Land from Diveyevo Seraphim of Sarov. A trip to Diveyevo, the history of the monastery and personal impressions. Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery: photos and impressions of the visit

We continue the series of articles about and today we will talk about what this unique structure actually consists of - about the earth itself.

Why do they take land from Kanavka to Diveevo?

The sanctity of this place has been confirmed more than once by saints. He himself said:

“The Mother of God Herself measured this Canal with Her belt... Here the piles of the Mother of God passed... Whoever reads one and a half hundred “Theotokos” will find Athos, Jerusalem, and Kyiv all here.”

But the saint commanded not only to pray here. When they were digging a ditch, he ordered the sisters to throw the earth from the ditch into the monastery, where a shaft was formed. And he said:

“Visitors will come and they will take clay from Kanavka for healing, and it will be used instead of gold.”

Centuries have passed, but the holy land from the groove of the Queen of Heaven still helps everyone who realizes its holiness. They protect.

How to properly use the soil from the Canal of the Virgin Mary?

The land brought from Diveevo is best stored in a glass jar or paper box, but a plastic bag will also work. The main thing is that it should not be in oblivion, but next to the shrines in its proper place.

It can be used in different ways. Some people rub raw earth directly onto sore spots, such as their legs. Others fill it with water, and then drink the water or make compresses. But we must remember that these are not just recipes, this is really a shrine, so everything you do with the earth from the Kanavka must be accompanied by the prayer “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary.” Read this prayer more than once. You can even read it all 150 times, as if you were walking along the Kanavka. And sincerely believe.

Some people sew a pinch of holy soil from the Kanavka into a piece of fabric and wear it around their neck along with a pectoral cross - like an amulet.

You can also fence your plot of land with holy soil from Kanavka by sprinkling it with prayer on the four cardinal points within the boundaries of the fence.

Gooseberry

When the sisters of the Diveyevo monastery were digging a holy ditch, Seraphim of Sarov ordered them to plant the slopes with gooseberries to strengthen the ditch and natural fence. In our time, during the restoration of the Kanavka, gooseberries were again planted on the slopes.

So, when the gooseberry grows, it is cut off. The cut branches are not thrown away, but are rooted or distributed to pilgrims.

It should be noted that there is an old rule - they don’t ask for anything in the monastery. But if they suddenly give you something or donate it, take it. This is a special grace. Especially if these are gooseberry branches from the Holy Canal. Take them and try to root them in your garden, country house, or just in a flower pot.

Grass from the Holy Canal of the Virgin Mary in Diveevo

The slopes of Kanavka are also lined with lawn grass, and when it grows, it is also trimmed, but not thrown away. This is what Seraphim of Sarov commanded - not to throw anything away from this holy place.

The cut grass is dried and sewn into cloth. The resulting small pillows are sold in the monastery. And if you happen to visit Diveevo on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God and walk along the decorated Kanavka with the Procession of the Cross, don’t forget to bend down and take flowers and grass as a souvenir.

They can also be dried and sewn into fabric, and the resulting pillow can be used to sleep on during illness.

But again, remember that such a pillow is not for pleasure. The weed from Kanavka sewn into it is sacred, which means it requires reverent treatment.

In conclusion I would like to say this

At all times, pilgrims, visiting holy places, sought to bring home a piece of holiness and grace. And God himself gave us holy water, oil (vegetable oil), earth from holy places, as a help to our suffering body.

In this regard, Diveevo is no exception. There are many holy springs here where you can get water; , which burns near the relics of Seraphim of Sarov; there is earth and grass from the Kanavka. And these shrines really help, but they should not overshadow the main thing - faith in God and prayers to Him.

Tatyana Strakhova

October 29th, 2013

Original taken from pamsik in Diveevo. Canal of the Blessed Virgin Mary

From the story "Diveevo - Russian Promised Land."
It’s difficult to write about Diveevo. Before traveling here, I read different reviews about it and was always surprised by their ascetic style of storytelling. I love, and I myself have a penchant for, flowery presentation, for details and details, and such stinginess of words and feelings puzzled me. But now, having returned from this truly wondrous place, I myself don’t know where to start, or how to write about what we saw and felt there - it’s very difficult to find the right words. I'll try.
Diveevo is a special land. This is a special piece of our planet where a person has the opportunity to cleanse his soul.
Diveevo is not just beautiful nature and a beautiful monastery. Diveevo is a very energetically strong place that strips the soul of everything unnecessary.

About the monastery: Our impressions. Our Lady's Groove.

The Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery itself occupies a fairly large area, but even that seems to be small - there are a lot of pilgrims and people who come here. In the monastery fence from Oktyabrskaya Street there are several entrances to the monastery. Quite by accident we went the right way - through the Bell Tower. Correct - because it turns out more solemnly, not just jump out somewhere to the side into the territory, namely go through the bell tower arch, see Trinity Cathedral light green through openwork cast-iron gates, a large paved area, bright flower beds, behind them a majestic Transfiguration Cathedral of boiling white color, almost a copy of the first one, only with more rounded shapes. The domes on this cathedral and bell tower do not just glow with gold, but shine dazzlingly, like full-fledged additional suns to the main luminary. There is a lot of gold in the sky. It's very beautiful.

On the territory of the monastery, for some reason it was clearly felt that Trinity Cathedral (where the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov are located) is masculine, and Transfiguration Cathedral is feminine. Although, in reality, of course, there is no such division. Maybe it seems so based on their appearance: Troitsky is tall, slightly angular, green, steel-gray domes, and Preobrazhensky is slender, soft, whiter than snow and golden domes.



Diveevo. Trinity and Transfiguration Cathedrals
Diveevo. Trinity Cathedral

We went to the Trinity Cathedral. There was a service going on and there were a lot of people inside, so we stood around for a while, went out and began to walk around it. I saw a large queue on the left. She stood near the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov, to which there is a separate entrance.. We didn't stand. I don’t know how to honestly explain why, let’s put it this way: we felt we had no right to contact him in the state we were in then. Of course, it’s very disappointing that things turned out so ridiculously for us. But on the other hand, his invisible presence in Diveevo is almost tangible. They say that nuns often meet the gray-bearded old man at the Holy Kanavka, and builders saw him in the temple, and children, whom he especially loved, often tell their parents about the kind grandfather who talked to them. In the Trinity Cathedral you can also see some things that belonged to Father Seraphim: a mantle, a pectoral cross, an epitrachelion, leather gloves, shoes and a cast iron pot. This cathedral also houses Father Seraphim’s favorite icon, “The Mother of God of Tenderness.”

We walk around the territory, look closely, get our bearings, listen to the numerous guides leading groups. It is very interesting to listen, especially since we are not in a hurry, unlike tour groups, so we listen to several guides talk about the same thing, but in different ways. Behind the Trinity Cathedral there is a small necropolis. Here the abbess, several blessed elders from the monastery, and monks found their last refuge. We have never seen anything like this. I'll tell you about them below. The graves - velvety green mounds all covered in flowers - are considered holy places. People come here specifically to mentally communicate with the blessed ones and ask for their help.

Next we go to the Transfiguration Cathedral. There is also a queue inside to venerate the relics of the three blessed Diveyevo(I’ll also tell you about them separately). Here in the cathedral I learn about holy oil, about crackers from the saint’s cast iron, and about earth from the Kanavka (details will be below, I don’t want to get distracted now). But we have no time for that now. We leave the Cathedral and ask where Kanavka is. It starts right behind the Transfiguration Cathedral, a little to the right, and also ends approximately behind him, but to the left.

I prepared for it in advance. You can, of course, walk along Kanavka just like that, but I doubt that it will be possible. This is a very sacred and strong place, and when you go behind the forged gate, where it begins, and you step onto this high path on the crest of the shaft, and below you there is a high slope and a narrow ditch, it’s like moving from gravity to the absence of gravity. There is a completely different air here, even a completely different direction of thought - the old remains behind the gate.
Beginning of the Groove of the Blessed Virgin Mary

You must pass the Holy Canal while reading a prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos or the Archangel's greeting(with these words Archangel Gabriel greeted the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation): “Virgin Mother of God, Rejoice, Gracious Mary, the Lord is with You; Blessed are you among wives and blessed is the fruit of your womb, for you have given birth to the Savior of our souls.” Father Seraphim said this: “This groove is the piles of the Mother of God. Whoever walks the Kanavka with prayer and reads one and a half hundred “Mother of God”, everything is here: Mount Athos, Jerusalem, and Kyiv.”
Groove. We are starting our journey

I have rosary beads in my hands, however, I admit, they are Buddhist, souvenirs and there are 108 pea beads in them, and the prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary must be read 150 times, so at home I marked the required bead with a red ribbon. Rosary beads are very convenient to use; they are needed in order not to lose count. The people who walk along the Kanavka are, of course, all very different, and some are very, very unique. When someone loudly chants a prayer out loud, it is, of course, inconvenient, but tolerable, but there is also a bulletproof contingent in front of you who casually and selflessly discusses “Nadya’s behavior with Lenka” - this is beyond my understanding.
Groove

The groove is very long, it has a broken trajectory, it is curved in different ways, surrounded by flowers. In the spring here on the slopes (I see) lilies of the valley bloom, in the summer - various flowers, there are even very well-groomed vegetable gardens along it.



Almost finished

Walking around Kanavka, we saw a huge tree not far behind the monastery fence, which was decorated with something and caught our attention. Then we went there. It turned out - This huge larch of Tsarevich Alexei. This tree was planted in honor of the first anniversary of the birth of the Tsarevich - that is, in 1905. When cut, the bark of this larch has the color of dried blood, and so does the resin. No other similar trees have been found in nature. It is fenced with a small fence, there is a stand next to it, and his photograph hangs. Icons of the royal family are hung on the larch and fence, and prayer services are served.

Larch of Tsarevich Alexei

Favorite icon of Seraphim of Sarov.

This is the Mother of God “Tenderness”.

Father Seraphim always prayed before this image and died on his knees.

The Mother of God is depicted without the baby Jesus, with her arms crossed on her chest and a gentle, barely noticeable smile. This icon depicts the moment of the Annunciation, when the Blessed Virgin answers the Archangel Gabriel to the news of the future birth of her son: “Behold the servant of the Lord, wake me according to your word.” Seraphim of Sarov loved this image very much and called it “Joy of all joys.” Nicholas II presented for this icon a very rich golden robe, decorated with jewelry - a halo, in the form of shining rays, consists of precious stones and pearls. When the sun's rays fall on the icon, it shines in an unusual way: the face of the Mother of God became alive, the colors became delicate, and the decorations painted in oil were difficult to distinguish from real precious stones. Many copies were made from the icon, some of them also became miraculous. The list now hangs in the Trinity Cathedral in Diveevo, and the original is in Moscow, in the Patriarchate.

Father Seraphim left a commandment for the sisters of the monastery - on Sundays to perform a special prayer singing to the Most Holy Theotokos according to the charter of Mount Athos - Paraklis. “And if you fulfill this commandment of mine, then everything will be fine with you, and the Queen of Heaven will not leave you. If you don’t do it, then you will get into trouble without trouble.” This commandment is holyly fulfilled in the monastery.

What to bring from Diveevo.

Icons, of course.
And also butter and crackers of St. Seraphim, and earth from the Holy Canal.
The bags for them are small transparent ones - I highly recommend taking them with you. Otherwise, you will stand in a long line for them at the church shop at the entrance (narthex) to the Transfiguration Cathedral, and they may not be there yet. Oil bottles are also sold here. Opposite this bench there is a window where they will pour you butter consecrated on the relics of St. Seraphim, as well as on the relics of the blessed saints - the Diveyevo mothers.
Rusks (a handful) will be poured into a bag for you in the log chapel named after Father Seraphim(where the Holy Canal ends) - in the summer, or in the vestibule of the Preobrazhensky Sobo ra (where oil is poured) - in winter. It is believed that you need to literally drop a drop of this oil into a bottle of regular oil, and the entire oil will acquire beneficial properties.

Crackers - small pieces of rye bread. When I stood behind them in line at the chapel, I read on the wooden board that “in the Diveyevo Monastery, after the death of the great elder, a tradition arose of distributing crackers in memory of the saint and as his blessing. Father Seraphim gave crackers to many who came to him as a blessing - some a handful, and some a large load. Nowadays, these crackers are blessed in the cast iron of Father Seraphim, in which the elder prepared meager food for himself, and then gave it to the Diveyevo sisters for church needs (coal was stored in it in the altar). Many pilgrims take these crackers to different countries and then write about miraculous healings and unusual cases associated with them.” The nun gives out the crackers for free, but you can leave your reward of any size in the donation box nearby.
The chapel where crackers are distributed. And the crackers themselves from Diveevo

Land from the Holy Canal has the power to cleanse “premises and territory from demons.” A very small part of this earth can be mixed with river sand or ordinary clean earth in any proportion, and this mixture will be beneficial and retain all the properties of the earth from the Holy Canal. A whole mound of this earthen soil is located behind the chapel where crackers are distributed. This is the place where the very first monastery Mill used to stand. In the monastery they ask you to take a handful of it, no more, so that everyone gets it.
Here in the monastery they also sell a unique book “ Chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery" Its author is Metropolitan Seraphim (Chichagov). We saw it, but didn't buy it because we didn't know anything about it. Only later did we read about Diveevo in books.

About the Diveyevo mothers.

When we entered the Nativity and Transfiguration Cathedrals, there were always queues inside them to see the relics of the blessed women of Diveyevo, and behind the first cathedral in the necropolis, guides lead groups to green velvet mounds and also tell about them. Who is this? It turns out that several blessed old women chose Diveevo as their place. Father Seraphim welcomed them with all his heart.

The Blessed are special people. Bliss is very difficult to explain in words to a materialistic person, because it is not an innate quality, but an acquired one. In the books they write that this is “one of the most difficult feats of Christianity,” that holy fools are “people who seemed to be deprived of reason.” For what? - To overcome pride, so that, speaking in allegorical language, to have a stronger impact on people whom ordinary words pass by.

But this is not a completely clear explanation: it turns out that any acting or any extravagance can also be called bliss. And this is a wrong understanding.
The blessed are half-asleep people. You and I also sleep and dream, and we know that a dream is always a different, different reality. This border is especially clearly felt when we wake up - where are we - there or here? Blessed people are more There than Here. But their other reality is always bright. There - they see God very closely. There - they talk with God, and not with dark entities. That's why they are clairvoyant, that's why they say the right things, although at the same time they behave differently - they play with dolls, mimic, figure things out figuratively, and there may also be snot, dirt, rags, i.e. the whole set that scares ordinary people and inspires (can inspire) fear, contempt, disgust. But the blessed do not care about the artificial rules of our everyday life. They are bright people, they are adult children. But we, ordinary normal people, having both a sober mind and a sound memory, being in this reality and speaking beautiful words, often do terrible things.

Here is another interesting understanding of bliss: “ At some point in Rus' they began to believe that a holy fool is an intelligent person pretending to be a fool. Humility of a proud mind may be a very great feat, but still, first of all, it is just a pretense. Real foolishness is by no means a pretense, not an imitation of stupidity, but genuine stupidity. Which, however, does not at all negate genuine intelligence. You simply fall into a state when the ordinary mind (the ability to navigate the conventions of the world) suddenly flies away, and something else comes in its place: wisdom, which no longer cares about stupid conventions».

And another strange thought came to mind (Diveevo, after all): the blessed are surprised people. Surprised by God.

In the necropolis (behind the Nativity Cathedral), in addition to other clergy, the blessed ones are buried - Pelagia(in the center), Paraskeva(right), Natalia(left).
Blessed Pelagia(Pelagia Ivanovna Serebryannikova, lived in the monastery until 1884) - “mad Palaga”, “fool” for some people and “great lamp of light”, “spiritual mother”, “second Seraphim” for the priest himself and others. She was married, gave birth to children, but her soul yearned for something else. Father Seraphim loved her very much. When Pelageya and her husband arrived in Sarov (in 1828), Seraphim talked with her for six hours alone. Seeing her off, he publicly bowed to the ground and told her to quickly go to the Diveyevo monastery.
Blessed Paraskeva - Pasha of Sarov(Paraskeva Ivanovna, lived in the monastery until 1915) - “the third Seraphim.” She had a very difficult fate. She is a serf. The landowner found fault with her, lied about her alleged “theft,” and gave her, an honest wife, to drunken soldiers. Paraskeva then went to the Kyiv Lavra and there accepted the schema, which is practically inaccessible for women. She lived in the forest for 30 years, there she was a beggar, she was also robbed by robbers, just like Saint Seraphim, and in addition they cut off her ear. She came to Diveevo, to the monastery and stayed here. Blessed Pasha lived in a small house-cell, which he called a “hermitage.” She played with dolls; behind her changeable moods, allegorical conversations and actions, the highest love, humility and compassion were hidden. A line of people flowed towards her. She welcomed everyone and did not single out anyone by rank, regalia, or title. Only the blessed can do this. Nicholas II and his wife came to see her. And Pasha predicted everything to him: the revolution, the death of the dynasty... She even showed a boy’s doll and said: “This is yours.” But the Empress showed a misunderstanding: I don’t believe it. Then the blessed one handed her a piece of calico: “This is for your little son’s pants. When he is born, you will believe it.”
Here on the territory of the monastery there is her blue house, that very “hermitage”, and now it houses her museum and pilgrimage center.
Blessed Natalia(Natalya Dmitrievna, lived in the monastery until 1900). She also had the gift of advice.

Strange as it may sound, in Soviet times, at the site of their burial there was ... a beer stall. There, among the local drunks, these blessed old women, Pelageya, Pasha and Maria, often appeared and sat on a bench, whose place was trampled upon by the stall. The stallkeeper was especially embarrassed at the sight of these three blessed old women who had come from nowhere.
Entrance to the Transfiguration Cathedral

Where to eat in Diveevo.

…You can have a snack on the territory of the monastery. There, firstly, there is a large refectory. We even read somewhere that it is free for pilgrims. Then there there are several stalls selling very tasty monastery pies. And there's more There are tiny pancake cafes called “Monastery Refectory”. But there are much more people there, especially at lunchtime, than there are pancakes themselves. Therefore, you need to either be patient and stand in line, or go somewhere for a more substantial snack.
There are delicious pancakes here

We got to the pancake shop successfully; there were no people there, because the girls had gone for a new portion of pancakes. We waited only 5 minutes, there was already a tail behind us, and the pancakes somehow arrived quickly. Very tasty, with different fillings, but unusual. The dough is apparently short, so it’s a little rubbery.

Continuation in the story “Diveevo - Russian Promised Land»

I was also in Diveevo - but I took the text and photo from a friend - she was also there quite recently.

“I continue the story about the shrines that we visited in Diveevo.
The groove or belt of the Virgin Mary is one of the main shrines of Diveevo, we were lucky enough to walk along it twice, on Saturday evening, and early Sunday morning (I think from half past five to half past six). To feel everything that is felt there, you just need to come and walk there.......

The photo and text are not mine, I searched on the Internet, I wanted to compose the text in such a way that you would be inspired by this shrine the way I fell in love with it. At the end of the post I will give links to all the sources from which I compiled the text and took the photo.

“The Mother of God herself measured this groove with her belt...
Here the feet of the Mother of God passed...
Whoever walks through the canal with prayer and reads one and a half hundred “Theotokos”, Athos, Jerusalem, and Kyiv are all here” (Reverend Seraphim of Sarov).

People walk and walk along the ditch. In spring and summer, autumn and winter. Latest
Over the years, we began to walk barefoot more and more often (even in winter in the snow). The Russians are coming
Ukrainians, Moldovans, Georgians, Armenians, British, Germans, French,
Americans... Kanavka, Diveevo, knows St. Seraphim of Sarov
the whole world. The groove heals, the groove cleanses, the groove enlightens.


It’s not enough to just walk along Kanavka. Need more
have time to read one hundred and fifty prayers to the Mother of God. And this is not at all true
simple as it seems. Someone will pass quickly, and lo and behold, it’s already the end of the road,
but he hasn’t even read a hundred prayers... That means he’s not ready yet, he hasn’t calmed down
through life, and I need to come here again. To make this whole thing different
way to go. Some walk slowly, slowly, in no hurry. These -
will be in time. Others are in a hurry; they never have time to pray. Groove - how
life: some set off earlier and arrive later than others. And others,
on the contrary, the early ones ran faster than everyone else and did not finish the journey on time.
Someone walks slowly, with gentle steps, as if floating on
Groove. Someone walks at a businesslike pace, looking forward. Lo and behold
there is nothing ahead. All! We've arrived... And only nuns walk along the groove
special verified steps. No rush, but no waddle either. These -
They will always be in time, no matter how they go. After all, their prayer is quick and fiery! A
experienced residents of this amazing village try to start their own paths
from Kanavka. In the morning they will walk along it, say as many prayers as they can, and
then all day long, wherever they go, they finish the prescribed remainder of the prayers. AND
All their paths are in conflict, because the path began with prayer! And such a sacrifice
The Queen of Heaven receives from them. And some walk along the Kanavka with
stops. They pray for the living, and then move on. Then they will stand again,
will remember the departed... And everyone - those in a hurry and those who are leisurely - will reach the end in
his own term, measured only by him.

Hieromartyr Seraphim, Bishop of Dmitrov (Zvezdinsky), who lived
at one time in the Diveyevo monastery, was honored on February 2, 1927
visions of the Mother of God walking along the Kanavka. His cell attendant Anna
testifies that Vladyka was in his cell after the evening service and
suddenly rushed to the window with incessant exclamations of prayer,
then to another window:
“The Most Pure Mother of God is walking along the Kanavka! I can't
behold her wonderful
beauty!– said Lord Seraphim with tears.


The Holy Canal was built by order of the Queen of Heaven Herself, as well as
all in Diveevo. The ditch with the shaft was supposed to surround the Mill community and
must have been dug by the hands of the sisters themselves. There should have been a groove
three arshins deep and three arshins wide were dug, the earth had to be thrown
inside the monastery to form a shaft also three arshins high. For
strengthening the rampart the Reverend ordered to plant gooseberries.

The sisters were slow to start digging because of the excessively heavy
work. And so, one day another sister came out of her cell at night and
sees that Father Seraphim in a white robe himself has begun to dig the Ditch.
In fear and joy, she runs into her cell and tells all the sisters this.
Everyone ran out to this place, and, seeing Father, bowed at his feet,
but, having risen, they no longer found him. Only a shovel and a hoe lay on
earth. The ditch had already been dug out, about a yard long. The other sister had visited the day before
Fathers to Sarov and spent the night in his hermitage. And in the morning he sends it:
“Come on, mother, tell the girls to start digging a ditch today, I
was there and started it himself.” She walked and wondered how Father went to
Diveevo? She comes to the monastery, and there are sisters vying with her
They tell how they saw Father. And she told them her story. Sisters,
Amazed by such a miracle, we began work without delay. We dug for three years and
finished for the holiday of the Nativity of Christ, and soon, on January 2 (15)
Saint Seraphim departed to the Lord.

After the closure of the Diveyevo Monastery in 1927, Holy Kanavka was
Many places were filled up, the shaft was leveled. Most damage Groove
suffered in the post-war years: in some places it was cut
various communications, and inside the entire southern part of the Kanavka was dug
sewer pipe. Despite numerous prohibitions and
danger, many who wished continued to walk and pray at the holy
Groove.
August 10/23, 1997, on the day of remembrance of the Holy Martyr Archdeacon
Lawrence, work began on restoring the first section of the holy
Grooves - from the start to the first turn.


The best time to walk along Kanavka is from three to four in the morning. At this time
The Queen of Heaven herself comes here and sometimes appears as a chosen one. One day
sexton Andrei, having walked the entire Kanavka after three o’clock in the morning, saw the Mother
God in the sky above Kanavka in a shining silver cloud.

It is not for nothing that the elders advise pilgrims to pray at night. Schema-abbot Jerome from
Sanaksar Monastery says:

- From three to five o'clock in the morning there is gold, from five to six - silver, from
six to seven - bronze.

In Diveevo, the Mother of God is with us every day. The Queen of Heaven herself talks about this
she said - through Father Seraphim. That is why the great Sarovsky commanded
elder, so that pilgrims must stay exactly one day in the monastery,
then they will not miss each other with Mother Theotokos... Many pilgrims
on the Holy Kanavka they feel the invisible blessed presence of the Lady -
Her scent! You go and go, it seems like nothing special is happening,
you pray, and suddenly it’s as if you are entering the fragrant Garden of Eden. Apparently
The Queen of Heaven passed by you...

Miraculous healings occur on Kanavka today. By faith they receive
deliverance from serious illnesses by many, many who have completely entrusted themselves
the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and the holy Venerable Seraphim. So people flock to the Holy Kanavka in the Diveyevo Monastery. They ask
everyone does their own thing and gets what they ask for. Every word on the groove reaches the sky.


Father ordered the land of Kanavka to be taken by pilgrims for healing: “There will be
visitors will come, and glinka from Kanavka will be taken for healing, and
it will be instead of gold.” Knowing this, Orthodox people collect land in
bags, transport it like a precious treasure to all corners of the world, and
many, many healings come from this earth.”

Virgin Mary, rejoice,

Blessed Mary, the Lord is with you,

Blessed are You among women

and blessed is the fruit of Your womb,

for you gave birth to the Savior of our souls

Amen.

Address: Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Diveevo district, village. Diveevo
Date of foundation: 1780
Main attractions: Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity (1875), Cathedral of the Transfiguration (1916), Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (1780), Bell Tower (1901), Church of the Nativity (1829)
Shrines: Holy Kanavka, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Tenderness”, the ark with the relics of the elders of the Glinsk Hermitage, the things of St. Seraphim of Sarov
Coordinates: 55°02"24.2"N 43°14"44.0"E

Content:

Brief history and description

According to Orthodox tradition, the Mother of God took four spiritual monasteries on Earth under her special protection. Her earthly destinies are known - the Iveron land in Georgia, the Greek Mount Athos, the Kiev Lavra and Diveevo, on which the Queen of Heaven pours out her divine mercies, personally visiting each of these places for three hours a day.

Bird's eye view of the monastery

The history of the monastery in the village of Diveevo began in 1760, when the wandering nun Alexandra, in the world Agafya Semyonovna Melgunova, the Mother of God appeared in a dream with the words: “Here is your limit, destined for you by Divine Providence.

Live and please the Lord here until the end of your days. And I will always be with you and within the limits of your residence I will create an abode that has no equal in the whole world.

View of the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery from the Vichkinza River

This is my fourth earthly destiny in the Universe.” From that time on, the establishment of the community began. In 1773 - 1774, Mother Alexandra, using her own funds, erected the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. In 1788, the local landowner Zhdanova, having heard about the monastery promised from above, donated 1,300 square meters. sazhen of his estate land adjacent to the Kazan Church. On this land, Mother Alexandra built several cells with a common fence, where she settled with four novices. The sisters lived according to the strict Sarov Rule, spending their days in hard work and getting up to pray hourly (that is, 24 times a day).

Cathedral of the Transfiguration

Meager food was brought once a day from the refectory of the Sarov Monastery. Shortly before her death, in 1789, Abbess Alexandra took monastic vows into the Great Angelic Schema and entrusted Hierodeacon Seraphim, known for his spiritual exploits, to take care of the Diveyevo Monastery. In 1794, Seraphim retired to the forest 5 km from Diveevo and set up a small cell there, devoting himself to an ascetic life. During his 30-year asceticism, the hierodeacon wore the same wretched clothes in winter and summer and ate potatoes, beets and raspberries grown in his deserted garden. At the beginning of his hermitage, Father Seraphim took bread from the monastery, and from his weekly portion he gave part to bears and other wild animals that came to the place of his prayer.

Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity

Later, Father Seraphim accepted the feat of stylite life and lived for 1000 days on a stone boulder. Having endured a three-year vow of silence, Seraphim was honored with the appearance of the Mother of God, who commanded him to come out of seclusion. For his penitential deeds, the monk received the gift of healing and insight, and people from all over Russia reached out to him for advice.

One day, landowner Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov, accompanied by servants, visited Seraphim’s cell. Mikhail suffered from a serious leg disease. The best doctors from Moscow and St. Petersburg could not stop the crushing of bones. After the elder anointed Mikhail Vasilyevich’s feet with oil, the sufferer suddenly felt that for the first time in many years he could stand.

Belfry

In gratitude for the healing, the landowner doomed himself to voluntary poverty, sold his estate and became a devoted disciple of Seraphim. With the assistance of Manturov, the Mill Community was founded, headed by the landowner's sister, Elena Vasilyevna Manturova. In 1842, 9 years after the death of St. Seraphim, the two communities merged into one, and in 1861 the monastery received the status of a monastery. In 1903, Emperor Nicholas II came to Diveevo and talked with Blessed Pasha of Sarov, who predicted for him the birth of an heir, Tsarevich Alexy, the revolution of 1917 and the collapse of the Romanov dynasty.

holy groove

Pilgrimage to the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery - visiting Seraphim of Sarov

The main Diveyevo shrine - the Holy Kanavka - was dug along the path along which the Mother of God herself walked, appearing to St. Seraphim. The sisters dug this ditch, surrounding the Mill Community, with their own hands, surrounded it with a rampart and lined it with gooseberries. According to legend, when the Antichrist comes to Earth, the Holy Canal will be high to heaven and will block his path. Seraphim said that a pilgrim, walking along a ditch, must read the prayer “Rejoice, Virgin Mary!” 150 times. Visitors are also allowed to take with them a handful of healing earth from the ditch.

Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

At the end of the ditch there is a chapel named after Father Seraphim, where pilgrims are given “medicinal” crackers, sprinkled with holy water and blessed with prayer - this gives them a blessing. People go to the monastery to venerate the miraculous relics of Seraphim of Sarov and take a bath in the baths with healing water. But even an unbeliever should still come here. The Diveyevo monastery amazes with the splendor of its churches, the Trinity and Transfiguration Cathedrals are especially beautiful. In the Trinity Cathedral, behind the shrine with the relics, there are display cases where the personal belongings of Father Seraphim are kept: leather gloves, liturgical vestments, an iron cross.

From left to right: Alexander Nevsky Church, bell tower, Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity, Cathedral of the Transfiguration

The territory of the monastery is surrounded by blooming roses, and when going around the Holy Kanavka, you can see a huge larch behind the fence. The sisters planted this tree in 1904 in memory of the birth of Tsarevich Alexei, as evidenced by the icons of the royal family hanging on the trunk and fence.

 

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