Excursion to the Diveyevo Monastery

Dear friends! Diveyevo opens up in a new way every time I come here. Initially I came as a tourist, then I became a pilgrim. Now, with a great desire, I organize multi-day trips to this wonderful, blessed place. You can get acquainted with the detailed programme of the tour from Moscow to Diveyevo on the site wondrous Diveyevo in the section Tours to Diveyevo from Moscow Дивное Дивеево в разделе Туры в Дивеево из Москвы.

I also invite you to travel to the Holy Diveyevo places. You can choose from several of the best locations for pilgrims to visit near Diveyevo. With our help, you can take a dip at the spring of Father Seraphim in Tsyganovka, pray on the Theotokos Path in the Royal Skete, to touch and be healed by prayer on the stones of Father Seraphim, visit the churches in Arzamas, Suvorovo, the monastery in Sanaksary, Boldino, go to other cities from Diveyevo. You can get acquainted with trips from Diveyevo on the wondrous Diveyevo website in the Trips from Diveyevo section Дивное Дивеево в разделе Поездки из Дивеева.

In the pilgrimage center of the monastery there is a service – a tour of the monastery. For the first time in three years of traveling, I went on a tour of the monastery. And I had a desire to share the information I received with readers. I think that it would be right to leave at the very beginning a link to the donation from the official website of the monastery https://diveevo-monastyr.ru/donate

And what an amazing story has been revealed! The Kazan Cathedral opened in a new way! And stories about the Diveyevo Blessed, bringing to tears. With your permission, I will begin with a personal story related to the Kazan Cathedral.

We are in one of the most amazing places on earth. This is the fourth appanage of the Most Holy Theotokos and one of the largest monasteries in the world. The Queen of Heaven took four places on earth under her special protection, so they are called appanages. The first place is Iberia, present-day Georgia, the second place is Holy Mount Athos, the third place is the appanage of the Most Holy Theotokos is in Kiev, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. And in the XVIII century, with the special blessing of the Most Holy Theotokos, the nun Alexandra came out of Kiev. She had to visit all the shrines in the north of Russia, and there the Queen of Heaven would show her the place on which such a great monastery would be founded, which had never been, is not, and will never be on earth. This will be the last, fourth destiny of the Mother of God in the universe.

Mother Alexandra, believing in the words of the Queen of Heaven, left Kiev and walked around all the shrines, moving towards the north of Russia. Can you imagine the distance from Kyiv to these places? And Mother was a highborn noblewoman. For three years she walked from church to church, from monastery to monastery. And about 1760 she walked from Murom to the Sarov monastery. Her way lay through the small village of Diveyevo. Here Mother got tired, decided to rest, sat down on the porch of the church, and fell asleep. And in a dream vision the Most Holy Mother of God appeared to her again and said, “This is the place I told you to look for in the north of Russia. Stay here and live. And on this place, I will erect such a great monastery, on which will descend all the blessings from all My three estates on earth - Iberia, Athos and Kiev. I will always be with you, and I will always visit this place”.

Mother stayed in Diveyevo and the first thing she did with the blessing of the Queen of Heaven herself, the mistress of this place, was to build a stone church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. This is the oldest temple of the Diveyevo monastery. Father Seraphim said about it as follows – “When the end of the world comes, everything on earth will be burnt, only three churches will go to heaven undestroyed”. One of these three churches is the Kazan Church in Diveyevo. He also said that this church would be like the Jerusalem temple in its grandeur, because in time many aisles would be added to it.

Now the Kazan Church has thirteen aisles, thirteen illuminated altars, and we are near the first two, which were made during the life of Father Seraphim himself, with his blessing. These are the 30s of the XIX century. Above us the white upper extension is the Church of the Nativity of Christ, and we are near the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The builder of the church was Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov, a landowner from Nizhny Novgorod. He was the first person whom Father Seraphim healed by the grace of God from a serious illness. In order to thank God for such a miraculous cure, Manturov undertook the feat of voluntary poverty. He sold his entire estate, as he was a nobleman. With the proceeds he built a small church and settled with his wife in Diveyevo and lived really until the end of his days in complete poverty. Of course, he suffered ridicule and reproach for such a deed. But never in his life did he regret what he had done. Because the lower church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, as Father Seraphim prophesied, is the burial vault of the relics of the three heads of Diveyevo – the Venerable Alexandra, Martha and Elena. St. Alexandra is the same mother who came here from Kiev in the XVIII century and is the founder of the monastery. Her relics will be on the right. In the world, her name was Agafya Semyonovna Mergunova, a rich landowner. She was widowed very early; she was only 26 years old. And she decided to devote the rest of her life to serving the Lord. Twelve churches were built at her expense, including the Kazan Church. For about twenty years she lived in Diveyevo, completely forgetting her noble origin. She was engaged in the hardest and most menial peasant work. Literally six months before her death, mother fulfilled the last command of the Most Holy Theotokos and founded a small women's community around the Kazan Church built by her, which became the basis of the future great Diveyevo monastery.

In the center of this small church will be the relics of St. Martha. This amazing peasant girl came here at the age of thirteen. And with the blessing of Father Seraphim, she carried out the feat of silence. The elder loved her very much and trusted all the secrets of the future Diveyevo. He called her the head of the Diveyevo sisters in the Kingdom of Heaven. She reposed in the Lord at the age of 19, having been blown up by the hard work of building these churches.

And the third relics that will stand in the temple on the right are the relics of St. Helena. And her story is simply amazing. In the world, she was the sister of Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov, who built the churches. At the age of 17, she was already ready to get married, everything was ready for the wedding. She did not think about the spiritual life, and the spiritual world was closed to her. But this world reminded her of itself. She was struck by a vision - evil spirits in the form of a dragon in the sky, which tried to devour her. And of course, she was very frightened and made a promise to the Most Holy Mother of God – if she delivered her from this terrible serpent, she would never marry and would go to a monastery. The serpent disappeared. And Elena changed her life completely. She could think of nothing else but the monastery. And with the blessing of Father Seraphim, she entered the Diveyevo community. And one day her brother, being far away from Diveyevo, fell so seriously ill that Father Seraphim saw in his spirit that this illness would lead to death, he must die. And so, he called Elena and said, “Mother, your brother is gravely ill and must die. But his labours are still needed by the monastery, so here is your obedience - die in his place”. “Bless you, Father” was all she answered, and in three days she peacefully went to the Lord, she was only 27 years old. And of course, many modern people find it hard to understand how it is possible to die for obedience. They think that she must have fallen ill and died so quickly. But in fact, Elena's death was blissful and completely painless. She crossed the threshold of her cell and fell down. And when the sisters began to lift her up, she said to them, “I will never get up again”. Father Seraphim looked at everything with spiritual eyes, he saw that Elena was like an Angel in the flesh, her soul was ready for the Kingdom of Heaven. But her brother still had to stay here on earth to work for the monastery and earn the Kingdom of God. It should be given credit, Mikhail Vasilievich lived after the death of his sister for 26 years, that is, exactly those years that she gave him. Not only all his means, he left here his whole life without a trace to serve the Fourth Ward of the Most Holy Mother of God.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that on the left wall of the church, opposite the relics of St. Helena, there are the originals of the icons before which Father Seraphim prayed. These are three icons – the Savior in the center, and the Most Holy Theotokos and John the Baptist of the Lord on the edges, and if you wish, you can also venerate them.

The Kazan Church was built by Mother Alexandra herself, the original founder of the monastery. One can pay attention to the unusual architecture of the Kazan Church. This is due to the fact that it was built in stages, gradually. What was built by Mother Alexandra is under the large central dome and it is like the core of the whole complex. And the main entrance to the church is located next to the place where two small Christmas churches were added to the porch of the Kazan Church - the Nativity of Christ and the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. That is, it can be seen that the complex of the Kazan Church consists of three churches, there are two entrances here - to the lower and to the upper, where the relics of the seven wives of Diveyevo rest. In the lower church there are three Venerable Saints – Alexandra, Martha, and Helena, and in the upper church rest the relics of the Diveyevo Blessed – Pelagia, Paraskeva and Maria and the relics of the new martyr Matrona of Diveyevo.

The blessed occupy a special place in the history of the monastery. These are rare people and there are very few of them on earth. The Lord Himself chooses them. It is impossible to become Blessed at will. Of course, it was not by chance that Father Seraphim settled the Blessed in Diveyevo. As we know, this is a special place. Here the Most Holy Theotokos pours out from all the Three Inheritance. And the abundance of this grace gives rise to opposite forces. There are serious spiritual temptations here, and in order to help the sisters cope with this, the elder settled the Blessed here. Because these are people who see the spiritual world with their own eyes as clearly as you and I see each other. All the Blessed in Diveyevo had succession. This means that one replaced another, and this was very important. The next one came to the place of the previous one, not earlier or later, but exactly on the day of the funeral.

With the blessing of Father Seraphim himself, Pelagia Ivanovna Serebrennikova was the first to come here, her relics are on the right. She came from a rich merchant family in the city of Arzamas. And despite the fact that she was forcibly given in marriage, her family life did not work out, she was God's chosen one and she was not prepared for family life. And the husband and mother did not understand this. And she decided to take Pelagia to the Sarov forest, to Elder Seraphim, for admonition. They hoped that the elder would bring her back to normal and she would become an ordinary person. After all, her relatives began to believe that she was not herself and she needed to be cured. But when Father saw Pelagia among the multitude of people who surrounded his cell, he chose her alone. He talked with her for a long time, at the end of the conversation he handed her a rosary and said: "Come, mother, to my monastery, many will be saved through you, and you will be the Light of the World." And so, it happened. The first blessed lived in the monastery until her death for forty-seven years. Nothing was done without her knowledge and blessing. And when Pelagia departed to the Lord, her body lay for nine days in the stuffy church not only without signs of decay, it emitted a fragrance that was felt by all who came to bid farewell to the Blessed. That is, even then, the Lord showed everyone that our earthly laws of decay do not affect His chosen one, because everyone knows what happens to the human body after death. And the Blessed One's body was not only fragrant, many miracles and healings were already taking place at the funeral.

Before her death she gave the name of her successor. And it was Praskovya Ivanovna, the so-called Pasha of Sarov, whose relics are in the centre of the church. When Pasha came to the monastery, she was 90 years old. And before that she lived for 30 years in the Sarov forest, in a cave that she dug with her own hands. It is not difficult to calculate that she came to the forest when she was 60 years old. And one can imagine a woman living from 60 to 90 years old in the forest, without clothes, without food, without any means of subsistence at all. Not only that, when Pasha came to the monastery, she lived here for another 30 years, until her death. And in 1915, she went to the Lord at the age of 120.

In 1903, the house of Pasha of Sarov was visited by Tsar - Emperor Nicholas II with his wife Alexandra. This house has survived to this day, now there is a monastery museum with a very interesting exposition, it is open to the public. You can visit the cell of Father Seraphim, where the cell of the Elder and the cell of the Pasha herself, where she received Emperor Nicholas II, have been reconstructed. Knowing in advance of the arrival of such dignified guests, the Blessed One prepared for the arrival of the king in a very strange way. She ordered all the chairs to be taken out of her cell and seated the royal couple on the carpet. Who could afford to sit the king on the floor? Only the Blessed Ones, for they have no law, they are not of this world. But the king knew who he was coming to see. He humbly sank down on the carpet with his wife. Pasha did all this not by chance. Not because she did not respect the tsar. In this way, she wanted to show them what awaits them ahead, predicting the events of the 17th year. Revolution, the fall of the throne, the end of the dynasty, the collapse of the empire and a sea of blood that would spill over all of Russia. It was 1903 and nothing foreshadowed such terrible events. The Tsarina said bluntly: “I don't believe you, this can't be”. Then Pasha took out a piece of red cloth and gave it to the queen with the words – “Here is your son on his pants, when he is born, then you will understand”.

Pasha was replaced by Blessed Maria Ivanovna, her relics are on the edge to the left. And here is a small example from her life, so that it is clear how the Diveyevo Blessed received them. One day a benefactor of the monastery came to her. Not only a rich, but also an educated man of that time, and asked: “Maria Ivanovna, the doctors prescribed me to drink iodine, what do you say?”. She answered him – “Don't drink iodine, iodine burns the heart. Drink potassium iodide”. He was struck by her answer, because a completely illiterate old woman was sitting in front of him. She was orphaned at the age of 13 and, of course, did not receive any education. She didn't even go to school. And so, surprised by such scientific terms, he asked: “Maria Ivanovna, how do you know all this?”. She said and pointed her finger at the sky. At the same time, she said the word university syllable-by-syllable, because this word was completely unfamiliar to her, she could hardly pronounce it. This example shows that the Diveyevo Blessed did not say anything on their own behalf. Everything that they heard from the Lord, they passed on to people, and they helped not only the sisters of the convent. Already in those years, many people from all over Russia flocked to Diveyevo to receive consolation, support, and help. And now, as before, no one leaves the Diveyevo Blessed unheard and uncomforted. All by faith receive grace-filled help and healing from their relics.

In 1927, when the Diveyevo Convent was devastated by the Bolsheviks, the last Blessed Maria Ivanovna was expelled along with the rest of the sisters. The thread of succession was broken, and there are no such recognized Beatitudes as there used to be in the monastery. Next to the relics of the three Blessed in the same part of the Kazan Church there is another relic. This is the new martyr Confessor Matrona of Diveyevo. This sister of the monastery, who suffered after the destruction of the monastery, was imprisoned in Stalin's camps for 18 years and was convicted three times in a row. Moreover, the third time was for an old case for which she had already served 10 years. But no word of reproach, no word of reproach, no one ever heard from Matrona's lips, only patience, humility, silence and obedience to the will of God. And now Matrona rests in the temple, and people come to her with a request that she pray for us to the Lord. After all, she is almost our contemporary. She reposed in the Lord in 1963, that is, quite recently. And the Lord shows us all that it is possible for a modern person to attain such a level of holiness.

Many people know that St. Seraphim is the builder of the Diveyevo monastery. But few people know that during his earthly life, the elder was here only 1 time. When he was a young hierodeacon, he went on monastic obedience from the Sarov hermitage, which is located 16 km from Diveyevo. Father lived there all his life. Now it is a closed city - the All-Russian Nuclear Center and, of course, entrance for ordinary pilgrims is not possible there. And everything related to the memory of Father Seraphim, his personal belongings and the relics of the elder are now in Diveyevo. He prophesied about this and said during his lifetime that he would lie down in Diveyevo in his flesh. Now, in our time, all these words have come true. And then the young hierodeacon Seraphim was walking through Diveyevo and found Mother Alexandra, the first head of the monastery, already dying. Their meeting took place at the place where we can now see a white marble chapel. Presumably, it is located where the cell of Matushka herself used to be, she looks directly at people from a mosaic icon - the founder of the Diveyevo monastery, the venerable mother Alexandra Melgunova. It was here that she allowed the young Father Seraphim to continue the work for which she had come here from Kiev, in the foundation of the last Inheritance of the Most Holy Theotokos. And of course, it was no accident that she blessed Father Seraphim, because he was the chosen one of the mistress of this place – the Most Holy Theotokos. Through his spiritual feats, Father attained such perfection and such purity that he could not only see the Queen of Heaven, but also conversed with her many times. She appeared to him 12 times during his earthly life and called him “my beloved”. From her words, the elder drew a plan with his own hand, on a sheet of paper, with a pencil, and this plan has been preserved in the original. You can imagine that everything here is built according to this plan. And the elder himself said this: “I have not placed anything here, not even a single stone of my own free will. Everything is done as the Queen of Heaven herself ordered, she is the mistress of this place. And forever she will be the supreme abbess of the Diveyevo monastery”.

And at the very beginning of the XX century, a majestic five-tiered bell tower was built in this small village. Its height together with the cross is 78 meters. On the third tier there are 11 bells, we can see the largest of them weighing 5 tons. Before the revolution, a clock was installed on the bell tower, which not only chimes every hour, but also every 15 minutes sings the rhythm of the prayer – Most Holy Mother of God, save us. In the monastery, a prayer to the Queen of Heaven is always heard. Passing under the bell tower, a magnificent view of the monastery architectural ensemble will open up. And you can see the main cathedral of the monastery – the Trinity Cathedral, which was indicated in the plan of Father Seraphim, in the center of the monastery.

The Trinity Cathedral can accommodate more than 3000 people. In the central limit of the cathedral, in the kiots, you can see two especially revered icons. On the right is an exact copy of the miraculous icon of the Tenderness of the Most Holy Theotokos, before which Father Seraphim prayed all his life and died. He called this icon “Joy of all joys and the beginning of our salvation”. In front of it burned an inextinguishable lamp, with oil from which the elder anointed all the pilgrims who came to him, and many received consolation and healing. On the left there will be a copy of the lifetime portrait of Father Seraphim, looking at which you can imagine what he looked like during his lifetime. In this cathedral there is one of the main shrines of the monastery – the reliquary with the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov. And behind it there are glass showcases with the elder's personal belongings, which have survived in great numbers to this day – glasses, the elder's comb, mittens, the iron cross of the Chain, which the elder wore on his body under his clothes, a fragment of stone, on which he prayed for 1000 days in the Sarov forest. Among these things is the original plan of the monastery. On it, Father Seraphim marked all the churches with a small cross.

To the right of the Trinity Cathedral, in the plan of the Father, the Refectory Church was indicated, which was consecrated in honor of the right-believing Prince Alexander Nevsky. The temple accommodates 1600 people, because before the revolution, more than one and a half thousand sisters were tied up in the monastery. And the population of Diveyevo was 520 people, three times less. And it was not just a monastery, but a whole region with huge land. Now there are about 500 sisters in the monastery and today the Diveyevo monastery is considered one of the largest in the world in terms of the number of monks.

Right in front of us is the snow-white golden-domed Transfiguration Cathedral, which can rightly be called the architectural pearl of Diveyevo. Built at the very beginning of the XX century in the neo-Russian style, this temple refers us to the ancient Russian white-stone architecture of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus of the XII century. Walking a little forward, you can see with your own eyes the prophecy of Father Seraphim, who said that at the end of time a majestic cathedral would be built on the Groove. The elder even indicated exactly the place where it would be located – on the same line with the bell tower and the Trinity Cathedral. 

In 2012, a new temple was laid and exactly 10 years later, in October 2022, the temple was consecrated in honor of the Annunciation and now it is the tallest cathedral in Diveyevo with a height of 60 meters. And it completes the architectural complex of the monastery. That is, this is the last cathedral in Diveyevo, which is being built according to the commandments of the Queen of Heaven herself. And of course, the interior decoration of this temple is striking. Inside it is decorated in the Byzantine style. The walls, vaults and ceiling of the temple are decorated with mosaic icons. Mosaics have been used to decorate temples since ancient times, but they were always alternated with painting. That not only accelerated the process of decoration, but also made it much cheaper, because mosaics are very costly. But in this temple, which is located inside the Holy Groove, which is called the house of the Most Holy Mother of God and the entrance to the Heavenly Diveyevo, in this temple they decided to mosaic the whole inner space. Over 8000 square metres of mosaics are laid in the most beautiful cathedral of the monastery. 78 million pieces of smalt adorn the house for the Blessed Virgin Mary. This temple is truly on the border of two worlds - the world of people and the spiritual world, the world of the Saints. And when we cross the threshold of this temple, we plunge into an absolutely incredible space, which is saturated with the grace of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This church, according to the Elder's behest, is located in the heart of the monastery, in the place about which the Queen of Heaven herself said: "There is no such thing in the world and there will be no more." The place where She pours out Her grace so abundantly. This place is called the Canal of the Most Holy Mother of God.

Everything that the Queen of Heaven wanted to arrange in her last, fourth inheritance, she said to her chosen one, the Venerable Father Seraphim, appeared to him 12 times during his earthly life, and called him “My Beloved”. And she appeared to him again in 1825, and ordered to found a new, hitherto unseen community in Diveyevo, which would consist only of girls. She called eight girls to the Elder by name, they were Her chosen ones. They had to be taken from the community of Mother Alexandra at the Kazan Church and transferred to a new place. And here they are, these girls, and the place where they will live, and will be the basis of the last, Fourth Inheritance of the Most Holy Theotokos. She called eight girls to the Elder by name, they were Her chosen ones. They had to be taken from the community of Mother Alexandra at the Kazan Church and transferred to a new place. And here they are, these girls, and the place where they will live, and will be the basis of the last, fourth inheritance of the Most Holy Theotokos. And the Queen of Heaven cared so much about these girls, about this community, that She Herself indicated the place where they would have to live. In the east, she walked around the perimeter of a small piece of land, taking everything inside as Her Inheritance. It was necessary to settle the girls there, to build them wooden cells.

Venerable Seraphim himself cut down a mill from the Sarov forest, on the income from which this community lived. Therefore, it began to be called the Maiden Mill Community. The mill was located on the site where the wooden chapel in honor of Father Seraphim now stands, and everyone can take, with the blessing of the monastery, consecrated crackers made of Father Seraphim's cast iron.

In order to protect the girls and the place in which they live, along the path along which the Queen of Heaven walked, it was necessary to dig a groove. “Why the Groove, why couldn't it be fenced off?” – even girls in the time of Father Seraphim were interested. It also seemed to them that the fence would be faster, and most importantly, more reliable. But this was the command of the Queen of Heaven herself, she is the mistress of this place. She said to the ather: “Only girls can dig the Groove, touch this earth, and only sisters can dig it”. The Elder said that “the land on which the Queen of Heaven – the Holy One – has passed, it must not be scattered. Therefore, when you dig, “he said to the girls, “put the earth that you take out inside, to your abode”. And from this earth, which the girls took out of the Groove, a high embankment was formed.

And now we see the beginning of the Groove. People go up and walk along the rampart, along the embankment, in a circle behind the church, and exactly on the opposite side, everyone descends, exactly repeating this path along which the Queen of Heaven herself passed. Of course, it is no coincidence that she arranged it this way. When a fortress is built on the ground, then a deep ditch is also dug around, and then a high rampart is made, along which the guards who protect the fortress walk. This is how the Queen of Heaven protected her girls. But from what enemy? Of course, from a spiritual enemy. And about the spiritual significance of the Groove, Father Seraphim spoke as follows: “Whoever walks along the Groove, and reads one hundred and fifty Theotokos, everything is here for him – Athos, Jerusalem, and Kiev”. Why did he say that? Because the Groove is the place where the grace of the Most Holy Theotokos from all Her Three Inheritance is gathered together. And what are these places – Athos, Jerusalem, Kiev, about which the Elder spoke? These are the main places of pilgrimage, they were known to every believer. Why do people go on pilgrimage? To worship the shrine and nourish your soul with grace. And the elder said: “Whoever comes to me in Diveyevo, there is no need to go anywhere else, whoever walks along the Groove and reads the rule, will visit three places at once – on Athos, in Jerusalem and in Kiev”. This is how much grace the Most Holy Theotokos pours out on this amazing place. After all, she fulfills her promise, and every day comes to Diveyevo and walks along the Groove. But when this happens, at what time of day – no one knows. That is why the elder said: “Happy is the one who stays with me in Diveyevo for a whole day, from morning to morning, because every day the Queen of Heaven visits Diveyevo”. And those who come here are Her guests. Many people think that he wanted to, sat down, and came. This does not happen. People come here only when there is the will of the mistress of this place, the Most Holy Mother of God. She alone knows when it is most useful for a person to visit this amazing place.

Therefore, everyone who comes here is a guest of the Queen of Heaven. And like every well-mannered person, we know how to behave when visiting – we thank the hosts. And how can you thank the Queen of Heaven? So, Father Seraphim commanded that every day she should be greeted here, on the Groove, with prayer. One hundred and fifty times lift up the prayer “Mother of God, Virgin, rejoice”. The sisters of the monastery, guests, and pilgrims joyfully fulfill this blessing, because he said: “The Queen of Heaven Herself chose this place for the glorification of her name and measured it with her girdle”. And now the length of the Groove, that is, the moat itself, along the perimeter is 777 meters. And the height, according to the Elder, reaches to the heavens. And this is true. Therefore, all the prayers that a person lifts up on the Groove are closer to heaven, closer to God and the Most Holy Mother of God.

There are many holy places, many shrines on earth. But there is only one place where the Queen of Heaven visits every day. Everything here is saturated with her grace. There is enough grace for everyone. But each of us will take it in his own measure. That's how much you can hold. Therefore, I wish you all to take so much of this grace upon yourselves, so that you come home, bring it to your loved ones, relatives, so that there is enough for them, too. And they felt what an amazing place you have been!

Рекомендую также прочитать О богородичном правиле.