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 was born in 1314 and
died in 1392.

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.

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 weigh 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 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.

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 him next to St.
Sergius. So this smaller church was built in 1548 above his ( and
reconstructed in 1623 ).

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 .

The walls of the monastery were built in the middle of the 16th century
by Tzar John the Terrible, and reconstructed in the first half of the
17th century. 

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.

Before the 17th century, the domes were a half-sphere on all churches,
which symbolized the universe saved by the Crucifixion. In the 17th
century, they started making flame-shaped domes to signify the Holy
Spirit that reigns over the Church. When there are five domes, 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, 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
) Him. "If You are the Christ Save Yourself and us" he said. But the
other (on the right) spoke up and rebuked 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 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 in the West. Such crosses appeared in Russia only by the
second half of the 17th century.

This 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 of the 12th century.

This is the main 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  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 are not frescoes, they are oil paintings. 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 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.

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.

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"
and weighs 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.

This 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 of our church. Because by
Grace of God he has the same apostolic power as the rest of the bishops.
But the Patriarch has more administrative rights. ). The building was
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 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 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.

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 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 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.

This is 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 Baptist and was
built in the late 17th century instead of the previous 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.

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/second floor there is a church in
honour  of the Protecting Veil (Intercession) of the Holy Virgin and the
Church Archeological Collektion. On the ground/first 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.

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 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 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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