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Published
by the Albany
Democrat-Herald,
November 4, 2005
Impressive
monastery was worth the trip
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By
Graham Kislingbury
Albany
Democrat-Herald
SERGIEV
POSSAD, Russia — The Trinity Monastery of St.
Sergius left quite an impression with this
first-time visitor from Oregon. Its white walls,
measuring a mile, encircle the historic monastery
founded by Sergius of Radonezh around 1345.
Sergius started with a small wooden church. For
centuries to come, building continued. Today,
visitors see towers, cathedrals, churches, chapels
and a theological college.
The
monastery is about 50 miles northeast of Moscow in
this rural community.
On
the heels of three intensive days of sightseeing
in Moscow, I can’t say I was excited about a
trip to Sergiev Possad. But Helen Alexeeva, the
English teacher at Moscow School 1256 where I had
spent a lot of time, insisted several times that I
make the trip. Now I’m glad she was so
persistent.
The
monastery, I learned, is one of the most important
religious centers and places of pilgrimmage for
members of the Russian Orthodox Church. The day we
visited, Oct. 8, happened to be St. Sergius Day,
honoring the founder himself.
Hundreds
stood in line to enter the Trinity Cathedral,
built in 1422-23, where St. Sergius’ remains are
encased in a silver shrine.
Others
waited patiently nearby with bottles they would
fill with water from the monastery’s holy
spring.
We
also viewed the frescoes and icons of the
Cathedral of the Assumption, the monastery’s
most prominent building with its golden cupola
surrounded by four blue domes. Buried with his
family next to the cathedral is Tsar Boris Gudunov.
I
left the monastery with lots of questions. When I
got home two weeks ago, I started reading more
about it, then I called Father Steve Soot, rector
of St. Anne Orthodox Church in North Albany, with
some of my questions. He suggested that I contact
one of his members, Katia Bowman, a Corvallis
resident who grew up in Moscow. I talked with her
earlier this week.
Katia
met an Oregon tourist, Forrest Bowman, in 1998 in
Moscow. They dated long distance for two years and
got married in 2000 in Oregon. Forrest owns Bowman
& DeVos Real Estate Services, and Katia is the
company’s bookkeeper. They have a 2-year-old
son, Forrest George Bowman. The Bowmans visited
Katia’s family in Moscow in September.
Katia,
now in her early 30s, became a member of the
Russian Orthodox Church at age 14. While in her
20s, she made four train trips from Moscow to
Sergiev-Possad to visit the monastery.
“It’s
a holy place. ... It’s a very Russian place.
It’s where you feel Russian spirituality,” she
said. “As an Orthodox Christian, you’d visit
it to ask for St. Sergius’ prayers and
intercessions.”
The
monastery’s humble founder is revered throughout
Russia.
“Saint
Sergius lived during terrible times when Russia
was occupied by the Tartars,” Katia said. “He
inspired the whole nation to fight the terror. No
one believed it could be defeated.
“He
was just a priest. With his deep and strong faith
and the respect he earned because of his holy
life, he had a great influence on people in
authority.”
That
included Prince Dimitry Donskovy of Moscow, who
sought and received the saint’s blessing before
going to battle against the Mongol Tartars in
1380, according to a historical booklet published
by the monastery. The prince’s forces then went
on to defeat the army of the Tartar Khan Mamai. It
was the first Russian victory against the Tartars.
After that, Moscow princes and a number of tsars
became patrons of the monastery.
Sergius
never turned people away from the monastery. Word
of his good works spread throughout Russia. People
came to him for healing and consolation. His
influence spurred the establishment of numerous
other monasteries in northern Russian.
Pilgrims
still come to the monastery for healing and
spirtual renewal.
Katia
hopes to make more trips to the monastery when her
son is older. Forrest George has hemiplegia, a
form of cerebral palsy.
“I
would love to go there to ask support for my
child,” she said.
In
looking back at her previous visits to the Trinity
Monastery of St. Sergius, she said, “It really
gave me a feeling of support, of not being alone
— that I was in the presence of God.”
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