About the monastery

The abbots, brethren and parishioners of the monastery until 1929

Monks of the Intercession Monastery. 1928

Sit (from left to right): Hieromonk Mefody (Ivanov), Hieromonk Nathanael (Skalkin), Archimandrite Veniamin (Milov), Hieromonk Theodosius (Tarasov), monk Methodius (Laskin).

Stand (from left to right): Seryozha, about. Yermei, Hieromonk Evtikhy (Tarasov), Hieromonk Nile (Bolotov), Foka Karpovich Shnyruk - regent, Kolya, hieromonk Danakt (Kalashnikov), Grigory Khokhlov - watchman

The abbots, brethren and parishioners of the monastery until 1929

Archbishop Guri (Stepanov Alexey Ivanovich) was born on October 2, 1880 in Cheboksary, Kazan province, in the family of a retired officer. In 1906 he graduated from the Kazan Theological Academy, where he was trained in the missionary Mongolian department, and studied Buddhism. During his studies he discovered the gift of preaching, began to appear with articles in magazines. He was spiritually nourished by St. Gabriel (Zyryanov). Subsequently, in the house of Fr. Guria St. Gabriel found the last shelter.

April 16, 1905 Alexei Ivanovich took the monastic vows with the name of Gury in honor of St. Guria of Kazan. On June 24, he ordained a hierodeacon, March 26, 1906 - in the hieromonk. After graduating from the Kazan Theological Academy in 1906 with a degree of candidate of theology, he stayed at the Kalmyk language department as a teacher of the ethnography of the Mongolian tribes and the history of spiritual missions among these peoples. On May 26, 1912 he was appointed to the post of inspector of the Kazan Theological Academy, June 20 he ordained to the rank of archimandrite.

For the fundamental studies in his "Essays on the history of the Christianity among the Mongolian tribes" he was awarded with the scientific degree of doctor of church history. In 1916-1917, he was a rector Academy assistant. He had an authority with entourage; he was called the soul of Kazan academic monasticism. In his apartment, he organized scientists meetings, where teachers and students could have exchanged views.

He participated in the Local Council of the Orthodox Russian Church in 1917-1918. At the Cathedral father Guriy worked in the departments of monasteries and monasticism and in the spiritual academies. He was also a member of the "Branch of the Athos movement, associated with the worship of the name of God". More than 20 athos monks lived in the Intercession Monastery in 1914 by the decision of the Holy Synod. Archimandrite Gury has become the abbot of this monastery since 1920.

Earlier, in August 1919, he became an administrator of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery. On October 2, 1919 father Guri was arrested and placed in Butyrskaya prison, but soon he was released.

On February 8, 1920 Archimandrite Gury was ordained to the bishop of Alatyrsky, vicar of the Simbirsk diocese. Nevertheless, the Bishop stayed in Moscow, from April 2 he administrated the Pokrovsky Missionary Monastery. He lived in the Danilov Monastery, because the authorities followed him. After June 11, 1920, there was a search. A thousand of protesting people gathered. On June 26 Bishop Guri was arrested together with Bishop Theodore (Pozdeevsky). Vladyka Guria was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but on March 24, 1922, the decision of the Presidium of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee he was released on recognizance not to leave the place. Bishop Guri returned to the administration of the Intercession Monastery. He participated in the "Danilov Synod" - unofficial meetings of the bishops in the Danilov Monastery, which played a large role in the opposition to Renovation.

In July 1923 Patriarch Tikhon appointed Bishop Guri to administra the Petrograd diocese.

After his arrival in Petrograd, he became acquainted with the difficult situation of church affairs, left the city because of the threat of a new arrest and left for the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, where he joined the brothers.

Soon returned to the role of the Abbot of the Intercession Monastery, he lived near Moscow, at the station. Cubinka. His closest assistant Archimandrite Veniamin (Milov) wrote about him: "He was sincere, did think about himself. He truly believed in God and Church.  He was a hard worker in the field of theological science. He was a great ascetic and a monk in the true sense of the word. He had a strong will and a deep indulgence towards people. He was a subtle psychologist; he had a soul capable of capturing to the holy life by his example".

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Bishop Guri (Stepanov)

During the years 1924-1930. Vladyka Gury was appointed to the Irkutsk, Kostroma, Suzdal departments, he was several times arrested, served a link in Yakutsk. When, on the way to the place of exile, he arrived in Irkutsk, he was walking in a column of prisoners and each temple greeted him as a ruling bishop by a bell ringing.

Soon because of illness, Bishop Guriy retired. He lived near Moscow, in the village Perlovka. In 1932 he was arrested again.  His interview during the arrest gives us some information about the life of the bishop after returning from exile to Moscow in 1930: "Before the exile, I was the Abbot of the Intercession Monastery in Moscow. The monastery's brother helped me financially during my stay in exile. After my return to Moscow in 1930, some of the brothers of the Intercession Monastery came to see me, asked me about my health, asked me whether I would serve with them or not. The chairman of the church council of the Church of the Jerusalem Mother of God also came to me, he asked to serve. He did not abbey the Metropolitan Sergius, who asked him to mention the Soviet authorities during the Church services, so I did not agree to serve with them. Brotherhood found about that, so they started to mention the Soviet authorities during the their Church services too. Therefore, we served since October 14, 1930, the celebration of the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady with the permission of the Metropolitan. My last post was the post of the administrator of the Vladimir diocese. I went to Ivano-Voznesensk for registration, but they did not register me there, but took my address and promised to notify me in writing about permission to serve. After returning to Moscow, I fell ill. The monks of the former Pokrovsky monastery occasionally visited me, complained about their miserable situation. I advised them to endure, giving everything to the will of God. Neil Bolotov came to me very often, monk Ioan and monk Feodosiy, they supported me financially. Since the doctors did not allow me to have long conversations, I spoke just with them and not that much. The monk Neal asked me for advice on matters of a spiritual nature. He was working on the topic of Macarius of Egypt for obtaining a Ph.D. degree in theology and owe talked only about that."

The investigator made a conclusion: "... during the exile, Archbishop Guri Stepanov, was financially subsidized by the monks of the Intercession Monastery in Moscow, where Stepanov served as an abbot before his exile. After the monastery was closed, the remaining monks moved to the Jerusalem church, where they systematically carried out anti-Soviet work. Upon his return from exile, Archbishop Guri Stepanov assumed the leadership of grouping of monks for the purpose of changing church policy and directing it towards active struggle against the Soviet power. The monk Stepanov gave the instructions to the monks who visited him."

Archbishop Guri was sentenced to 3 years in a concentration camp. After his release in 1934 he lived in Arzamas. On September 6, 1937 he was arrested again. The witnesses claimed: "The former archbishop Gury Stepanov conducted the organization of secret monasticism, for this purpose they prayedв at his apartment. I know, there were nuns Anthony, Gennady, Antonin and others, but I do not know their names ". He did not plead guilty. On October 21, 1937, the indictment was pronounced:

"Archbishop Guriy (Stepanov Alexey Ivanovich), being a participant of the organization, after his return from exile in 1934, was sent to the city of Arzamas by the Metropolitan (Moscow) Stragorodsky Sergius. He was the leader of the organization. He prepared for insurrections, for this purpose he organized and held secret meetings at his apartment. During the years 1934-1937, Metropolitan Strogorodsky Sergiy received through his sister instructions. Stepanov did not plead guilty. The witnesses fully proved his participation in the anti-Soviet organization".

October 23, 1937, by the decision of the Troika of the NKVD in the Gorky region he was sentenced to death. Archbishop Guri (Stepanov) was shot on November 1, 1937 in Gorky.

Bishop Benjamin (Milov V. D.) – the last Abbot of the monastery. He was born in Orenburg on 8/21 July 1887, on the day of the commemoration of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. His father was a priest Dmitry Petrovich Milov and his mother’s name was Anna Pavlovna. Soon the family moved to Vyatka. In the childhood, the future Metropolitan visited the Yaranskiy Monastery. The desire of a monastic life arose in his soul at that time.

In the early years, Victor has been sick a lot, so he graduated from the primary school and from Yaransk theological school later than other students did.  In 1916, he graduated from the Vyatka theological Seminary (it was his second major) and he was sent to the Kazan theological Academy. Future missionaries studied here languages of the Eastern people of the Russian Empire and translations of the Holy Scriptures. Victor Milov noted to himself, "The heart poured more towards the monks and the church." The inspector of the Academy Archimandrite Guriy (Stepanov) played a huge role in the monastic formation of the future Bishop.

Soon after the revolution, the Kazan Theological Academy was closed. Bishop Sylvester invited Victor Milov to Moscow, the rector of the Intercession monastery. At first, he went to Danilov monastery.  Archbishop Gury, former inspector of the Academy, who already ordained Bishop was here among the brothers. It turned out that the archpastor prayed the Lord to send him a man, who can assist him at the Intercession monastery. Therefore, the Victor came.

On the Annunciation of 1920, Archbishop Gury tonsured Victor into monasticism with the name Benjamin in honor of the Holy Martyr Benjamin of Persia. Soon Archbishop Theodore (Pozdeevsky) ordained his father Benjamin to the hierodeacon. On the day of St. Sergius, September 25 / October 8, 1920, Bishop Peter Polyansky ordained Hierodeacon Benjamin into a hieromonk.

After the arrest of His Grace Guriy, Father Benjamin became a governor of the Intercession Monastery. Archbishop returned from prisons and exile for several times, nevertheless, he was arrested repeatedly. It was not easy obedience for a new abbot.

Sensing the closure of the monastery, in anticipation of arrest, Father wrote memoirs Benjamin in January 1928 - October 1929. Later he titled them "The Diary of the Monk." Valuable memories of the witness of the last years of the monastery's existence in those terrible years are recorded in this diary. This is how the abbot recalls the beginning of his journey.

"When tonsured, monks are usually warned of confusions and tribulations. At the time of the tonsure, such words seem to be a simple custom to repeat the phrases, from the earliest times laid down in the rank of renunciation of the world. In fact, they are an expression of the bitter truth. Sorrows visited me in the first year of my stay in the Intercession Monastery." In addition to troubles with the authorities, the brethren, and the Church Council, Father Benjamin had poor health.

"In my serious illness, I asked the artist to write the image of the Mother of God, called "the Recovery of the dead", and begged the Mother of God to give me time for repentance, to bring to communion with the Lord Jesus Christ, to teach me. My requests did not remain in vain. The artists wrote the Assumption Shroud, made a photocopy for me of the face of the Queen of Heaven from Her ancient Vladimir image. The presence of these shrines in my cell reminded me vividly of the spiritual closeness of the Mother of God to people. One morning I got up after a painful insomnia, went to the photo of the Vladimir icon and, to my amazement, saw that the gaze of the Mother of God was full of love. She looked at me, her heavenly smile shined. Daily service of prayers with hymns to the Theotokos, the feeling in the heart, prayers, reading of stories of the miraculous virgin of assistance, the glorification of the Queen of Heaven in the sermons, contemplation reverent awe before Her others was the wonderful school where I learned to trust in the help of a Diligent Defender".

The fate of the last Governor of the Pokrovsky monastery and the blessed Matronushka of Moscow, whose cell icon was also the image of the blessed virgin "the Recovery of the dead", resonates in a surprising way here. Now this icon is located in the Intercession Church of the monastery, near the Holy relics of St. Matrona.

After the closure of the monastery in 1929, Archimandrite Veniamin was arrested many times, he was in exile, and in camps. Since 1946 he was among the brothers of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, he taught at the Moscow Theological Academy, sang in the choir, confessed the parishioners. However, already in 1949 he was again arrested and sentenced to 5 years in Kazakhstan.

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Archimandrite Veniamin (Milov) in 1939. Prison Photo

Soon after he was released from the jail, on February 4, 1955, Archimandrite Veniamin was ordained bishop of Saratov and Balashov. His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy I, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Melchizedek, metropolitan Krutitsky and Kolomensky Nikolay (Yarushevich) and other 7 bishops performed the ordination.

Meanwhile, the joyful event could not significantly affect the inner life of the lord. He seemed to foresee that he had only six months left to live on this earth, and in his speech when he was a bishop, he said that he was already experiencing "the eleventh hour of his life".

Vladyka came to the pulpit on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Since that time, he served constantly - not only on holidays, but also on weekdays. He invariably preached at every Liturgy. The reverent, concentrated bishop quickly attracted people to him: the temples where the Bishop served were always crowded with prayers. Bishop Veniamin died suddenly on August 2, 1955 - the day of the celebration of the holy prophet Elijah of God.

The Archbishop of Kazan and Chistopol, Job and bishop of Astrakhan and Stalingrad Sergius. performed a funeral service for the bishop Benjamin. Patriarch Alexy I sent a sorrowful telegram.

All night, the Saratov cathedral was opened: the prayers continued to say goodbye to their bishop Benjamin.

Bishop Benjamin was buried in the Saratov cemetery. People go to his grave with their requests and sorrows - just as they go to the relics of the blessed Matronushka in Moscow. They say that he hears and helps them.

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Archimandrite Veniamin (Milov) –The  bishop of the Intercession Monastery, in his cell 

Archimandrite Alexis (Mikhail Yakovlevich Patrikeev) was born in 1857. In the questionnaire of 1923, he wrote that he was a peasant from Ruza of the Moscow province.

He was an archimandrite of the Feodorovsky Horodetsky Monastery of Nizhny Novgorod Province. By the Decree of the Moscow Spiritual Consistory of July 4, 1917, No. 8657 he was appointed to the Brotherhood of the Intercession Monastery, by Decree of the Moscow Spiritual Consistory of August 2, 1917, No. 291 he was appointed to rest in the Moscow Intercession Monastery. After the revolution, he was the head of the cemetery and the bursar of the monastery, filled in monastic papers, communicated with representatives of the authorities. The time was hard, and old father Alexis had to deal with many questions. For example, in 1918, the Red Army released their horses and they walked around the cemetery. The part of the territory with graves was going to be constructed into the children's playground. Father Alexis wrote protest letters. Red Army constantly required the inventory of monastic property, buildings, liturgical objects, etc. It was necessary to create a church council at the monastery, to keep the necessary papers, protocols, etc. Archimandrite Alexis was engaged in all this. His faithful assistants were Father Veniamin (Milov) - then another Hierodeacon, Father Nathanael (Skalkin), Father Theodosius (Tarasov), and after 1923 - Father Methodius (Ivanov) and many active parishioners.

There was no abbot in the monastery in 1917-1920. In October 1917, Bishop Modest was removed to the Tavrichesky Diocese. Bishop Silvestr (Bratanovsky) was appointed governor of the the Intercession Monastery in 1918, but he did not live in the monastery, though he took decisions on the main issues. In 1920, the Bishop of Alatyr Guriy (Stepanov) was appointed rector, but he was soon arrested. A young hieromonk Veniamin (Milov) was his successor, he knew him since the Kazan theological Academy. Bishop Veniamin recalled those years: "So that I would not be proud, the Lord taught my soul humility through temptations from the brethren in General and, in particular, through the elderly Archimandrite father Alexy, who lived at rest in our monastery. Now he is sleeping the eternal sleep in the grave. During his lifetime, he was a source of great problems for my pride. Archbishop Guri, according to seniority, granted him the right of primacy in church services. Accustomed to manage monasteries in former years, Father Alexis behaved himself in the intercession monastery independently, served, when he wanted, without my notice, he had his own servants. He served at celebratory divine services with singing and at the late services all the time. In comparison, I always served early liturgies. In the last years of the existence of the Intercession Monastery, Archimandrite Alexis, under the influence of his personal sorrows and observation of my troubles, significantly resigned himself, confessed to me, and I, perhaps, we became friends"

These memories date back to 1929; Father Alexis died earlier. Meanwhile, in the investigative case of the new martyr Viktor (Frolov, who lived near the Intercession Monastery, it is mentioned that he was arrested in 1934 "at the apartment of Archimandrite Alexy Patrikeev." It is possible that in this apartment former monks who returned from exile lived. It is possible that it was the place, where the martyr Victor lived when he was a child. Bishop Benjamin recalled that the main reason for his own arrest in October 1929 "was the massive influx of children into our church on holidays. I have always treated them with all my heart as the pure vessels of God. They felt my warm attitude and responded with mutual affection."

Hieromonk Jonah (Akim Ivanovich Bogachev) was from the Cossacks of Chernihiv province was born in 1863. In 1897, he entered the Moscow Intercession monastery. He became a novice of the monastery on 29 September 1899. He tonsured in monk February 15, 1906 (most likely in honor of St. Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow, to whom the Central chapel of the lower intercession Church of the monastery is dedicated). First, he passed the obedience of candle maker and reciter of Psalms. He ordained deacon on September 2, 1906, hieromonk on January 4, 1915. On May 27, 1916, the diocesan Authorities sent him to the army to perform his duties at the military field, where he stayed until November 7, 1916. There he performed regular services. On November 22, 1916, he moved to the Bogolyubsky missionary chapel to perform pastoral duties.

After the revolution he remained in the monastery, participated in the work of the church council. The fate of father Jonah is not clear.

Abbot Nathanael (Skalkin, Nikolay Pavlovich), was a peasant from Moscow province, Podolsk district. He was born on July 19, 1883. He graduated from the parish school. On January 12, 1907, he entered the Chudov monastery. He became a novice of the monastery in 1911. He passed the obedience of the Sexton. On June 18, 1915 he was tonsured a monk.  In November 1916, he moved to the Intercession monastery. On November 13, 1916 he ordained a Hierodeacon. Date of ordination into the priesthood is unknown (but no earlier than 1918). In the monastery he performed regular services, after the revolution he was listed as a gravedigger in the cemetery, had obedience as an economist. In the questionnaire of the Minister of religious worship is written the he «served as a worker at the Crystal factory in Butyrki." He took an active part in the work of the Church Council, and in June 1928, he was voted to be the head of the community.

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Abbot Nathaniel (Skalkin). Part of the photo of 1928. 

Together with the Holy Martyr Methodius (Ivanov), on October 29, 1929 he signed an act about the donation of monastic property to the state. After the closing of the monastery, he struggled in the cause of God in the temple of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God on Slaughterhouses. He was arrested in 1930. From the record of the  investigator: "According to my convictions, I belong to the Church of Tikhon.  Church I have a negative attitude to the church leaders of the Living. I consider them to be the accomplices of the Soviet government." He was sentenced to three years of exile in the Northern Territory. (There is no information about him since 1933 till 1941).

Since 1941 he served in the Church of St. Alexis of Moscow in Yegoryevsk. In 1948, he served in Nechaevskiy Church in the city of Yegoryevsk. On the day of Holy Easter in 1950, his Holiness Patriarch Alexy I awarded him with a cross with ornaments. Since May 16, 1957, according to the application, was retied due to illness. He died on 30 March 1963.

Father Nathanael was very fond of the Yegorians and they revered him for the elder. The memory of him and today lives among the city dwellers who ask him to pray for them before God. His grave in the city cemetery is covered with in flowers all year round, and the lamp on it is constantly burning.

Abbot Theodosius (Tarasov Fedor Ivanovich) was born in 1884 in a peasant family in the village of Kazan in the Livenskoye district of the Orel province. Since 1911, he was a novice of the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra.

In 1918, he became an obedient novice in the Intercession Monastery. April 16, 1919 treasurer Archimandrite Alexis (Patrikeyev) tonsured him in monasticism with the name of Theodosius. The dates of his ordinations are unknown (in the questionnaire of 1923 he was mentioned already as a presbyter).

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Abbot Theodosius (Tarasov). Fragment of the photo of 1928

He took an active part in the work of the church council, lived in the monastery. His fate is unknown after the closure of the monastery: it is more likely that he moved to the Temple of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God on Slaughterhouses, then in 1932 was arrested along with other monks who were there, was sent to an exile.

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Abbot Theodosius (Tarasov). Prison photo

October 28, 1937, Father Feodosy was arrested, he was a psalm-reader of the church in the village Seredne Kashirsky district of the Moscow region at that time. November 21, 1937, the troika UNKVD of the USSR in the Moscow region sentenced him to the highest measure for the counter-revolutionary agitation. He did not plead guilty. He was shot on November 25, 1937 at the Butovo firing range of the NKVD near Moscow. He was rehabilitated on August 1, 2001 for lack of gravamen of a charge.

Hierodeacon (?) Evtikhy (Tarasov Efim Stepanovich (Ivanovich -?)) Was born in 1879 (according to other sources - in 1876) in the village of Kazan, Livensky district of Orel province. Most likely, he was a relative of Abbot Theodosius (Tarasov).

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Father Evtikhy (Tarasov). Fragment of the photo of 1928

In 1917-1918 he was registered in the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, may have been among the brothers. In 1918-1929, he was a resident and lived in the Intercession Monastery. After the closure of the monastery, like some other brethren, he moved to the Temple of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God on Slaughterhouses. He was arrested on April 16, 1932, June 3, 1932. He was sentenced to 3 years of exile in Kazakhstan. The further fate of Father Eutyches is unknown. The Moscow City prosecutor's office rehabilitated him in February 2004.

Hieromonk Nile (Bolotov Alexander Alexandrovich) was born in a peasant family in Tver. He was born on 02/09/1901. In 1923, he was already a deacon in the brotherhood of the Intercession monastery, he was one of the "authorized at the temple of the Intercession Monastery." In the questionnaire he wrote about himself that he "studied at the Tver gymnasium, and then at the Moscow Institute of National Economy." The dates of his tonsure and ordination are unknown. Most likely, Father Neal was tonsured into monasticism in honor of the Monk Nil Stolobensky, since one of the chapels of the lower Intercession temple of the monastery is dedicated to this saint.

After the closure of the monastery, like some other brethren of the monastery, most likely, he moved to the temple of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God on Slaughterhouses. Soon he was arrested. In the years, 1931-1933 he was imprisoned and sent to work at the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal. In the years, 1933-1934 he participated in constructing the Baikal-Amur Mainline. After his release in 1934, he came to Semipalatinsk to his father, who was there in exile. The last place of his ministry was the village of Dubrovo in the Selivanovsky district of the Vladimir region, where he was an abbot.

On December 3, 1937, the Troika of the NKVD at the Ivanovo region accused Hieromonk Nile of "organizing an insurgent group of kulaks, priests and active churchmen. He conducted active agitation and disseminated slanderous inventions. He used religious prejudices for creating a false image of the leader of the CPSU (b) and the government. He prepared an armed rebel, considering it the most appropriate moment, when fascist attacked the USSR. " He fully admitted the guilt

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Hieromonk Nile (Bolotov), 1928 Hieromonk Nile (Bolotov), 1937

It is difficult to imagine how many trial had the father Nile for 9 years. After passing through numerous prisons, the White Sea-Baltic Canal, the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, links, he turned from an young hieromonk to the age of 36 to an old man. Only the Lord knows by what means the investigation succeeded in getting him to admit guilt. "Active agitation and slanderous fabrications" were attributed in those years to many good shepherds.

Hieromonk Nile (Bolotov) was shot in Ivanovo on December 16, 1937. Rehabilitated in 1989.

Monk Mefody (Mikhail Laskin) – was from the clergy, was born in 1845. He studied reading and writing. He entered the Moscow Intercession Monastery on February 12, 1908, was accepted in the brotherhood on April 13, 1910. He tonsured monk on May 12, 1910. He had the obedience at the candle box and the reader of the psaltery. On the photo, he is 83 years old. Unfortunately, there is no information about his future fate. We do not know whether Father Methodius survive until the closure of the monastery and was repressed, or found the last refuge in the monastery cemetery.

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Monk Mefody (Laskin) Fragment of the photo of 1928

Aksenov Ivan Malakhievich - in November 1918, he entered the monastery. On March 11, 1919, permission was granted for his monastic vows. Soon he tonsured with the name of Seraphim. However, the fate of the monk (hieromonk??) Seraphim has not yet been clarified, he is not mentioned in the documents of the church council. According to one source, the priest Aksenov Ivan Malakhievich, born in 1890, served in the church of the village of Omoforovo, Sobinsky district of the Vladimir region, was arrested on November 14, 1937, convicted in 1937 (1938?) to 10 years of imprisonment.

Foka Karpovich Shnyruk - was born in 1865 in the Vinnitsa region, village Luzhki, Yampolsky district; had an elementary education. For many years (at least since 1915) he was the regent of the choir of the Intercession monastery, he lived in the monastery after the revolution. Abbot Archimandrite Veniamin in 1929 recalled him: "Every evening after a routine service, our novice Foka Karpovich Shnyruk, sixty years old, gentle, kind and extremely polite came to my cell. I shared with him provisions, than God sent, we had conversations that eased the soul from all the troubles. He is still alive, he is a chorister in the Jerusalem church, which is on Boyne ".

In 1937, Foka Karpovich was the guard of the Sergievskaya church in Rogozhskaya Sloboda. He was arrested on September 29, 1937 by the Troika UNKVD of the Moscow Region because of "belonging to a counter-revolutionary group of churchmen" on October 17, 1937. He was sentenced to the highest measure. He was shot at the Butovo firing range on October 21, 1937. He was rehabilitated in July 1989.

Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to establish the names and fates of the three inhabitants of the monastery, shown in the photo in 1928: Serezha, father Jeremiah (Jeremiah?), Kolya

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1928. f. Methodius (Ivanov) – sitting, standing – Serezha,  f.Jeremiah, f. Nil (Bolotov)

Khokhlov Grigory Filippovich - was born in 1870, served as a private in the infantry. In 1917-1928, he was a watchman at the monastery cemetery, his further fate is unknown.

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The watchman Grigory. Fragment of the photograph of 1928.

The following parishioners actively participated in the activity of the church council at the monastery in the 1920s:

Barabushkin Pavel Nikolaevich - was born in 1863, he was an employee, after the revolution he worked for the Gosselsindikat. He lived on the Sovetskaya Street, bld. 49, apt. 1. He was a husband of Maria Timofeevna Barabushkina, who in the questionnaire defined her social and official position as "a housewife". ArchbishopVeniamin describes her in his diary:

"I can't help but remember those who, by the will of God, replaced my parents in the monastery. Having moved from the Danilov monastery in Pokrovsky, I was forced to live in a private apartment near the Pokrovskaya Outpost. The Lord gave me then a true mother in the face of Maria Timofeevna Barebacking. She lost her children in the war, and by her rare kindness, all the warmth of her loving heart poured out in the care of my well-being: she washed my clothes, cooked food and took care of my rest for three or four years. And it was all selfless, for Christ's sake. I'll never forget that good old lady. The Lord sees, who do not ignore the people who are thirsty and hundry. May He give her peace in His heavenly city, may He take her to the abode of the merciful».

The further fate of the Barabushkins is unknown. Their daughter Zinaida, born in 1902, also was a member of the church community of the monastery.

Vorobiev Fedor Ivanovich – was a peasants of the Moscow province, Bronnitsy district, Gzhel parish, Rechits village; was born in 1900. In 1923, he was a secretary of the church council of the monastery, recorded the meetings, filled in all the papers. It is noteworthy that in the questionnaire of a member of the Orthodox group of believers he defined "the time of joining this cult» as the day of his birth. However, many parishioners wrote the same thing, although most of them still indicated - "from the day of baptism." The three brothers of Fyodor Ivanovich also were parishioners of the monastery. Unfortunately, their fates are unknown.

Vovk Petr Ivanovich - Cossack of Chernigov province, Konotop county, Bakhmachi parish, village. Kursk. He was born in 1876. He worked as a handicraftsman-tailor. He took an active part in the work of the church council of the monastery. Together with Father Methodius (Ivanov) and Father Nafanail (Skalkin) on October 29, 1929 he signed an act on donating to the state "all the property of the cult of this church in cash." His further fate is unknown.

Gorbunov Ivan Ivanovich – was a Moscow bourgeois, was born in 1864. After the revolution, he "served as a salesman." He was the elder of the church community of the monastery. Bishop Benjamin recalled: "Waves of sorrows surrounded me. At the attempt to shift the elder, the chaos  took place in the church council. I was in a great friendship with our elder Ivan Ivanovich Gorbunov. I still have sincere and deep respect for him. And he can not forgive me the disgrace of the resignation, which occurred due to my fault. Shortly before Gorbunov asked me: "Maybe I should leave early?" In short-sightedness, I did not foresee the course of events and advised him to leave his post. No more than a month later, the discontent of the elder was so exacerbated that at the meeting of all the members of the community, Gorbunov was cut off from his duties. How I repented of involuntarily causing suffering to a once close friend! How much I was tormented at the sight of insulting attacks on his behalf by ill-wishers. However, it was already impossible to help. " Elena Semenovna was Ivan Ivanovich’s wife, she was born in 1869. Unfortunately, we do not know their fate.

The parishioners loved Pokrovsky monastery. In addition, a few dozen families took an active part in the life of the community - they took church property for storage, signed a contract for the use of the temple, collected signatures against the closure of the monastery. Mostly, it was the merit of the last abbot. Bishop Benjamin recalled: "I had a close connection and love with the congregation. It was expressed in the cathedral prayer, compassion and rejoicing. I loved everyone very much, but I did not sing out anybody, I treated the parishioners exactly, sincerely wished salvation, being closer to the Lord.

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The Athos monks, who lived in the Pokrovsky monastery

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Before the construction of the monastery

The name of the Pokrovsky Monastery by Bozhedomsky provokes us to precede its historical description with a brief review of the Wretched houses on whose place it was erected in Moscow, and the remarks about the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God to whom it is dedicated. Both Wretched houses and the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God are closely connected with the history of the monastery in spiritual and civil ways.

The Wretched house

In Moscow, as well as in other Russian cities, since the old days, Wretched houses (also cold “Skudelnitsy”) were built to bury wanderers, Jews, who came from distant countries to worship God in the Temple of Jerusalem. There were no special cemetery there, in case of sudden death. In Russia, such places were called «skudelnitsy», «wretched houses», «zhalniki», «buivischa» and «gnoischa». Bodies of the poor, wanderers which had been caught by sudden and violent death were brought here and put in the sheds with pits. In comparison, others, admonished before the demise of St. Secrets, were buried near by the churches.

The Intercession Of The Blessed Virgin

Previously we talked about Wretched houses, we shall move to the feast in memory of the miraculous appearance of Our Lady. Theotokos appeared to the fool in Christ St. Andrei and his follower St.Epiphany in Vlahern Temple (Constantinople, y.911). It is important to mention the image of this divine vision of the fool in Christ St. Andrei who was Slav by origin, about the establishment the feast of Pokrov Russia and about ancient churches, which had been constructed to memorize this miracle.

The Establishment of the Intercession Monastery

The royal Pokrovsky on the Wretched Houses monastery was founded in honor of this feast of the Mother of God. It has replaced wooden Velikoknyazheskiy monastery in the Sadeh Beliy Gorod, at the Semenovskaya outpost. The original founder of the Bozhedsky Pokrovsky Monastery was Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich.

Necropolis of the Intercession Monastery

The churches on the western side are surrounded by a cemetery. The graves of the dead are here on God's nave, under the protection of the Mother of God and under the cross.

The abbots, brethren and parishioners of the monastery until 1929

Monks of the Intercession Monastery. 1928

Sit (from left to right): Hieromonk Mefody (Ivanov), Hieromonk Nathanael (Skalkin), Archimandrite Veniamin (Milov), Hieromonk Theodosius (Tarasov), monk Methodius (Laskin).

Stand (from left to right): Seryozha, about. Yermei, Hieromonk Evtikhy (Tarasov), Hieromonk Nile (Bolotov), Foka Karpovich Shnyruk - regent, Kolya, hieromonk Danakt (Kalashnikov), Grigory Khokhlov - watchman

The Athos monks, who lived in the Pokrovsky monastery

Besides the already mentioned martyrs Danat (Kalashnikov), Hilarion (Tsurikov) and Iaon (Laba), other Athos monks lived in the Pokrovsky monastery; there were more than 20 people. All of them were exiled from the Holy Mountain because of the teaching, called “The Name-Seekers”.

Important events of the monastery that happened before 1872.

There were not too many events in the history of this monastery. The most important events are: 1) the Wretched house was transformed into to the convent, 2) It was given to the Krutitskaya and then to the Moscow dioceses; 3) It was turned from «bozhedomsky» to «school» monastery.

Monastery before closing. 1917-1929

For many years, the Intercession Monastery was a relatively small abode, located on the outskirts of Moscow - at the Intercession Outpost, where 50 monks lived in the 19th and early 20th century. St. Innocentiy, Metropolitan of Moscow, in 1870 gave the monastery the status of missionary.

Convent renewal, 1995

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia blessed to resume the Pokrovsky Stauropegial Convent, he appointed the nun Feofania (Miskina) the abbess of the monastery.

The first visit to the Intercession Monastery by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II

The first visit to the Intercession Monastery by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II. 13 october 1996.

Lithium on the grave of the blessed old Matrona

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia is serving lithium on the grave of the blessed old Matrona. Danilovskoe cemetery. 4 March 1998

Uncovering of relics of St. Matrona

On March 8, 1998 on the Week of the Triumph of Orthodoxy occurred the invention of the holy relics of the Blessed Matrona at Danilovskiy Cemetery with the blessing of Patriarch Alexei II.

Great consecration of the Intercession Church

Great consecration of the Intercession Church in Pokrovsky Stauropegic Convent by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II. 1998

Elevation of nun Feofania to the abbess

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia elevated a nun Feofania to the rank of the Abbess of the Intercession Convent. 4 April 1998

The great consecration of the crosses

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II made the great consecration of the crosses of the Resurrection and Intercession churches. Pokrovsky Convent. 4 April 1998

The transferring of the relics of the blessed elderess Matrona

On April 30, 1998, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II during the solemn chanting of the Easter troparion "Christ is Risen from the Dead ..." the transfer of the holy remains of the Blessed Matrona to the Church of the Holy Fathers of the Seven Ecumenical Councils was accomplished. In the evening, the brothers of the monastery served a funeral vigil.

Meeting of the Icon of the Mother of God "The Seeking of the Lost"

The abbess Theophany and nuns meet the icon of the Mother of God "The Seeking of the Lost." The icon was painted in 1915.

Matrona never left this icon. This icon of the Mother of God is in Moscow, in the Intercession Convent since 1998

The first church service at the metochion in the village of Markovo

The first church service at the metochion of the Intercession Convent in the village of Markovo. Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. November 4, 1998

The Canonization of the St. Blessed Matrona of Moscow

Upon the order of Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alexey, blissful Matrona of Moscow (Nikonova Matron Dmitrievna. 1881 – 1952) was canonized as a local saint on May, 2nd, 1999.

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