Pyukhtitsky monastery - the center of Orthodoxy in the Baltics

In the distant 17th century, Estonian shepherds of a wonderful vision were honored: at the top of the mountain, called Zhuravlina, the Queen of Heaven appeared to them. When the vision dissipated, then in the same place, in the cleft of the oak tree, they acquired a marvelous icon of the ancient letter "The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin." Since then, the mountain has been called Pyukhtitskaya, which means "Saint", and at its peak the women's monastery was founded in the course of time.

Birth of the Orthodox Brotherhood

The Pyukhtitskiy nunnery was born in 1887 in the city of Ieva (modern Jõhvi), the branch of the Baltic Orthodox Brotherhood. The establishment of this organization was an important step in the spread of Orthodoxy among the Baltic peoples, traditionally professed the religion of the Western Church. In implementing such a good undertaking, the most important role was played by the Governor of Estland, Prince S.B. Shakhovskoy and his wife Elizaveta Dmitrievna, elected chairman of the newly established branch.

Even before the Pyukhtitsky monastery was established, the Brotherhood launched a wide-ranging work to educate Orthodox orphans, provide medical assistance to the local population and create shelters for the homeless. Soon the efforts of the members of the Orthodox Brotherhood opened a school, and not only girls but also boys were trained in it, regardless of their religion. Great support for the undertaking was provided by Emperor Alexander III. As a true Christian, he could not stay away from such a pious matter and ordered the school to allocate considerable material means.

Organization of the women's community

Puhtitsky monastery was created in the same traditions as many other Orthodox monasteries. It all started with the fact that in the summer of 1888 from Kostroma, from the nunnery, five nuns arrived in Jõhvi for obedience in the parish hospital. The Mother Superior of the Epiphany Women's Monastery, Father Superior Maria, sent them here. Soon they were joined by five more girls-orphans. Thus a small community was formed, performing worship services in the house church built by the Brotherhood.

Before the Pyukhtitsky monastery received the right to exist, its founders had to work hard. There were no obvious opponents of his creation, but at every step it was necessary to overcome the resistance of a clumsy bureaucratic machine. The chairman of the Baltic branch of the Brotherhood, Princess Shakhovskaya, in her letter to the bishop of Riga Arsenia pointed out that the monastery could become the guardian of the wonderworking icon of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially since it would be worshiped at the very site of the attainment of the shrine.

Mother Superior Varvara

Puhtitsky Assumption Monastery was established in 1891, when, having settled all the formalities connected with the alienation of the necessary land allotment, the community safely moved to the Holy Mountain. The first abbess-abbess of the monastery was the nun Varvara (ED Blokhin). The choice was not accidental. This nun in full can be called a religious ascetic.

At the age of ten she was at the monastery and since then, for forty years, she has devoted herself to serving God. After obedience in choir singing, she also mastered the art of needlework, underwent a medical training course, thoroughly knew the Church's charter and all the features of monastic life. But her main talent was organizational skills.

In the Kostroma women's monastery, where Mother Varvara used to live, an evacuation hospital was deployed during the Russo-Turkish war, and the future abbot had the opportunity to acquire a rich experience in caring for the sick and wounded. This helped her to work in a monastery clinic and create a pharmacy with her. Under her leadership, the orphanage was transferred to the Holy Mountain. But its main task was to create the foundations of the full-fledged religious life of the community.

Opening of the monastery

In 1892, on the basis of the Decree of the Most Holy Synod, the Pyukhtitsky monastery received official status, and its abbess mother Varvara was elevated to the rank of abbot. When developing the charter of the monastery, the internal rules of ancient Orthodox monasteries, which were distinguished by unusual severity, were taken as a basis. All worldly, distracting sisters from the service of God and from the performance of the obediences entrusted to them, was resolutely rejected. It helped from the first days to create in the monastery an atmosphere of asceticism and spiritual asceticism.

The religious community of Russia appreciated the works of the new hegumen. Thanks to the glory spread about him, the monastery began to receive rich donations. Personally, the emperor sent a gift of rich church vestments. In addition, spiritual books, lampads, altars crosses, silver vessels and many other things regularly came from various benefactors.

One of the most famous architects of the monastery was the great preacher and miracle-worker Protopriest John of Kronstadt. He rendered very substantial material assistance and sent new pagans to the Holy Mountain from St. Petersburg. When Father John came, especially on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, more than ten thousand pilgrims flocked to the monastery.

Twentieth century in the life of the monastery

In 1900 in St. Petersburg, in the harbor, in the house of the philistine A. Ivanov, a farmstead of the Pyukhtitsky monastery was created. A year later, after perestroika, a temporary church with a bell tower was consecrated, and in 1903 a new church was laid, the project of which was assigned to the architect V. N. Bobrov. It was a very imposing structure, on the first floor of which were cells, and on the second floor - a church and a belfry. After the October coup, the courtyard was closed, and the building itself was rebuilt for household needs.

Since in the twenties and thirties the Pyukhtitsky monastery was located on the territory of independent Estonia, the bitter fate of the majority of Russian monasteries was past it. He continued to act, and the religious life in it was not interrupted. And after the end of World War II, the Lord took him away from the closure. Already in our day two new monasteries have been created - in the city of Kogalym and in Moscow, at the Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Worker in Zvonary.

Our days

At present the monastery on the Holy Mountain has one hundred and twenty inhabitants. Among them are the nuns who took tonsure, and novices, many of whom are preparing for this great event in their lives. Under the guidance of her abbess, Abbess Filaret (Kalacheva), the monastery, as in previous years, conducts a wide charitable activity. A choir of Pyukhtitsky Monastery is well-known all over the country and abroad. CDs with records of Orthodox hymns in his performance are published in large editions and enjoy unchanged success among believers and simply among lovers and connoisseurs of choral art.