In the XII century, which was the heyday of monasticism on the ancient Polotsk land, the future saint, St. Euphrosyne shone in it. The monastery created by her, having gone through centuries of difficult and sometimes full of dramatic history, has survived to the present day, becoming a monument to this saint of God, now praying for all of us before the Throne of the Most High.
The loving princess
The Monk Euphrosyne, who founded the Polotsk Monastery, came from an ancient princely family, originating from the baptist of Rus, the equally apostolic prince Vladimir and his pious wife Rogneda. In holy baptism, she was called the Preslav. Having comprehended a letter at an early age, the young princess, avoiding the games and amusements typical of all children, spent time reading the Holy Scriptures and talking with a spiritual mentor - the rector of the parish church, often visiting her father's house.
Such zeal aroused the respect of loved ones, but no one could have foreseen that the young Predslava would choose for herself the difficult and thorny path of monasticism, giving him preference over all the temptations of worldly life. And that is exactly what happened.
The beginning of monastic service
When the young woman turned twelve years old, which at that time was considered the age of majority, many very enviable grooms began to marry her as an eminent, rich and beautiful bride. But they all received a decisive refusal. In response to the threat of her father to force her to marry, the girl secretly escaped from home and took monastic tonsure in one of the nearest monasteries , receiving a new name - Euphrosyne.
The saint’s life tells that she spent the beginning of the monastic path in her works, rewriting the ancient folios stored in the library of Polotsk Sophia Cathedral. Typography was not yet invented then, and it was necessary to replicate the Holy Scriptures, paterikas and other spiritual literature only in this way.
The order of the messenger of God
But soon the Lord called her to another path. A heavenly angel was sent by Euphrosyne, indicating to her the place where the Polotsk Monastery would later be founded. From that time, the saint settled near the Church of the Savior in a place called Selts and was two miles from the city. Along with her came another blueberry, whose name history has not preserved. It happened in 1125.
Full of humility, the nun Euphrosyne wanted to serve God in solitude, shutting herself off from the whole world, but the Lord did not want such a bright lamp of faith to remain under wraps. Very soon, other girls began to gather and settle around her, disrespectful to Christ.
The construction of the temple and the creation of a new monastery
Over time, the community created in this way, from which the Polotsk Monastery was subsequently formed, became quite numerous. In this regard, the Reverend Mother of God wished to erect a new stone church on the site of a wooden and by that time become a dilapidated church.
Such a charitable cause contributed to the locals. Volunteer donors were found in Polotsk itself. Their labors raised the necessary funds. The management of all the work was undertaken by a local architect named John. Through the prayers of the Mother Superior Euphrosyne, the Lord sent his grace to the builders of the new church, and within seven months the walls crowned with domes rose to the sky, and the best masters painted them with marvelous frescoes.
Over time, the Polotsk nunnery expanded, grew stronger, and by the name of the temple erected in it began to be called the Savior Monastery. In 1155, the Reverend Mother Superior established nearby another monastery, this time a man’s monastery, first building the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These two monasteries have become true centers of enlightenment in the Polotsk territories. When they opened schools, libraries and scriptoriums - workshops for the correspondence of manuscript books.
Death in the Holy Land
In 1173, foreseeing his imminent demise, the Monk Euphrosyne wished to pay her last duty to the Lord — to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and to worship places connected with his earthly life. Together with her sister Eupraxia and brother David, in January she left Polotsk and after four months of exhausting walking route reached Jerusalem, where she was able to bow to the Holy Sepulcher. And then there was the Monk Euphrosyne for nearly seventy years.
The difficult journey to the Holy Land was not in vain for an old woman. Soon she fell ill, fell ill, and on May 23 she betrayed her soul to the Lord, whom she had served all her life. Hegumen Euphrosyne, who founded the Polotsk Monastery in Jerusalem, was buried in Jerusalem, in the monastery of St. Theodosius the Great. Fourteen years later, her imperishable relics were transported and placed as the greatest shrine in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
The subsequent life of the monastery
After the abbess of St. Abbess died, the monasteries founded by her continued to develop and prosper, but in front of them they faced severe trials that fell on the share of Russian land in the 16th and 18th centuries. The man’s monastery was destroyed and has not survived to this day, but the Polotsk Spaso-Evfrosinievsky monastery, having survived years of decline and poverty, managed to revive in the 19th century.
In 1833, work began on the overhaul of the Spassky Church, which was very dilapidated by that time and was in desolation in recent years. Other monastery buildings were also repaired, and a little to the side, on the banks of the Polota River, a new sister cell building was erected.
In the second half of the 19th century, two more churches appeared on the territory of the monastery - in honor of the Monk Euphrosyne of Polotsk and the Holy Cross Cathedral. At the same time, the monastery of Euphrosyne of Polotsk was ranked among the first-rate monasteries, and with it the work of a female spiritual school began, which reached its peak in the early 20th century.
Shortly before the October revolution, the relics of the founder of the monastery were solemnly transferred from the caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra to Polotsk. So, after seven hundred years, Saint Euphrosyne returned to her brainchild. The Polotsk monastery met her with the solemn ringing of the bells of all his temples.
Years of hard times and our days
During the reign of the atheistic power, the monastery shared the fate of most of the holy cloisters of our country. It was repeatedly closed, values were seized from it, including the holy relics of its founder, and the premises were used for household needs. But it is not without reason that the Scripture says that the one who endures to the end will be saved. The Polotsk monastery was revived.
At the beginning of perestroika, he was returned to believers and soon, brought into due form by the works of numerous parishioners, he regained his life. Today the inhabitants of the monastery are seventy sisters. Morning and evening services are held daily in the temple. They are performed in the Exaltation of the Cross, Euphrosyne and Transfiguration churches.
The liturgical schedule of the Polotsk Monastery differs from the schedule that is installed in ordinary parish churches. On weekdays, morning services begin at 5:45, the Divine Liturgy takes place at 7:15, and evening services at 16:45. On Sundays and public holidays, a late liturgy is added at 9:30.