In 2013, the 600th anniversary of one of the most ancient cloisters of the Moscow region - the Assumption Kolotsky Monastery - was celebrated. In 2012, the Bank of Russia even issued a commemorative coin with a face value of 3 rubles with its image.
Many historical events and prominent figures are associated with this place. Therefore, everyone who visits there will certainly plunge into the atmosphere of the glorious past of our Motherland. You need to remember your story, and the Assumption Kolotsky Monastery is its part.
Location
There is a monastery in the Kolotsk village, Mozhaisk district, Moscow region (22 km from the city of Mozhaisk). It is located in a very picturesque area: on the banks of the Koloch River (from which the village got its name). Not far from the Assumption Kolotsky Monastery there is a Holy spring. The water temperature in it is the same year-round + 3 degrees, it has a sweet taste. About 8 km from the Kolotsky Monastery is Borodino (a village not far from which the legendary Battle of Borodino took place).
Story
The monastery has a rich history. He was ravaged and rebuilt many times, destroyed and reborn again. Its walls keep the memory of such great events as the Polish-Lithuanian intervention, the Patriotic War of 1812, the October Revolution, the Great Patriotic War. Many outstanding people have been here: Emperor Alexander I, Moscow Metropolitan Plato, Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov, partisan Denis Davydov, Napoleon Bonaparte.
The legend of the monastery
The emergence of the Assumption Kolotsky Monastery is associated with a legend. It says that the peasant Luke found at the river on a tree a miraculous icon of the Mother of God with the Eternal Infant, on whose two shutters were the Prophet of God Elijah and St. Nicholas.
On the same day, the icon healed a paralyzed person in Luke’s house. News of this spread throughout the village, and everyone in need began to come to the icon. The icon showed miracles, all people were healed.
The peasant went on the Mozhaisk land, and then on the Moscow. He was greeted with honors and gifts by princes, boyars, clergy and ordinary people. He spent all the donations for his own good.
Returning home, Luke, with the active participation of Prince Andrei Dmitrievich - the son of Dmitry Donskoy - built a church for the icon. And for himself, he raised the mansions with the money raised and healed like a king. He became greedy, constantly craving money, began to annoy Prince Andrew. Once, when a bear wounded Luke through his own fault, he, being at death, ordered the prince to dispose of his wealth in good conscience. In 1413, Andrei founded a man’s monastery, the first inhabitant (later a monk) of which was Luka, who recovered and repented.
Monastery in the Middle Ages
During the 15th century, the Assumption Kolotsky Monastery was constantly expanding. In the monastery complex there were already 2 churches of stone - the Epiphany Church and the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as the church of Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow. All this was surrounded by a wooden fence.
In 1547, the feast of the Kolotsk Icon of the Mother of God, which is celebrated on July 22, was entered in the church calendar.
The monastery expanded, became rich, attracted a large number of pilgrims. Even Ivan the Terrible, going on a campaign against the Polovtsy in 1563, took with him from the monastery an icon of the Mother of God.
In 1609, the monastery was devastated by Polish-Lithuanian invaders. But divine services were still held in a small temple, since two large ones were destroyed.
And so it was until the XVIII century, until the monastery was attached to the Novospassky monastery. At this time, the heyday of the Assumption Kolotsky Monastery fell. All churches, bell towers were restored, a garden was planted. At that time, the monastery owned more than seven dozen peasant households, 5 ponds, and even a courtyard in Moscow.
A significant amount for the repair was allocated by Empress Catherine II.
The role of the monastery in the Patriotic War of 1812
The Assumption Kolotsky Monastery in 1812 turned out to be an obstacle for Napoleon’s army moving towards Moscow. The walls of the monastery were like a fortress.
They were an outpost of the Russian opposition before the battle of Borodino. Here was located the headquarters of the commander of the Russian troops M.I. Kutuzov.
Near the monastery were concentrated the main forces of the Russian army. D. Davydov planned the creation of partisan detachments. On the temple are two memorial plaques reminiscent of this.
On August 24, there was a clash with the French army, as a result of which, despite resistance, it occupied the territory where the Kolotsky monastery is located, and the Russian army had to retreat.
Napoleon’s headquarters and hospital for the wounded French soldiers settled here. They caused great damage to buildings and decoration.
Napoleon Bonaparte, like Mikhail Kutuzov, surveyed the field of the upcoming battle from the bell tower of the monastery.
In October, the French entered into battle with a detachment of Cossacks, as a result of which they retreated. Leaving the monastery, they plundered it, burned the buildings of wood.
Recovery
After such tragic events, the monastery was reborn again. This time the process went on a much smaller scale, but by 1839 it was completely restored. A temple with a miraculous icon, a four-tier bell tower with 10 bells and fraternal buildings were rebuilt. Children studied at the parish school. The monastery owned 120 hectares of land and a garden. A peaceful existence has arrived.
Monastery after the revolution
The 1917 revolution also affected the Assumption Kolotsky Monastery. He suffered the same fate as most Russian monasteries. It has been abolished. In 1918, the commune of the poor was organized in the monastery. Walls and towers destroyed. The abbots were shot on suspicion of organizing a rebellion against the Soviet regime.
The fate of the monastery in Soviet times
In Soviet times, the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God was used both as a parish church and as a boarding school for the deaf. In 1934, the territory was finally transferred to the boarding school. Fraternal buildings were used as residential buildings, the monastery fence was dismantled into bricks, and a shepherd was equipped in the chapel. Soon the chapel was completely destroyed. Now, in its place, unfortunately, the power line rises. They tried to destroy the holy spring many times, but the locals did not allow this to happen - they constantly cleared it.
All the parishioners were transferred to the Christmas church of the neighboring village. The miraculous icon of the Mother of God was transferred there. After that, in 1937 Matrona Ivanova went to Gzhatsk and transported the icon to the Ascension Church. In the 70s. XX century the trail of the icon is lost.
In the war years, the Kolotsky Monastery was significantly damaged: shells demolished the upper tier of the bell tower, part of the wall and the temple. The Germans used cells as stables. Retreating, they made an attempt to mine and blow up the monastery, but the Russian troops overtook them too quickly. Enemy forces burned the village of Kolotsk, but the Assumption Monastery survived.
In 1941 - 1945 on the territory of the Assumption Kolotsky Monastery there was a military hospital, then a bath and laundry detachment. Many soldiers who died in the hospital are buried in the fraternal cemetery, which is located on the territory of the monastery. At the end of the war, a school was equipped there (in the northern cell there was a library, in the south there were elementary classes, in the abbot corps there were senior classes), a village council, and then a hospital, a maternity hospital.
During this time, the monastery suffered several fires. A large orchard was cut down for firewood. Local residents of the village were left without a roof over their heads, so they lived in preserved and even dilapidated buildings. The fence and buildings were dismantled into bricks for the construction of furnaces.
Revival of the Assumption Kolotsky Monastery
The restoration of the monastery began again in the 60s. XX century The state has placed the monastery under protection. The revival was passing very slowly. It was at this time that the students of the Kolotsk school, together with the teachers, smashed a new orchard on the territory of the Assumption Monastery, which still exists today.
And only in the 80s, when the monastery was transferred to the guardianship of the Borodino Military Museum, the pace of repair and construction work increased. The fraternal buildings, the house church, the refectory were repaired.
In 1993, the Assumption Kolotsky Monastery in Mozhaisk was transferred under the auspices of the Spaso-Borodino Convent (it became its compound). Then the monastery began to fulfill its mission. The tradition of the solemn celebration of the Kolotsk Icon of the Mother of God and the procession to the Holy Spring dedicated to her was renewed. A chapel was built at the source (at the place where the icon appeared).
In 1997, the monastery became an independent convent. A year later, she was handed a copy of the icon of the Mother of God, which also became famous as a result of the healing properties of drunkenness, smoking, cancer and infertility. The icon was solemnly greeted by the natives of the temple, parishioners and priests. A festive service was served in her honor. And the next day, according to tradition, they made a procession along with the icon handed over to the Holy Spring, where the first miraculous Kolotsk Icon of the Mother of God appeared, and a moleben was served, blessed water.
In 1999, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Russia visited the temple, which was the greatest event in its history.
Monastery today
Now the restoration of the Assumption Kolotsky Nunnery continues, the territory is being ennobled, repair and construction work is underway. So far, there is only one temple - the Assumption Cathedral.
The temple has about 20 inhabitants. They help the Uvarovsky orphanage for the mentally retarded (give gifts, help in organizing holidays). In addition, they work in agricultural work.
The monastery is visited not only by pilgrims, but also by tourists. Abbess conduct tours. They can not only gain new knowledge about historical information, but also spiritual benefits. Some people come just to help the natives and work hard. On the territory of the monastery there is a shop where you can buy products made by the nuns of the Assumption Kolotsky Convent.
There is a library and a Sunday school.
Church Requirements
Requirements are rituals and prayers performed by the priest at the need (that is, at the request) of individuals (for the believer himself or his relatives).
Requirements include:
- Sacraments (communion at home, confession, baptism, wedding),
- church rites (consecration of an apartment, house, car, funeral service, burial, etc.),
- prayer (prayer for the living),
- memorial service (prayer for the dead).
All of these requirements are carried out in the Assumption Monastery.
Trebs of the Kolotsky Monastery (as well as other monasteries) are made only for baptized people. A prayer service and requiem can be ordered where candles are sold, and the holding of sacraments and church rituals must be agreed with the clergyman.
The temples of the monastery
At the moment, there are 2 temples on the territory of the monastery: a cathedral in the name of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a house church in honor of the Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (built in 1785) and a bell tower.
In 1997, the Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomenskoye Juvenal consecrated a house church in the name of St. prmts. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, located in the southern cell building.
In the 2000s the temple was restored - the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin, which is now the art center of the complex. Now it is constantly worshiped. It is single-headed, with two aisles (the southern - in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, acting from January 7, 2001; the northern - in the name of the holy prophet Elijah). Photos of the Kolotsky Monastery, namely the Assumption Cathedral, are presented below.
In addition, fraternal cells, the abbot corps, and the fence tower are located on the territory of the monastery.
Shrines
The main shrine of the Assumption Kolotsky Nunnery is the miraculous Kolotsk Icon of the Mother of God, which has healing properties.
There are also particles of the holy relics of many other saints of God (for example, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Rev. Martyr Elizabeth).
The Assumption Kolotsky Monastery in Mozhaisk is a very beautiful, memorable place. His visit will be useful to those who want to enrich themselves spiritually, and those who are interested in the history of the Motherland, and those who just want to relax from the bustle of the city in a picturesque place. It will surely leave a mark in the memory of every parishioner who has been there, because the walls of this ancient monastery contain many memories.