Svyato-Troitsky Serafímo-Divéyevsky Monastery — a convent of the Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. Located in the selo of Diveevo, Nizhny Novgorod Region. Venerated as the fourth earthly Lot of the Most Holy Theotokos (after Iveria, Athos, and the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra).
History
The monastery arose in the mid-18th century: around 1758, a wealthy Ryazan noblewoman, Agafiya Semyonovna Melgunova (†13 June 1789), arrived in Kyiv, became a resident of the Florovsky Monastery, and soon began wandering across Russia in search of a place to found a new convent. In 1760, while travelling to the The Holy Dormition Sarov Hermitage, she found herself near Diveevo, in the village of Osinovka.
In 1773–1774, Mother Alexandra used her own funds to lay the foundation of the Kazan Church in Diveevo. The church was consecrated at the beginning of 1780. The Kazan Church had two side chapels: one in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and one in the name of the Protomartyr Archdeacon Stephen.
In 1788, a local noblewoman named Zhdanova donated 1,300 square sazhens of her estate land, on which Melgunova built three cells enclosed by a shared fence, where she settled with three novices.
In 1789, the young hierodeacon Serafim took the community under his care; in 1827 he established another, separate community near the first, and in 1829 a two-storey stone church in the name of the Nativity of Christ.
After Serafim's repose, both communities were united under the name Serafimo-Diveevskaya.
In 1861, the community was granted the status of a monastery.
The enormous Trinity Cathedral was built between 1848 and 1875. One of the monastery's trustees during this period was Nikolai Alexandrovich Motovilov, biographer and interlocutor of the Venerable Serafim Sarovsky. It has been 204 years since the birth of the trustee of the Serafimo-Diveevo convent, Nikolai Alexandrovich Motovilov]. In 1902, a house church in the name of the Holy Myrrh-Bearer Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene was built in the eastern part of the abbess's building. During Emperor Nicholas II's visit in 1903, at his request a Divine Liturgy was celebrated in this church.
By the early 20th century the monastery had become a large monastic community: in 1917, its register recorded 270 nuns and 1,474 novices — compared to a total population of 520 in the village of Diveevo.
In 1919 the monastery was registered as a labor cooperative and continued to operate. On 21 September 1927 it was closed. Some of the residents scattered throughout the surrounding area and attempted to preserve part of Diveevo's shrines. Abbess Alexandra (Trakovskaya; †February 1942), together with some of the sisters, subsequently settled in Murom in a house near the walls of the Annunciation Monastery; afterwards, Anna Yefimovna Barinova (in monasticism — Maria) became the senior sister. The Kazan Church was closed in 1937.
Contemporary life of the monastery
The revival began in 1988, when a church parish was registered.
On 22 April 1989, Archbishop Nikolai of Gorky and Arzamas Nikolai Vasilyevich Kutepov consecrated a wooden church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. On 31 March 1990, Metropolitan Nikolai Vasilyevich Kutepov reconsecrated the Trinity Cathedral.
On 21 July 1991, the Holy Synod resolved to reopen the monastery.
On 29 July 1991, the relics of the Venerable Serafim Sarovsky solemnly arrived in Diveevo, having been rediscovered for a second time in Saint Petersburg, in the Kazan Cathedral, which was then a museum of atheism and religion.
On 13 (26) September 2000, the relics of the venerables Alexandra, Martha, and Elena were discovered.
Shrines of the monastery
The Holy Kanavka
The Holy Kanavka (trench) is one of the monastery's principal shrines. Work has begun on the last unrestored section of the Holy Kanavka.
On 25 November 1825, the Mother of God appeared to the Venerable Serafim and commanded him to found the Mill Community, indicating how the place should be enclosed with a trench and an earthen rampart.
Fulfilling the instructions of the Queen of Heaven, Serafim Sarovsky ordered the sisters to dig the Kanavka along the path along which the Mother of God had walked. Father Serafim himself began digging the Kanavka on 15 June 1829, before the feast of the Holy Trinity. The depth of the trench and the height of the rampart were to be 3 arshins (215 cm). The work continued until the repose of the Venerable Serafim and was completed before the feast of the Nativity of Christ in 1833.
From 1842, under Ivan Tikhonov, maintenance of the Kanavka was discontinued, the rampart was partially levelled, and bridges and walkways were built across the Kanavka.
Care of the Kanavka was resumed in 1862 under Abbess Maria (Ushakova); it was cleared of debris and the bridges and walkways were removed.
Until 1900 a bell stand stood at the end of the Holy Kanavka; it was then replaced by a five-tiered bell tower.<
In 1927 the rampart was levelled and the Kanavka was filled in over a significant length. In the post-war years, utility lines were laid across the Kanavka — in particular, a sewage pipe through its southern section.
On 1 January 1992, the tradition was renewed whereby all the sisters, after the evening service, walk the Kanavka in prayer with the words "Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos."
In 1997, the administration of Diveevo gave permission for the Kanavka's restoration on the condition that each section of work be coordinated with them.
The main works were completed by 2003 — the centenary of the glorification of Serafim Sarovsky.
The path along the top of the rampart was paved with stone slabs and enclosed with a wrought-iron fence. In 2004, marble veneration crosses were erected, and a wooden chapel was built on the site of the mill.
Icon of the Mother of God "Umilenie"
The "Umilenie" (Tenderness) icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was the principal shrine of the Trinity Cathedral. Serafim Sarovsky prayed before this icon and reposed before it. He called it "the Joy of all Joys," and with the oil from the lamp burning before the icon the venerable one would anoint the sick. According to the testament of Father Serafim, after his death the image was transferred by the Sarov abbot Nifont to the Mill Community.
Ark with the relics of the elders of Glinskaya Pustyn
In April 2009, an ark containing particles of the relics of the saints of Glinskaya Pustyn was donated to the monastery: those of Makary, Serafim, Innokenty, Feodot, Arkhipp, Vasily, Iliodor, Ioanniky, and Filaret. The ark was made with the blessing of the abbess of the Serafimo-Diveevo Monastery, Sergiya (Konkova).
Relics
The Bell of Serafim Sarovsky
In 2008, the bell commissioned by Serafim Sarovsky was returned to the monastery. The bell weighs 16 kg (1 pood). It was purchased in the summer of 1829 at the Nizhny Novgorod Yarmarka. The name of the person who commissioned it is engraved on the bell. Due to a crack, the bell is planned to be placed in the exhibition of a museum currently being created.
Portrait of the first abbess
On 6 March 2009, the portrait of the first abbess of the convent — Mother Alexandra — was transferred to the monastery.
The portrait of Mother Alexandra is mentioned in the monastery's chronicle. According to legend, the portrait would change depending on what kind of person entered the cell.
At the time of the portrait's transfer, the benefactors noted that each of them had experienced an event connected with the monastery in their lives. After restoration, the portrait is planned to be placed in the chapel of Mother Alexandra.
Metochions
- Svyato-Troitsky Belbazhsky Monastery — since April 2009 has functioned as a skete of the Svyato-Troitsky Serafimo-Diveevsky Monastery
- Church of the Holy Hierarchs of Moscow Peter, Alexius, Jonah, Philip, and Hermogenes — Nizhny Novgorod metochion
- Church of the Holy Martyrs Florus and Laurus — the Solnechnaya Polyana metochion
- Churches of the Nativity of Christ and of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God — Arzamas metochion
In 1909, Fyodor Vasilyevich Dolgintsev, the builder of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, purchased a plot of land with buildings for the Moscow metochion. In 2008, in Moscow at the Patriarchal metochion of Diveevo Monastery, plans were made to consecrate the first chapel-church in honor of the feast of the Assembly of the Diveevo Saints, celebrated on June 27, the day after the commemoration of the foundress of Diveevo Monastery, Mother Alexandra.