So, Uglich, Alekseevsky convent, where the miraculous icon is located Mother of God– it was she who became the goal of our next journey. This image is famous for its stories of miraculous healings. And the Wonderful Church, in which the icon now brings help and light to those who turn to it, is itself very beautiful.
This Uglich Monastery took an important place in our travel program. Having left, we simply needed to somehow revive, and perhaps even sanctify, in order to switch our brains to the brighter side of life. 🙂
Alekseevsky is the most old monastery in the city of Uglich. The monastery was placed in highest point the city is on a hill where once there was a temple of the Volga pagans - Keremet. From very ancient times this place was called “Ogneva Gora”.
The monastery was founded in 1371 by the monk Adrian with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexy and consent from Dmitry Donskoy.
Initially it was a men's monastery, and it was then called Uspensky. Later, in honor of the saint, it was renamed Alekseevsky.
All monastery buildings, like the walls surrounding them, were made of wood. It was this wooden fence that protected all possible approaches to the city from the border with Yaroslavl.
Only in 1534 was the first brick temple built here. But in the 19th century it was completely rebuilt. So, practically nothing has survived to this day.
Symbol of architectural perfection - Marvelous Church
In 1609, about 500 city residents and 60 monastic brethren stubbornly defended themselves from the foreign invaders who surrounded the monastery. The defense was long and stubborn.
Angered by such a long resistance, the invaders set fire to the monastery, killing most of those defending the city, and the rest, according to chroniclers, were walled up alive in the basement.
Later the interventionists were expelled, and the city and the monastery began to come to life. The majestic Assumption Church, erected in 1628, became a monument to the dead Uglich residents. For her amazing beauty, people enthusiastically called her “Wonderful”.
This stunning temple became the first stone structure in Russia after the end of the Time of Troubles, when there was very little money in the state treasury.
Here are wonderful lines from a poem by Olga Berggolts, which was written in 1953:
And the church with all its facets
came out so beautiful that people
gave her his - unshakable - name, -
To this day he calls her “Wonderful.”
All three of her tents rise
so majestic, simple and powerful,
like the reflection of distant dawns
lies on them in the morning,
and in the hour of a thunderstorm
clouds overshadow them.
The building surprises with its unusual appearance: three chapters, like the teeth of a royal crown, are directed upward. This gives the Wonderful Church in Uglich lightness and grace. The temple part itself is small; the refectory church is adjacent to it.
Near the entrance on a hill there is a belfry with small bells.
Shrines that bring you back to life
The icon of the Holy Mother of God Goalkeeper of Uglich or the Unquenchable Candle is sacredly kept in the Assumption Church of the Alekseevsky Monastery in Uglich. On it, the Mother of God is depicted as a nun, holding a candle in her right hand, and a rosary and a staff in Her left.
Entire legends are told about this holy image. After all, until 1894 the icon lay in the church storeroom. In the summer of that year, a merchant arrived from St. Petersburg. Having met with the rector of the church, he said that he had seen the Mother of God in a dream, who told him to go to Uglich and pray to Her icon, promising to heal the merchant from a serious illness.
The icon was found and brought to the temple with great honor. The merchant prayed to her very fervently and after some time he became completely healthy. In gratitude, he made a magnificent silver-gilded chasuble.
From then until now, the icon “Candle of the Unquenchable Fire of the Immaterial” in the city of Uglich has been helping those who with faith and hope turn to it for miraculous help.
More than forty amazing cases of incredible healing are reliably known.
But the amount of gold jewelry that is located near this wondrous icon suggests that there are hundreds of times more cases in which prayers to the Mother of God were heard, and those asking received help, support and healing.
A gift from afar
In addition to the Uglich Icon of the Mother of God “Goalkeeper,” another very revered icon was presented to the monastery at the beginning of the 20th century by monks from Athos. An equally interesting story happened to her.
In the 30s, the monastery was closed, many church relics were sent to the museum. But this image - the icon of St. Nicholas - was hidden. One of the parishioners kept it, and then handed it over to her son for safekeeping.
For many years the young man turned with prayers to miraculous image, but the time came when he was forced to sell the value to an antiques store. The store went bankrupt, and the young man did not receive any money. But he continued to pray, to believe, and on one of his trips in a temple in another city he saw a familiar image to which he had prayed since childhood.
Arriving home, he told the whole story to Mother Magdalene, and together they went to where the icon was found.
It was a Moscow church, and it was the image of St. Nicholas that marked the beginning of its restoration. But on the reverse side there was an inscription that this icon was donated and now belongs to the Alekseevsky Monastery. In such a miraculous way, the icon returned to where it was originally.
Temples of the monastery
The small, quadrangular Church of John the Baptist was built in 1681. This is a low, wide building with five domes standing on thin turrets.
In the 19th century, the painting of the temple was updated, so very few original frescoes have survived. But its tiled decoration is considered the best in Uglich!
Alekseevskaya Church was built at the beginning of the 16th century. After the Time of Troubles in the country, it also needed to be restored. It was then that the Epiphany chapel was added to it, and later the refectory. In the 30s of the 20th century it housed an art gallery.
Currently, the monastery has been revived and operates, but only as the Uglich Alekseevsky Convent. Many pilgrims who previously lived on the not very large territory of the monastery received apartments and continue to visit the temples of the monastery. There is an orphanage here where girls live, study, and also receive musical education.
In the monastery courtyard there is a place where until 1917 there was a cemetery. Famous residents of the city and monks were buried there. After the revolution, of course, it was all destroyed and looted. Roses are blooming here now. Throughout the territory of the convent, the nuns planted about 1,300 species rose bushes. So beauty and indescribable aroma reign here!
The active monastery where it is located
The monastery is located at the address: Yaroslavl region, Uglich, Sharkova street, 27.
Coordinates: 57.52603, 38.33118.
We didn't see a service schedule anywhere. We came here at daytime, it was deserted. Only one Assumption Church was opened. Therefore, in silence, we were able to stand near the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, light candles and ask for the most secret things: each for his own.
Come, come. Stay at least a few minutes in this amazing and blessed place!
You can find the Alekseevsky Convent on the map of Uglich.
Well, we are going to the most significant place in the city: the Uglich Kremlin.
Our trip to Uglich took place on July 13, 2016. Other attractions of the Yaroslavl region, where I was able to visit, are on this map.
Descriptions of the icon
Description of the Goalkeeper icon
Source: Disc "Orthodox church calendar 2011" publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate
On the icon “Goalkeeper” (“Unquenchable Candle”) the Most Holy Theotokos is depicted as a nun with a rosary and a staff in her left hand and a candle in her right. The miraculous image was located in Alekseevsky monastery Uglich, Yaroslavl province. Until June 23, 1894, the holy icon was in the monastery's storeroom. But after one sick visitor from St. Petersburg approached the abbot of the monastery, telling him about the Mother of God who appeared to him in a dream and commanded him to go for healing to Uglich, where Her holy icon was located, and to pray before it, the image was treated with great honor and triumph. moved to the Assumption Church of the monastery. Praying in front of the icon Holy Mother of God, the patient received complete healing. In gratitude for this, he donated a silver gilded robe to the icon. Since then, healing and consolation were given to everyone who resorted to the Queen of Heaven with faith in Her intercession before God.
Icon of the Goalkeeper (Unquenchable Candle) - description
Source: Website "Miracle-Working Icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary", author - Valery Melnikov
This icon should be distinguished from the Iverskaya icon, which is also called the Goalkeeper. This same icon is sometimes called the Uglich icon, since it became famous in the Alekseevsky Monastery in the city of Uglich in 1894. On June 23 of this year, a St. Petersburg merchant arrived in Uglich, who had been suffering from a serious illness for a long time. The merchant told the abbot that the Mother of God appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to go to Uglich, where he should pray before Her icon. Since the merchant described in detail the image of the Mother of God in which She appeared to him, then the desired icon Found it very quickly. She was in the monastery's storeroom. At the direction of the abbot, the image was solemnly transferred to the Assumption Church of the monastery, and the sick merchant, having prayed in front of the image, was immediately healed. In gratitude for his miraculous cure, the merchant covered the icon with a gilded silver robe.
Description of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos Goalkeeper (Unquenchable Candle)
A candle of unquenchable fire of immaterial fire (goalkeeper). One day the robbers decided to rob the monastery. They began to follow him and saw that the watchman with a lit candle walked around the outside of the monastery every evening. And after some time they came to the monastery to repent (fear suddenly attacked them). The abbess knew that their watchman never walked around the monastery, especially with a candle, and she realized that it was the Mother of God herself who protected their monastery. In 1894, a peasant dreamed of this icon so that he would pray in front of it and get well. The image was found in the monastery's storerooms. “Our Lady of the Goalkeeper,” because she protected the monastery. The Akathist is read to the Iveron Icon, as it is written on the back of the found icon.
Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "Goalkeeper of Uglich (Unquenchable Candle)"
The Mother of God in this icon is depicted as a nun with a staff and rosary in her left hand and a candle in her right hand. This image is located in the Alekseevsky Monastery in the city of Uglich, Yaroslavl province.
Until 1894, the icon remained in the monastery's storeroom. On June 23 of this year, a sick merchant arrived from St. Petersburg at the monastery. Appearing to the abbot, he spoke in detail about his illness and that the Mother of God appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to go to Uglich, where Her icon is located, and pray before her, promising him healing. The abbot ordered to find this icon. His command was carried out, and the icon was transferred with great triumph to the Assumption Church of the monastery. When the sick merchant prayed before her, he soon completely recovered. In gratitude for the healing he received, he covered the icon with a gilded silver robe.
Currently, this miraculous icon of the Mother of God also provides healing to those who resort to the Queen of Heaven with faith in Her intercession before God. According to the acts drawn up by the Yaroslavl spiritual consistory, from 1894 to the present time, more than forty events took place under this icon. miraculous healings.
Source: Book "E. Villager. Mother of God. Description of Her earthly life and miraculous icons"
This icon should be distinguished from the Iverskaya icon, which is also called the Goalkeeper. This same icon is sometimes called the Uglich icon, since it became famous in the Alekseevsky Monastery in the city of Uglich in 1894. On June 23 of this year, a St. Petersburg merchant arrived in Uglich, who had been suffering from a serious illness for a long time. The merchant told the abbot that the Mother of God appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to go to Uglich, where he should pray before Her icon. Since the merchant described in detail the image of the Mother of God in which She appeared to him, the required icon was found very quickly. She was in the monastery's storeroom. At the direction of the abbot, the image was solemnly transferred to the Assumption Church of the monastery, and the sick merchant, having prayed in front of the image, was immediately healed. In gratitude for his miraculous cure, the merchant covered the icon with a gilded silver robe.
A candle of unquenchable fire of immaterial fire (goalkeeper). One day the robbers decided to rob the monastery. They began to follow him and saw that the watchman with a lit candle walked around the outside of the monastery every evening. And after some time they came to the monastery to repent (fear suddenly attacked them). The abbess knew that their watchman never walked around the monastery, especially with a candle, and she realized that it was the Mother of God herself who protected their monastery. In 1894, a peasant dreamed of this icon so that he would pray in front of it and get well. The image was found in the monastery's storerooms. “Our Lady of the Goalkeeper,” because she protected the monastery. The Akathist is read to the Iveron Icon, as it is written on the back of the found icon.
Status: Orthodox icon, mentioned in the month's book
Sources:
- Valery Melnikov "Miracle-working icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary."
- Catalog of icons PravIcon.com, Anatoly
Date of publication or update 02/01/2017
The Icon of the Mother of God “The Goalkeeper of Uglich” is a holy miraculous image with more than a century of history, in which many mysteries still remain.
The location of the Goalkeeper icon is the Alekseevsky Uglich Monastery, where, according to legend, the Mother of God appeared in this image to Abbot Evangel, who held the position of rector in 1864-1872. To this time, researcher of the late 19th century I. Vinogradov dates the appearance in the monastery of an image “which depicts a vision of the Archimandrite Evangel of the Mother of God with a staff in her left hand and a candle in her right.” And if I. Vinogradov’s opinion is correct that the icon was painted in those years, then for almost thirty years it remained in obscurity.
Only in 1894 this icon became famous thanks to the following event. A sick merchant arrived at the Alekseevsky Monastery from St. Petersburg. He said that the Mother of God appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to go to Uglich, where Her icon is located, from which he will receive healing. Based on the merchant's description, the brethren guessed which icon they were talking about. From the storeroom, where for unknown reasons the icon was located at that time, it was solemnly transferred to the Assumption Church of the monastery and a prayer service was served. The sick merchant actually received healing, and in gratitude he brought a silver gilded robe for the icon. Since then, miracles began to happen from the icon. According to the acts compiled by the Yaroslavl Spiritual Consistory from 1894 to 1900, more than forty miraculous healings were confirmed. This information is contained in the book “Tales of the miraculous icons of the Mother of God and Her mercies to the human race,” where the icon is called “The Goalkeeper of Uglich” and is described as follows: “The Mother of God on this icon is depicted as a nun with a staff and rosary in her left hand and a candle in right hand."
We also find interesting information in the “Report on the state of the Uglich Alekseevsky Monastery for 1910,” where it is said that “the icon of the Mother of God, called the “Goalkeeper,” had a carved iconostasis, gilded on polyment with a frame and glass, built under Archimandrite Theophan.” Archimandrite Feofan ruled the Alekseevsky Monastery from 1893 to 1898, and, in all likelihood, we're talking about specifically about that “gilded robe” that the healed St. Petersburg merchant brought as a gift to the “Goalkeeper”.
What time Uglich icon began to be called “The Unquenchable Candle of the Immaterial Fire” is unknown, and the name “Goalkeeper”, without a doubt, indicates its Athonite origin. Moreover, when looking at the Uglich image, it is difficult not to notice its amazing similarity with the image of the “Abbess of the Holy Mountain”, especially revered in the Russian St. Andrew’s Skete on Athos. On it, the Most Holy Theotokos is depicted standing on a cloud above Mount Athos - in an abbot's robe with a staff and a scroll in her left hand, and right hand It is folded for blessing.
For everyone who visited the Alekseevsky Convent of Uglich, the revered shrine sunk into their souls forever and ever - the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Candle of the Unquenchable Fire of the Immaterial”, or “The Goalkeeper of Uglich”. The gap between the frame and the image itself is filled with gold jewelry, which believers leave in gratitude to the Mother of God for healing and consolation.
ALEXEEVSKY monastery is very ancient, and its foundation is associated with the names of great Russian saints. Saint Alexy of Moscow, having visited Uglich in 1371, chose a place to build a monastery, for which he received permission from the blessed prince Demetrius Donskoy. Alexy sent monk Andrian, the first builder of the monastery, to Uglich. Through his efforts, within a year, a church was built in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God, and initially the monastery was called Assumption. Alekseevsky became in the 40s of the 15th century. At the beginning of the 17th century, the monastery was devastated by Polish-Lithuanian invaders. The brothers and the population fought the invaders to the last. At the site of their death in 1628, a stone tented church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built as a monument to the liberation of their native land. The people called her Divna: “This is a white swan floating on the waves of centuries,” they say about her in Uglich. The miraculous icon “Candle of the Unquenchable Fire of the Immaterial” now resides in the Wonderful Church.
According to legend, the Mother of God appeared to the rector of the monastery, Evangel, in the image of the Mother of God with a staff and a candle. And the icon became famous 30 years later, after a sick merchant from St. Petersburg received healing from it. And many such healings and consolations have been recorded; the icon helps everyone “who flows to it with faith.” People from all over Russia flock to the miraculous image of the Mother of God and through the prayers of the intercessor they receive help and consolation. Believers from Uglich, Moscow, Dmitrov, Yaroslavl, Kashin and other parts of the country received assistance in childbirth, healing, strengthening of faith, the return of peace to the family, and a trace of grace in the soul.
With the funds and efforts of benefactors, the cell building for the orphanage was restored. In 2007, the shelter named after the holy noble prince Demetrius of Uglich opened. The pupils study not only in general education, but also in a music school. They are engaged in church singing and reading, sewing, artistic knitting, dancing, drawing, cooking, agriculture; There are icon painting and regency schools. Girls are taught good manners and a love of literature and art. In their prayers they praise the “Goalkeeper of Uglich”, who guides them through life.
Through the efforts of the abbess of the Holy Alexeevsky Monastery, Abbess Magdalene, and her sisters, with the blessing of His Eminence Kirill, Archbishop of Yaroslavl and Rostov, the first religious procession took place after a century-long calm with the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Candle of the Unquenchable Fire of the Immaterial” through the places of asceticism of the holy Uglich wonderworkers. This is an example of the spiritual connection connecting modern Russian people with their ancestors - everyone is alive with God! Procession-- another attempt to preserve Russia as Holy place and be confirmed in the thought that the Lord will not leave us.
Russia, 2010
