Address: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Diveevsky district, with. Diveevo
Foundation date: 1780 year
Main attractions: the Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity (1875), the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior (1916), the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (1780), the Bell Tower (1901), the Church of the Nativity of Christ (1829)
Shrines: holy Kanavka, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "Tenderness", the ark with the relics of the elders of the Glinsk Hermitage, things of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov
Coordinates: 55 ° 02'24.2 "N 43 ° 14'44.0" E
Content:
Brief history and description
According to Orthodox tradition, the Mother of God took four spiritual abodes on Earth under her special protection. Her earthly destinies are known - the Iberian land in Georgia, the Greek Mount Athos, the Kiev Lavra and Diveevo, on which the Queen of Heaven pours out her God's mercies, being herself personally for three hours a day in each of these places.
A bird's eye view of the monastery
The history of the monastery in the village of Diveyevo began in 1760, when the wandering nun Alexandra, in the world Agafya Semyonovna Melgunova, the Mother of God appeared in a dream with the words: “Here is your limit, intended for you by Divine Providence.
Live and please the Lord here until the end of your days. And I will always be with you, and within the limits of your residence, I will create a monastery that has no equal in the whole world.
View of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery from the Vichkinza River
This is my fourth earthly destiny in the Universe. " From that time on, the organization of the community began. In 1773 - 1774, Matushka Alexandra at her own expense erected the church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. In 1788, the local landowner Zhdanova, having heard about the monastery, promised from above, donated 1300 sq. fathoms of his estate land adjacent to the Kazan temple. On this land, mother Alexandra built several cells with a common fence, where she herself settled with four novices. The sisters lived according to the strict Sarov charter, spending their days in hard work and hourly (that is, 24 times a day) getting up to pray.
Cathedral of the Transfiguration
Meager food was brought once a day from the refectory of the Sarov Monastery. Shortly before her death, in 1789, Abbess Alexandra tonsured into the Great Angelic Schema and instructed Hierodeacon Seraphim, known for his spiritual exploits, to take care of the Diveyevo Monastery. In 1794, Seraphim retired to the forest 5 km from Diveyevo and set up a small cell there, devoting himself to an ascetic life. During his 30-year asceticism, the hierodeacon wore the same wretched clothes in winter and summer, ate potatoes, beets, and beets grown in his desert garden. At the beginning of the hermitage, Father Seraphim took bread from the monastery, and from his weekly portion he gave a part to bears and other wild animals that came to the place of his prayer.
Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity
Later, Father Seraphim accepted the feat of pillar-domination and lived for 1000 days on a stone boulder. Having sustained a three-year vow of silence, Seraphim was honored with the appearance of the Mother of God, who commanded him to leave the seclusion. For his penitential deeds the monk received the gift of healing and clairvoyance, and people from all over Russia reached out to him for advice.
Once Seraphim's cell was visited by the landowner Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov, accompanied by his servants. Mikhail suffered from a severe leg illness. The best doctors from Moscow and St. Petersburg could not stop the crushing of bones. After the elder anointed Mikhail Vasilyevich's feet with oil, the sufferer suddenly felt that for the first time in many years he could stand.
Bell tower
In gratitude for the healing, the landowner doomed himself to voluntary poverty, sold his estate and became a devoted disciple of Seraphim. With the assistance of Manturov, the Mill Community was founded, headed by the landowner's sister, Elena Vasilievna Manturova. In 1842, 9 years after the death of the Monk Seraphim, the two communities united into one, and in 1861 the monastery received the status of a monastery. In 1903, Emperor Nicholas II came to Diveyevo and talked with Blessed Pasha of Sarov, who predicted to him the birth of an heir, Tsarevich Alexy, the revolution of 1917 and the collapse of the Romanov dynasty..
Holy groove
Pilgrimage to the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery - visiting Seraphim of Sarov
The main Diveyevo shrine - the Holy Canal - was dug along the path along which the Mother of God herself walked, who appeared to the Monk Seraphim... This groove, which surrounded the Mill Community, was dug by the sisters with their own hands, surrounded by a rampart and planted with gooseberries. According to legend, when the Antichrist comes to Earth, the Holy groove will be high to heaven and will block his path. Seraphim said that a pilgrim, walking along the groove, must read the prayer “Virgin Mary, rejoice!” 150 times. Visitors are also allowed to take with them a handful of healing earth from the groove.
Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
At the end of the groove there is a chapel named after Father Seraphim, where pilgrims are given “healing” crackers sprinkled with holy water and consecrated with prayer - this gives them a blessing. They go to the monastery to bow to the miraculous relics of Seraphim of Sarov, take a bath in baths with healing water... But even an unbeliever should still come here. The Diveyevo monastery amazes with the splendor of the temples, the Trinity and Transfiguration cathedrals are especially beautiful. In the Trinity Cathedral, behind the reliquary with the relics, showcases are installed where the personal belongings of Father Seraphim are kept: leather mittens, liturgical vestments, and an iron cross.
From left to right: Church of Alexander Nevsky, bell tower, Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity, Cathedral of the Transfiguration
The territory of the monastery is buried in blooming roses, and bypassing the Holy Canal, you can see a huge larch behind the fence. The sisters planted this tree in 1904 in memory of the birth of Tsarevich Alexei, as evidenced by the icons of the royal family, suspended from the trunk and the fence.
