Kalyazin, Tver Province, Russia, April 14, 2021
Photo: makariev-mon.ru
Thirty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Orthodox Church is still working to revive all that was lost during the dark decades of Soviet rule. Most recently, daily Divine services have resumed at the site of another monastery that was abolished by the godless authorities.
On Saturday, April 10, regular services resumed on the territory of the former Holy Trinity-St. Macarius Monastery on Monastery Islands on the Volga River in the village of Kalyazin in the Tver Province. The services are being held in the Chapel of St. Macarius in the southeastern tower, which was restored according to old drawings, reports the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism.
There are also plans to fully restore Holy Trinity Monastery, founded by the Monk Makary in 1434. At the moment, it is completely destroyed. 70% of the monastery was destroyed during the Soviet period, including the abbot’s residence, the bell tower, and several churches.
For centuries, the monastery was a place of pilgrimage for Russian tsar and patriarchs, who went to venerate the relics of St. Makary. It was closed at the beginning of 1920, and the architectural ensemble, preserved from the pre-Petrine period, was entirely submerged underwater when the Uglich Reservoir was created in 1940. Today there is a small hill known as the “Monastery Islands” on the site of the demolished monastery.
There is also an episcopal dependency, the Church of the Holy Entrance, located near the place where Holy Trinity Monastery once stood.
The 500th anniversary of the uncovering of the relics of St. Macarius, the founder of the monastery, will be celebrated this year.
On April 7, the feast of the Annunciation, the liturgical life resumed at the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky in the St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg after 90 years. In Romania, two monasteries abolished by the Habsburg Monarchy more than 200 years ago have recently reopened.
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