Holy Spirit Monastery. Urban. Holy Spirit Monastery Where is the Holy Spirit Monastery on the map

On the outskirts of Timashevsk - a small town, of which there are many in the warm, generous and beautiful land of Kuban - near the busy Krasnodar - Yeisk highway, not far from the calm and smoothly flowing Kirpili River, rises a white stone temple with sky-colored domes. By the will of God, a monastery of the Holy Spirit was built at this place for the consecration of Kuban.

It is visible to everyone entering the city from the regional center. This beautiful temple, rapidly soaring upward with its bell tower, is consecrated in honor of the Holy Spirit. It is the center and focus and the main shrine of the monastery, which bears the great and glorious name of the third hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity. By the Holy Spirit all God's creations are given life, move and have their being. He gives life to everything and in Him everything lives. The Spirit of God fulfills everything with His power and grace. He is the giver of life, the Life-giving Comforter, the Treasure and the Source of blessings.

Construction of the temple

The monastery began as an architecturally designed structure with the construction of a church. In 1987, Archimandrite George (Sava), with the blessing of the ruling archpastor, then bishop, now metropolitan, Bishop Isidore, headed the parish of the Holy Ascension prayer house in the city of Timashevsk. After accepting the parish, Father George began to worry about building a real, beautiful stone church. Father George, a worker in the cause of God, had to endure many obstacles, oppression, insults and other hardships: firstly, from the godless authorities who prevented the allocation of land for the construction of a new church, practically drove it into a swamp, and forbade the construction of a temple with a bell tower, a dome and an altar apse ( the authorities were allowed to build only an ordinary building and equip it as a house of worship); and secondly, from members of the church council who harmed the cause of the revival of Orthodoxy in the Kuban, chosen at the direction of the Commissioner for Religious Affairs, and not by the voice of believers.

We had to acquire a plot for our temple only by purchasing a hut on the outskirts of the city with fifteen acres of marshy land. Archimandrite Georgy reasoned this way: “One of the most beautiful cities in the world, St. Petersburg, was built on a swamp. If there is no other possibility and if there is God’s will for this, then we must build where God favors. Regardless of people's judgments. Not human judgment, not God’s court.”

Some complained that the site for the construction of the temple was chosen on the outskirts of the city, far from the center. To which the priest replied: “Over time, this place will be the center.”

And today it has already come true. Two residential microdistricts, “Yuzhny” and “Vostochny”, have grown up. This truly was the will of God. From the time he arrived in Timashevsk, Father Georgy very often walked on foot to this outskirts; he was drawn here inexplicably. Subsequently, when the place had already been chosen and the construction of the temple began, the old-timers said that in the fifties, now the twentieth century, a weak sick holy fool lived not far from this place, who told everyone that a church and a monastery would be built in this lowland. Apparently, the Lord prepared this place to show unbelieving people that there are no obstacles for a believing heart. And just as the humiliated and crushed Russian Church rose from dust and decay, planting the “villages” of the true faith in the hearts of the lost and abandoned people of the Russian people, so on this wretched, despised swamp a beautiful temple grew, which sanctified and beautified the city.

Opening of the monastery

After the completion of the construction of the temple, in the fall of 1991, Archimandrite Georgy, responding to the requests of the spiritual children of the entire northern region of Russia, orphaned after the departure of their spiritual father to the Krasnodar region, wanted to leave Kuban for one of the monasteries of the Arkhangelsk Diocese. But when everything was ready to return to the north, the priest fell ill. At this time, Bishop Isidore proposed opening a monastery in Timashevsk. Seeing that his illness did not allow him to leave, Father George agreed with the bishop’s decision to found a monastery in Kuban. Soon the illness, which happened by God’s providence, passed away. In June 1992, at the request of the ruling Archbishop Isidore of Krasnodar and Kuban, by decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Holy Spirit Monastery was opened in the city of Timashevsk. Archimandrite George was appointed vicar of the monastery.

Difficulties in the beginning of the life of the monastery

The opening of the monastery coincided with a difficult, turning point period in the life of our Motherland. The ongoing reforms, the introduction of the so-called “market economy,” have not spared a single resident of our country. Everyone knows how these transformations affected the common people - many went hungry, many were left homeless and without a means of subsistence, old people died, young people became drunkards and became drug addicts, there were many cases of suicide. During this period, the monastery also experienced difficulties. The brethren needed housing. Father Georgy did not dare to build then, but the Lord sent sympathetic, kind, Russian people in the person of Mikhail Mikhailovich Lomach, Vladimir Kirillovich Kochetov and Nikolai Mikhailovich Coverage. As a charitable donation, the confectionery factory provided building materials for the construction of the fence. The governor decided to build not just a fence, but a fence-frame; fortunately, after the construction of the church there was still brick left. With great effort, two buildings were built with an arch connecting them and an entrance gate.

Initially, the brethren were twelve people. In ancient monasteries and monastic communities there was a rule - to feed from the labors of your own hands. It is based on the words of St. ap. Paul, who said: “... these hands have served my needs and the needs of those who were with me.” (Acts 20:34); “...in labor and in exhaustion, in watching often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often...” (2 Cor. 11:27); “...if anyone does not want to work, do not eat; ... some of you act disorderly, do nothing, but fuss. We admonish and convince such people by our Lord Jesus Christ, so that they, working in silence, eat their bread.” (2 Thess. 3:10-12).

St. Basil the Great, in the charter for cenobitic monasteries, in rule 172, says: “In the ascetic regulations, this need for labor and work is proven by the example of the Lord and St. Apostles."

Therefore, the monastery petitioned the secular authorities to allocate land plots for economic needs. Thanks to the help of the head of the administration of the Krasnodar region, Nikolai Ignatovich Kondratenko, and the head of the Timashevsky district, Alexander Alexandrovich Chernyshenko, the monastery was allocated almost three hundred hectares of arable land. Currently the monastery has about four hundred hectares. There are two farmsteads where the brethren work, growing the necessary agricultural crops for the needs of the monastery. The monastery is engaged in grain crops, grows vegetables, potatoes, perennial grasses for animal feed, and there are young plantations of fruit trees. In addition, there is a small population of cows, pigs, and poultry. Have your own milk, eggs; the meat goes for sale. The brethren carry out many other labors and obediences: performing and participating in divine services, working in the prosphora, in the candle workshop, driving cars, preparing meals, carpentry, carpentry, plumbing, construction, etc.

The main thing for a person living in a monastery is not life in a society of like-minded people of the same faith, not endless work, but spiritual prayerful unity with God. Prayer is the basis of a monk’s life.

“Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the spirit.” (1 Thess. 5:16-19).

In the monastery, worship begins early, at four o'clock in the morning. First, the Midnight Office is served, then the morning prayers are read, and Matins is performed. After it, the first, third and sixth hours are read. The morning service ends with the Divine Liturgy. In the evening at eighteen o'clock Vespers is served, preceded by the reading of the ninth hour. Evening prayers are read after dinner. During the day, the brethren follow the cell rule, read the Psalter, the Gospel, and the Apostle. During all the time of vigils and labors, he practices the Jesus Prayer, following the words of the Lord: “... when you pray, enter your room (the solitary soul) and, having closed your door, pray to your Father, who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.” (Matt. 6:6).

Although people come to the monastery by the will of God and at the behest of the soul, not many are kept within the monastery walls. Self-love, self-indulgence, self-will, arrogance, self-confidence, complacency, lack of humility and meekness, pride, despondency, obstinacy, condemnation and talkativeness, disobedience, laziness, ingratitude, unrepentance and other passions hinder the spiritual strengthening of those entering the path of spiritual monastic work. A person comes to the monastery from the world, for, according to the Holy Scriptures: “The world lies in evil.” (1 John 5:19), evil consists in the fact that “he who commits sin is a slave of sin...” (John 8:34). Leaving the world and entering the monastery, he carries with him the worldly skills and habits acquired from birth. In the world, a person is brought up on the principles of self-affirmation, pride, self-love, and denial of the authority of elders; If a person does not know how to stand up for himself, insist on his own, rise above others, then for the world he does not have vitality within himself. Therefore, the world forms in people the qualities necessary for survival in this world. And even people prone to spiritual impulses are subject to passions common to the world around them. According to the words of the psalmist, the prophet King David: “With the venerable you will be, and with the chosen you will be chosen, and with the obstinate you will be corrupt.” (Ps. 17:26-27).

In the monastery, completely different character traits are required from a person - according to the words of the Holy Apostle Paul: “... put aside everything: anger, rage, malice, slander, foul language of your lips; do not tell lies to each other... clothe yourself, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; ...most of all put on love, which is the sum of perfection...” (Col. 3:8-9;12;14).

If the apostle speaks these words to all Christians, then all the more so should a person entering the monastery fence possess these Christian virtues or at least strive for them. Most of all, from those entering the path of monastic life, the highest virtue is required - humility, for it is said in the Holy Gospel: “... for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humiliates himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11), and the holy Apostle Peter: “... clothe yourself with humility, because God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter:5:5), and the prophet David says to the Lord: “For You have saved the humble people and humbled the eyes of the proud.” (Ps. 17:28). The reverend fathers of antiquity said that the beginning of humility is obedience.

Abba Moses said to a certain brother: “Let us ask for obedience, which gives rise to humility and brings patience, and generosity, and contrition, and brotherly kindness, and love, for these are our military weapons.” He also said: “A monk who fasts, being under the command of a spiritual father, but lacking obedience and humility, will not acquire any virtue, because he does not know what a monk is.” (Ancient Patericon. 14.6;8). The same book says: “The elders said: God requires nothing more from novice monks than the work of obedience.” (Ibid. Ch. 14.23). St. John Climacus says: “The Fathers call psalmody a weapon, prayer a wall, immaculate tears a laver, and blessed obedience they call confession, without which none of the passionate will see the Lord.” (Ladder. Degree 4.8). Precisely, the lack of humility is a stumbling block for many who follow the path of monastic activity. Some, having lived in the monastery for many years, do not acquire this virtue, without which there is no salvation according to the word of the Holy Scriptures and, having put in a lot of work, patience, hardship and oppression, having endured deeds for the sake of the Lord, without having the inner spiritual stone of faith - humility, they leave the monastery . It is true: “...many are called, but few are chosen” (Matt. 20:16). The Lord Jesus Christ taught: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit...” (John 15:16), everyone who enters into the service of God does not choose this service himself, but God Himself pre-elects him. And, leaving the monastery of his own free will, he leaves the cross given to him by God.

Over the time since the founding of the monastery, many people have passed through who wanted to find refuge in it, but few cemented their desire with patience and humility. The Ancient Patericon describes the image of monastics in the form of three flying birds: monks from different centuries of Christianity - middle and last times. The first two birds had enough strength to, avoiding temptations, reach the Kingdom of Heaven; the third bird, representing the image of a monk of recent times, either soared to the sky, then fell exhausted to the ground, then rushed upward again. The ancient fathers very accurately depicted in this picture the spiritual power of monks from different eras. The ascetics of the first centuries of Christianity surprise us with their exploits. It is not for nothing that many of them were called Great: Anthony the Great, Theodosius the Great, Pohomius the Great, Onuphrius the Great, Arseny the Great, and many, many other saints spent their lives in the same severity. Monks of later times, also imitating the venerable fathers of antiquity, bore their burdens on the cross in patience and humility. Nowadays, monks also strive to imitate the godly life of the ancients, but the world around us has changed far from for the better...

Spiritual and moral activities of the monastery.

Ten years have passed. Is this a lot or a little?... For the life of humanity, this is nothing. This can be an entire era for the life of society. For a person's life, this can be a huge part of their life. What are ten years for a monastery? The monastery is now in its infancy. Starting is always difficult. It is very difficult to restore lost spirituality. It is not easy to strengthen people in the truth and teach them to live in truth. It is difficult to leave established habits that are incompatible with the monastic way of life. It is difficult to build a spiritual life, because evil lives in the world. Evil does not need to be taught, it impudently climbs in on its own, instigated and taught by the spirits of evil. Good is difficult to instill because of the spiritual damage of humanity, about which the Apostle Paul says: “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh, because the desire for good is in me, but to do it I cannot do it.” I find it. I don’t do the good that I want, but I do the evil that I don’t want.” (Rom. 7:18-19).

Therefore, it is difficult to change for the better - towards goodness, humility, love. Just like it’s hard to climb a mountain, but easy to fall…. Ahead of the climber awaits the peak and indescribable joy; The bottom and death await those who fall. Therefore, it is better to endure and move forward. The construction of a monastery is also difficult, since the monastery is built on its own and only at its own expense.

Many people visit our monastery in order to get an appointment with the abbot of our monastery, Archimandrite George. Most turn to mental and physical pain, illness, grief, for spiritual, everyday and medical advice. And very many are given help and consolation through the prayers of our elder. Father instructs everyone to follow the rules of the Orthodox way of life. Most of all, he teaches to constantly visit the temples of God and regularly partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. To preach to the people the initial rules and truths of the Orthodox way of life, morality, ethics and worldview, Archimandrite George collaborates with the editors of the newspaper “Heal by Faith,” which publishes answers to pressing questions and selects Orthodox material of instructive content for fragile and new believers.
Monastery in our time.

Currently, about eighty people live and serve in the monastery. The monastery is headed by the viceroy, Archimandrite George. Under his spiritual leadership are six holy monks, two hierodeacons, three monks, twenty-four monks and novices. Painting is underway in the temple... The decoration of the temple was started by the icon painter Rekukha Nikolai. After his death, in the fall of 1998, icon painting was continued by the inhabitants of our monastery - hieromonk Martyry (Knyazko) and monk Procopius (Syroegin). The temple is decorated with a plaster iconostasis and wooden carved icon cases. Wood carving is carried out by a worker of the monastery, Vladimir Nikolaevich Kobzev. In the future, it is planned to build a refectory building, a residential building for the brethren and a residential building for priests, and a hotel in the monastery. Architectural calculations and technical supervision during construction are carried out by architect Alexander Ivanovich Kolesnikov. A temple was built on the farmstead, in the Nekrasovo farmstead. Near it, the foundation has been laid for a bell tower, which is also planned to be built. There are many plans for the construction, improvement and decoration of the monastery. But whether they are destined to be fulfilled depends on the will of God and God’s favor.

In the temple there are revered shrines: the icons of the Mother of God “Burning Bush” and “Vladimir”, the icon of the Holy Great Martyr and healer Panteleimon, painted on Athos; there is a reliquary with the relics of the saints of God. Archimandrite George has a cross - a reliquary, given to him by the elder Archimandrite Job (Kundrya), with rare relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Holy Great Martyr and healer Panteleimon.

The history of the “Vladimir” Icon of the Mother of God is very interesting. When Father Georgy served in the Arkhangelsk diocese, the granddaughter of the murdered priest brought him this icon and told him about the miracle that happened at the time of her grandfather’s execution. This happened in the thirties. Three commissars burst into the priest's house and ordered the father of the family to get ready for a long journey without delaying a minute. Worried by this sudden invasion, the priest asked for a little time to pray to God and turned his face to the icons. Tears flowed from the eyes of the Queen of Heaven, written on the tree. Seeing this miracle, one of the commissars became furious and, drawing a revolver, began shooting at the icon, after which he killed the praying priest. Blood flowed from the bullet holes of the pierced icon, as from human wounds. By morning, the blasphemous commissar committed suicide by shooting himself. The relatives of the murdered priest hid the holy icon, which had shed blood, and preserved it. This icon is currently located in the altar of the temple.

The formation of the Holy Spiritual Monastery dates back to the first quarter of the 12th century. It was founded by the disciples of the Vyatichi enlightener, the Venerable Hieromartyr John Kuksha.

Initially, the monastery was located near the present village of Kresty, Novosilsky district, Oryol region, and numbered about 600 brethren who knew how not only to fulfill church requirements, but also, if necessary, to stand up for the Orthodox faith and the Fatherland with arms in hand... For example, in 1380, a group of monks of St. Dukhova of the monastery as part of the ambush regiment, which included the Novosilsk squad, participated in the Battle of Kulikovo.

In 1495, the monastery was transferred from Bolshaya Yeletskaya to the Lithuanian road and was located near Novosil. Over time, three magnificent churches, residential and outbuildings, surrounded by a stone monastery fence, were erected here. The outpost of Orthodoxy had a strong subsidiary farm. But, as before, in difficult times he always put up his warriors to defend the Fatherland. In particular, a direct relationship is traced between the Holy Spiritual Monastery and the results of the famous Battle of Judgment (1555).

According to the petition of the abbot of the Holy Spiritual Monastery, Simon, about the need to strengthen the Novosil fortress and, in general, the abattoir defensive line from the Crimean Tatars and Nagais (this is also a true historical fact!) in 1644, the first sovereign from the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich, visited the monastery. He stayed with the abbot for several days, then carefully examined the city fortress and talked with the military leaders. Having made the necessary conclusions, the sovereign immediately ordered to significantly strengthen the garrison of the fortress. Novosilsk gunners, archers and Cossacks were given a certificate for owning land. Then this sovereign decision was extended to all the marked borders of Great Rus'.

Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, the quietest and wisest ruler of the Russian state, who, as we know, managed to significantly streamline domestic legislation (Code of Laws), also visited the Holy Spirit Monastery several times. There is no doubt that Alexey Mikhailovich’s spiritual instructions in the monastery also had a beneficial effect on his activities.

Without exaggeration, we can say that the Holy Spirit Monastery from time immemorial was a place especially revered by Orthodox Christians. Not only emperors and influential statesmen came here for spiritual advice. Lines of pilgrims from all over the Russian land stretched here. Here was one of the greatest Russian shrines - the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas, brought to Novosil in 1153 by the second wife of Yuri Dolgoruky Olga, who was also the sister of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel. This icon was so revered in Rus' that in favorable summer times it was regularly taken around the cities and villages of Russia (until 1917). After the Bolsheviks, obsessed with the satanic idea, came to power, the trace of the miraculous icon was lost. What her future fate is is unknown.

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit was closed in 1918. The communists destroyed it in 1934: two churches were blown up - St. Nicholas with the Exaltation of the Cross chapel and in the name of the Image of Christ the Savior Not Made by Hands. Miraculously, only the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity survived, since they decided to use it as a warehouse for storing grain and spare parts for agricultural machinery. The residential and outbuildings of the monastery, as well as the monastery fence, were completely destroyed.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity was severely damaged. All that remained of it was the central part with a dilapidated dome, the altar and some supporting structures of the refectory.

After the war, the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity was also used as a storage room. On the territory of the monastery, the leaders of the local collective farm set up a machine yard and placed containers with fuel and lubricants. And this bacchanalia continued for decades...

By the time monastic life resumed, most of the buildings were partially or completely destroyed. Initially it had the status of a parish.

The revival of the Holy Spirit Monastery began in 2004 with the blessing of the schema-abbot and confessor of the Optina Hermitage, and now the confessor of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill, Schema-Archimandrite Elijah.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of December 27, 2005 (Journal No. 117), the parish was transformed into the diocesan Monastery of the Holy Spirit.

In 2010, the laying of the western and southern parts of the monastery fence with watchtowers and a chapel continued, and the construction of the southern part of the monastery fence with a platform began. The restoration of the monastery church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity has continued. Work was actively underway on the construction of the temple complex, the installation of gas pipelines and heating networks. The improvement of the monastery territory continued. To date, the vestibule and refectory part of the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity have been restored, and work is underway to restore the central part and altar of this temple. The northern part of the monastery fence with the entrance gates and two watchtowers has been built, 70 percent of the brickwork of the eastern and western parts of the fence has been completed, and construction of the southern part has begun. A guardhouse, an almshouse, a refectory with a kitchen for monks and novices have been built, and the construction of a two-story monastic building and a warm garage are nearing completion. An artesian well was drilled and water supply and sewerage lines were installed in the almshouse. An underground gas pipeline has been laid to the main monastery facilities.

The restoration of the Holy Spiritual Monastery is being carried out in accordance with the long-term development plan based on the preserved historical and architectural information and photographs of the monastery from the early twentieth century. Everything is being done in order to recreate the ancient Orthodox shrine in its former beauty and grandeur.

We feel constant guardianship and support in the complex and difficult task of reviving the monastery from our confessor, Fr. Or me. May God grant him health for many years to come. He patiently and persistently works to form a friendly and cohesive team of the monastery brethren. We receive novices newly arriving at the monastery with the blessing of Father Elijah. He always comes to us for tonsure with the greatest joy. The brethren in the Holy Spirit Monastery, thank God, everything is increasing every year. To date, there are already nine monks (including three hieromonks and two hierodeacons) and seven novices. Fifteen workers conscientiously, for the glory of God, carry out work on the restoration and construction of monastery facilities.

Hegumen Alexander (Maslov)

The city of Timashevsk in the Krasnodar region is known for the monastery located there - the Holy Spiritual Monastery. It is located on the outskirts of the city, but even during its construction the future rector said that it would become a “center.”

Where is the Holy Spirit Monastery located on the map?

You will find it in the Southern microdistrict of Timashevsk, where Malo-Vygonnaya and Druzhby streets intersect. A branch flows nearby - Kirpiltsy.

History of the sacred place

In 1987, Father George took over the leadership of the Holy Ascension parish in Timashevsk. Then he wished to build a temple here. To do this, it was necessary to obtain territory for development. Local authorities were in no hurry to allocate land. The priest had to endure many difficulties and oppression from them.

The way out of the predicament was to purchase a house on 15 acres of marshy land. There is a legend about this hut: in the 20th century, a certain perspicacious holy fool girl living not far from it predicted the construction of a monastery on this site.

In the fall of 1991, the church was completed and consecrated in honor of the descent of the Holy Spirit. At this time, Father wanted to go to the place of his previous ministry, but God’s will was different. Bishop Isidore opens a monastery here, ordains him to the rank of archimandrite and appoints him to the position of governor.

The monastery has shrines:

reliquary with particles of 23 holy saints of God;
list of images of St. healer Panteleimon, brought from Athos;
icons of the Mother of God “Vladimir” and “Burning Bush”;
a piece of Mamre oak brought from the Holy Land.

The story of the “Vladimir” icon

To Father George, when he was still serving in the Epiphany Church in the Arkhangelsk region, a parishioner brought the face of the “Vladimir Mother of God” and told the following story:

This woman's grandfather was a priest. In the 1930s, when the clergy were massively arrested and an anti-religious struggle was waged, this also affected her grandfather. One evening the commissioners came into the house and ordered him to “get ready for the road.” The priest was confused and asked for time to get ready, but he himself turned to the holy corner and began to pray. Everyone noticed how drops of tears appeared on the image of the Mother of God. The commissioner got angry, took out a revolver and started shooting at the icon, after which he shot the priest in a rage.

Relatives hid the shrine and carefully preserved it, passing it on from generation to generation. Over time, the grandmother gave it to her granddaughter, and she brought it to church. This image was brought by Archimandrite. George in the Holy Spirit Monastery of Timashevsk. Now it is kept in the temple altar.

About the confessor of the Timashevsky Monastery

Fr. was born. George February 6, 1942 After graduating from school, he entered obedience at the Transfiguration Monastery in Transcarpathia. In 1961, when the monastery was closed, he left for the Nikolaev region. In 1962 he was drafted into the army. Upon his return, he went to live in Irkutsk. There, in December 1968, he took monastic vows with the name George. Then he was ordained a hierodeacon and then a hieromonk. He served first in the Murmansk region, and then in the Arkhangelsk region. In 1978 he studied at the Moscow Seminary.

To the Krasnodar diocese, Fr. George arrived after Metropolitan Isidore, who was still a bishop at that time. He devoted 19 years to improving the “island of spirituality” in Timashevsk. Here he was tonsured into the great schema with the name of Savva. During the years of his ministry, many changes took place - the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord was rebuilt, buildings for household purposes and four farmsteads were added in nearby settlements.

However, the abbot is better known for his gift of healing with herbs and prayer. He was a herbalist who knew his business well. He learned the art of using the gifts of nature in the treatment of various diseases in his youth, as a novice in the city of Chernivtsi (in Ukraine), on the border with Romania.

There was always a queue for him. People came to receive spiritual and physical treatment; the Holy Spirit Timashevsky Monastery was visited by thousands. Father gave herbal teas that helped cure those diseases that doctors of official, recognized medicine could not cope with.

Life of monks today

At first it was inhabited by only 12 monks. Over time, their number grew to 80. Following the ancient rules of residence of monastic communities, they feed themselves from the labors of their own hands.

Today, 400 hectares of land have been allocated for the monastery for planting agricultural crops. The brethren bear different obediences. Some are engaged in growing vegetables, fruits, grains, herbs, others work in the fraternal refectory, on prosphora, in garages. There is poultry, cattle and pig farming. Excess products - eggs, milk and meat - are sold.

During the construction of the church, all finishing work was carried out by monks: they painted the temple walls and made wooden carved icon cases. Today, all the splendor of the temple can be seen in the photo.

In 2011, Fr. George went to the Lord, but the monks continue his “work” - they collect herbs and make all kinds of infusions and teas for various ailments according to preserved recipes. All this is sold in the monastery shop. Those who have already tried herbal preparations many times leave positive reviews about them.

How to get there (get there)?

The easiest way to get here from the Timashevskaya railway station is by minibus No. 2, get off at the final stop “Naumenko Street”. From here you will need to walk about 1 km in a southeast direction.

It’s easy to get from the center of Timashevsk to the monastery by car like this:

Contact Information

Address: Druzhby street, 1, Timashevsk, Krasnodar region, Russia.
GPS coordinates: 45.601274, 38.954505.
Phones: +7-86130-4-01-24.
Official site:
Opening hours: from 4:00 to 19:00.

Timashevsk made the Holy Spirit Monastery a spiritual center not only for monks, but also for everyone who comes here. Divine services are held there every day; on Thursday, an akathist is read in front of the image of that very “Vladimir” icon. In conclusion, we offer a video about this monastery, enjoy watching!

The beginning of the history of the monastery is associated with miraculous phenomena, which, according to legend, took place in these densely forested mountains in the year. According to the narrative compiled on behalf of Turkul, a pious landowner from Tarnopol (now Ternopil), at night November 25 That year he was in the forest with other hunters, numbering up to thirty people. When the hunters lit a large fire and gathered around, peals of thunder were heard from the western side, gradually heading towards the mountain on which the hunters were located. Then the thunder stopped and a deer appeared above the fire. The hunters began to shoot at the deer and fired fifteen arrows, but he still stood calm and motionless. When they came closer, the deer disappeared, leaving behind a trail in the form of a fiery cord, one end of which was on the ground and the other was hidden in the clouds. Struck by this vision, the hunters returned to their place. They all came to the conviction that this was some kind of incomprehensible mystery of God. We spent the night until morning without sleep, and the next day everyone went home. After some time, the hunters again arrived at the place of wondrous visions and saw something new: the fireball that appeared on one mountain moved to another mountain - the one where it subsequently appeared. Pochaev Lavra.

The actual foundation of the monastery-monastery on the site of miraculous visions is attributed by legend to the year. According to this story, the monastery Holy Spirit was founded Greek venerable ascetic Methodius.

The main sources about the ancient history of the monastery - the Pochadiv Chronicle (once lost and partially recovered) and the Biography of St. Methodius - remain controversial.

Uniate period and the extinction of the monastery

After monastic life on Skit Mountain ceased, the remaining buildings collapsed over time and were covered with debris. The mountain turned into an abandoned place, which over time was overgrown with forest. Only the memory of the monastery has been preserved, enshrined in the popular name of the mountain - “Skitok”.

Revival and closure

The design of the temple for the revived monastery was drawn up by the senior engineer of the construction department under the Volyn provincial government L. I. Albertus. Bishop Modest approved the plan of the temple, and regarding the name of the new monastery he indicated the following in his resolution:

it would be advisable to dedicate it to a holiday that people could flock to in the summer... maybe it’s possible to dedicate Holy Spirit and celebrate on second day Pentecost, to procession of the cross transfer from the Lavra and other neighboring parishes holy icon for this day, or for a greater celebration, set something else. People celebrate Pentecost for three days, therefore they can go to the monastery to pray .

In an effort to speed up and reduce the cost of the initial construction work, the spiritual cathedral of the Lavra on March 15 of the same year blessed the transfer of the empty house with the All Saints Church from the Lavra monastery to the monastery. On March 17 of the same year, work began on dismantling the house. Meanwhile, on March 18, a resident of Pochaev, Arkady Godovitsky, built a house for workers from Lavra material, under which there were two cellars. On May 21, 1901, on the second day of Pentecost, the foundation stone of the cathedral church was held in honor of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. The rank was headed by the Archbishop of Volyn Modest with a gathering of many clergy and laity who came to the “Skeet” in four processions of the cross.

The construction of the Holy Spirit Church required 64 thousand bricks. The plaster was made of alabaster. The builders of the temple were residents of the village Radzivilov Stefan Lukasevich and his assistants. From Moscow In March 1901, the bell foundry of the Samgin brothers delivered a bell cast at the expense of a pious resident St. Petersburg Anna Ilyina. She also donated many icons and utensils, as well as two thousand rubles for the improvement of the monastery. Temple iconostasis was made Kalyazinsky merchant and master of cutting iconostasis Makariy Vasilyevich Shishkin from pine and linden wood covered with red gold; The iconostasis was delivered to the monastery in January of this year. In the year the lower temple of the cathedral church was consecrated, becoming one of the first altars in the name of the newly glorified saint Seraphim of Sarov.

Intensifying nationalist intolerance in the isolated West Ukraine made the monastery one of the targets for fighters against Russians influence and Orthodox faith. The idea of closing the monastery and monastery, or transferring these monasteries to the state with the prospect of further conversion to Uniatism. During this period, threats and political attacks became a common background of monastic life.

Abbots

St. Methodius (1219 - ?)

Uniate period Seraphim-Diveevsky Holy Trinity Monastery

Documents, literature

Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Lvov, f. 684, op. 1, d. 3266, l. 1-3; d. 3264, l. 1-15.
State Archives of Ternopil Region (GATO), f. 258, op. 1, d. 4409, l. 2-5; d. 4757, l. 14; op. 2, d. 1565, l. 85-87; op. 3, d. 295, l. 261.
Ambrose (Lototsky), archim., The Legend of the Pochaev Dormition Lavra, Pochaev, 1878, p. 12.
Levitsky V., Materials on the history of the Pochaev Lavra, Pochaev, 1912, vol. 1, p. 156, 160.
Pochaev leaf, 1903.
Description of the Pochaev Dormition Lavra, Pochaev, 1904, p. 118.
Pochaivsky Holy Spirit Monastery, Pochaev, 2003, p. 19, 33.

Used materials

Serpeninov Valentin, “The Holy Spirit Skete of the Pochaev Lavra: the historical path,” official website of the Department of Church History of the Moscow Theological Academy, May 26, 2015: