Brailovsky Convent. Brailovsky Trinity Monastery

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18 years ago, in the “warm” church of St. Anthony and Theodosius, the Kiev-Pechersk wonderworkers, after almost 30 years of desolation, the first liturgy was served in the Brailovsky convent. Since then, March 19 is one of the most important monastic holidays, when one of the main local shrines is venerated - the miraculous Brailovo-Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God. On this day, pilgrims from all over Ukraine gather in Brailov.

Just half an hour of driving along the Zhmerinsky highway, and my driver Ruslan and I are already approaching the Brailovsky Convent. There is excitement and anxiety in my soul: “How will I be perceived here? Will they look at me as a sinner, with obvious condemnation, which, unfortunately, is often found in churches?”

Near the monastery gates there are beggars who, as if going to work, come to the monastery every day to ask for alms. I cross the threshold and immediately feel: on the other side, that is, on this side of the gate, there is a completely different world. “Quiet and calm, like in paradise,” - my head immediately spins, and my legs slowly walk towards the entrance to the temple. And with every step, blessed calm confidently expels all remnants of excitement and fear from the soul.
Meeting a large family
“Any monastery is just a big family, where everyone does their own thing, which we call obedience,” Mother Anastasia begins to introduce them to the way of monastic life. - Like our mother, Mother Antonia, like our father, the confessor of the monastery, our elder, Father Kirill. So, like in every home, we have someone to consult with to know what to do right.
Today, 67 sisters live in the Holy Trinity Brailovsky Monastery, the youngest is 16, the oldest is 89 years old. Each of them was brought here by their own, sometimes difficult, fate, and were united by their love for God.
- Of course, we are all different - with our own character, inclinations, even, one might say, oddities. Just as rough pebbles in the sea rub together, over time acquiring a streamlined, smooth shape, so here we rub together,” says Mother Anastasia. - The enemy of humanity is trying to sow misunderstandings among Orthodox Christians, especially among monastics. There are, of course, different cases: if you quarrel, and because of your weakness, you look with misunderstanding at your slightly carelessly dressed sister - you have already condemned her. But the Lord said: “Let the sun not rise in your anger,” which means that by the end of the day you must reconcile and ask for forgiveness. Our life is short-lived, and it is not worth wasting it on grievances.
The main tenets of monastic life: obedience, humility, chastity and non-covetousness. Nothing happens in the monastery without the blessing of Mother Superior, and if the words “I can’t” can still pass, then “I don’t want” is impossible.
- If you crossed the threshold of the monastery, you renounced your self. What you have been blessed with must be fulfilled,” says Mother Anastasia. - This is my obedience today: to take care of my sick sister and talk to you...
Quiet working life
Mother Mary’s bell, with which she walks along the corridor near each cell at 4.40 in the morning, like a familiar alarm clock, tells the nuns: it’s time to get up and go to church for morning prayer. Since there is no possibility of heating in the main cathedral, in winter and until the weather warms up, all services are held in lower temple, the so-called warm church, specially founded back in 1847.
- The Queen of Heaven is our patroness, the mistress of the monastery. What can we bring her? Only praise! Every morning after the midnight office, all the sisters sing an akathist to the Brailovo Icon of the Mother of God, which was written by Abbess Sofia Rachinskaya in 1931, devoting the first half to the Brailovo-Czestochowa Icon, and the second to the Brailovo-Pochaevskaya Icon, Mother Anastasia continues.
Next comes the reading of the akathist of the day (today, Wednesday, this is the akathist of the Great Martyr Barbara) and the Divine Liturgy - the main service on earth, the sacrament of transmuting the body and blood of the Lord from bread and wine. From 10.00 the sisters begin to perform obedience.
- As the head mother over the sisters, the dean knows what inclinations, talents, and character each has, therefore, for a week (week), she blesses in turn for obedience in the church, in the kitchen, in the barn, and in the summer - for field work. Many sisters have constant obediences: in the altar room, the prosphora room, the sacristy room and the sewing room,” says Mother Anastasia.
We go on a tour of the monastery territory. To the right of the main church there is a cemetery, which has existed since 1845, when the monastery was moved from Vinnitsa to Brailov. Nowadays it’s easy to see fresh graves here, among which there are even a few secular ones. During the war, people went to the monastery during the bombing, and some died here. By the way, here, under the river, there was an underground passage through which Nadezhda von Meck, whose museum is located on the other bank, came to the temple.
In the spring, the monastery is transformed even more: the sisters laid out a garden, planted apple trees and flowers. There is also a small vegetable garden here - the remaining small share of the land, which was taken away from the monastery in difficult times. Not long ago, 15 hectares were finally returned, but they are scattered throughout Brailov. During the warm season, the nuns work there sowing, growing wheat, buckwheat and grass for the cows.
The economic part of the monastery is represented by a cowshed, a stable and garages that house seven cows, calves, a couple of horses, chickens, a tractor, several trucks and cars.
“And the vegetables are stored there,” Mother Anastasia points out. - Were here once underground passages to Zhmerinka, Vinnitsa and Kyiv - the three horses passed freely. But the bishop said to wall it up so that there would be no accidents.
You can always drink holy healing water from the local well. According to legend, in the 30s, during a drought, only here in Brailov there was water. On Epiphany, Presentation, Trinity, Intercession and other major holidays, the water in the well is sanctified.
Also in the backyard there is a laundry room, a priest's house and a quarters where workers live. The nuns themselves live two or three people in cells on the second and third floors. Once a year, everyone is given two weeks of vacation, when they can visit relatives or travel to holy places.
- Ding-ding! - we hear the ringing of a bell... So it’s already noon, it’s time for the first meal.
The monastery has several refectories especially for visitors: it is not Christian to leave people hungry.
- We have modest food. Maybe some kind of soup, porridge, compote, tea,” says Mother Anastasia. “But many pilgrims are happy with this, because the food, although simple, is blessed.
After morning prayer, four nuns receive obedience in the kitchen. For sisters, workers and parishioners, they always cook with prayer; they light lamps near the icons in the kitchen.
- It has been scientifically proven that the words of prayer even have an effect on plants. You should always cook only with love,” admits Mother Anastasia. - Of course, there is a special prayer, but for those who don’t know, it’s enough to just say: “Lord, bless!”, cross yourself, bless the food and start cooking.
After lunch, the nuns begin their obedience again. At 16.00 the evening service begins, after which the sisters have dinner and already perform the evening monastic rule in the house church. At the beginning of eleven in the evening, those who are tired go to bed, and someone reads a book of spiritual content. In short, no one goes to bed in the monastery before 11 p.m.
Many come, not all stay
The year 2007 turned out to be “fruitful” for the Brailovsky Monastery - eight people came, from the youngest to the adults. By the way, recently Mother Antonia has made it a rule to accept women only up to 50 years of age, so that they can still work harder and serve the Lord.
- Each of us came to the monastery to save ourselves. Some go into labor deeds, others into spiritual ones, and some try to do both. This is a constant struggle and a lot of work! First of all, over yourself,” notes Mother Anastasia.
She herself has been in the monastery since it opened, will soon be 20 years old, and, like no one else, she knows that without the desire to be closer to God, a person in a monastery cannot stay for long.
- When I first came to the Lavra, back in school, it was stunning for me! I looked at the monks and realized that these were angels coming, I was afraid to even speak, to approach,” recalls Mother Anastasia. - Before the blessing to the monastery, I was told that what is needed here, first of all, is humility and patience - not a cartload, but a whole convoy. You have to endure everything: attacks from outside and inside.
Menacingly slam the door with the words: “I’m leaving for the monastery!” really not enough to escape from the hustle and bustle of the world. First you need to be spiritually prepared. In the nunnery, after a conversation with mother, the future nun will have to work on general obediences (cowshed, kitchen, field work). Over time, she is transferred from the monastery hotel to a general building in a special cell for “newcomers.” By behavior and conversations, mother sees whether a person can stay and overcome himself. If yes, they are transferred to the cell of the older sisters, put on a black monastic dress and tie a scarf, which already covers the forehead, which means: the novice has been accepted among the sisters.
After a while, she is tonsured, and, although the sister has not yet taken an oath to the Lord, her name changes - as if one person dies and another is born. At the end, the sister is cut again, she takes a vow of non-covetousness, chastity and obedience, which she must carry until her death, without leaving the monastery.
- People consider us saints, but we, of course, are not angels. We also have our own shortcomings and weaknesses, which we try to get rid of. It’s just that the routine of the monastery itself is more conducive to prayer, and in it there is the whole truth,” noted Mother Anastasia.
It's time! It's time to go home. I thank my companion for an incredible day and head to the gate. I cross the threshold into worldly life, and the words that Mother Anastasia finally gave me are spinning in my head:
- This frantic rhythm of life, which accelerates every day, is not accidental. The evil one does all this so that a person does not have time to look into himself. People are not even in a hurry to live - they run, fly and rush. But it is so important and necessary for all of us to stop, find time, look in and listen to ourselves, to God, who lives inside everyone.

History of the monastery
The monastery was founded by the nobleman Mikhail Kropivnitsky in 1635 in Vinnitsa (in the area of ​​Volodarsky, Sverdlov and Kropivnitsky streets). In the 30s of the 19th century, the monastery had high moral and spiritual authority. Nuns from other monasteries were sent here for correction, and often, by court decision, lay women were also sent to repent for moral offenses. Due to the inconvenient location and unsuitability of the old wooden premises, in 1845 the monastery was moved from Vinnitsa to Brailov to the empty buildings of the former Catholic monastery. At the monastery they opened a school for clerical orphans and an almshouse. In the 20-30s of the last century, the Holy Trinity Monastery experienced severe persecution from the godless authorities, but it survived and was closed only in 1962. The revival of the monastery began in 1989, when it was transferred to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. By this time, the monastery had fallen into complete desolation, so that it was impossible to even perform services in it. And only on March 19, 1990, the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated within the walls of the ancient monastery. In 10 years, the temple, which was littered with garbage, was restored. They built a bell tower, carried out internal and external restoration of the entire building and the external part of the Trinity Cathedral. The Church of St. Nicholas was restored.
The monastery has its own revered shrines. These are the icons of the Mother of God Brailovo-Pochaevskaya and Brailovo-Czestochowa and Troeruchitsa. An icon that was painted specifically for the Brailovsky Monastery also returned to the Trinity Cathedral - this is the icon of the holy great martyr and healer Panteleimon. There is also a reliquary in the monastery with the relics of the holy saints of God.

The sisters go to the kitchen to be blessed for the week. While reading prayers, they cook for all residents, including workers and guests of the monastery.

Work in the marshmallow refers to constant obediences, which are performed by the same sisters

The sisters of the Holy Trinity Brailovsky Convent have enough work all year round

Whether it’s a weekday morning or Sunday evening, there are always a lot of people in the Brailovsky Convent. The sisters always greet their parishioners with true hospitality

According to legend, the Brailovo-Częstochowa Icon of the Mother of God was donated by the Bratslav treasurer Mikhail Kropivnitsky. In 1942, during the German-Romanian occupation, the shrine returned to the open monastery, and 20 years after the monastery was closed for the second time, all trace of the icon was lost. Only in 1984, a pious woman, who received the image from the abbess of the Brailovsky monastery, gave it to the dean of the churches of the Zhmerinsky district, Archpriest John Lukanov. The shrine remained in the latter’s house until 1995, when, with the blessing of Archbishop Macarius of Vinnitsa and Mogilev-Podolsk, it was moved from Vinnitsa to the Brailov monastery in a solemn religious procession. With the blessing of the bishop, a wooden icon case was made for the icon, covered with gold leaf. Currently, the icon does not have a silver-gilded chasuble; it is decorated only with pendants, which, as before, are left by parishioners in gratitude for the grace-filled healings.

The image is located above the Royal Doors of the Trinity Cathedral. Every morning after the Midnight Office, the icon is lowered so that nuns and pilgrims can venerate the shrine and receive blessings and healing from the Most Holy Theotokos. Every year on the third day of the Feast of the Holy Trinity, the monastery remembers the return of the icon to its native monastery, and after the solemn service there is a procession of the cross with the shrine around the temple

The economic part of the monastery is represented by a cowshed, a stable and garages that accommodate seven cows, calves, a couple of horses, chickens, a tractor, several trucks and cars