The city where the Savior preached the Word of God and ascended to the cross for the sins of the whole human race - Jerusalem, is a sacred place for Christians of all faiths. For centuries, it was visited by Russian pilgrims and ascetics. They built several temples and cloisters in Jerusalem and its environs. Among them is the Gornensky monastery.
Ein Karem
The area where the Gornensky Monastery is located is located in the southwestern part of Jerusalem. Translated into Russian from Hebrew, its name translates as "Source of grapes." According to biblical tradition, the Virgin Mary came to her relative, Saint Elizabeth, after she learned that she was destined to become the mother of the son of God. In addition, John the Baptist was born in Ein Karem, who was the son of the priest Zechariah. While still in the womb of his mother, Saint Elizabeth, he leaped as the Mother of God approached, thereby announcing that the Savior was soon to be born.
Background
According to the testimony of contemporaries, the Gornensky monastery appeared thanks to the vigorous work of the ascetic archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin).
In the autumn of 1869, he hosted one of the members of the State Council of the Russian Empire and the then-famous politician P.P. Melnikov. During a walk around the outskirts of Jerusalem, the archimandrite showed the guest a piece of land where Gornensky Monastery is located today, and asked for help in acquiring his Orthodox mission from the former French dragoman Khan Carlo Jeljad.
P.P. Melnikov organized a committee to raise funds that Father Antonin needed to equip the monastery. Generous donations to a charitable cause were made by the large Moscow manufacturers Putilov and Polyakov, the Eliseev brothers, famous philanthropists, as well as many ordinary Russians.
But fundraising was not the only concern of Archimandrite Antonin, since the village of Ein Karem was attracted to the missionary Ratibson, thanks to whom the Catholics began to acquire land there, built a chapel, a school and a Magnificant monastery. Their representatives also began to negotiate with Jelyad, but he was inclined to sell his property to father Antonin.
In February 1871, after a long ordeal, a bill of sale was finally issued for a plot of a dragoman with two houses and a garden for 55,000 francs. However, the story did not end there, since a few days later Jelliad died as a result of poisoning. The murder was never solved, although many considered it the revenge of Catholic fanatics.
The construction of the first temple
At first, in the summer, services were performed in a specially equipped tent, and in winter, in a 2-story mission house. Later, Archimandrite Antonin chose a place for the temple and drew the architectural plan himself. According to this project, during the construction seasons of 1880-1881, the Arab contractor Jiries built a church and received 300 Napoleonders for his work. In addition, he was paid 30 French gold coins for the construction of a free-standing bell tower. In 1883, the temple was consecrated in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.
Gornensky monastery: the history of the foundation
Immediately after a piece of land passed into the possession of the Russian Orthodox Church, a shelter for pilgrims was built there. After a while, several nuns settled in it. Then Archimandrite Antonin decided to found an unusual Orthodox women's monastery. According to the charter written by him, only nuns who were able to build a house on its territory at their own expense and plant a garden around it could settle in it. So, instead of the usual buildings with cells, a small women's village appeared, immersed in the greenery of olive, almond and citrus trees.
In 1898, the Holy Synod granted the local community the status of a monastery.
After 5 years, gold-sewing and icon-painting workshops began to operate on its territory. Thanks to them, the Gornensky monastery in Jerusalem ceased to need funding from outside.
The fate of the monastery during the First World War
In 1910, the construction of the cathedral began, which at the request of the sisters was to be consecrated in honor of the Holy Trinity. The implementation of these plans was prevented by the First World War, with the beginning of which the construction of the temple was stopped.
At the request of the authorities of the Ottoman Empire, which then owned Jerusalem and most of Palestine, 200 nuns living in the monastery were forced to move to Egyptian Alexandria. From there, they were able to return to the Gornensky monastery only in 1918. Before their eyes appeared a thoroughly ruined cloister with damaged buildings, but thanks to the efforts of the sisters it was quickly restored.
Further history of the monastery in the 20th century
Since 1920, due to the inability to maintain contact with the Moscow Patriarchate, the Gornensky Monastery in Jerusalem, as part of the Russian Spiritual Mission, became subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. During this period, many natives settled in the monastery, who fled from Russia, captured by the Civil War, through Bessarabia, and moved to the Holy Land through Serbia.
In 1945, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy the First arrived in Palestine. His arrival became a cause of discord among the sisters, as some of them decided to go under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. Then it was decided to give them the Greek temple in Ein Karem.
During the Arab-Israeli war in the summer of 1948, Ein Karem was bombed. The sisters had to leave the Gornensky monastery (the history of the monastery before the First World War is presented above), they fled to the part of Palestine that belonged to Jordan.
After the formation of Israel
In 1948, the monastery was transferred by the authorities to the Moscow Patriarchate. Inmates, who did not want to return to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, went to London and founded the Annunciation Monastery there. Another 5 nuns moved to Chile, where in 1958, under the leadership of Archbishop Leonty, the Assumption Monastery was founded.
From the middle of the last century, Orthodox women and girls who came from the USSR began to come to the Gornensky monastery as inhabitants. They quickly became full members of the community and worked sweat in the name of the Lord.
In the future, over the years, the monastery continued to remain the only overseas active convent of the Moscow Patriarchate.
In 1987, for the first time in many years on its territory in the name of St. John the Baptist was consecrated cave temple.
The revival of the monastery
In 1997, it was decided to resume the construction of the Holy Trinity Cathedral. It lasted 10 years and ended in 2007. On October 28, the church was consecrated in the name of All Saints, who shone in the land of Russia (in a small rank).
Later, in November 2012, the Gornensky Monastery (as it was founded, you already know) was visited by the Moscow Patriarch Kirill. He solemnly consecrated the cathedral and talked with the sisters.
For the revival of the monastery, much has been done by her current abbess, Mother Superior George (Shchukina). She was appointed to the Gornensky monastery with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy in 1991. Mother George survived the blockade of Leningrad in her childhood, and when she and her mother were evacuated to the Krasnodar Territory, she was in the zone of German occupation. After a long ordeal, the girl returned to her hometown, and a few years later she retired to the women's Orthodox monastery in Estonia, where she lived for 40 years.
When she took control of the monastery, the latter was in decline. It is enough to say that in the houses of the nuns there was not even water supply and sewage, and many of them were in dilapidated condition.
Gornensky monastery: description
Today, 60 sisters are constantly living in the monastery. The main cathedral of the monastery is the church of All Saints, who shone in the Russian land. It contains the miraculous Kazan image of the Mother of God. To the right of the entrance you can see the holy stone, on which, according to ancient tradition, John the Baptist himself preached. The boulder was brought to the monastery from the outskirts of Jerusalem from the “desert” located near the village of Even Sapir. It is believed that there, shortly before his execution, with calls to free himself from sins and prepare for the coming of the Messiah, he addressed the Israelites of St. John the Baptist.
In addition, in 2012, a cave temple was consecrated in the monastery. It is dedicated to st. John the Baptist (Forerunner). According to ancient legend, this small church is located on the site where, shortly before the birth of Christ, the holy righteous Zacharias and Elizabeth built their homes. Its stone niches are decorated with icons depicting scenes from the life of John, who christened the Savior in the waters of the Jordan River.
On the territory of the monastery is a Greek Orthodox church, which was built in the 19th century. After the nun who lived at this temple and devoted many years to the creation of murals on its walls, he extremely rarely opens his doors to visitors.
Monastic way
All the inhabitants who chose the Gornensky Monastery (Ein-Karem) as their place of worship have their obedience. Their day is scheduled by the hour:
- from 5:30 to 9:00 in the monastery morning service is held;
- from 9:00 to 9:30 - breakfast in the refectory;
- from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - time for obedience, during which the nuns perform the tasks assigned to them by the dean sister;
- from 12:30 to 13:00 - lunch;
- from 13:00 to 15:00 - obedience;
- from 15:00 to 18:00 - evening service;
- from 18:00 to 21:00 - obedience.
Workers
In recent years, more and more people want to devote a period of their lives to serving the Lord. To this end, they go to the monastery, where they seek to find answers to their questions regarding the salvation of the soul and the meaning of human being on earth.
In particular, believing women and girls can become laborers of the Gornensky Monastery for up to three months. To do this, they should obtain a tourist visa to Israel, as well as the blessing and recommendation of the priest from the temple, which they usually visit.
How to get to the monastery
The main question that interests those who want to see the Gornensky monastery: how to get there from Jerusalem? The easiest way to do this is on buses No. 19 and No. 27 (to the Hadassah Hospital stop). In addition, you can go from the Central Bus Station, first using tram number 1, and then bus number 28.
Now you know what history Gornensky Monastery has. You also know how to get there, and you can visit it if you find yourself in Jerusalem and want to visit places related to the earthly life of the Virgin.