Seven kilometers from the city of Dedovsk, Moscow Region, is Borisoglebsky Anosin, a stauropegic convent, photos of which are presented in this article. Its history goes back to the beginning of the 19th century. Once the sisters of the monastery gained such fame with their spiritual exploits that they began to call their monastery the female Optina desert. In its name, the monastery combines the names of the saints in whose memory it was consecrated and the name of the small village near Moscow where it was built.
The care of a pious landowner
Anosin-Borisoglebsky Monastery was founded by Princess Evdokia Nikolaevna Meshcherskaya. Two years before the French invasion, this pious landowner erected a church in the name of the Holy Trinity in the village of Anosino, whose community consisted almost entirely of her own serfs. Soon, an almshouse was created at the church, transformed in 1823 into a women's dormitory for the elderly, sick and the poor.
But the plans of Evdokia Nikolaevna extended much further. She filed a petition in the name of Emperor Alexander I to give the dormitory created by her the status of a monastery. At the same time, she prepared a detailed plan for the future monastery with an indication of the buildings, which are taken to build at their own expense.
The first abbess of the monastery
Having received the highest permission and wishing not to part with her future abode until the end of her life, Evdokia Nikolaevna got a haircut as a nun, taking the name of Eugene, and was blessed with the Mother Superior. At the most difficult stage, Metropolitan Filaret of Moscow (Drozdov) provided invaluable assistance to her. She was guided by his advice in matters of construction, and in a new mentoring activity for her. Mother Eugene led the monastery founded by her until in 1837 the Lord called her to His heavenly palaces.
Ascetic life of the sisters of the monastery
Despite the fact that the Anosin-Borisoglebsky Monastery was located in a very small and modest village (in 1858 there were only twenty-six courtyards there), the fame of the charitable life of its natives quickly spread throughout Russia. As a set of rules governing all aspects of the life of the monastery, a charter was drawn up by the Byzantine monk of the VIII century, Rev. Theodore Studite.
Guided by his provisions, the sisters led a strict ascetic life. For their spiritual nourishment and confession, hieromonks from the nearby Zosimova desert, with whom the Anosin-Borisoglebsky Monastery had constant spiritual communion, were invited to the monastery. Many diocesan bishops were often on vacation here, for the reception of which a special house was built in the monastery garden.
The Borisoglebsky-Anosin Nunnery achieved material well-being not only thanks to the large number of pilgrims who came here from all over Russia, but also to its own monastery farm, which was put to a high level by hardworking sisters. Many Russian monasteries tried to adopt their experience in agriculture and animal husbandry.
Years of total theology
In the first decade after the Bolsheviks came to power, the Anosin-Borisoglebsky Monastery continued its activities, and in 1923 even celebrated the centenary of its founding. But four years later the monastery was closed, and an agricultural commune was formed on its territory. This neoplasm did not last long. The Communards did not want to work, and, after eating, all the food supplies stored in the monastery barns ran away.
The Bolsheviks, who agreed that “a holy place does not exist empty,” placed a machine and tractor station in the desecrated monastery. Now, at the Holy Gates, the church of Demetrius of Rostov was filled not with the incense smoke of censers, but with diesel stench. Soon, a museum of local lore was opened in another temple building, where they clearly demonstrated their success in the fight against religion to tourists. During the years of Soviet power, economic and cultural and educational activities in the monastery were conducted in such a way that by the end of the 20th century only walls and ruins of the main temple remained from it.
The revival of the ancient walls
The revival of the monastery is connected with the democratic transformations that began in Russia in the nineties. In 1992, the entire monastery territory and about one hundred hectares of land adjacent to it were returned to the Moscow Patriarchate. Since that time, the Patriarchal Compound was transformed into a hastily rebuilt building, transformed in 1999 into the Borisoglebsky (Anosin) stauropegic nunnery. The status of stavropegy given to him means that the monastery is not subordinate to the local diocesan bishop, but directly to the Patriarch.
Gradually, the economic and religious life of the monastery became normal. By caring for the inhabitants of the monastery and the workers, it was already possible to restore the Trinity Cathedral and the very church of Dimitry of Rostov, where tractors were repaired for many decades. Partially restored and a subsidiary farm, which includes a woodworking workshop and a dairy farm.
Until the day when the Anosin-Borisoglebsky monastery was reborn from the ruins, only one of the former sisters survived - schema nun Anna, who saw the pre-revolutionary life of the monastery. Most of her peers were shot or ended up in the Stalinist camps. Some of them are now numbered among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
The monastery is waiting for its guests
Again, as in previous years, the monastery becomes the center where pilgrims flock from all over the country. The Borisoglebsky Monastery (Anosino) opens its doors wide for them. The schedule of daily services held in it is somewhat different from that adopted in ordinary parish churches. Here, on weekdays, morning prayers begin at 6:00, and at 8:00 the Divine Liturgy is served. The evening service begins at 17:00. On Sundays and public holidays, the early liturgy begins at 6:30, and the late at 8:45.