The capital Moscow is famous for its numerous and magnificent monasteries. According to the customs of past years, they all had serious fortifications and high walls. But, despite this, most of the Christian shrines were destroyed and plundered in times of trouble. And yet, like the Phoenix bird, many of them were reborn again and again for spiritual service. Several ancient beautiful monasteries have miraculously survived to this day. One of them is the Conception Convent for women.
Conception Monastery - From century to century
Now the Conception Monastery is the most ancient monastery of nuns in Moscow. It was recreated practically from the ashes five times.
The monastery was built in 1360 by the Metropolitan of Moscow Alexy. The idea was given to him by the Monks Abbess Eupraxia and Juliana. This was the first monastery exclusively for women. She became an example by which all other convents in Moscow were settled. The population began to call the monastery Starodevichy. He was revered for his strict observance of church rules and for the unshakable piety of the nuns.
Over the next few centuries, the temple burned several times. During a terrible fire in Moscow in 1547, the monastery was completely burnt out, but was revived thanks to the persistence of the sisters and their glory among the people.
Childless spouses visited the Conception Monastery in the hope of being healed. It is said that many there were cured of infertility. Even Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich and Tsarina Irina (nee Godunov) made a pilgrimage to this monastery. Soon their daughter Anna was born. According to a vow, the royal couple erected a temple in honor of St. Anna with the borders of her heavenly patrons - the holy Martyr Irene and the Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates.
During the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Conception Monastery was completely ruined. It was only under Tsar Peter I that it was completely restored again.
During the invasion of Napoleon, the monastery was again burnt, but the laity raised funds and restored the monastery.
The most moral representatives of the noble families of Russia retired to this monastery for pious exploits.
In the Conception Monastery there was a place for the most socially unprotected segments of the population. An almshouse was set up for the elderly and infirm nuns, and an orphanage for girls.
After the October Revolution, the cathedral was again completely destroyed. But the believers saved the miraculous image, it was preserved for many years in the temple of the prophet Elijah.
A school was built on the site of the destroyed monastery in 1930. But he continued to live in the people's memory, thanks to which his restoration began in 1999-2005. In 2010, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill conducted the great consecration and the first Divine Liturgy in the reconstructed Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
And now this beautiful building filled with Orthodox spirituality pleases all Muscovites and guests of the capital with its bright appearance.
Cathedral is impressive
Even by its size alone, the cathedral is impressive. Ten small churches, ten limits, are reunited into a stately architectural complex.
The main shrine of the monastery is the tomb of the Monks Juliana and Eupraxia. These nuns were glorified as saints not so long ago - in 2001. Since then, every May 16, the memory of these reverend sisters has been performed. The relics themselves are hidden from prying eyes under a bushel. Their location is kept secret, and the place of burial is venerated according to all Christian canons. Amazing healings happen at the tomb.
In the same Kazan region, there is an icon of the Hieromartyr Vladimir, who is the grandfather of the current abbess of the monastery.
Another shrine of the Conception Monastery is the Graceful Icon of the Mother of God. There are several of her images in the monastery. One of them is a copy of the Iberian Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, it was brought from the famous Athos monastery.
In the underground part of the monastery, architectural fragments and remains of the foundations of all the previous four temples are visible. There are two small underground temples.
The dungeon makes you think about the vanity and frailty of worldly life. Here the monastery's ossuary with a prophetic inscription on the skull suddenly opens up: "We were like you, and you will be like us."
