Tour of the Holy Trinity St.-Sergius Lavra

The Holy Trinity-St.Sergius Monastery was founded in 1337 by St. Sergius
of Radonezh, one of the greatest Russian saints. He is the patron-saint
of all Russia. So it is necessary to say a few words about his life.
St.Sergius was born in 1314 in a family of pious [paiss] Rostov
notables. When the parents of St. Sergius died, he came to this place
together with his elder brother Stephen [sti:vn], who was a monk
already. At that time, St. Sergius was 23 years old, and he was a
layman. The two brothers built a church in the name of the Holy Trinity
and a wooden cell (hut) in the forest. This place at that time was very
remote and deserted, and there were no people for about 10 miles around.
Several months later Stephen [sti:vn] left St. Sergius alone and went to
live in a monastery in Moscow because life in the wilderness was too
difficult for him.

For 3 years, St. Sergius lived alone in the woods, and then took his
monastic vows [vauz]. We can see this episode in the wall painting. It
was then that he received the name Sergius. Before that he was called
Bartholomew. When a person takes the monastic vows, he is given a new
name, because it is the beginning of a new life for one — a life of
repentance and prayer and reliance on God.

Soon other people who heard of St. Sergius' holy life started coming to
him in order to become his disciples. They wanted to live (be) under his
spiritual guidance. They built their own cells (huts) in the forest
around St. Sergius' one. In that way the monastery appeared. At that
time, monasteries were quite different from what they are today. Every
monk had his own hut and provided himself for all his needs. The huts
were (could be) at some distance from each other, so that the monks
would only see each other in the church where they came together for
daily prayer. From the time of St. Sergius, they started living and
working together as they do now. The walls of the monastery were built
in the middle of the 16th century by Tzar John the Forth (the Terrible),
and reconstructed in the first half of the 17th century. We are now
standing in the Holy Gate of the monastery.

The wall paintings show the most important events in the life of
St.Sergius. On that wall there is a vision he had one night as he was
praying for his monastery and disciples, so that the Lord helped them in
their daily feats.  He suddenly saw a heavenly light coming down into
his cell and as he went out he saw numerous beautiful birds flying
around and above him. A voice from heaven, calling him by his name,
said: "As many birds you see now, so many disciples and followers
decorated with every virtue you will see on this place".

Next is an important episode from Russian history. In 1380, the Grand
Prince of Moscow Dimitry, who was called later DimitryDonskoy, came to
ask for St.Sergius' prayer and blessing before a decisive battle against
the Tartars who oppressed Russia at that time. Thanks to St. Sergius'
prayers he won the battle and Russia got the opportunity to egain its
independence, St.Sergius' role was also decisive in the unification of
Russia around Moscow. In the lifetime of St. Sergius Russian princes  
were continuously waging wars against one another. St. Sergius
reconciled the princes with the Grand Prince of Moscow and persuaded
them to submit (to obey) to him.

Here St. Sergius is shown during his life alone in the woods. St.
Sergius refused [ri' fju:zd] to meet (to fulfil [ful: fll]) even the
most urgent demands [di'ma:ndz] of life. His only food was bread and
water. Some times his junior brother Peter brought bread to him from
Radonezh. Once a hungry wild bear came out to St. Sergius and he gave
him some bread. The beast liked the hospitaly of the hermit and would
come to him for treat [tri:t]. St. Sergius shared the last piece of
bread with the bear frequently ['frirkwantly]. He even gave the bear his
daily bread and so was without food. This peaceful contact of St.Sergius
with a wild animal represents (shows, gives an example of) the original
obedience of all the animals to the first-created human being. When a
person lives according to the Gospel Commandments and obeys God, then
other creatures submit themselves to him.

In that painting there is St. Sergius and the Moscow Metropolitan
Alexios. As St. Alexios felt his last day was near, he thought of St.
Sergius as the successor to the metropolitan seat. But St. Sergius was a
very humble man. He preferred the life in his remote monastery and
refused [ri'fju:zd] to accept [ek' sept] the golden cross Metropolitan
Alexios offered him.

When St. Sergius was celebrating Divine Liturgy, other priests saw an
angel who was assisting him. Once, a fire from heaven came into the
chalice, and St. Sergius took it in with the Holy Communion.

Once St. Sergius brought back to life with his prayer a dead child of a
local peasant ['peznt] who had already brought a coffin for his son.

St. Sergius always worked a lot in the monastery. He looked after the
plants [pla:nts], baked bread, brought water for all the others, and
even helped them to build their cells. At night, he went around the
monastery to see what the monks were doing. If they were not praying, as
they were supposed to, he knocked on the door to make them get up to
pray.

On his last day, St. Sergius took the Holy Communion and died
peacefully. He was born in 1314 and died in 1392. He lived 78 years,
which was very long for his time. 30 years after his death, his holy
relics were found intact (undecayed). We can see this event in the
painting above the entrance. His holy relics were put in a wooden
shrine. Let us go to the historical place where St. Sergius built the
church of the Holy Trinity.

  (Stop behind the bookshop and say:)

We have just been in the Holy Gate of the monastery. It is called so
because in Greek and Russian monasteries there is a tradition to build a
church above the main entrance. This church is dedicated to St. John the
Forerunner  (the Baptist) and was built in the late 17th century instead
of the previous (another) church, dedicated to St. Sergius. There is a
service here about twice a year only, but a lot of people come here
every day for confession. It is symbolic because St.John the Forerunner
was a preacher of repentance and confession opens the way to the
spiritual life. We enter the spiritual life through the Holy Gate of
repentance as well as we come inside the monastery through that Holy
Gate. Let us continue our way. 

(On the way, you may tell them about the remains of the cemetery.)

When St. Sergius came to this place, he built a wooden church in the
name of the Holy Trinity. (The Holy Trinity cathedral was built on the
site of the church which St. Sergius had built with his own hands.) This
Cathedral was built by the successor of St. Sergius, St. Nikon in 1422.
It was made of white stone. It is the first stone building in the
monastery, and an example of old Russian architecture.

Now we shall go inside the Holy Trinity Cathedral. A service is going on
there at the moment. So I must tell everything outside.

During six centuries numerous pilgrims daily came here to venerate the
holy relics of St. Sergius and to pray to him. We venerate relics of
saints because when we pray in front of their relics they hear us more
quikiy and perform miracles. The holy relics of St. Sergius rest
(repoze) in the far right-hand corner of the church in a silver shrine.
Above the shrine there is a silver canopy which we^hs 400 kilograms. The
iconostasis was also made in the fist quater of the 15th century. The
three middle (central) rows of icons were painted by the saint Russian
icon-painter Andrei Roublev and his disciples. On the right of the Holy
Doors we shall see a copy of his icon of the Holy Trinity. In this icon
we shall see the three angels l^eind^ lz] which Abraham hospitably
received in his home. That was one of the first revelations of God as
Trinity — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The upper row of
icons was gifted to the monastery by Tzar Boris Godunov in 1600. In the
Orthodox Church we light candles in front of the icons. A burning
candle, as well as the icon-lamp, means our offering to God. It is also
a symbol of a Christian soul, which is always alight with faith, hope,
and love for God.

The service in this cathedral begins at 5 in the morning every day. All
the monks daily come to pray to the founder of this monastery. The
service, which is a continuous prayer to St. Sergius with Gospel
readings, goes on till 5 in the afternoon. The priests change every 2
hours.

The anteroom was built in the 16th century. At that time it was the
refectory of the monastery. The monks came here together for meals. The
number of monks was very little (about 60 monks). In the 19th century,
for example, there were already about 300 monks in the monastery .

We shall enter the Cathedral now. But remember that the service is going
on at the moment. So we ought to keep silence in this place. I shall
answer all your questions when we are back outside.

(Speaking right outside the Holy Trinity Cathedral.)

Now this monastery is the largest in the Russian Orthodox Church. It has
got 170 monks and 40 novices. Novices are men who are in a trial  period
and will become monks in some years.

The monastery was closed in 1920 after the Revolution, and was opened
again 26 years later in 1946, because of the great role of the Russian
Orthodox Church in the victory of the Second World War.

Let us go back to the facade of the Cathedral.

A small church is adjacent to the Cathedral. It is dedicated to St.
Nikon. He was the successor of St. Sergius as the abbot. As St. Nikon
felt his last day was near, he asked the monks to bury ['beri] him next
to St. Sergius. So this smaller church was built in 1548 above his
grave^greiv] (and reconstructed in 1623).

Before the 17th century, the domes were a half-sphere on all churches,
which symbolized the universe saved by the Crucifixion [,kru:S9fikJn].
In the 17th century, they started making flame-shaped [fleim-Jeipt ]
domes to signify the Holy Spirit that reigns [reinz] over the Church.
When there are five domes [da: mz], the central one symbolizes Christ,
and the other four the Evangelists.

On those domes we see ancient Orthodox crosses'. Besides the long
cross-beam for the hands they have two shorter ones. The upper
cross-beam symbolizes the title (inscription), which Pilate wrote. He
put it on the cross and the writing was :" Jesus of Nazareth, the King
of the Jews". (Jn.l9,19) The lowest one is perhaps for the feet. It is
usually inclined from left to right and has a symbolic meaning too. Two
robbers were crucified with Jesus Christ, one on His right and one on
His left. (Mk.l5,25) One of the criminals crucified on the left abused
(reviled [ri'vaild]) Him. "If You are the Christ Save Yourself and us"
he said. But the other (on the right) spoke up and rebuked [ri:bju:kd]
him. "Have you no fear of God at all?" he said. You got the same
sentence as He did, but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for
what we did. But this Man has done nothing wrong. Jesus," he said,"
remember me when You come into Your Kingdom". "Indeed, I promise you",
He replied, "today you will be with Me in Paradise"(Lk.23,39-43). So the
repenting robber was forgiven and taken to heaven. The unfaithful robber
who insulted our Saviour died in his sins and went to hell.That is why
the lowest inclined cross-beam remindes [rimaindz] us of the choice of
everybody between God and evil and points two possible paths: to
Paradise or to hell. It shows the way to God through repentance. The
cross on this small church (dedicated to St.Mikhey) is of the 18th
century. Its' form is more simple and is widely spread[spred] in the
West. Such crosses appeared in Russia only by the second half of the
17th century.

That church is dedicated to St. Sergius of Radonezh himself. It was
built at the end of the 17th century by order of Tsars Peter the 1st and
his elder brother John, because their lives had been saved here when
Peter was 10. Next to the church there is a Refectory where monks had
dinner after the service on big feasts. On the first/second floor of the
church was the library of the monastery. It was the storehouse for
ancient manuscripts [maenjoskripts] of the 12th century. We shall go
inside the church now.

(Inside.)

This is the main sanctuary (altar), dedicated to St. Sergius. In 1920
the monastery was closed and turned into a state museum. But dispite of
that it was used as a part of the city. Most of the churches were
dececrated. For example they used this church as a shooting-range and
the icons of the original iconostasis served [s3:vd] as targets. So they
were completely destroyed by bullets. In 1946 Moscow Patriarchate was
allowed to rent some of the monastery buildings. This iconostasis was
brought from Moscow in 1948, when the monastery was reopened. The stucco
 mouldings were made in the 18th century, but the paintings were made
quite recently in 1910. Murals (Paintings) are not frescoes, they are
oil paintings. (They are dedicated...) That side of the railings there
was the refectory hall itself, where two long tables were placed along
the walls and one along the railings. According to a commandment of St.
Sergius the poor were, and are, always welcome to the monastery. Under
the church there is a kitchen and a dining hall for the poor people.

It is only allowed to celebrate the Divine Liturgy once on one altar in
24 hours. These two additional (supplementary) sanctuaries (altars) were
constructed in 1956, so that the Divine Liturgy could be celebrated more
than once a day. On Sundays and big feasts the service is in the main
sanctuary, and in the smaller ones on weekdays. The right altar is
dedicated to St. Seraphim of Sarov, a hieromonk who lived in Russia in
1759-1833. He made many prophecies about the future of Russia, including
the revolution in 1917, the persecution of the Church, and the revival
we can see now. The left sanctuary is in the name of St. Joasaf, bishop
of Belgorod, who lived in the 18th century,  and worked many wonders
during his life and after, when people prayed to him. From 1754-1757 he
was the abbot of the monastery.

On the eastern wall there is a picture of the Last Judgement, which is
usually on the western side, as we can see in some older churches.

In the refectory hall three All-Russia Church councils took place in
1970, 1988 & in 1990.

A church consists of three parts: the sanctuary, separated from the rest
of the church by the iconostasis, the main part where the worshippers
stand, and the anteroom (narthex). It was meant for those who could not
take part in the Liturgy and had to stand there and repent. In the
anteroom we see events from the Old Testament: Adam and Eve in Paradise,
the Expulsion, the Flood, Kain and Abel, and the Sacrifice of Noah after
the Flood.

(outside)

The high five-storey Bell-Tower was built in the 18th century. It is 88
metres high and has got 23 bells. The largest bell is called "the
Swan"[swon] and weighs[weiz] 10 tons. Originally, the Bell-Tower had 45
bells. The largest bell was called "the Tzar" and weighed 65 tons. It
could even be heard within (at the distance of) 50 kilometeres. (There
is still a bell in the Moscow Kremlin which weighs 61 tons named "The
Great Dormition bell".) In 1927 the Tzar and some other large bells were
thrown down and broken. This resulted in a crack across the facade of
the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God. The spring of
the holy water became weaker and must now be assisted with a pump as
well. Some say that with decreasing of faith the amount of spring water
will also decrease.

That chaple was built above the spring in the late 17th century. The
spring was discovered in 1640 during construction work. Some people were
healed by that water. A blind monk Pathnuty was the first to be healed
by the holy water.

That green building is the Residence of the Patriarch of Moscow and all
Russia. He lives there on big feasts when on visits to the Lavra. He
addresses the believers from the balcony. The abbot of the monastrey is
the Patriarch himself. (The Holy Head of the Orthodox Church is Our Lord
Jesus Christ. The Patriarch is the Primate ['praimet] of  our  church.  
That  means  in   Latin   primus   inter  pares. Because by Grace of God
he has the same apostolic power as the rest of the bishops. But the
Patriarch has more administrative rights. In the Catholic Church
belivers consider the Pope to posses more Grace of God then other
bishops. ) The building was erected (built) in the 16th century and
reconstructed at the end of the 18th century (by Metropolitan Platon,
who was also the founder of the Moscow Theological Seminary).

This small church is dedicated to the Appearance (Apparition) of the
Holy Virgin to St. Sergius. We can see this episode in the icon over the
entrance. This was 6 years before his death. He was praying to the Holy
Virgin at night, and She appeared to him with the Apostles John the
Divine and Peter. The Holy Virgin promised that She would always keep
this place and it's bretheren under Her protection. This promise came
true in the early 17th century, when the Lavra was besieged by Polish
and Lithuanian troops for 16 months, but the monastery managed to hold
out. After the Revolution almost no buildings and churches were damaged
either.

Also some called this church the church of St. Mickey, because his grave
is in this church.He was the disciple of St. Sergius who witnessed the
appearance of the Holy Mother of God to the Saint. He is in the icon on
the right. He thought himself to be unworthy to see the Holy Virgin that
is why he covered his face with his hands.

The appearance took place in St. Sergius' cell, which stood here behind
St. Nikon's church. Now there are about 600 fragments of relics of
saints in that chapel.

That is the Church of the Descent [di' sent] of the Holy Spirit upon the
apostles. It was built at the end of the 15th century (in 1476). It
combines both a church and a belfry, which is quite unusual for central
Russia. One can see that the bells are right under the dome.

Under the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Holy Virgin there is a crypt
with 3 sanctuaries. The right sanctuary is consecrated in honour of St.
Innokenty, the Metropolitan of Moscow. He was called Apostle to America
and Alaska. Because for many years (from 1824 to 1867) he was a
missionary there (+1879). The main (central) altar is dedicated to All
the Saints of Russia. The left sanctuary (altar) is dedicated to All the
saints of Radonezh, who were disciples of St.Sergius. The disciples and
followers of St. Sergius founded more than 50 monasteries in central and
northen Russia. There are up to 70 saints among St. Sergius' followers.

The last two Patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, Alexios I
(+1970) and Pimen(+1990), were buried ['berid] here. Here people also
get the holy oil (blessed by the oil) from the icon-lamps which burn
above (at) the shrine with the holy relics of St.Sergius.

The Cathedral of the Dormition of the Holy Virgin was built at the end
of the 16th century by Tzar John the Terrible. It was concecrated in
1585. Its construction took 26 years. In many Russian monasteries there
are cathedrals dedicated to the Dormition.

(Going inside the cathedral.)

The oaken coffin of St.Sergius is kept inside the cathedral for
veneration.

The murals were painted during a 100 summer days in 1684, 99 years after
the sanctification of the cathedral. The fresco in the centre of the
ceiling is the Dormition of the Holy Virgin. Many other frescoes in the
vaults [vo:lts] show the main events of the New Testament and the
Apostles Evangelists. On the south and north walls there are also scenes
from the Gospel and the life of the Holy Virgin.

In this shrine there are holy relics of St.Philaret, the Metropolitan of
Moscow (+1867). In that shrine there are holy relics of his successor,
St. Innokenty (+1879).

Here is an icon of the Appearance of the Holy Virgin to St.Sergius.

The iconostasis in this cathedral dates from the 17th century. It has
got five rows, or tiers of icons. They begin to make such high
iconostasis of 5 rows only in Russia since the 17th century. The
iconostasis is a symbol of the heavenly Church or the history of
mankind, and reminds us that the entire Church is participating in the
service. Each tier [119] corresponds to a certain part of the Church.

The Holy Head of the Church is Our Lord Jesus Christ that is why the
Crucifixion, with the Holy Virgin on His right and Apostle John the
Divine on His left, is on the top of it. The top tier represents the
Forefathers (the saints of the Old Testament), with an icon of the Holy
Trinity, in the centre. In the next tier there are the Prophets. In the
middle of it there is the Holy Virgin with the Child Christ since the
Prophets predicted the birth of Jesus Christ from a Virgin. Next there
is the Deisus tier. This is already the Church of the New Testament. In
the centre there is Jesus Christ enthroned. On His sides there are the
Most Holy Virgin and St.John the Forerunner praying to Him. After them
on both sides there are Archangels, the Apostles, and the holy Bishops
of the early Church. The smaller icons in the fourth tier represent the
feasts of the Church, for example, the main events of the Gospel
celebrated by the Church. In the lowest fifth tier there are icons which
deal with the local church. So it is called the local one. That is why
the icon of the Holy Trinity is there. There is a rule that the second
icon on the right of the Royal Gate dedicated to the name of the
cathedral. So we see there the icon of the Dormition of the Holy Mother
of God. This icon is the oldest one here, it goes back to the 16th
century. They pay particular (special) attention to the Dormition of the
Virgin. The reason for this is that the death of the Virgin was a
transition to eternal life. Jesus Christ Himself appeared at Her death
bed, surrounded by angels, and took Her soul up with Him to heaven.
Death hour like that is what every Christian is striving for.

The Royal Gate is called so because during the Holy Liturgy, Jesus
Christ, the King of Glory, comes invisibly through them. The Holy Doors
symbolize the doors to Heaven. Usually there are 6 icons on them: the
Most Holy Virgin and the Archangel Gabriel, who announced to Her about
the birth of Christ, and the four Evangelists. Above the Gate there is
an icon of the Last Supper, because the Liturgy is a repetition of the
Last Supper, during which bread and wine are transformed by the Holy
Spirit into the Very Blood and Body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Usually on the western side of the Russian churches there is a picture
of the Last Judgement. The altar is always on the east side because the
Second Coming will be from the east, and we are waiting for it facing
east during the service. In this fresco one sees some symbols of the
Apocalypse, the last book of the New Testament.

The lower row of frescoes represents the Seven Ecumenical Church
Councils of the 4-8th centuries, which answered all kinds [kaindz] of
heresies and formulated all the dogmas of the Holy Orthodox Church.

This is a monastery, that is why a large part (two-thirds) of the church
space is separated from the lay people. Every day the icon dedicated to
a church event or a saint is placed on a lectern in the middle of the
church for veneration. Under the floor of the cathedral there are the
graves of Metropolitan Macariy of Moscow, and two archbishops.

(Outside.)

Here is the building of the Moscow Theological Academy. It was . built
at the end of the 17th century as a palace where Russian Tzars could
stay when they came to the monastery to pray to St.Sergius and on big
feasts. The building is called the Tzar's Apartment (Chambers). The
Moscow Theological Academy was founded in 1685 in a monastery in Moscow.
Some called it Russian Oxford. This was the largest theological
educational establihment in Orthodox world. At the Academy students
acquired  profound knowledge of the natural sciences on a level with the
best West-European universities. But contrary to them (unlike them) it
remained Orthodox in spirit. That is why people from other countries
came to study here. In 1814 the Academy was remuved (transferred) from
Moscow to the Lavra. Now on the first(engl)/second(amer) floor there is
a church in honour  of the Protecting Veil (Intercession) of the Holy
Virgin and the Church Archeological Collektion. On the
ground(engl)/first(amer) floor, there are dormitories for the students.
The ecclesiastical schools were closed as the Lavra in 1920 and were
reopened again here in 1948. Also there are schools for icon painters
and for church cantors there. There are about 600 students now both at
the Seminary and the Academy. One studies for four years at each of
them. (When the students graduate the Seminary they ...)

In the Orthodox Church, there is regular and parish (secular) clergy.
The regular clergy are monks who take three vows: of chastity, poverty,
and obedience. Monks usually live in monasteries. The Church bishops are
only monks. The parish clergy are married priests who serve in parish
churches (parishes). It is a rule that only a married person or a monk
may be ordained a priest. Clergyman can not change his status. So he can
be married only once.

There are two other churches of our monastery. The blue church is
dedicated to the Smolensk icon of the Holy Virgin. It was built in the
18th century (in 1748) by order of the Empress Ann (1730-1740). Before
that there was a dining hall for the monastery workers in this place.
Outside there was an icon of the Holy Mother of God carved in stone in
the 15th century. A psairnreader with paralised hands was healed after
he had prayed to the Holy Virgin in front of Her icon. That is why the
church was built on this place. In the reign [rein] of Elisabeth
(1741-1761) it was rebuilt by arhitect Ukhtomsky.

The white church was built in the first half of the 17th century. It is
dedicated to two Russian saints Zosima and Savvatiy of Solovets. They
were the founders of a monastery on an island in the Far North of
Russia. Those buildings are Hospital Chambers with the church in the
middle. Old ailing monks lived there and could go to the church every
day without going outside. A monk must attend divine worship even when
he is ill.

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