealing anything monastic or acquiring and collecting more for yourself, rather than for the monastery, this will be yours for the scorching of your soul here and in the next century. Gehenna will receive you and the judgment of Ananias and Sapphira will befall you; They, having hidden part of the price for their village, died suddenly; and you will be worthy of the most severe torment, stealing someone else’s property, or distributing it to your own without rank.”
At the same time, St. Theodosius, in his teachings to the monks, denounced them for violating the vow of obedience and coldness towards church services. “How can I not tell you and not denounce each of you separately? The grace of God has called you to this monastery in unanimity, in one mind and in one will. And we want to have many wills. When the time of service calls us to church, the devil darkens our hearts with laziness, and we do not go not only to church, but also to the meal. There is nothing to say about Vespers: how many times have I proclaimed it, and there is not a single one who has attempted it... If it were possible, I would say it every day, so that not one of you misses prayer time... How many years have passed , and I don’t see anyone who would come to me and ask: “how can I be saved.” “We should have humility and patience, but we don’t have that. We read the lives of the saints and close our ears so as not to hear about their courage.” In such bright colors, St. Theodosius described the moral ailments of his brethren. We cannot help but give another description of the same ailments of the Pechersk monks who lived after the death of Theodosius; This description was preserved in Nestor’s chronicle story about the clairvoyant elder Matthew and is distinguished by its remarkable imagery and love for the instructive simplicity of this elder. “Once, writes Nestor, Elder Matthew, standing in his place in the church, raised his eyes and looked at the brethren singing on the sides, and saw: a demon in the form of a Poles was holding flowers called moldings in the field, walked around the brethren and, taking out flowers, threw them on them. . And if a flower sticks to one of the brethren, he, having relaxed his mind, stands for a while and, having found some reason, leaves the church for his cell, falls asleep and does not return until the end of the service; and whoever is not pestered stands strong in singing until the end of Matins. This elder had the custom of being the last one to leave the church at the end of Matins, when before dawn everyone went to their cells. One day, leaving the church, he sat down to rest under the beater: his cell was far away; and the old man sees as if a crowd is coming from the gate, one is sitting on a pig, others are walking around him.
"Where are you going? “asked the elder; - “Behind Michal Tolbskovich,” said the demon sitting on the pig. Arriving at his cell, the elder understood what this meant and said to the cell attendant: “Go and ask: is Michal in the cell?” “and received the answer: “Just now, after Matins, he jumped over the fence.” “Another time, during Nikon’s abbotship, this elder Matthew, standing at matins, wanted to see the abbot, looked up and saw that a donkey was standing in the abbot’s place. And the elder realized that the abbot did not get up.”
The indicated examples of evasion of the monks of Pechersk from the monastic charter should not lead us to the idea that the monasticism of Pechersk, during the life of St. Theodosius and after, lost its pure character and was full of only shortcomings. If the indicated shortcomings are very striking, it is because they were sharply outlined by St. Theodosius, as a strict ascetic who fought against the weakness of some of his numerous brethren; Moreover, entering the monastery was aimed at correcting the monk’s moral ailments; therefore, it could not do without understanding the weaknesses of his activities. On the contrary, the good glory of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery reached a high degree during the life of St. Theodosius; With him there were such great ascetics who glorified both themselves and the monastery with their lives. Only their exploits were of a different nature, and in general monastic life under Theodosius received a different shade.
The hostel set up in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery did not resemble anchorage, strict seclusion in caves. Now the monks live together, have constant relations with each other, experience common needs, and community life forces them to care not only about their own personal interests, but also about the interests of the entire brethren. Etc. Theodosius persistently demands from the monks mutual brotherly love and help to each other, common service for the benefit of the monastery; he himself worked for everyone and, in order to admonish the lazy monk, in his eyes he himself did his work. Imbued with the spirit of brotherly love, says the chronicler, the monks gathered by Theodosius shone like stars on Russian soil. “The younger ones submitted to the older ones; the elders had love for the younger ones, taught and consoled them as beloved children. And such was the love between them that if a brother fell into any sin, others consoled him and the penance imposed on him was divided among three or four. If any brother left the monastery, all the brethren were very sad about him; they sent for the departed and, calling him to the monastery, went to the abbot, bowed, asked for him and accepted him into the monastery with great joy.” Of course, there were deviations from this brotherly love; the patericon contains stories about how the monks, whose direct responsibility was to serve the sick and elderly brethren, did not fulfill their duties accurately. Such, for example, is the story of the long-suffering Pimen: he spent many years in a serious illness, so that those who served him abhorred him and often left him without care, without drink and food; Another sick monk was placed next to him in the monastery hospital, so that it would be easier to care for both of them together, but they were often left unattended. Another story about the monk Athanasius: after a long illness, he died; two brothers washed his body, dressed him as needed, but did not bother with his burial; other monks came, but after looking at him, they also left; the dead man remained unburied all day; he was very poor, and that is why no one wanted to take care of him. Such behavior of some monks apparently greatly outraged the rest of the brethren, which is why it was included in the stories of the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon with the aim of developing other, more correct models of monasticism. And these bright examples were really developed in the same environment of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery. Along with the above stories, the patericon gives us information, for example, about Mark the grave-digger, whose life can serve as a bright type of community life in the Pechersk monastery; This elder voluntarily devoted himself to caring for the dead monks, for many years, day and night, he dug graves in caves, carried earth up from the graves on his shoulders, buried the dead with his own hands, did not take any payment for this, and achieved such a gift that his words were obeyed dead.
We saw above how the settlement of Kiev-Pechersk hermits on the edge of the Russian capital city could not go unnoticed by Kyiv society and caused the monks to have relations with this society; Russian society had already managed to express a view of monastic life, according to which monks were required to act for the benefit of society. With the establishment of a hostel in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, new circumstances opened up that called monks to serve the community. On the one hand, the very exit of most of the monks from the cave seclusion and solitude and their relocation to the top of the mountain made their relations with the outside world and society more frequent and even permanent. On the other hand, with the establishment of a hostel, the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery becomes in a permanent obligatory relationship with society; he receives from Russian nobles, from appanages and grand dukes various donations of provisions, money, land, lands and villages. The Monk Theodosius of Pechersk was well aware that these rich donations do not constitute an essential necessity for monastic life, that monks must support themselves with their own labors, that if a monastery receives donations, then it must repay the game with something and should not take advantage of these donations as a gift ; in a word, Rev. Theodosius was aware that his monastery must carry out some kind of social work, and he clearly described this consciousness in one of his teachings to the brethren. “It would be fitting for us, brothers, from our labors to feed the poor and strangers, and not remain idle... You heard the words of Paul: just as nowhere have I lost the bread, but by night I have worked, and in the day I have preached, and my hands have served me and others.. But we didn’t do anything like that. And if the grace of God had not reached us and fed us through benevolent people, what would we have done, looking at our labors? Shall we say that for our singing, for our fasting and vigil, all this is brought to us? But we will not pray for any of those who bring them! ... It is not proper for us, beloved, to retain only for ourselves what is sent to us from God through God-loving people for the benefit of our souls and bodies; we must give to others who require it; it is said It's better to give than to take “.
Guided by such a pious consciousness, St. Theodosius opens the public service of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery primarily with works of charity. The bread that remained from the fraternal table was ordered to be distributed to the poor and needy, who flocked in large numbers to the monastery gates. For the shelter of these unfortunate people, as well as for the care of the sick, crippled and elderly beggars, a large hotel and hospital were built near the monastery; A tenth of all monastic income was allocated for the maintenance of these charitable institutions. In times of famine, the monastery supplied the poor population with bread and salt free of charge; He also provided his assistance to the poor in the parish churches, distributing wine to them for services; in addition, every Saturday a cart of bread was sent from the monastery to prisoners in dungeons. Among the Kiev-Pechersk monks themselves, such famous personalities are being developed who are deeply imbued with the lessons of St. Theodosius about charity and devote their entire lives either to free service to the sick, as for example did Agapit, a free doctor, or to helping the starving surrounding population, as St. Prokhor the lebednik, who knew how, did prepare delicious bread from quinoa, and extract salt from the ashes collected in the fraternal cells.
The public service and significance of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery did not lie in acts of charity alone. He had a great educational influence on society; it was the main focus and hotbed of Christian enlightenment for ancient Russian society. Ancient Russia was not generally distinguished by the abundance of Christian book education; the highest church hierarchy in Rus', which consisted almost exclusively of Greek foreigners, did not care about opening schools in their dioceses; schools were opened only with princely funds, did not last long and had little general educational value. The deficiency in this education was made up for by the monasteries of ancient Russia; the monasteries had many favorable conditions for this. The monasteries were more secure in their livelihood; the monks were more diverted from the vanity and worries of everyday life, they had more leisure for mental and book studies; between them and most of all there could be persons interested in clarifying mental and moral-religious issues. Even in the Studitov charter, adopted in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, the monk was ordered, instead of often walking around the fraternal cells for empty conversations, to sit better in his cell and read books: “ It’s better to talk with books; reading divine books will protect the monk from many temptations" The abbot must ensure that every monk knows the psalter by heart; Those who want to know what to teach the church should gather at the refectory after Matins and study there. These rules are equivalent to the monk being literate and loving to read books. This is why very few of the monks in ancient Rus' did not know how to read and write. The monk is engaged in more than just the thought of God, he reads books, he compares his thoughts with the examples of the thoughts of his fathers; he is literate and can put his thoughts on paper for his own edification or communicate them to his brother for the common edification.
As a result of these circumstances, the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, even during the life of St. Theodosius, formed its own circle of people who valued book education. This circle included, in addition to St. Theodosius, priest Nikon, Hilarion, Nestor, then prince-monk Nikola Svyatosha, Polycarp, Simon, Nikita and others; they collected books, read them, copied them, and compiled their own libraries. “It happened many times, writes Nestor, that when the great Nikon was sitting and making (binding) books, blessed (Theodosius) sat nearby and spun the threads needed for this work... Monk Hilarion was very skillful in writing books; Every day and night he wrote them in the cell of our blessed father Theodosius, and he quietly read the psalter, and with his hands he spun a wave, or did something else.” The same Nestor tells about Damian the presbyter: “Every night they saw him awake and diligently reading books.” The Pechersk patericon says about Nikita the recluse, who later was the bishop of Novgorod, that the devil confused him to study only books alone, so that no one could compete with him from the books of the Old Testament: he knew it all by heart. Another monk of Pechersk, Gregory, only had books in his cell, and the thieves who wanted to rob him found nothing but books in his cell. Knowing St. Theodosius’ love for books, the boyars sometimes gave him books; Prince Nikola Svyatosha took monastic vows in the Pechersk monastery and contributed his entire large collection of books to the monastery library.
Book activity, collection, correspondence and reading of books in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery took place primarily in the form of personal moral development of the monks. Etc. Nestor described the benefits of reading books for a monk: “The benefits of learning are great, because through books we learn repentance; books teach wisdom and self-control; these are the rivers that water the universe; these are the sources of wisdom; books have innumerable depth; with them we console ourselves in sorrow; he reins in restraint; If you diligently search the books of wisdom, you will find great benefit for your soul.” Despite the exceptional purpose with which the monks generally indulged in book studies, the Kiev Pechersk monastery, thanks to its developed book activity, became the first and main school that educated many famous spiritual writers and teachers of the ancient Russian church. Etc. Theodosius of Pechersk stands at the head of these spiritual writers who came out of the Kiev Pechersk school; he not only reads books, but using them he composes his teachings to the brethren, which he writes and pronounces in church. He is followed in order of time by Ave. Nestor, the famous Russian chronicler, who, reading Greek chronographs, himself undertakes to continue their stories for the Russians, and using the records that were in the monastery and oral stories of the Pechersk elders, who remembered the ancient events of the Russian land, he himself writes down the legends about where the Russian land came from, how Kiev became, how Rus' was enlightened by the Christian faith, describes what circumstances and issues occupied modern society, and after the death of St. Theodosius writes a special tale about the life and exploits of his teacher. Chernorizets · Jacob writes a legend about the martyrdom of St. Boris and Gleb. Gregory the monk of Pechersk compiles canons for singing and reading in church. Other famous writers and preachers of the Russian Church came from the same Kiev Pechersk school, Kirill of Turov, who received the name of the Russian Chrysostom from his contemporaries, and Serapion, Bishop of Vladimir. In the same school, those two writers were brought up, Simon the Bishop of Vladimir and Polycarp the Monk, whose works gave us rich material for describing the history of the Kiev Pechersk monastery. Unfortunately, not all written works of the Pechersk monks have survived to this day; but the rich content of the written works preserved from them, the importance of the issues they touch upon, their closeness to contemporary church and social life, the warmth of their presentation, and finally the numerical predominance of spiritual writers who came out of the Kiev-Pechersk school - all this places the Kiev-Pechersk monastery highly in the matter of spiritual enlightenment and developed spiritual writing of ancient Russia.
True, book education and literary activity, so widely developed in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, were limited primarily by the monastery walls and were directed by the main thing. way to organize and improve the life of the monastery. But very early they penetrate into Russian society and spread their educational influence here. Even St. Nestor considered it necessary to note about St. Theodosius of Pechersk that he “cared not only about the monks, but also about worldly souls, as if they were saved; He especially cared for (spiritual) children, consoled and instructed those who came to him, and sometimes he came to their houses and gave them a blessing.” This remark by Nestor indicates the main ways in which the educational influence of the Kiev Pechersk monastery penetrated into ancient Russian society.
Feeding reverent respect for the high monastic deeds in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, many of the laity came here to learn from the monks, to listen to their instructions; many of the common people and nobles of Kyiv elected the monks of Pechersk as their confessors and voluntarily surrendered to their moral guidance. Etc. Theodosius and his Kiev Pechersk elders were deeply aware of the significance of the moral and religious requests addressed to them by ancient Russian society, and they hastened to respond to these requests. They taught their spiritual children and the entire ancient Russian society not only by the example of their own lives, but also by their conversations, they taught in confession, in church sermons, in their epistles. From St. Theodosius, two teachings to the people, which he delivered in the church, have been preserved for us. In one teaching “about the executions of God,” St. Theodosius uses a pointer to modern social disasters - attacks by foreigners, droughts, famines, pestilences, as a means to correct moral ills, especially common in his contemporary society; He considers these disasters to be God's punishment for the sins of the Russian people and then denounces their vices in particular. First of all, he speaks against the dual faith of the Russians, their outward adherence to the rules of the Christian faith and observance of many pagan superstitions and orders of life, he is armed against beliefs in meeting with a bald horse, a pig, spiritual persons, against belief in choch, against sorcery, fortune telling, buffoonery, usury , drunkenness and strong development of sensual pleasures. The second teaching is devoted to revealing the harm of drunkenness and exposing special rituals during feasts and drinking bouts. The sermons of St. Theodosius spread throughout Rus' in many copies and had a strong influence on listeners. According to the remark of contemporaries, the Kiev-Pechersk monks shone more than worldly power, and not only the nobles, the princes themselves bowed their heads before them, giving them worthy honor and listening to their instructions. The Kyiv princes often visited St. Theodosius in his monastery and invited him to their homes for religious conversations. From Theodosius’s visit to the princely houses, there is a remarkable incident when the monk entered Prince Svyatoslav and, finding him having great fun, remarked: “Will it be like this in the next world?” - out of respect for Theodosius, the prince immediately stopped the fun and did not allow it anymore in the presence of the reverend. The princes often corresponded with Theodosius on matters and religious matters. From this correspondence, two letters from St. Theodosius to Grand Duke Izyaslav have been preserved; one “about fasting on Wednesday and Friday,” the other “about the Varangian (Latin) faith.” In the first, he responds to the prince to the disputes that were then occupying public attention about fasting on Wednesday and Friday; the rules about this fast at that time were not yet defined in the east, and how to perform the fast in these days depended a lot on local customs; Theodosius of Pechersk, in explaining the rules about fasting, stood on the basis of the people and was condescending to the young Russian society, just enlightened by Christianity; he argued the appropriateness of fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, as on days dedicated to the remembrance of the tradition of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ; but he also stood for weakening the fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, when the feasts of the Lord, the Mother of God and the 12 Apostles fell on these days; he made a distinction between the fast of a layman and the fast of a monk, and made concessions in favor of the first, and did not consider abstinence from meat on these days during the holidays to be absolutely obligatory, but left it to the discretion of the spiritual father. The message about the Varangian faith is especially interesting; in it, St. Theodosius reveals the teaching both about the difference between Latinism and Orthodoxy, and in general about the relations of Orthodox Christians with Gentiles. First of all, he arms himself against indifferentism in religious matters: “whoever praises someone else’s faith blasphemes his own and is a double-believer; If someone tells you: God gave both faiths, answer him: Is God two-faithful? There is one God, one faith, one baptism.” Further, Theodosius forbids the prince to enter into marriages with the Latins, which were very common in ancient Russia and began to exert their influence on changing Russian folk customs, even on Russian church affairs; he even forbids eating from the same vessels with the Latins, and if you have to give them food in your own vessels, he advises you to wash the latter and consecrate them with prayer; Despite such severity in dealing with Gentiles, at the end of the letter he commands the prince to live with all of them in peace and help them in their needs. In his personal conversations with the princes and in his letter to Svyatoslav, which has not reached us, St. Theodosius especially armed himself against the internecine wars of the princes for inheritance, this main scourge of ancient Russian folk and public life. A new feature must be added to the bright sides of the spiritual and moral influence of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery on society: at a time when monasticism in ancient Russia occupied a high position and attracted public attention, a voice was heard from the Kiev-Pechersk monastery that sought to weaken in society some fascination with monastic life and destroy the excessive predilection for the Pechersk monastery, expressed in the form of some peculiar opinions. So, then thoughts were expressed that only monasticism is the best ideal of Christian life, the only one possible for achieving salvation, that every Christian should take tonsure at least before death in order to appear in an angelic image at the Last Judgment of God; many wanted to be buried in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery in the confidence that everyone buried within its fence would be pardoned, even if they led a sinful life. Brought up in similar thoughts, Prince Rostislav (in 1168) wanted to take monastic vows in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery before his death; but the then abbot Polycarp tried by all means to deviate the prince from his intention and told him about the importance of his public service and about the possibility of salvation in the world with the correct organization of family life according to Christian principles.
We have not yet exhausted all the merits of the Kiev Pechersk monastery to ancient Russian society. The Kiev Pechersk monks not only hurried to answer the moral and religious requests addressed to them by society, but they themselves went to society with the goal of converting a very large part of it to Christianity; For this, they left their monastery and went out to open missionary preaching to Russian pagans and foreigners. Etc. Theodosius, with all his worries about the organization of his monastery and the instruction of his spiritual children, still found time to go into the city to the Jewish street and teach the Christian faith to the Jews who lived there. Other monks went preaching to the pagans far from Kyiv; The Kiev Pechersk Patericon gives us fragmentary information about St. Kuksha, as a then famous missionary: “everyone knows how he baptized the Vyatichi, suffered many torments from the infidels, and was finally killed along with his disciple.” In the 12th century. Kyiv monks with their preaching had already reached the extreme northern borders of Russia; St. Gerasim, who came from the Kyiv Glushev monastery, preached for thirty years to the population who lived within the Vologda region even before the founding of the city of Vologda. With their missionary activities, the monks brought enormous benefit to the ancient Russian church; the preaching word of a monk-missionary, imbued with the power of conviction, accompanied by the purity of the life of the preacher and her willingness to die for his cause, was incomparably stronger than the preaching of official missionaries sent since the time of Grand Duke Vladimir to various Russian regions and cities; The Old Russian Church owes it to monasticism for the fact that it was very firmly established in the Russian country and quickly spread throughout the Russian outskirts and among Russian foreigners.
The successful influence of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery on ancient Russian society was also helped by the position of this monastery near the Russian capital city. Being located near Kyiv, the center of secular and ecclesiastical government in Russia, and enjoying respect from society and attention in the eyes of the grand ducal authorities, the Kiev Pechersk monastery soon became the archimandry of the entire Russian land and began to influence the management of church affairs in Russia; people began to be recruited from it for various administrative positions in the Russian Church. From it, as from an exemplary monastery in terms of structure, they began to take monks to establish other Russian monasteries; from it, as the main concentration of elders, wise by the experience of moral and ascetic life and imbued with the true spirit of Christian enlightenment, people began to be taken to the newly opened episcopal sees in Russia; Simon, in his letter to Polycarp, testifies that before him one can count about 50 bishops elected from the monks of the Kiev Pechersk. Their election and installation to the highest church positions was of great importance in the affairs of the Russian church; on the one hand, it weakened the influence of the Greek authorities in the management of Russian church affairs, which, as a foreign power, could not fully understand and take to heart the needs of Russian society, newly enlightened by Christianity; on the other hand, it contributed to the revitalization and rapid spread among Russians of that enlightening and fruitful spirit that permeated the general activities of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery. And we really see that as soon as the Kiev-Pechersk monastery was completely established before the end of the life of St. Theodosius and began to openly serve the Russian church, the affairs of this church went faster and more successfully.
Etc. Theodosius of Pechersk died on May 3, 1074; the year before, etc. Anthony of Pechersk died. In 1240, the Mongols attacked Kyiv and destroyed the Kiev-Pechersk monastery; after this, the center of political and church activity was moved to the northeast of Russia; the Kiev-Pechersk monastery remained in ruins for a long time; but the memory of its founders and ascetics was forever preserved by the Orthodox Russian people. Since the introduction of church union in southwestern Rus', the Kiev Pechersk monastery has again come to life in open public activity to defend Orthodoxy from the violence of the Latin-Polish yoke; in the 17th century, the Kiev-Mogila Collegium was established there, from which the light of spiritual enlightenment spilled into Moscow Rus' and again exerted its influence on the affairs of the entire Russian Church. But a detailed disclosure of the fate of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery during this time is no longer within the scope of this article.
The source for the description of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery is the Kiev-Pechersk patericon, compiled from the works of St. Nestor the chronicler - his story about the beginning of the Pechora monastery and about some of the Pechora ascetics and the detailed life of St. Theodosius of Pechora, written by him, also from the letters of Simon Bishop of Vladimir to the monk Polycarp and Polycarp to Archimandrite Akindinos of Pechora. Handwritten copies of the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon are found in many manuscript libraries, among other things, in the library of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. We have printed editions of the patericon both in parts and in whole form. The tales of St. Nestor about the beginning of the Pechersk Monastery, contained in its chronicles, were published in 1 volume of the complete collection of chronicles; The life of St. Theodosius of Pechora in the Slavic original was published by O. M. Bodyansky (Readings of Moscow general history and ancient history, 1858, book 3), and a translation into Russian was published by the Reverend. Philaret of Chernigov (in Note. II department. Imperial Academic Sciences, book. II, issue 2). Simon's Epistle to Polycarp was published by Kalaidovich (Memorable Russian, literature of the 12th century). In general, although not in its original form, the Kiev Pechersk Patericon has been published by the Kiev Pechersk Lavra since the 17th century; its best edition is considered to be the edition based on the original manuscripts translated into Russian, compiled by M. Viktorova (Kyiv, 1870); unfortunately, this edition does not include the life of St. Theodosius. In 1872, a new edition of the patericon based on ancient Slavic manuscripts was published, compiled by Vlad, an associate professor at the University of Dorpat. Yakovlev, in the form of an appendix to his study of “Kyiv religious legends*. The best articles devoted to the critical development of the edition of the Pechora patericon are the study by Kubarev (Reader of the Moscow General History, 1847, No. 9 and 1858, book 3) and Eminence. Macarius (Izv. II Department of Academic Sciences, vol. V, No. 9–12). We can read a scientific presentation of the history of the Kiev-Pechora monastery in “History of Russians.” Church" Rev. Macarius vol. II ch. 2 and in the study of prof. P. Kazansky: “History of Russian. monasticism" (published in approx. in the Works of the Holy Father for 1850, 1851 and 1852 and in a separate brochure).
Theodosius of Pechersk; So the Monk Kirik, in questions of canonical content proposed to the Novgorod Bishop Nifont, referred to some rules written by St. Fedosius (“In Memory. Ross, Literature. XII century.” ed. Kalaidovich and “Historical Russian Church.” Rev. Mac vol. III, 2nd ed., p. 223) to him. Nestor talks about the message of Theodosius of Pechersk to Prince Svyatoslav.
The Kiev Pechersk Lavra has at all times been the guardian of the high monastic spirit and Orthodox piety. And it is the Lavra that stands at the origins of Russian monasticism. Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) of Boryspil and Brovary, manager of the affairs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, talks about the past and present of the illustrious monastery, about centuries of prosperity and difficult decades of persecution of atheists, about saints, ascetics and educators associated with the Lavra.
– Your Eminence, by whom and when was the Lavra founded?
- was founded in 1051 under the Kiev prince Yaroslav the Wise. Its basis was a cave not far from the village of Berestova, which was dug by Metropolitan Hilarion and subsequently became the refuge of St. Anthony. Before this, Saint Anthony labored for several years on Mount Athos, where he took monastic vows. Having returned to Rus' with the blessing of his confessor, he came to Kyiv, and soon the fame of his prayerful exploits became widely known. Over time, disciples began to gather around Anthony. When the number of brethren reached twelve, Anthony made Varlaam their abbot, and in 1062 he himself moved to a nearby hill, where he dug a cave. This is how the caves, called Near and Far, arose. After the transfer of the Monk Varlaam as abbot to the St. Demetrius Monastery, Anthony blesses the Monk Theodosius to become hegumen. By this time there were already about a hundred monks in the monastery.
Upon completion of the construction of the Assumption Cathedral in the mid-70s of the 11th century, the center of the Pechersky Monastery shifted to the territory of the current Upper Lavra. Only a small part of the monks remained in the “dilapidated” monastery. The Near and Far Caves became a place of solitude for ascetics and a burial place for dead brethren. The first burial in the Near Caves was that of St. Anthony in 1073, and in the Far Caves – St. Theodosius in 1074.
The abbot of the Athos monastery admonished St. Anthony: “May the blessing of Holy Mount Athos be upon you, many monks will come from you.”
– Undoubtedly, there is a deep spiritual connection between the Kiev-Pechersk monastery. Thanks to St. Anthony, the tradition of monasticism was brought to Rus' from Athos. According to legend, the abbot of the Athos monastery admonished St. Anthony with these words: “May the blessing of Holy Mount Athos be upon you, many monks will come from you.” Therefore, it is no coincidence that the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, even at the dawn of its formation, began to be called “the third Lot of the Mother of God” and “Russian Athos”.
– Last year we celebrated the 1000th anniversary of the writing of “The Tale of Bygone Years,” created within the walls of the monastery. It was in the Lavra that the great Russian culture was born, the basis of which was church literature, architecture and icon painting. Please tell us more about this side of the life of the monastery.
– It was from the walls of the Pechersk Monastery that the first Russian theologians, hagiographers, icon painters, hymnographers, and book publishers emerged. The beginnings of ancient Russian literature, fine arts, law, medicine, pedagogy, and charity were born here.
The Kiev Pechersk Lavra has at all times equally succeeded in educational, missionary, charitable and social activities. Especially in the ancient period of its existence, it was a true Christian educational center, a treasury of national culture. But, first of all, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was a school of piety, spreading from it throughout Rus' and beyond its borders.
– After the destruction of Kyiv by Batu in 1240, difficult times came in the life of the Orthodox Church in the South-West of Rus'. How did the inhabitants of the monastery perform their service then?
– The history of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery was part of the history of the state. Disasters and unrest did not bypass the quiet monastery, which always responded to them with a mission of peacemaking and mercy. Starting from the 40s of the 13th century and until the beginning of the 15th century, the Pechersk monastery, together with the people, suffered many disasters from the Tatar-Mongol raids. Having been devastated more than once during enemy raids, the monastery was surrounded by defensive walls back in the 12th century, which, however, did not save it from devastation in 1240, when Kyiv was captured by Batu. The Mongol-Tatars destroyed the monastery stone fence, robbed and damaged the Great Assumption Church. But during this difficult time, the Pechersk monks did not leave their monastery. And those who were forced to leave the monastery set up monasteries in other parts of Rus'. This is how the Pochaev and Svyatogorsk Lavras and some other monasteries arose.
Information about the monastery dating back to this time is rather scarce. It is only known that the Lavra caves again became a habitat for monks for a long time, as well as a burial place for the defenders of Kyiv. In the Near Caves there are large niches filled with human bones, which are believed to be such burials. In difficult times, the monks of the Pechersk Monastery provided all possible assistance to the residents of Kyiv, fed the hungry from the monastery’s reserves, received the disadvantaged, treated the sick, and provided care to all those in need.
– What was the role of the Lavra in the “defense” of the western borders of Russian Orthodoxy?
– In the middle of the 14th century, Lithuanian expansion began in most of the territory of modern Ukraine. However, despite the fact that the Lithuanian prince Olgerd, to whom the Kyiv lands were subordinate, initially professed a pagan faith, and then, after the adoption of the Krevo Union between Lithuania and Poland, the intensive inculcation of Catholicism began, the Pechersk monastery lived a full life during this period.
At the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, the monastery was the center of confrontation between the Catholic Union and the Orthodox Church, which ultimately defended it. Some inhabitants of the Pechersk monastery fled from the oppression of Catholics and founded new monasteries. For example, Stefan Makhrishchsky fled to Moscow and subsequently founded the Stefano-Makhrishchsky and Avnezhsky monasteries.
In the fight against the imposition of Catholicism and union, the Lavra printing house played a significant role
In the fight against the imposition of Catholicism and the Union, the Lavra printing house, which was founded in 1615, played a significant role. Grouped around her were prominent public figures, writers, scientists and engravers. Among them are Archimandrites Nikifor (Tours), Elisha (Pletenetsky), Pamva (Berynda), Zechariah (Kopystensky), Job (Boretsky), Peter (Grave), Afanasy (Kalnofoysky), Innocent (Gisel) and many others. The beginning of book printing in Kyiv is associated with the name of Elisha (Pletenetsky). The first book printed in the printing house of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra that has survived to this day is the Book of Hours (1616–1617). Until the middle of the 18th century, the Lavra printing house had practically no competitors.
An important place in the history of the monastery of this period is occupied by Archimandrite, and later Metropolitan of Kiev Peter (Mogila). One of the main areas of his activity was concern for education. In 1631, the saint founded a gymnasium in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, in which, along with theology, secular subjects were also studied: grammar, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic and many others. In 1632, to train the Orthodox clergy and secular elite in Ukraine, the gymnasium was merged with the Brotherhood School in Podol. The first higher educational institution in Ukraine was created - the Kiev-Mohyla Collegium, which was later transformed into the Kyiv Theological Academy.
After the conclusion of the Treaty of Pereyaslavl, the Lavra was given charters, funds, lands and estates
– How did the life of the Lavra change after coming under the patronage of the Moscow sovereigns?
– After the conclusion of the Treaty of Pereyaslavl in 1654 and the reunification of Ukraine with Russia, the tsarist government provided the largest Ukrainian monasteries, in particular the Lavra, with charters, funds, lands and estates. The Lavra became the “royal and patriarchal stavropegion of Moscow.” For almost 100 years (1688–1786), the Archimandrite of the Lavra was given primacy over all Russian metropolitans. In addition, at the end of the 17th – beginning of the 18th centuries, the Lavra’s economy reached its greatest size. In the 17th century, large repair, restoration and construction work was carried out in the Lavra. The architectural ensemble was replenished with stone churches: St. Nicholas in the Hospital Monastery; Annozachatievskaya, Nativity of the Virgin and Holy Cross churches appeared above the caves. The social and charitable activities of the monastery were also very active during this period.
– The Necropolis of the Lavra is one of the largest Christian necropolises in Europe. What historical and public figures are buried in the Lavra?
– Indeed, a unique necropolis has developed in the Lavra. The oldest parts of it began to form in the second half of the 11th century. The first documented burial in the Great Church was the burial of the son of the Varangian prince Shimon (baptized Simon). In the land of the holy monastery, in its churches and caves, outstanding hierarchs, church and government figures rest. For example, the first Metropolitan of Kiev Michael, Prince Theodore of Ostrog, Archimandrites Elisha (Pletenetsky), Innocent (Gisel) are buried here. Near the walls of the Assumption Cathedral of the Lavra there was the grave of Natalia Dolgorukova (in monasticism - Nektaria), who died in 1771, the daughter of Peter the Great's associate, Field Marshal B.P. Dolgorukova. Famous poets dedicated poems to this selfless and beautiful woman, and there were legends about her. She was a generous benefactor of the Lavra. Also, the outstanding military leader Pyotr Aleksandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky is buried here. He himself bequeathed to be buried in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, which was done in the choir of the cathedral of the Assumption Church. An outstanding church figure, Metropolitan Flavian (Gorodetsky), who played a significant role in the life of the Lavra, is buried in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross. In 1911, the land of the monastery received the remains of the outstanding statesman Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin. It is very symbolic that next to the Lavra, in the Church of the Savior on Berestov (this is an ancient city that was the summer residence of the Kyiv princes), the founder of Moscow, Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, is buried.
– Please tell us about the period of Soviet ruin. What was the fate of the Lavra in godless times? When did its revival begin after the atheistic period?
– During its almost thousand-year existence, the Pechersk monastery has experienced more than one persecution, but none of them can be compared in severity to the persecution of the militant atheists - the Soviet regime. Along with persecution for the faith, famine, typhus and ruin hit the Lavra, after which the liquidation of the monastery followed. The murder of monks and clergy in those terrible times became almost commonplace. In 1924, Archimandrite Nikolai (Drobyazgin) was killed in his cell. Some monks of the Lavra and its monasteries were shot without trial or investigation. Soon many of the brethren were arrested and exiled. The big trial of Bishop Alexy (Gotovtsev) was staged. One of the most tragic events in Lavra life was the murder of Metropolitan Vladimir (Epiphany).
In the early 1920s, thanks to the enthusiasm of representatives of the creative intelligentsia, the Museum of Cults and Life was organized to prevent the destruction of the spiritual and artistic values of the monastery. During the years of militant atheism, a museum town was created in the Lavra and a number of museums and exhibitions were opened. In 1926, the Kiev Pechersk Lavra was recognized as a historical and cultural state reserve. However, at the beginning of 1930 the monastery was closed. In the same year, the Vladimir and St. Sophia Cathedrals, which became branches of the reserve, were closed. During World War II, the Germans began to loot and export to Germany the most valuable museum treasures, including those from the collection of the Kiev-Pechersk Nature Reserve. On November 3, 1941, the Assumption Cathedral was blown up.
The revival of the monastery began in the late 1980s. To commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Kievan Rus, the government of the Ukrainian SSR decided to transfer the lower territory of the Kiev-Pechersk State Historical and Cultural Reserve to the Ukrainian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1988, the territory of the current Far Caves was transferred. The resumption of activity of the Orthodox monastery on the territory of the Far Caves was even marked by a miracle of God - three myrrh-streaming heads began to exude myrrh.
Today, the monastery is located on the lower territory of the Lavra, and we hope that the state will continue to facilitate the return of the shrine to its original owner.
– Which story from the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon is your favorite? Do miracles happen in the Lavra in our time?
– The collection of stories about the founding of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery and the lives of its first inhabitants is undoubtedly a treasure trove, a spiritual treasury for every Orthodox Christian. This edifying reading made an indelible impression on me in my youth and is still a reference book. It is difficult to single out any particular plot. All the personalities of the spirit-bearing ones, the miracles and events of their lives are equally edifying and interesting. I remember how I was struck by the miracle of the Monk Alypius, the icon painter, who healed a leper by covering his wounds with the paints with which he painted icons.
Miracles still happen in the Lavra to this day.
To this day, miracles still happen in the Lavra. There are known cases of healing from cancer after prayers at the relics of saints. There was a case when, after praying at the icon of the Mother of God “The Tsarina of All,” a pilgrim was healed of blindness, which was even reported by the media. But it is important to remember that miracles do not happen automatically. The main thing is sincere prayer and strong faith with which a person comes to the shrine.
– Which of the saints glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church studied or taught at the Kyiv Theological Academy?
– Among the graduates of the Kyiv Theological Academy are such outstanding saints as (Tuptalo), Theodosius of Chernigov (Uglitsky), Pavel and Philotheus of Tobolsk, Innocent of Kherson (Borisov). Saint Joasaph of Belgorod (Gorlenko), upon completion of his studies, was tonsured into the mantle at the Kiev-Brotherly Monastery and accepted as one of the teachers of the academy. Also St. Theophan the Recluse (Govorov), St. Paisiy Velichkovsky and Hieromartyr Vladimir (Epiphany) studied here. The Cathedral of Saints of the KDA includes 48 names, more than half of which are new martyrs and confessors of the 20th century.