Iveria Georgia is the destiny of the Mother of God on the map. Martyrs of the Georgian land. Borjomi National Park

The pilgrimage to Diveevo is a classic... And like any classic, at first glance it may seem something banal. Holy Land, Athos, Egypt: our pilgrims are increasingly traveling for vivid impressions to distant countries. But a Diveyevo trip can also become a real discovery, if you don’t forget to look around and move at least half a step away from the beaten path. This is exactly what NS correspondents did when they went to the relics St. Seraphim by car on the route Moscow–Vladimir–Murom–Diveevo.

Read about the pilgrimage to Diveevo and other hidden places in

From Moscow to Russia...

You can venerate the relics of St. Seraphim at any time, excluding liturgical moments of reading the Holy Scriptures, the Six Psalms and the Eucharistic Canon. In these cases, the monastery guards stop the line. They keep order during worship.

The Russian province is very close: you just need to get out of Moscow beyond the Moscow Ring Road. According to statistics, about half of the country's population lives in small towns. On the way to Diveevo, 62 kilometers from the capital, the first of these cities is Pavlovsky Posad. The history of the “inventors” of the Pavlovo Posad shawl, oddly enough, also has an ecclesiastical dimension. Of the two partners who managed the manufactory in the 19th century, one is honored by the Russian Church as a saint. This is a philanthropist and missionary - the righteous Vasily Gryaznov, or Pavlov Posad: in the merchant Old Believers Pavlovsky Posad, he returned about seven thousand schismatics to the fold of the Church, and became famous for his ascetic and moral life. In 1903, the Intercession-Vasilievsky Monastery was opened at the site of his burial, where the relics of the saint now rest.

After driving through the city from south to north, you will get to Nizhny Novgorod Highway. This is the shortest route to Vladimir. After 50 kilometers along it there are Petushki, known to many from the immortal book by Venedikt Erofeev. For an Orthodox pilgrim, this, more like a village than a city, locality associated with the name of the Kovrov bishop, saint and confessor Athanasius (Sakharov). Without turning off the highway, stop at the bridge over the Klyazma tributary. On the left side there is a path going up, it leads to the Assumption Church. Here, in a small closet on the second “floor” of a brick bell tower, as well as nearby - in private apartments, in the houses of parishioners, the saint lived the rest of his life after returning from the camps. In the depths of Petushki, to the right of the highway, the house where the saint died has also been preserved. You can find it yourself at the address: 1st Sovetskaya, 71, or ask for directions at the church. Pious parishioners turned this house into a small museum. Liturgies are sometimes served on the throne in honor of the Bogolyubov Icon, established by the saint. Personal belongings remained in the room: a bed, a desk, icons, elements of vestments embroidered by the saint himself, a wooden panagia carved and painted by him, a homemade censer and a container for drinking Communion, which the saint made from a prison tin mug. You can enter this unprepossessing log house at almost any time: the psalter is read around the clock in front of the altar of the house church, and one of the parishioners is constantly on duty at the site.

Vladimir and Suzdal

After Petushki, the road to Diveevo lies through two famous ancient Russian cities: Suzdal and Vladimir. Both of them deserve attention, but it’s worth starting with Suzdal: if you left the capital in the morning, then, after seeing the sights, you can stay overnight here.

Suzdal. View of the Spaso-Evfimievsky Monastery from the territory of another monastery - the Intercession Convent (XIV century). The huts, however, were built in our time. They contain nuns' cells and a shelter for orphan girls.

It’s easy to get to Suzdal by turning off the Vladimir ring road following the sign. This is perhaps the only Russian city whose appearance has remained almost unchanged since the end of the 19th century. The Suzdal Kremlin is included in the UNESCO list. Its white-stone bishop's chambers and Nativity Cathedral (13th century) house a museum. Entrance - 50 rubles. The chambers contain historical and art exhibition. In the cathedral there is a shrine with the relics of St. Arseny of Elasson (Suzdal), a Greek bishop who, by the will of fate, ended up at the Suzdal See and is very revered by modern Greeks. Despite its “museum” status, you can touch the cancer. There are also services in the cathedral, but not often.

Across the river from the Kremlin - local “Kizhi”, Museum wooden architecture. Wooden churches from all over the region were brought here. Their black silhouettes are clearly visible from the embankment remaining from the fortifications of the ancient Kremlin wall. The museum is located across the river, and to get to the bridge you will have to drive all the way through the center. It is better to continue walking. To the east of the Kremlin there are shopping arcades and a square dotted with tents with souvenirs, mead and postcards. On its opposite side there are two churches: the tent-roofed Resurrection and Kazan. The latter contains the relics of Saints Theodore and John of Suzdal. From here Lenin Street (formerly Bolshaya Vladimirskaya) stretches across the entire city. Walking along it is a separate pleasure: tiny two-story houses, carved frames, silence. Opposite the only Soviet-built building - the city council and post office - is the Monastery of the Deposition of the Robe, founded in the 13th century. Behind the monastery fence there is a driving school, a gym and a hotel. On all buildings the address is: “Kommunalny Gorodok Street”. The 16th-century central cathedral and the fraternal building were transferred to the Church, and now monastic life is being revived here. From here on foot it’s very close to another monastery - Aleksandrovsky. The brethren consists of only three people. The schedule of services has been preserved since Soviet times: Liturgy - at 9.00, all-night vigil - at 17.00 or even at 16.00. “It’s like this everywhere in Suzdal,” says a friendly hieromonk in a white T-shirt, busy with housework in the backyard. — There weren’t enough clergy back then, and priests traveled from Vladimir. They scheduled the Liturgy later at a discount on transport, and the all-night vigil earlier.”

From the Alexander Monastery you can walk along a sandy path along the river bank to the bridge, next to which are the red fortress walls and watchtowers of the Spaso-Evfimievsky Monastery (functions as a museum). There is also a cafe where you can drink coffee if you haven't had a bite to eat. retail space. On the opposite bank is the snow-white ensemble of the Intercession Convent. It is also included in the UNESCO list. Here, in the Conception Refectory Church, the relics of St. Sophia of Suzdal, the first wife of Grand Duke Vasily III, who became famous as an ascetic, are kept.

The Golden Gate in Vladimir, built under Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1158-1164. Then it was the main entrance to the fortress surrounding the city, and a watchtower, and a gate church. In 1238, Batu was unable to take them and broke into the city only through a hole in the wall. Are under the jurisdiction of the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve

Vladimir, the capital of the region, is located 30 kilometers from Suzdal. It stretches along the steep bank of the Klyazma, stringing streets like beads onto the central highway. Vladimir is famous for two cathedrals: Dmitrovsky and Assumption. If you move along the central street from Suzdal or Nizhny Novgorod, the first on the way will be Dmitrovsky. It operates as a branch historical museum(opening hours from 11.00 to 18.00, except Tuesdays). Inside are fragments of pre-Mongol frescoes of the 12th century, outside is the famous white stone carving - a symbol of Vladimir Rus'. A little further along the main street is the Assumption Cathedral. It has been handed over to the Church. Open daily from 9.00, when the Liturgy begins, until 20.00. The relics of the Vladimir noble princes rest here. In the central nave there are fragments of 15th-century painting: these are the works of St. Andrei Rublev. Everyday worship is performed in the “refectory” St. George's Limit.

Architectural belt of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral in Vladimir. Inside are fragments of pre-Mongol frescoes of the 12th century, outside is the famous white stone carving - a symbol of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus'

Homeland of Ilya Muromets

From the Vladimir cathedrals, going down Erofeevsky Spusk and crossing the bridge over the Klyazma, you will get to the P-72 highway, which takes just over two hours to reach Murom. After the construction of a new bridge across the Oka, this is the shortest route to Diveevo. Previously, there was no stationary crossing, and hours-long traffic jams at the Murom ferry forced motorists to make a noticeable detour through Nizhny Novgorod.

In the center of Murom - where Moskovskaya Street begins and the local Arbat is located - a scattering of peeling and in their own way attractive houses of the 19th century - you can eat inexpensively in one of the many cafes, and then go to the local shrines. Landmarks - monument to Lenin and unusual looking pressure tower. Behind them, if you turn left, are two monasteries. The first of them is Trinity Women's. Here, in the central nave of the Trinity Church, rest the relics of Saints Peter and Fevronia - Orthodox patrons family and marriage. The territory of the monastery, covered in flowers, is filled with female pilgrims who come here to pray for family well-being. The church shop is replete with brochures about Orthodox marriage and prayers “for the gift of marriage.” Across the road from Trinity is the Annunciation Monastery. The relics of the Murom noble princes and ascetics are kept here: St. Basil, the first bishop of Murom, Equal to the Apostles Constantine, his wife Irina and the children of Mikhail and Theodore, Murom miracle workers.

If you go down from the monastery to the Oka River, on the steep bank you can see the yellow temple of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Locals call him Nikola Mokry. The relics of Saint Juliana Miloseva, another Murom ascetic, are kept here. Next to the temple there is a small worship cross and a border pillar: the riverbed of the Oka is the ancient border of the Vladimir principality. Across the river is the once hostile Nizhny Novgorod land, and there are Mordovians, Mari and Volga Bulgars...

If you are traveling with children, they may be interested in seeing “the place where Ilya Muromets was born.” This epic character is now associated by many with the venerable ascetic Ilya of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, whose relics rest in the Near Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Getting to the “place of birth” is not easy, but local residents, proud of the “great fellow countryman”, will be happy to show you “the very hill where Ilya threw logs to measure the depth of the Oka”, Priokskaya Street in the suburb of Murom - Karacharovo, where “he was born and Ilya Muromets spent his childhood.” Actually, on this street there is already a worship cross, a bathhouse and a souvenir stall (absolutely not a church one). “But they put the cross on the wrong hill! In fact, he stood to the left,” the Karacharites complain and busily point their fingers at the neighboring hill, which is no different from the first.

Diveevo

The first thing that catches your eye when entering Diveevo is the asphalt. Smooth: no chips or holes. This is a unique phenomenon for the Russian outback. Next to the log village houses there are five-story new buildings of increased comfort, shops are open on both sides of the road, and closer to the monastery there are fresh hotel buildings. And behind them is a pilgrimage agency and a tall yellow bell tower with a gate. This is the main entrance. You can leave your car in the parking lot, then only walk.

About two hundred years ago, the Ryazan landowner Agafya Melgunova, a monastic Alexandra, a monk of the Kiev-Florovsky Monastery, stopped here to rest on her way to Sarov monastery, without reaching it 12 versts. The nun fell asleep against the wall of the parish Diveyevo wooden church. In a miraculous vision, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to her and declared that this place was Her fourth Destiny in the Universe. She ordered the founding of a monastery here and predicted a glorious future for it. Alexandra devoted the rest of her life to fulfilling this covenant. On the advice of the Sarov elders, she initially managed to gather a small monastic community in Diveevo. In 1789, mother fell ill and, feeling her death was approaching, asked the Sarov monks to take care of the sisters. Such care was entrusted to the young hierodeacon - the future Venerable Seraphim of Sarov. A quarter of a century later, he founded a second monastic women’s community, the so-called mill, near the Diveyevo monastery, near the mill. By the forties of the 19th century, these two communities would merge into one “female monastery”, essentially unique for Russian monasticism. By decree Holy Synod in 1862 the united communities received official monastery status. For the first time, an abbess with the rank of abbess was appointed here. She became Maria (Ushakova), with whose name Diveev’s heyday is associated. It was at this time that the Trinity Cathedral and other stone churches, a bell tower, and buildings for pilgrims and sisters were built here. After the revolution, in 1919, the monastery was transformed into a labor artel - this status made it possible to maintain a monastic community, but by Christmas 1927 the community was dispersed. Some of the sisters ended up in camps. Others were later able to secretly return to Diveevo, get work here and continue their monastic life behind the scenes. In Soviet times, everything here fell into disrepair: churches stood decapitated and destroyed, trees grew on the roofs, warehouses and garages were located inside.

In the late 1980s, on the eve of the re-opening of the monastery, future sisters slowly began to gather here: local Diveyevo residents, enthusiasts from other cities. In 1989, they purchased a house suitable for a temple, added an altar to it, and from this the services began. In the autumn of the same year, the Trinity Monastery Cathedral was given to the church. And in 1991, the official opening of the monastery and the transfer of the relics of Father Seraphim took place. In the same year, Mother Sergia, a nun of the Riga Monastery, arrived, specially invited to Diveevo to restore monastic life.

Temples and shrines

It is reasonable to start visiting the monastery from the first Diveyevo temple - Kazan Church. It was built on the site of a wooden one in 1773-1780. Today this little white temple is a whole cascade of small temples built next to each other. Attached to the porch Church of the Nativity. Below it in the “crypt” is a temple Nativity of the Virgin Mary. The relics of the holy Diveyevo ascetics rest here: Alexandra, Martha and Elena. According to the will of St. Seraphim, the sisters read the Psalter around the clock. Next to the Kazan Church there is a small cemetery. One of the graves, with a birch tree growing right in the center of the mound, belongs to the merchant Motovilov, a disciple of St. Seraphim, who preserved for us the teachings of the great elder. In Soviet times, after the monastery was closed, the district party committee was located directly opposite the cemetery, most of the graves were razed to the ground. They tried to cut down the Motovilov birch tree, but the excavator bucket broke. A fragment of his metal tooth still sticks out at the very root of the birch tree.

In the center of the monastery courtyard there are two cathedrals: Trinity (green) and Transfiguration (white).

IN Trinity Cathedral The relics of St. Seraphim are kept, it is possible to approach them only through the northern gates of the temple, the passage from the central nave is blocked so that the line of pilgrims does not interfere with those praying during the service. You can venerate the relics at any time, excluding liturgical moments of reading the Holy Scriptures, the Six Psalms and the Eucharistic Canon. In these cases, “security” in civilian clothes deftly stops the line. They also keep order during worship. To the left of the relics, in museum-like display cases, are the reverend’s personal belongings: hand guards, shoe covers, even a hoe. To the right of the central nave is a revered icon Holy Mother of God“Tenderness,” St. Seraphim often prayed before the same icon. Closer to the altar, behind the pillar, is the place of the abbess. Mother Sergia herself reads the canon and participates in every service, from the Midnight Office early in the morning to Compline and the monastic rule late at night. Every morning at eight o'clock the Paraklis is sung here - a special prayer canon dedicated to the Mother of God, this is one of the testaments of St. Seraphim. The Liturgy begins at half past nine.

Transfiguration Cathedral was built at the beginning of the 20th century in the Old Russian style. Immediately behind it begins another Diveyevo shrine. This is a ditch with an embankment one and a half meters wide and about 125 meters long. The Monk Seraphim ordered that the territory of the “mill” Diveyevo community be dug with this ditch: “Here the Queen of Heaven herself walked along the ditch, taking the monastery as her inheritance,” he explained. “Whoever walks around the canal and reads “Theotokos” one and a half hundred times will find everything here: Mount Athos, Jerusalem, and Kyiv!”

Holy Groove

After the evening service, almost no one leaves. Waiting for the daily procession By Groove. Reading the prayer “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary,” the sisters and pilgrims walk around its perimeter, as the elder bequeathed. This is one of those ascetic practices that the monk left for the sisters to teach unceasing prayer.

Staying at least a day in the monastery is considered mandatory. The Monk Seraphim said that once a day the Most Holy Theotokos visits Diveevo - hence the tradition.

At the service of St. Seraphim

On Saturday evening, Trinity Cathedral, which seats five thousand people, is filled to capacity. After the anointing, many immediately go out to get some fresh air. Here, under the lilac bushes, you can sit on a bench. The service is broadcast through speakers into the courtyard. In the courtyard of the monastery there is almost always a crowd of pilgrims - coming and going, rushing to the relics, crowding around stalls with icons or monastic pastries - all this creates a slightly “non-monastic” flavor of the Diveyevo monastery.

“There are places where people come for silence, but they come to us to venerate the relics of the monk,” the nuns explain. “And this is our main task - to feed the pilgrims and accommodate them. This is our special service - and if we get tired, then we go to one of the monasteries, we have fourteen of them, there are no guests or pilgrims there.”

Diveyevo shrines

The main Diveyevo souvenirs are crackers, consecrated in the cauldron of St. Seraphim, and a piece of land from a ditch (in Diveyevo, for some reason, the diminutive suffix is ​​popular; even these shrines are sometimes simply called shrines by the sisters here).

The monk eccentrically consoled visitors with crackers - now, in memory of this, crackers baked in the monastery kitchen are consecrated in St. Seraphim's cauldron and distributed daily to pilgrims near the Transfiguration Cathedral from 8.30 to 16.00.

The soil left over from the renovation of the ditch in the early 1990s can be collected in the sandbox near the chapel, built on the site of a long-destroyed mill. “Some people perceive the land as a pagan amulet,” agrees the abbess of the monastery, Abbess Sergia. - Yes, some people come here for some land, and then ask: what to do with it? I answer like this: why are you taking it if you don’t know?! What can we do about such people? The Lord does not reject anyone. Someone can come only for a piece of land, and subsequently become deeply involved in the church.”

Diveyevo "informals"

To this day, in the former monastery territories, which have not yet been purchased by the monastery and belong to private owners, you can meet local “informals,” as the nuns ironically call them: groups of people, wrapped in black, perform their “separate” prayer services at the Imperial larch planted in honor of birth of an heir Alexandra III sisters back in the 19th century. They do not communicate with the clergy of the monastery and walk along an alternative route for the ditch, because “the new ditch was dug in the wrong place.” And only they know the real route. "We don't do educational work in relation to pilgrims - this should be done by the clergy - and we are only trying to make sure that incorrect literature, leaflets, which are sometimes brought here in batches, are not distributed. But this is all husk; even in apostolic times there were heretics and wise men. Monastics do not participate in this struggle and do not save others, they must be concerned with saving their own souls,” the abbess of the monastery, Abbess Sergia, is convinced.

In Orthodox tradition, the Lot (Lot) of the Mother of God is the holy land, which is under Her special protection. There are 4 known places on Earth: Iveria (Georgia), Holy Mount Athos (Greece), Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Ukraine) and Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery (Russia).

In a letter to Emperor Nicholas I dated March 7, 1854, “servant of the Seraphim and the Mother of God” Nikolai Aleksandrovich Motovilov wrote: “Her blessing for all these four places is that She promised to be personally in each of these places for three hours every day - and not a single one of their inhabitants will be allowed to perish.”
Sources tell us that in 44 AD, when Herod Agrippa began to persecute Christians: he beheaded the Apostle James (brother of the Apostle John the Theologian), imprisoned the Apostle Peter, the holy apostles, with the permission of the Mother of God, considered it best to leave Jerusalem. And to decide where they should go to preach Christianity, they cast lots. The Mother of God inherited the lands of Iberia. When the Mother of God was ready to set off on her journey, an Angel of God appeared to Her and said: “The country that has fallen to You will subsequently be enlightened, and Your dominion will be established there; After some time, you will have the work of preaching the gospel in the land where God will direct you.” The Lord announced His will to Her: “O My Mother, I will not reject Your lot and will not leave Your people without participating in heavenly blessings through Your intercession. But send the first-called Andrew instead of Yourself to Your inheritance.” After this appearance, the Most Holy Theotokos called the Apostle Andrew to Her and said to him: “I will be the guardian of the life of the people of the Iveron country and, raising my hands for them to My Son, I will ask them for help in everything.” Soon after this, Saint Andrew set out to preach the word of God, and the faith he preached began to take root in Iberia.

The main shrine of Georgia and the entire Christian world is the Robe of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is kept in the Svetistskhoveli Temple (Pillar of Life), the patriarchal cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church in Mtskheta. Once upon a time Mtskheta was ancient capital Georgia, the cradle of Christianity, a historical place educational activities Saint Equal to the Apostles Nina. Thanks to this, Mtskheta is called the Second Jerusalem.

Athos (Greece)
The second destiny of the Most Holy Theotokos was Athos. When in '48 Mother of God went to the island of Cyprus to visit Saint Lazarus, resurrected by the Lord, rose strong wind. The ship was carried by a storm to the shore of Mount Athos, inhabited by pagans. The Most Holy Virgin, seeing in this an indication of the will of God for the Lot given to Her on earth, came ashore and proclaimed the Gospel teaching to the pagans. Subsequently, the Iverskaya monastery was founded here.

The Most Holy Theotokos, delighted with the beauty of this place, turned to Her Son so that He would give Her the entire Mount Athos. Then a voice sounded from heaven: “Let this place become Your destiny, a garden, a paradise, and also a refuge for those who thirst for salvation.” The preaching of the Mother of God enlightened the local residents, and they accepted holy baptism. The Queen of Heaven herself miraculously brought ascetics to Athos. The first of them was the Monk Peter, to whom the Mother of God said: “To serve God there is no best place than Mount Athos, which I received from My Son and God as an inheritance for Myself, so that those who want to move away from worldly troubles and temptations would come here and serve God. Great is My love for this place, and the time will come when it will be filled from end to end, north and south, with many monks. And if they serve God with all their souls and keep His commandments, then here on earth they will receive My help; I will ease their illnesses and labors, I will give them the opportunity to have everything they need, I will weaken the enemy’s battles against them and I will glorify their fruit in all the heavens.”

Before setting sail from Athos, the Mother of God blessed the people and said: “Behold, My Son and My God have become my lot! God's grace to this place and to those who abide in it with faith and fear and the commandments of My Son; with a little care, everything on earth will be abundant for them, and they will receive heavenly life, and the mercy of My Son will not fail from this place until the end of the age, and I will be a warm intercessor to My Son for this place and for those who dwell in it.”

Kyiv, Ukraine)
The chronicle tells about the Third Destiny of the Most Holy Theotokos - the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. In the 11th century, monk Anthony labored on Mount Athos. A native of the Chernigov principality, he was eager to see the places of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, first visited Palestine, and on the way back he took monastic vows on Mount Athos, where he lived for several years near the Esphigmen monastery. The Mother of God revealed to the abbot of the monastery, Theoktistus, that the newly tonsured Anthony should go to his homeland, to Kievan Rus. As parting words to him, the abbot said the following words: “Go back to the Russian land, let those living there prosper through you and become established in the Christian faith, may the blessing of the Holy Mountain be with you.” Anthony arrived from Athos in 1013. He dug a cave in the mountain near the village of Berestovo, but after some time he returned to Athos. After the establishment of Yaroslav the Wise on the grand princely throne in Kyiv in 1019, Abbot Theoktistus in the Athos monastery of Esphigmen again received a Divine revelation that it was necessary to send the monk Anthony to the Russian land. The abbot called Anthony to him and said: “Go again to Russia, and may the blessing of the Holy Mountain be with you! For many monks will come from you.” In 1028, Anthony returned to Rus' and settled in a cave on the banks of the Dnieper, not far from Kyiv. There he tirelessly prayed to God and fasted. Christians began to come to him for blessings and advice. Some of them became monks. This is how the great Kiev-Pechersk Lavra began to form. 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. During the construction of the church, one of the oldest miraculous images of the Virgin Mary was found. Reading the chronicles of those times, you notice that although there are many monasteries built by the wealth of kings and boyars, they cannot compare with those built by the prayers of saints, their tears, fasting and vigil. Likewise, the Monk Anthony did not have gold, but through his labors he cultivated a monastery incomparable with others, which became the first spiritual center of Rus'. The life of Anthony tells that he had the gift of miracles and healed the sick. Last years He spent his life in solitude, withdrawing from the management of the monastery. Anthony died on May 7, 1073. The relics of the saint are kept under wraps (that is, they have not been found to this day).

Diveevo (Russia).
The beginning of the Fourth Lot of the Most Holy Theotokos was laid in Kyiv. Around 1758, the wealthy Ryazan landowner Agafya Semyonovna Melgunova arrived in Kyiv. At the age of under 30, she lost her husband and decided to devote her life to God. In the Kiev-Florovsky Monastery, she took monastic vows with the name of Alexandra and spent her life in fasting and prayer under the guidance of the elders Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Once, after midnight prayer, Agafia Semyonovna was honored in a subtle vision to see the Most Holy Theotokos and hear from Her the following: “This is I, your Lady and Lady, to whom you always pray. I have come to tell you My will. This is not where I want you to end your life. But just as I brought My servant Anthony out of My Athos Lot, My Holy Mountain, so that here, in Kyiv, he would found My new Lot, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, so now I say to you: get out of here and go to the land that I will show you. Go to the north of Russia and go around all the Great Russian places of My holy abodes. And there will be a place where I will show you to end your godly life, and I will glorify My name there, for in your place of residence I will establish My great abode. Go, My servant, on the way, and may the grace of God, and My strength, and My grace, and My mercy, and My mercies be with you.” With the blessing of the elders of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, who recognized the vision as true, Alexander’s mother went to the north of Russia. Having visited many places and monasteries, she headed to Sarov. This was around 1760. Twelve miles from the monastery, in the village of Diveevo, Nizhny Novgorod province, she sat down to rest near a small wooden church and, while dozing, was granted a second vision of the Mother of God. “This is the very place that I commanded you to look for in the north of Russia...” said the Most Holy Theotokos to Mother Alexandra. “And here is the limit that Divine Providence has set for you: live and please the Lord God here until the end of your days. And I will always be with you, and I will always visit this place, and within the limits of your residence I will establish here such an abode of mine, which has never been, is not, and will never be equal in the whole world. This is My Fourth Lot in the universe. And like the stars of heaven and like the sand of the sea, I will multiply those who serve the Lord God and Me, the Ever-Virgin Mother of Light, and My Son Jesus Christ, who magnify, and the grace of the Holy Spirit of God and the abundance of all the blessings of earth and heaven, with little human labor, will not become scarce from this the place of My beloved."
The Diveevo community was founded on this site, which later became the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery.

Russia also plays a special role in the Fatima prophecy. To three children, one of whom was the shepherdess Lucia Santos, who later became a nun, the Virgin Mary appeared three times. They were not ordered to reveal the secret of the third prophecy until 1960. And only in 2000, the prophecy was announced by Pope John Paul II. According to the prophecy announced by the Pope, the Mother of God revealed a terrifying picture - as if ordinary believers, holy fathers and bishops were climbing the hill on which the cross stood, and were dying there under a barrage of arrows and bullets. It is possible to avoid the third world war (and judging by what is described, this is exactly it) if our country turns to the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of God. There is an assumption that the Pope did not dare to reveal some part of the prophecy. But his opinion, as a person who talked with Mother Lucia many times, is that only turning to Russia can get rid of lawlessness and atheism, solve all the world’s problems and end wars.

On March 15, 1917, on the day of the abdication of Tsar-Martyr Nicholas 11 from the Throne, a phenomenon occurred Sovereign icons God's a. According to church tradition, this miraculous image of the Most Holy Theotokos has a special providence for the ultimate destinies of the world. Its eschatological meaning is that the Mother of God is the very apocalyptic “holder” who preserves the world until the coming of the Antichrist. For Russia, the “Sovereign” image is fateful, since in the person of this icon the Mother of God Herself took upon herself the succession of power of the Russian state, becoming the spiritual Autocrat of our country and the guardian of the Throne for the future Anointed of God. The image is also a guarantee of forgiveness for the Russian people, who must come to repentance through untold suffering, blood and tears.
The discovery of the icon was completed miraculously. One woman, a peasant from the Bronnitsky district, the village of Pochinok, Evdokia Andrianova, who lived in the settlement of Pererva, had two dreams in February 1917. On the night of February 13, 1917, Andrianova heard a mysterious voice, commanding her to go to the village of Kolomenskoye and find a large black icon, which needed to be washed, made “red” and, as the voice indicated, “let them pray,” since the great the test allowed by God is being applied to the entire Russian people. After the pious woman’s prayer to receive clearer instructions from God’s will, on the night of February 26, she dreamed of a white church in which the Queen of Heaven sat majestically. She told the woman: “Now I Myself have taken the power and scepter in My hands, and with the Sovereign icon I am sending My special Grace and Power. This icon does not save from trials, since trials are needed to awaken the spiritual side in people, but whoever prays with faith at this icon during trials will be saved.”

On March 2, the peasant woman Andrianova, having prepared for confession and St. communion, went from Pererva to the rector of the White Church in the village of Kolomenskoye. When she saw the Church of the Ascension, Evdokia immediately recognized it as the church she had seen in her dream. Rector Fr. Nikolai Likhachev at first reacted with distrust to her story, but, yielding to the insistence of the peasant woman, he brought her to church and showed her everything ancient icons Mother of God, who were in the temple, but in none of them Andrianova found any resemblance to the image from her dream. Then, on the advice of one parishioner who accidentally walked into the church, Fr. Nikolai continued his search for the icon in the outbuildings of the temple - in the bell tower, on the stairs and in the church basement. In the latter, among old boards, rags and junk, a large black icon was found. When it was washed from many years of dust, all those present were presented with an image of the Mother of God in the form of an earthly Queen, majestically sitting on the royal throne with the blessing God-infant on her knees. The Virgin Mary was presented in red purple, with a crown on her head and a scepter and orb in her hands. The face of the Mother of God was unusually stern and mournful. The new icon of the Mother of God immediately received the name “Sovereign”.
To turn to Russia is to turn to the Mother of God. If your thoughts are pure and your faith is strong, you will be heard.

Third destiny: Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

The fourth destiny: Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery

The beginning of the Fourth Ecumenical Lot of the Mother of God was laid in Kyiv. Around 1758, the wealthy Ryazan landowner Agafya Semyonovna Melgunova arrived in Kyiv. At the age of under 30, she lost her husband and decided to devote her life to God. In the Kiev-Florovsky Monastery, she took monastic vows with the name Alexandra and spent her life in fasting and prayer under the guidance of the elders of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Once, after a long midnight prayer vigil, either in a light doze or in a clear vision, Mother Alexandra was privileged to see the Most Holy Theotokos and hear the following from Her:

« This is I, your Lady and Lady, to whom you always pray. I have come to tell you My will. This is not where I want you to end your life. But just as I brought My servant Anthony out of My Athos Lot, My holy mountain, so that here, in Kyiv, he would found My new Lot, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, so now I say to you: get out of here and go to the land that I will show you. Go to the north of Russia and go around all the Great Russian places of My holy abodes. And there will be a place where I will show you to end your godly life, and I will glorify My name there, for in your place of residence I will establish My great abode. Go, My servant, on the way, and may the grace of God, and My strength, and My grace, and My mercy, and My mercies be with you!».

With the blessing of the elders of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, who recognized the vision as true, Alexander’s mother went to the north of Russia. In 1760, her path lay to one of the famous Russian monasteries - the Sarov Monastery.

Not 12 miles from Sarov, in the village of Diveevo, Mother Alexandra stopped to rest at the western wall of a wooden parish church. Here she again saw the Mother of God in a light sleep:

« This is the very place that I commanded you to look for in the north of Russia... And here is the limit that Divine Providence has set for you: live and please the Lord God here until the end of your days. And I will always be with you, and I will always visit this place, and within the limits of your residence I will establish here such an abode of mine, which has never been, is not, and will never be equal in the whole world. This is My Fourth Lot in the universe. And like the stars of heaven and like the sand of the sea, I will multiply here those who serve the Lord God and Me, the Ever-Virgin, Mother of Light, and magnifying My Son Jesus Christ; and the grace of the Holy Spirit of God and the abundance of all earthly and heavenly blessings, with little human labor, will not become scarce from this place of My beloved».

The Diveevo community was founded on this site, which later became the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery.

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Excerpt characterizing the Lot of the Virgin Mary

In June, the Battle of Friedland took place, in which the Pavlograd residents did not participate, and after it a truce was declared. Rostov, who deeply felt the absence of his friend, having had no news about him since his departure and worrying about the progress of his case and his wounds, took advantage of the truce and asked to go to the hospital to visit Denisov.
The hospital was located in a small Prussian town, twice devastated by Russian and French troops. Precisely because it was in the summer, when it was so nice in the field, this place, with its broken roofs and fences and its dirty streets, ragged inhabitants and drunken and sick soldiers wandering around it, presented a particularly gloomy sight.
In a stone house, in a courtyard with the remains of a dismantled fence, some broken frames and glass, there was a hospital. Several bandaged, pale and swollen soldiers walked and sat in the courtyard in the sun.
As soon as Rostov entered the door of the house, he was overwhelmed by the smell of a rotting body and a hospital. On the stairs he met a Russian military doctor with a cigar in his mouth. A Russian paramedic followed the doctor.
“I can’t burst,” said the doctor; - Come to Makar Alekseevich in the evening, I’ll be there. – The paramedic asked him something else.
- Eh! do as you please! Doesn't it matter? - The doctor saw Rostov climbing the stairs.
- Why are you here, your honor? - said the doctor. - Why are you here? Or the bullet didn’t kill you, so you want to get typhus? Here, father, is the house of lepers.
- From what? - asked Rostov.
- Typhus, father. Whoever rises will die. Only the two of us with Makeyev (he pointed to the paramedic) are chatting here. At this point, about five of our brother doctors died. “Whatever the new guy does, he’ll be ready in a week,” the doctor said with visible pleasure. “They called Prussian doctors, because our allies don’t like that.”
Rostov explained to him that he wanted to see the hussar major Denisov lying here.
- I don’t know, I don’t know, father. Just think, I have three hospitals for one person, 400 patients are too many! It’s also good, the Prussian ladies who are benefactors send us coffee and lint at two pounds a month, otherwise they would be lost. - He laughed. – 400, father; and they keep sending me new ones. After all, there are 400? A? – he turned to the paramedic.
The paramedic had exhausted look. He was apparently waiting with annoyance to see how soon the chattering doctor would leave.
“Major Denisov,” Rostov repeated; – he was wounded near Moliten.
- It seems he died. Eh, Makeev? – the doctor asked the paramedic indifferently.
The paramedic, however, did not confirm the doctor’s words.
- Why is he so long and reddish? - asked the doctor.
Rostov described Denisov's appearance.
“There was, there was one,” the doctor said as if joyfully, “this one must have died, but I can handle it, I had the lists.” Do you have it, Makeev?
“Makar Alekseich has the lists,” said the paramedic. “Come to the officers’ chambers, you’ll see for yourself there,” he added, turning to Rostov.
“Eh, it’s better not to go, father,” said the doctor, “otherwise you might end up staying here.” “But Rostov bowed to the doctor and asked the paramedic to accompany him.
“Don’t blame me too much,” the doctor shouted from under the stairs.
Rostov and the paramedic entered the corridor. The hospital smell was so strong in this dark corridor that Rostov grabbed his nose and had to stop to gather his strength and move on. A door opened to the right, and a thin, yellow man, barefoot and wearing only underwear, leaned out on crutches.
He leaned against the lintel and looked at those passing by with shining, envious eyes. Looking through the door, Rostov saw that the sick and wounded were lying there on the floor, on straw and overcoats.

The first destiny of the Mother of God on Earth

Ancient Iveria, present-day Georgia, is the first inheritance of the Mother of God on Earth. After the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles gathered in the Zion Upper Room, where the sacrament of Communion was established, and cast lots: to which country each of them would go. The Most Holy Theotokos wished to take part in the Gospel preaching, Iberia became Her lot...

However, the Lord, having promised that He would not reject Her lot and would not leave Her people without participation in Heavenly good, commanded His Mother to send Her miraculous image there, and to bless the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called for preaching. According to legend, the Apostle Andrew preached three times in Iberia, enlightening many of its cities and villages, he founded an episcopal see here, ordained a bishop, priests and deacons.

Spread of Christianity in Iberia

In the city of Atskuri, near the modern city of Akhaltsikhe, the apostle resurrected the son of a widow who had died on the eve of his arrival. Having witnessed this miracle, the inhabitants of that area received Baptism. It was here that the Apostle Andrew left the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which, after the name of these places, has since been called Atskurskaya, its memory is still celebrated on August 28, AD. Art.

It is known that the holy apostles Matthias, who is buried here in Apsara - now Gonio near Batumi, and Simon the Canaanite, who is buried in Nikopsia, preached the gospel in Iberia. Also, the most ancient sources mention the preaching of the holy apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus in Eastern Georgia. But they learned about the Incarnate Messiah on this blessed land even before the apostolic sermon. The first heralds of the good news in Iberia were the Jews of Mtskheta, who came here in Old Testament times after the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II (597 BC) and settled in Mtskheta, where they already new era talked about the Nativity of the Infant God.

The first Georgian saint

Mtskheta rabbi Elioz, the same high priest Anna, in the 30th year of the 1st century. asked in a letter to come to Jerusalem to participate in the trial of Jesus Christ. Elioz’s mother, who came from the family of the high priest Elijah, begged her son not to take part “in the blood of Christ.” According to legend, this Jewish believer heard the sound of a hammer as they hammered nails into the hands of the Savior of the world, and at that very moment she died with the words: “Farewell from now on, the kingdom of the Jews, which killed the Savior who came in the flesh and became the enemy of the Creator God.”

At the request of his sister, as well as the mother of a believer in the Savior, Sidonia Elioz bought the Chiton of the Lord from the warrior who received it by lot cast at the Cross (see prophecy Ps. 21:19), and brought it to Mtskheta. Having heard the story about the death of Christ, and taking the shrine, Sidonia hugged it to herself and betrayed her soul to the Lord. Heaton was never taken from the hands of this first Georgian saint, and she was buried with him. A miraculous cedar grew at the resting place of Saint Sidonia. Until the time of the arrival of the main preacher, Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina, in Iberia, this place remained secret...

Martyrs of the Georgian land

The fact that Christian communities existed in Ancient Iberia in the 1st-3rd centuries after the Nativity of Christ is evidenced by archaeological and toponymic data. Already in the 2nd century AD. In the chronicles, among the Christian peoples, the Ivers - Georgians - are mentioned. Although at this time Christians here were persecuted: at the beginning of the 2nd century, Saint Sukhoi and 16 of his warrior-companions from noble Georgian families suffered martyrdom. Their memory is celebrated on April 28. All of them at one time were nobles, but having learned about Christ and having received Baptism, they left a life full of pleasures at court and, secluded to pray in the mountains, became ascetics. But the pagan king did not tolerate such disgrace for his way of life, and all the ascetics were brutally killed.

In general, martyrdom runs like a red thread throughout Georgian history. Moreover, for the Ibelians, the confession of Christ from time immemorial was identified with the struggle for the identity of the people, and later for their statehood.

When in 1226 Khorezm Shah Jalal-ed-din captured the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, he ordered the dome of the Zion Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God to be removed and placed his throne there. Icons of the Savior and the Blessed Virgin Mary were placed on the bridge. Tbilisi residents were ordered to walk along them, desecrating the images with spitting. Those who refused were immediately beheaded and thrown into the river. On that day, 100,000 Christians in Tbilisi forever adorned themselves with martyr's crowns. They are commemorated on November 13th.

In 1386, Tamerlane, having captured the Kvabtakhevsky monastery, wanting to abuse and humiliate the brides of Christ, forced them to sing and dance. For their refusal, the martyr, along with other residents of Georgia devastated by the conqueror, were burned alive in the cathedral church of the Most Holy Theotokos. The memory of the Kvabtakhev martyrs is celebrated on April 23.

In 1616, during the invasion of Shah Abbas, they accepted martyrdom 6,000 monks of the David Gareji Monastery who had just celebrated the Resurrection of Christ, having asked the executioners to complete the Easter service. Their memory, like that of the Kvabtakhev martyrs, is celebrated on April 23. Two of them hid at first, but seeing with what grace the Lord covered the martyrdom, they themselves jumped out of their hiding places to meet the triumph of martyrdom for Christ. Didn’t they say to each other and to the executioners before departing to the Lord: Christ is Risen!

It is believed that the Russian people, who throughout their entire history did not know Christian history strong persecution, Golgotha ​​was allowed into the 20th century. That is why repressions in Georgia Soviet years although they were, they were not so fierce. His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II, who has headed the Georgian Orthodox Church since 1977, even once called the Tbilisi Church of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky “a branch of the Glinsk Hermitage” - it was here that they labored after the repeated closure of this illustrious monastery during the atheistic years her elders.

In Tbilisi, many of them are laid to rest - these are those who are now glorified as saints: Metropolitan Zinovy ​​(Mazhuga), in the schema Seraphim, Schema-Archimandrite Andronik (Lukash), Schema-Archimandrite Seraphim (Romantsov), as well as the one whose glorification is awaited by the entire Orthodox people - Schema-Archimandrite Vitaly (Sidorenko). We warmly love the Russian, as well as the Georgian, people and the Georgian holy fool archimandrite of our times - the Monk Gabriel (Urgebadze).

Pilgrimage to the places of exploits and to the graves of these most beloved Orthodox saints of our days is a special blessing for those who themselves would like to inherit at least a part of their ascetic spirit, just as they inherited it from their predecessors. This one, blessed with the promises of God and the protection of Herself Holy Virgin Mary's country could not, in its reciprocal love for God, show lesser fruits of heroism and self-denial: throughout the centuries and right up to the present day.

Saint Nina - patroness of Iberia

Christianity has become widespread in Iberia since the 4th century, when the young native of Cappadocia Nina arrived here. Her parents completely devoted themselves to serving the Church, and the girl was raised by the pious elder Niofora. Since childhood, having heard about the Robe of the Lord, kept in Mtskheta, the little Christian was eager to venerate the shrine. Before she got here, the Mother of God appeared to her in a dream and, handing her a cross made of a vine, blessed her to preach in Her inheritance - in Iberia. Waking up, Nina tied a strand of her hair around the cross, which symbolized consent and dedication of her life to the entrusted service. The “Cross of St. Nino,” distinguished by slightly downward sides of the crossbar, became a symbol of the Georgian Orthodox Church. The Mother of God protected the girl-apostle. On the way to Iveria, Nina avoided many dangers. Her companions were brutally tortured by the servants of the Roman emperor-monster Diocletian.

Arriving in Georgia, Nina settled near the northern border of the city of Mtskheta, setting up a hut for herself in a blackberry tree. Now located here convent Samtavro, and next to the still growing blackberry bush, a small church of St. Nina was built. Here she healed and preached.

One day Queen Nana herself came to her, and the Equal-to-the-Apostles healed her from serious illness. She told her husband about everything, and at first the king even intended to kill the healer who dared to convert his people to another faith, but he immediately became blind, began to pray in vain to his pagan gods, and then appealed to “God Nino,” promising to accept Christianity if saved. , and at the same moment he received his sight. This is glorified among the saints, like his believing wife, King Mirian. In the presence of Saint Nina, he confessed Christ and sent a letter about his desire to receive Baptism to Saint Queen Helena and her son, Saint Emperor Constantine the Great.

Thus, Bishop John, priest Jacob and a deacon were delegated to Iveria, whose name history has not preserved. First, the king and his court were baptized, and then at the confluence of the Aragvi and Kura rivers the entire people were baptized. This happened in 326. Until now, October 1, Georgian Orthodox Church Svetitskhovloba notes - every year on this day His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II performs a mass Baptism in the waters of Aragvi and Kura.

The memory of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina is celebrated in Iveria twice a year on January 27 and June 1 - these days are revered as great holidays. With her blessing, crosses were erected on the mountains where pagan idols had previously stood: in Mtskheta, where the Jvari Temple was later built on this site, as well as on Mount Thoti, the site of the conversion of King Mirian, and in the city of Ujarma.

Georgians also fell in love with Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina’s cousin, St. George the Victorious. In all European languages, Georgia is called Georgia. Tradition says that there used to be a church or chapel for him on all the hills of Iberia. And how many of these consecrated hills there are in Georgia, from which breathtaking views open up and fill the heart with the praise of the Creator, you will find out already on the spot by visiting this holy country... The pilgrimage center “Ancient Iberia” will gladly help in organizing your trip!

MOVIE. ORTHODOXY IN GEORGIA

Andrew the First-Called and Atskuri

According to legend, St. Andrew was in Atskuri in Samtskhe Javakheti in southern Georgia, where the Apostle preached and even resurrected the deceased son of the widow of a local ruler, which prompted the local residents to be among the first to accept Christianity. The first church was built in this place. It is likely that it was the fragments of this first-century temple that were found during recent restoration work in the territory cathedral Our Lady of Atskur (XI century).

Atskur Icon of the Mother of God

Atskuri was religious and political centers Southern Georgia from the Middle Ages. It was here that the sprouts of Georgian statehood were born. Over time, Atskuri lost its significance as a result of enemy invasions and destructive earthquakes.

Today this village is known by the icon of Our Lady of Atskur. According to legend, before going to preach Christianity in Iberia, Andrew the First-Called received from the hands of the Most Pure Her a miraculous image. She applied a simple board to her Face and Her image remained imprinted on the board. With this icon, Apostle Andrew performed miracles, described in the work of the historian and bishop of the 11th century Leonti Mroveli. “The walk and sermons of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called” was included in the chronicle of the chronicle of Kartlis Tskhovreba.

The Apostle created a miraculous copy of the icon, attaching a simple board to the Image of the Most Holy Theotokos, and this icon became a real shrine that saved believers and brought trouble to the enemies who stole it. For the veneration of the icon, the first chapel was built in Atskuri, and subsequently the Cathedral.

Over the centuries since miraculous icon there are many stories connected. Subsequently, the Atskur Icon of the Mother of God was located in the Gelati Monastery, and since 1952 it can be contemplated in National Museum arts of Georgia.

Georgian Church

The Georgian Church has autocephaly, that is, independence from Constantinople, and has its own Patriarch - the head of the national church. And autocephaly was granted only to those national churches on whose land one of the Apostles preached.

The fourth destiny of the Mother of God is the Seraphim-Diveevo monastery, the burial place of Seraphim of Sarov. The monk greatly revered the first destiny of the Mother of God of Georgia, although he did not have the chance to visit here.

Seraphim of Sarov is one of the most revered Russian saints. His images can be found in various Georgian churches.