Holy Ascension Barkolabovsky Convent. The Barkolabovsky monastery is being built anew, and its inhabitants are confident: the holy monastery has a great future! What does Barkolabovo Monastery cure and help with?
Ascension Monastery in the village of Barkolabovo, Bykhovsky district, Mogilev region, there is a functioning Orthodox convent of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is part of the Bobruisk and Bykhov diocese. Located eight kilometers north of Bykhov. Founded in 1623 by Bogdan Statkevich.
In the cathedral church of the monastery there was kept a miraculous icon of the Mother of God, donated to the monastery in 1659 by Prince Pozharsky, who was returning with troops to Russia from Lithuania. There is a legend that the icon was hidden in a military train. When the prince’s detachment passed by the monastery, “the image became motionless” and no effort could move it from its place. Pozharsky realized that the image wanted to remain in the monastery, and handed it over to Abbess Photinia Kirkorovna. The icon was initially placed in the center of the Church of the Ascension; the next night the icon miraculously moved to the wall of the temple. Pilgrims not only Orthodox Christians flocked to the Borkolabovsky Monastery to venerate the image. religions, but also Uniates and Catholics. The image became famous for miracles during the Northern War and the Patriotic War of 1812.
The miraculous icon survived all the wars of the 17th - 20th centuries, and all the persecution of religion, including Soviet times. In 1882, the Ascension Church burned down, but the miraculous image, iconostasis and utensils were saved from the fire.
After 1920, the Barkolabovsky monastery was closed. During the Great Patriotic War, the icon was preserved by former nuns (according to other oral information, the image was in the chapel at the Bykhov railway station). In 1953, before Easter, the miraculous image was brought to the Holy Trinity Church in Bykhov and placed in a special wall case, where it is still kept.
This image is one of the most revered images of the Mother of God in Eastern Belarus. Barkolabovskaya Hodegetria, painted in tempera on a pine base with a gilded carved background, is one of the greatest masterpieces of the Belarusian school of icon painting, and at the same time retains the expressive features of its ancient Byzantine prototype. Researchers express the opinion that the image was created at the border of the 16th-17th centuries, or in the 1st half of the 17th century in the central Belarusian region (possibly in Slutsk). The iconography is close to the Iverskaya and Ilyinskaya (Chernigov) icons of the Mother of God. The Mother of God is depicted almost generationally, dressed in a dark purple maforium, decorated with 3 gold openwork stars and a gold lace border with tassels, the dark green dress has a wide pearl hem on the neckline and shoulder straps, the golden halo is engraved with a radiant shine. The face of the Mother of God is filled with royal beauty, nobility and sorrow. Bowing her head to the Baby sitting on Her left hand, with her right hand raised high, She points to the blessing right hand of the Son. The Infant Christ, in a white chiton-shirt with a turn-down collar, belted with a red sash, and an ocher-red himation with an abundant golden assist, is slightly turned towards the Mother of God, blesses with his right hand, and holds a scroll in his left hand.
The gilded silver frame of the icon, which was decorated with precious stones and pearls, has not survived; in the silver star near the feet of the Divine Infant there were particles of the relics of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk and St. Longina. Information about the restoration and partial alteration of the frame in 1868 has been preserved.
The day of celebration of the image falls on July 11 of the old style (July 24 NS), the day of its appearance in the Barkolabovsky monastery.
In honor of the 350th anniversary of the Barkolabovskaya icon of the Mother of God in Belarus in 2009, a series of stamps dedicated to this event was issued.
REFERENCE. Borkolabovskaya (Barkolabovskaya) Icon of the Mother of God - a miraculous image that received its name from its location in the main church of the Borkolabovsky convent in honor of the Ascension of the Lord. The image of the Mother of God from Barkolabovo is one of the most revered images of the Mother of God in the eastern lands of Belarus. It is one of the greatest masterpieces of the Belarusian icon painting school. The archives of the monastery preserve the legend about the origin of this image of the Mother of God. According to it, in 1659, Prince Pozharsky returned from Poland, taking him with him. When the prince’s detachment passed by the monastery, the convoy with the shrine “stopped” and no efforts of the prince’s servants could move it from its place. Prince Pozharsky considered that the icon should be left in the monastery and gave it as a gift to Abbess Photinia Kirkorovna. The Barkolabovskaya Icon of the Mother of God became famous in the monastery for its miracles and survived all the cataclysms of the 17th-20th centuries.
The Borkolabovo convent was located on the left bank of the Dnieper, south of the village of Borkolabovo, 12 versts from the city of Bykhov.
According to the chronicles, the name of the village Borkolabovo (Borkulabovo) comes from the name of the captain of the Polish king August Barkulab Ivanovich Korsak. In 1564 he founded his castle, and four years later he built two churches. In 1583, after the marriage of Korsak’s daughter Eva with Prince Solomeretsky, the village of Borkolabovo became the cultural center of the Dnieper region.
From the second half of the 16th century, the territory of Belarus was part of the united Polish-Lithuanian state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in which the royal authorities were inclined to the policy of Catholicizing the population. Barkulab Korsak and his successors did not support such trends and sought to counteract them.
In 1594, Prince Solomeritsky founded an Orthodox church in honor of St. George the Victorious. In 1626, the children of Prince Solomeritsky, Bogdan and Anna, whose mentor was the famous Meletiy Smotritsky, built an Orthodox monastery for men, to whom they donated the villages of Sutoki and Malakhovo. Moreover, after some time, Princess Elena Solomeritskaya, having married Bogdan Stetkevich, negotiates with him about the construction of a convent.
In 1641, Stetkevich received “permission for the Borkolabovsky monastery.” Having become the founder of the monastery, he gives him ownership of land (Barok Island, field, meadow), a water mill and the right to fish in the Dnieper up to the Bykhov border. And although the princess soon died, her husband fulfills this vow together. Famous buildings of the monastery of this time are the Ascension Church and the bell tower.
In the cathedral church of the monastery there was kept a miraculous icon of the Mother of God, donated to the monastery in 1659 by Prince Pozharsky, who was returning with troops to Russia from Lithuania. There is a legend that the icon was hidden in a military train. When the prince’s detachment passed by the monastery, “the image became motionless” and no effort could move it from its place. Pozharsky realized that the image wanted to remain in the monastery, and handed it over to Abbess Photinia Kirkorovna.
The icon was initially placed in the center of the Church of the Ascension; the next night the icon miraculously moved to the wall of the temple. Pilgrims not only of the Orthodox faith, but also Uniates and Catholics flocked to the Borkolabovsky monastery to venerate the image.
The image became famous for miracles during the Northern War and the Patriotic War of 1812. In 1882, the Ascension Church burned down, but the miraculous image, iconostasis and utensils were saved from the fire. The icon is one of the most revered images of the Mother of God in Eastern Belarus.
In the 1920s, the Borkolabovsky monastery was closed, the monastery buildings housed either a club, an orphanage, or a pioneer camp, and in the 1990s, all the monastery buildings were destroyed. By the end of the twentieth century, not even ruins remained on the site of the monastery, and a worship cross was erected here in memory of the monastery.
The miraculous icon survived all the wars of the 17th - 20th centuries, and all the persecution of religion, including Soviet times. During the Great Patriotic War, the icon was preserved by former nuns (according to other oral information, the image was in the chapel at the Bykhov railway station). In 1953, before Easter, the miraculous image was brought to the Holy Trinity Church in Bykhov, where it remained until 2010.
The monastery was revived at the request of His Grace Bishop Seraphim of Bobruisk and Bykhov by a resolution of the Synod of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate on June 12, 2008. The revived monastery was located in the village of Borkolabovo near Bykhov, in the historical place of the appearance of the icon of the Mother of God of Borkolabovo.
The first nuns of the monastery were nine nuns led by Schema-Abbess Antonia (Poluyanova), who arrived from the Orsha Holy Dormition Convent.
The state transferred for permanent use to the monastery three land plots with a total area of 14.0466 hectares of land for conducting subsidiary agriculture, as well as a land plot with an area of 5.6900 hectares for the construction and maintenance of the monastery.
On July 24, 2009, ceremonial events were held dedicated to the 350th anniversary of the Borkolabovsky miraculous icon of the Mother of God. For the celebrations in Belarus, a series of stamps dedicated to this event was issued.
Nativity-St. John the Baptist Church
On May 13, 2010, at the Holy Ascension Convent, a newly built church was consecrated in honor of the Holy Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, and on July 25, 2010, the solemn transfer of the miraculous “Borkolabovskaya” icon of the Mother of God from the city of Bykhov to the revived monastery, where it is located, took place until now.
In 2011, the construction of the bell tower was completed in the monastery. A refectory has been built on the territory of the monastery, a utility block has been put into operation, a house for the nuns’ dormitory has been put into operation, there is a small hotel for guests and volunteers, and a two-story monastic building is being built. In the future, it is planned to restore the stone temple in honor of the Ascension of the Lord.
In 2012, in consideration of the cultural and historical value of the Borkolabovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus issued 4 commemorative coins “Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Borkolabovskaya”.
the most revered and wonderful image of Eastern Belarus
Barkolabovskaya Mother of God
Today the Orthodox Church celebrates the honor of the most revered Belarusian - Mother of God of Barkolabovskaya. And it is no coincidence that the celebration falls on another memorable day, because
The Barkolabovskaya Mother of God takes its name from its location in honor of the Ascension of the Lord, a convent in the village of Borkolabovo, Bykhovsky district, Mogilev region. In its main church there is a miraculous icon of the Mother of God.
The history of the monastery is interesting. According to the chronicles, the name of the village Barkolabovo (or Borkulabovo) comes from the name of the captain of the Polish king Augustus Barkulab Ivanovich Korsak. It was he who founded the castle in 1564, and four years later built two churches.
After the marriage of Korsak’s daughter Eva with Prince Solomeretsky, the village of Barkolabovo becomes the cultural center of the entire Dnieper region, because a library famous throughout the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was acquired here. At that time, Lavrenty Zizaniy and Melety Smotrytsky, famous scientists and public political figures, lived and worked as home teachers for Prince Solomeretsky. Lavrentiy Zizaniy’s “ABC” and “Grammar” were used in schools in Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. And the most authoritative textbook on the Slavic language for more than two centuries was “Grammar” by Meletius Smotritsky.
By the way, the village is also famous for the fact that the local priest Fyodor Filipovich is the author of the Barkulabov Chronicle, which covers events from 1563 to 1608. The main place in it is occupied by stories about the activities of the Cossacks under the leadership of Severin Nalivaiko, whose detachments operated in Ukraine and Belarus. In particular, about the burning of Mogilev in 1595, massacres and robbery of local residents.
After some time, Princess Elena Solomeritskaya, having entered into marriage with Bogdan Stetkevich, negotiates with him about the construction of a convent. In 1641, Stetkevich received “permission for the Barkolabovsky monastery.” And although the princess soon died, her husband fulfills this vow together.
Very soon after the construction of the main temple, an event of exceptional significance occurred in the life of the monastery. Returning from Poland in the summer, Prince Pozharsky, who never parted with the icon of the Mother of God that he especially revered on campaigns, passed by the newly established monastery. The convoy in which the image was located became motionless and the horses, despite the efforts of the charioteers, could not move. Therefore, the icon was transferred to the monastery and was initially placed in the center of the Church of the Ascension, but the next night the image miraculously moved to the wall of the temple. Subsequently, he was in the summer in the Church of the Ascension, and in the winter in the church in the name of John the Baptist in special high gilded icon cases, opposite the choir.
On July 25, 2010, the miraculous Barkolabov icon was solemnly transferred to the revived monastery from the Holy Trinity Church of Bykhov. Photo subscribe.ru
In 1882, the Ascension Church burned down, but the miraculous image, iconostasis and utensils were saved from the fire. After 1920, the Barkolabovsky monastery was closed. During the Great Patriotic War, the icon was hidden by the nuns of the monastery (according to other oral information, the image was in the chapel at the Bykhov railway station). And in 1953, before Easter, the miraculous image was brought to the Church of the Holy Trinity in Bykhov and placed in a special wall icon case.
For about 300 years, the monastery was the most important spiritual and cultural center of Eastern Belarus and had a great influence on the inhabitants of the surrounding settlements. There was a school at the monastery. Orphans were kept in the monastery orphanage, a love of books and home reading skills were instilled here, and knowledge of agriculture, agronomy, and plant breeding was accumulated.
A floor case was built especially for the icon, in which the holy image was placed. Photo subscribe.ru
It is known that it had a gilded silver frame (not preserved), decorated with precious stones and pearls, and in the silver star near the feet of the Divine Infant there were particles of the relics of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk and St. Longinus.
Pilgrims not only of the Orthodox faith, but also Uniates and Catholics flocked to the Borkolabovsky monastery to venerate the image. became famous for his miracles during the Northern War and the War of 1812. And in 1900, the death of livestock stopped after the religious procession with the image.
Peasant women of the Mogilev province had a known custom of buying animal figurines made of wax from the monastery for temple holidays and attaching them to the icon, then the figurines were brought home as a sign of the Mother of God’s help in preserving domestic animals from disease.
The greatest miracle is that the image survived all the wars of the 17-20 centuries. This image is one of the most revered images of the Mother of God in Eastern Belarus.
Recently, many believers, especially those who revere Borkolabovskaya Hodegetria, testify to deliverance with its help from oncological and mental illnesses, as well as from diseases of internal organs. And on July 24, 2000, on the day of remembrance of Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga and the honoring of the Rzhetskaya and Borkolabovskaya icons of the Mother of God, in front of the eyes of believers, one of the parishioners received a miraculous healing from a hand disease.
There are many places in the country where phenomena that are inexplicable from the point of view of modern science occur. "Living" shadows of Golshansky Castle and a ghost in the former Benedictine monastery in Nesvizh. Stone crosses in Turov, “allowing” good people to approach them and hiding from the bad ones. Lately, we have been hearing more and more often about miracles at the Holy Ascension Convent. To find out the details and, if you’re lucky, to meet the ghosts there, I’m going to the village of Barkolabovo, Bykhovsky district.
Footsteps behind you
In the evenings, in a large deserted courtyard, she often hears distinct footsteps behind her. It seems that someone is slowly following her along the path. Mother Superior Antonia never turns around. He knows for sure: there is no one behind him. The inhabitants of the Holy Ascension Convent have long been accustomed to incomprehensible, inexplicable phenomena.
Our sisters also saw them not long ago. The two guarded the Church of John the Baptist, located not far from the bell tower. We spent the night in the choir. They woke up at the same time to the sound of someone coming up the stairs towards them. Seeing figures in black next to them, they were very frightened by surprise. But they still found the strength to ask the newcomers who they were and what they were doing here. When the sisters spoke, the ghosts disappeared into thin air. Some kind of mysticism!
Mother Alla builds hypotheses. Perhaps everything can be explained by the proximity of the monastery cemetery? In any case, both local fishermen and visitors saw these same nuns on the banks of the Dnieper more than once. They even threw their fishing rods out of surprise. Chairman of the Barkolabovsky village council Ivan Skriptsov recalls:
- The monastery, built in the mid-17th century, was closed in 1924. It was revived quite recently - in 2008. But even in the years when its territory was empty, many of our villagers observed strange things. Either, according to them, in dilapidated buildings the light came on by itself, then went out for no reason. Sometimes sighs and voices were clearly heard, shadows moved along the walls.
One of the youngest Barkolabov nuns, Mother Olga, herself witnessed an inexplicable phenomenon more than once. Early in the morning, when the service begins, unfamiliar voices of unearthly beauty, as if pouring from the sky, are added to the chants of the local inhabitants. The last time, she said, someone sang along with the nuns on the very day of my arrival.
The place where the light
Mother Olga became a nun in 2010. The whole farm is on it - cows, cleaning. Therefore, Olga practically never leaves the walls of the monastery. She is sure: this is exactly what the life of a nun should be - filled with work and restrictions. But this is where she draws spiritual strength:
The atmosphere in the monastery is very blissful. We nuns have many household responsibilities. Outside the monastery, with such a load, each of us would simply collapse from fatigue. Here, it’s as if the walls help: you wake up early, and everything is done easily.
In her conversation with me, Mother Superior Antonia kept recalling interesting facts. During the Great Patriotic War, bloody battles took place on the territory of the Bykhov region. But the monastery, then long inactive, was not affected by the war. Both advancing and retreating, the Nazis passed by. Again, during the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the Bykhovsky district suffered greatly. Radiation here in some places reached 15 curies. Only a small patch, the territory of the temple, remained completely clean. An unusual place, holy, prayed for...
After the war there was an orphanage here. Later - a camp where the children recovered their health. Only after 1992, during difficult times for the country’s economy, did the territory become, one might say, ownerless. At first, the guards of the Liebknecht collective farm still tried to maintain order... And then they stopped. It was then that most of the buildings were dismantled into bricks, and cellars and sheds were built from them. However, the area has not lost much of its attractiveness.
Today, more and more pilgrims are coming to the Holy Ascension Convent to ask the miraculous icon for healing, for the fulfillment of their most cherished desires. Many people want to experience the unknown power of these places. And, of course, they secretly hope to encounter the inexplicable, the unknown, the unknown. Personally, I didn’t see any ghosts. But maybe someone will get lucky?
Opinions about
Alexander Lazarev, coordinator of the Republican UFO Committee for the Mogilev region:
This is not the only place in the Mogilev region where unexplained phenomena occur. Take the Pustynsky Holy Dormition Monastery, located a few kilometers from Mstislavl on the border with Russia. It was founded in 1380 on the site of the miraculous spring and has been famous for its miracles for many centuries. In 2003, a miraculous image of the Savior appeared on the wall of one of his rooms. Miracle healings happen here all the time. Let us remember the famous healing stone in the Belynichi region, which cures even hopeless diseases. And the springs with healing water, which are in every region, including in Mogilev itself! Surely someday science will give an exact answer to all questions for our descendants. But today, I think, it doesn’t matter at all how these miracles work. The main thing is that they exist and often bring benefits, heal, and inspire hope.
Evgeny Marukovich, director of the Institute of Metal Technology of the National Academy of Sciences, professor, honored inventor:
In order to accurately explain the mysterious phenomena, many factors would have to be studied: the materials from which buildings are built, acoustics, soil. But, in my opinion, there is no need to conduct such research specifically. A scientist should not behave like a bull in a china shop. It won't take long to offend believers. And it is unlikely that such knowledge will be used in the national economy. Then who will finance such research?! But over time, setting other tasks for itself, science will indirectly study these questions. Will give explanations. And then some of the eyewitness accounts will be confirmed, and some will be eliminated. The human factor cannot be discounted: seen, heard, exaggerated or imagined.