Pilgrimage trips and excursions to Optina Pustyn. Trinity in Diveevo Excursion to Optina Pustyn Nazareth service

07:30 Departure from Moscow to Optina Pustyn on a comfortable bus from the metro station "Chistye Prudy" / or "Yugo-Zapadnaya" (~265 km).

Guide's travel information.

The road leads to lands that were mentioned by Roman historians as the lands of the Vyatichi Slavs. The turbulent history of the struggle for these rich lands begins in the 9th century and it is no coincidence that the most ancient Slavic settlements - fortresses - were collected on this Kaluga land: Borovsk, Rylsk, Odoev, Kozelsk, many of which became the spiritual centers of ancient Rus'.

12:00 Arrival, excursion to the Holy Vvedensky Kozelsky Monastery, Optina Pustyn: the architectural ensemble of the monastery, a visit to the Vvedensky, Kazan, Vladimir churches, where the holy relics of the Optina elders rest. Visit to St. John the Baptist skete, cell and consecrated well of St. Ambrose of Optina.

The world of temples and monasteries is completely special. Here God meets man, and man returns to himself. They arise in the most unique and beautiful corners of the earth, and represent a collection of masterpieces of beauty and a repository of shrines. “The salvation of Russia will begin with a monastic cell,” Dostoevsky said after visiting Optina Pustyn. It was here, in Optina, that the main spiritual tradition, the core of all monastic life, became moral perfection, love and selflessness, from which the foundations of the senile movement flow. Optina Monastery is our brightest center of eldership, the monastery throughout history gives us fourteen holy elders, the essence of whose activity was wise guidance on the path of salvation of the soul.

15:00 Lunch in Kozelsk for additional payment (optional ~350 rubles, for corporate groups).

Departure to Shamordino.

Monastery in Shamordino founded by the Optina elder, Saint Ambrose, for disadvantaged and wretched women who could not be accepted into other monasteries. Thanks to wealthy patrons, the monastery has outstanding buildings. One of the nuns of the monastery who sought the salvation of the soul here was Leo Tolstoy’s sister; the writer himself visited the Shamordino monastery several times.

Departure to Klykovo(not offered by the tour operator for all arrival dates. Please check!).

• Klykovo: Savior Not Made by Hands deserts(visit).

  A few kilometers from Optina Pustyn, in the village of Klykovo, stands one of the “youngest” monasteries in Russia - the Savior Not Made by Hands. Just as in nature, a strong, mighty tree is surrounded by young shoots, so in life, the ancient monastery gave rise to a new monastery. It was planned to build a courtyard, but it turned out to be a monastery.
  Here the schema-nun Mother Zipporah, known for her strict spiritual life, spent the last years of her life. She continued the traditions of the Optina eldership. People came to her for advice and support. And today people from different places come to her, as if she were alive, for help.

Departure for Moscow.
22:30 Estimated time of arrival.

Disembarkation of tourists at the nearest metro station along the bus route.

At the beginning of my notes, a few words about how literally exactly one month ago I drove away thoughts of pilgrimage to the holy places of Russia for a number of reasons. And the life of Simeon the Stylite suggests that salvation is possible even while being in one place. But at the same time, the great saint of God, Nicholas the Wonderworker, made pilgrimages to holy places.

Arriving at the monastery, getting acquainted with the Assumption Cathedral, I saw the icon of the Council of the Elders of Optina, with pieces of the relics of the saints, then I thought that this would be at least some consolation about the impossibility of pilgrimage to Optina Pustyn today. My place during morning and evening services during my stay in Zhirovichi, of course, was next to this icon. It is also worth mentioning that in the Assumption Cathedral, to my joy, there was also an icon of the Mother of God “Sovereign”; for some time now I began to collect information related to it. At the monastery I met Ivan from near Brest, who shared his plans that he was going on a pilgrimage to Russia to holy places with friends in a minibus, and only the driver had to pay the fuel costs. According to calculations, this is about 50 dollars. Information about the possibility of a pilgrimage for $50 to Optina Pustyn and the Trinity-Sergius Lavra did not leave me indifferent. After exchanging phone numbers with Ivan, I asked that if there was free space, I would like to join their group. Ivan called...

The pilgrimage began with the fact that while already on the way from home to the minibus meeting point, Ivan called and said that they were delayed in leaving and that I should not rush to the agreed meeting place. After thinking about it, I decided to go and spend the available time at the meeting place, because... According to maps on the Internet, there was a gas station symbol at the crossroads, and gas stations located on highways usually have buffets or mini-cafes. Arriving at the intersection of the Brest-Moscow and Minsk-Mogilev highways, I did not find a gas station. But there was a new building on which the website address www.shate-m.by was written, I didn’t have to choose, I went to the building in the hope of finding a secluded place. Having entered the building and asked the duty officer for permission to sit in the lobby while waiting for the bus, he sat down in the assigned chair. Sitting and studying the hall of the new building, I saw the first 2 icons on my pilgrimage, and as it turned out later, they were somewhat iconic.

Firstly, the icon of the Savior, I don’t know what its exact name is, but Christ is sitting on a throne on it, and one of the versions is that it is called “King of Kings” (if anyone knows for sure, please share the information). The icon is quite rare, because several years ago, having bought myself the “Sovereign” icon of the Mother of God, in which the Virgin Mary and Child also sits on a throne, I wanted to pair this icon with an icon of the Savior seated on the throne, which I briefly saw on the Soyuz TV channel . But during the search over the past two years, sellers both at exhibitions and in church shops shrugged their shoulders, and on the Sofrino website there was no such icon in the catalog either. But nevertheless, during his recent pilgrimage to Zhirovichi, he finally acquired an icon of the Savior seated on the throne. But amazement awaited me at home upon returning from the pilgrimage, on Thursday, July 14, 2011, when I went to the Optina website and started watching the video “Memory of the Finding of the Holy Relics of the Venerable Optina Elders, July 10, 2011” at 1:42 minutes the camera films the altar of the Kazan Church through the Royal Doors are open and it is clearly visible that behind the throne in a high place there is an icon of the Savior sitting on the throne (while in Optina I did not see this icon).
The most interesting thing is that the first icon that caught my eye in the church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Kazan” of Optina Hermitage was the icon of the Mother of God “Sovereign”, painted by the icon painters of Optina and located to the right of the entrance on the column and is very similar to my home icon , manufactured at Sofrino.

Secondly, the second icon in the hall of the “Shate-M” office was the “Kazan” icon of the Mother of God (if I’m not mistaken) in a very expensive design. As it later turns out, on the day of my first arrival, the shrine with the relics of St. Ambrose of Optina is in the church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, but this is only for the duration of the renovation of the Vvedensky Cathedral. And in Shamordino, the cathedral, which was erected with the blessing of the Venerable Elder Ambrose, was also consecrated in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Having seen the photo of this temple for the first time on the calendar, I was captivated by its “Russian style” architecture. In addition, in the church of my parish to the left of the royal doors there is also an icon of the Mother of God “Kazan”.

And we managed to end this fast on the evening of July 21, 2011, on the day of the celebration of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

These are such interesting coincidences.

Let me return to the notes on the pilgrimage. At the Optina forum I advertised that there was a free place for a pilgrim from Belarus. Nobody called. A forum member wrote in words of support, “Don’t rule out the possibility that your travel companion will meet along the way.” And what do you think, when the guys drove out onto the Brest-Moscow highway, they saw a young priest in a black cassock and with a cross voting in the Zhabinka area, which is generally unusual, since at this time of year, especially in the heat, priests wear gray cassocks and then during services in the temple and performing services, the rest of the time they walk in secular clothes (from observations of the priest of their parish). We stopped. It turned out that the priest had to go to Orsha, which is a journey of 500 kilometers, from the western to the eastern border of Belarus. What made the priest travel non-stop, I don’t know. Another interesting thing we noticed was that from the Brest-Minsk highway there are two turns in the city of Orsha, from the first turn 15 km to Orsha, and from the next turn after it, a few kilometers along the highway, only 7 km. The priest got out first, seeing the direction sign for Orsha. When he left us, naturally blessing everyone, the sun was shining and there was nothing to foretell bad weather. By the time we reached the second turn towards Orsha, the sky was covered with black clouds and a torrential downpour began. I hope the priest managed to hitch a ride before the rain reached the place where we parted.

Before dawn, having gotten lost and wandering a little around the Kaluga region, we arrived in Optina Pustyn at 6 am. Having entered the territory of the monastery and seeing that the entrance to the Kazan Church was filled with pilgrims, we decided to walk through the monastery and venerate the Optina New Martyrs.
Here I must admit that we got acquainted with Optina more by inspiration than by some compiled program of mandatory familiarization with certain shrines. Unfortunately, having been an active reader of the forum for almost a year now, for some reason it didn’t occur to me to get acquainted with the shrines of Optina Pustyn in more detail on its website on the eve of the pilgrimage, where they are described quite well. Therefore, I advise those who are going to Optina, especially for the first time, to find time and pre-work through the information on the website.

After worshiping the Optina New Martyrs, we returned to the Kazan Church and decided, despite the crowd of pilgrims at the entrance, to slowly move inside the temple in order to at least submit notes of commemoration and light candles. Entering the temple, my gaze immediately fell on the “Sovereign” icon of the Mother of God, located immediately to the right of the entrance on a column. When we completed the minimum planned program (though we were not able to place candles near the holy relics of Father Ambrose, and the idea that arose of at least confessing the main sins, but not receiving communion, since we had not prepared, also did not come true), then at the end of the reading of the akathist to St. Ambrose of Optina, the pilgrims began to be asked to retreat from the sole back, in connection with this, those who stood behind began to leave the temple, and besides, the remarks “we are going out to meet” were heard. It turned out that people were coming out and lining up to meet Metropolitan of Kaluga and Borovoy Clement. When Vladyka passed, Ivan approached and reported that Father Eli was in the Transfiguration Church. The question of where to go next did not arise, of course, to the Transfiguration Church. Entering the temple I see that Father Eli is confessing. The recent idea of ​​going to confession in the Kazan Church, which did not come true, turned into the idea of ​​going to confession with the confessor himself, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.

Here I will interrupt the chronology of events and share my thoughts about Father Elijah and in general about the elders living in our time. I learned about Archimandrite Elijah on the Optina Pustyn forum. By that time, having read the biographies and memoirs of the elders of our contemporaries, such as Nikolai Guryanov, Ioann Krestyankin and Anatoly Sidorenko, I would also want to hear the advice of a perspicacious elder, but in my immediate circle no one knew about such people living today. But I caught myself thinking that I still want to ask Elder Elijah not for advice about the spiritual life that I am trying to live in my feeble-mindedness (for a newbie, the advice of his parish priest is quite enough), but rather for him to dot the i’s on my troubles, but you can’t even do it in an hour to tell about them. From the lives of the Optina elders, I knew that they corresponded with them for resolution of their questions and sent letters to which the elders, through their cell attendants, responded. But when I called Optina and asked if it was possible to send a letter to the priest, they told me that Father Elijah did not have such a practice.
Several years ago, while reading the book “Memories of Elder Nikolai Guryanov” compiled by G. P. Chinyakova (“Ark”, Moscow, 2007), I remembered an incident from the memoirs of Anatoly and Irina Zhbanov, described on page 108, which in my opinion may to become a parable and instruction to people who strive to get to the elder at any cost.
“One day Tolya and I arrived and stood with a large crowd, waiting for Father Nikolai to come out. The door opened, the elder came out of the house and ran headlong along the path to the temple. The crowd ran after him. Father Nikolai ran into the church and after a while quietly left it. Panting pilgrims were already waiting for him at the entrance. “Why are you running after me? You should run to church every day like you ran after me today.”

Not immediately, but some time later, these words of the elder influenced me to constantly go to church on Sundays and major holidays for the Divine Liturgy. For the most part, we were brought up on fairy tales, in which miracles always happen, and therefore we hope that by talking with the elder, all our questions will be immediately resolved without making any effort on our part.

In the book “Island of Divine Love: Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov”, compiler L.A. Ilyunin (St. Petersburg, “Incense”, “Trinity School”, 2008) on page 85 there are such moralizing words of one priest relating to Father Nikolai Guryanov, but they are relevant today, just as people then “We did not seek the will of God, but We were already driving with a definite decision: “I know what needs to be done to make it good.” Well, the elder gave his blessing, seeing such an internal attitude, and then the person got into trouble and began to learn a serious spiritual life, in which there is nothing mechanical. Often people traveled with exactly this wording: “Father, pray so that...” Or maybe you need to pray for something completely different? “Father, bless for such and such.” Or maybe you need to first ask: “Do I need to do this?” But the person is already convinced in advance that “his cause is just”; he just needs to receive a blessing. Therefore, the elder often answered all questions only: “Lord help you, Lord save you,” that is, as God Himself arranges everything, so it will be.” “The elders and ascetics are those who pray correctly. And God sends them his gifts. And we are all getting smarter. We love to ask questions, we want everything in our lives to be resolved quickly and better. But we need the right foundation of life for every person - to pray correctly and study all our lives from the Church, the rest will follow.”

In general, in the end, I abandoned the thought that I absolutely had to get to the elder, and began to regularly attend services in the church closest to my home, reasoning that if it was God’s will, it would be necessary for me to meet with the elder, not necessarily with Father Eli. , then this will happen sooner or later. And regarding the thought that the priest at my parish was young and therefore inexperienced, I read the lesson when I was riding on the train. A man with a beard sat opposite me and read a book, and just before leaving, I looked into it and the first thing I saw were the words of Theophan the Recluse: “If there is no experienced mentor and a Christian goes to the confessor who is available, then the Lord will cover him for his humility.” Fortunately, there was little time before the release, and I managed to write down this teaching in my notebook.

And I read this a couple of days ago on the forum:
“In truth, if someone directs his heart according to the will of God, then God will enlighten the little child to tell him His will. If someone does not want to sincerely do the will of God, then even though he will go to the prophet, God will put it on the prophet’s heart to answer him in accordance with with his corrupt heart." Venerable Dorotheos of Palestine († 620).
But I’ll return to my stay in Optina. Having joined those who wanted to confess to Father Elijah, he began to wait and think about which sins should be named first, and which ones could be omitted, so as not to take up precious time from the priest; besides, he was not going to receive communion, because... didn't prepare. But when about ten people remained in front of me, the priest stopped confessing and went to the altar. The Divine Liturgy began, led by Schema-Archimandrite Eli. During the Liturgy, one of the deacons approached those who did not have time to confess to Father Elijah and said: “Give us notes for the commemoration of Father Elijah.” As it turned out, this was unexpected for many, and everyone who had paper and pen began writing notes. I wrote it too. They passed it on through the deacon. The Liturgy came to an end (at which, as usual, I was distracted and didn’t even remember what Father Eli spoke about during the sermon), somehow it turned out that I found myself next to the pulpit, and when the time came for kissing the cross, Father Eli came out, and the Lord He was honored to be one of the few to venerate the altar cross from the hands of the elder. Even during the kissing of the cross, a variety of new books and brochures began to be distributed in the church (probably someone donated). I also received several titles, one brochure, in particular, with the instructions of Father Elijah and is called “THE MYSTERY OF LAWELESS. Two Revelations of 1909” in which there are only two stories published in Russia in 1909: N.P. Ryshkovsky “Procession of the Destroyer” and Easter story “It Can’t Be.”

This is how the Lord brought me, a sinner, together with Elder Eli. To sum it up, it’s a liability - I wasn’t able to confess to the elder, but an asset: I was at the Liturgy (although I couldn’t concentrate, I was distracted) which was led by the priest, submitted a note about the health of my family and friends, which the priest read, and venerated the altar cross from the hands of an old man. I think that this is enough for me today, the Lord sees how much everyone needs and gives.

Having left the Transfiguration Church, we decided, since many pilgrims still come to venerate the relics of Ambrose of Optina, so as not to waste time, to visit the holy springs. We went to the well of Ambrose of Optina, the source of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa and Seraphim of Sarov. After this, having arrived at the monastery, we went into the Kazan Church and, without a crowd, venerated the holy relics of Ambrose of Optina and bowed to the monks Nektarios, Moses, Anthony and Isaac of Optina.

We went into the shop, which is located in the basement (crypt) of the Kazan Church. While buying something for myself, I talked with the monk who was serving as a salesman in the shop. The result of our conversation was that he gave me a photo of the icon of the Mother of God “The Spreader of the Loaves,” painted with the blessing of Father Ambrose, and a teaching on how to live by Saint Ambrose written on canvas (at the entrance to the monastery on the wall fresco on the left, the priest is depicted with a scroll with this teaching), its price in the shop is 90 rubles. Having arrived home, I decided (somewhere in imitation of the monastery) to hang this teaching in the corridor of the apartment near the front door: let everyone who enters read it.

At the end, a wish for those who are engaged in the assortment of monastery church shops, unfortunately I did not find a separate icon of St. Nikon of Optina, only separate icons of St. Ambrose of Optina were available. My interest in the icon of Nikon of Optina was due to the fact that I was asked to bring his icon by a sexton boy (10 years old) of our parish, who literally the other day had a 4th brother and was named according to the calendar in honor of Nikon of Optina. Of course, I purchased for him an icon of the Cathedral of the Elders of Optina, but his wish was different.

So the pilgrimage to Optina Pustyn has ended.

Holy Vvedenskaya Optina Hermitage, or Blagodatnaya Optina - one of the holiest places not only in our
Motherland, and the entire Orthodox world.This is the greatest center of the spiritual revival of Orthodoxy, The grace of serving the Lord in which from ancient times was manifested in a special, unique phenomenon -old age. Venerable Optina Eldersmarked by the highest Gifts - prudence, insight and healing, which they generously shared during their lives. Which they generously share even after their death...
Russian rulers, titans of thought and hundreds of thousands of ordinary believers for centuries resorted to the wisdom of the elders of Optina Pustyn - and returned to life renewed... Leo Tolstoy, disillusioned with faith, came here five times, and the atheist and communist, Marshal Georgy Zhukov was here just before the war. Dostoevsky and Gogol, Tchaikovsky, Yesenin, Akhmatova came to the Optina elders for spiritual healing. Today writers, poets and artists, patriarchs and presidents, and hundreds, thousands of ordinary people come here...
In Optina Pustyn todayrighteous elders perform God's service, incredible Miracles are happening today, andeveryone who comes here gains an extraordinary feeling of peace and security. In the Optina Hermitage, the miraculous incorruptible relics of the great venerable elders, famous for their healing of spiritual and physical ailments, were found. In the Vvedensky Church rest the miraculous relics of the great Optina elder Ambrose, famous for his gift of clairvoyance, healing and special wisdom. On the anniversary of the restoration of the Optina Hermitage, in our days, a great Miracle took place in this temple -myrrh-streaming of the relics and icon of Elder Ambrose and the icon of the Kazan Mother of God! Miracles occur at the graves of the Optina new martyrs Vasily, Ferapont and Trofim, who died on Easter in 1993 at the hands of a Satanist killer. Thousands of believers find help in all sorts of everyday troubles and illnesses. Today you too will visit the majestic, beautiful churches and cathedrals of the monastery and will be able to turn with prayer in your heart and faith in your soul to the great Optina elders...

“It’s a small town, but a year older than Moscow!”
Kozelsk.This small town withstood a seven-week siege by the Tatar-Mongol invaders back in 1238! And although the city nevertheless fell and was destroyed by the Tatar horde, it was the heroic courage of the Kozelites that dispelled the aura of Batu’s invincible glory. Kozelsk residents also showed miracles of heroism during the Great Patriotic War; it was not for nothing that in 2009 Kozelsk was awarded the title of “City of Military Glory.” The most beautiful panoramas of the city, opening from the banks of the Zhizdra River, restored churches and cozy merchant houses, the proximity of the Optina Hermitage, have turned Kozelsk into one of the most attractive cities for tourists in the Kaluga region. A small one awaits usexcursion around Kozelskand getting to know its amazing sights (on the road). The observation deck offers magnificent views of the Zhizdra River and the abatis strip is a unique defensive “natural” structure, for damage and passage through which in the old days they were even executed!
Lunch in Kozelsk(optional upon purchase of a tour). For tourists who do not have lunch, free time.

Not far from Optina Pustyn,in the village of Shamordino, there is another unique monastery, which was founded by one of the most famous Optina elders, the Monk Ambrose.This is the Kazan Ambrosievskaya Hermitage. The “brainchild” of the great holy elder is famous for its magnificent temples and shrines. Miraculous springs of holy water were found in the monastery courtyard. Today you can accept the wonderful grace of healing water and feel the invisible blessing of Elder Ambrose. (Don't forget your bathing suit and empty containers for holy water). Take holy water with you and drink it with prayer every day. Attention: visiting the springs is only possible in favorable weather. The great, bright joy of joining the Miracle of Divine Grace, bestowing peace of mind and tranquility...

Village visit Nizhnye Pryski.Here is the most beautiful prayerChurch of the Transfiguration of the Lord, built in 1731, with an amazing, incredible history. The temple about which the great Optina elder Ambrose said: “The time will come when all the churches in the area will be closed, and this one will stand until the second coming of Christ...”

Hello. I would like to thank “Image of the World” for organizing the trip to Optina from April 25 to 26, 2016. On the bus we listened and prayed (morning prayers and canons of repentance were included). During the journey, we watched a film about Mother Sipporah, since the beginning of the pilgrimage was the monastery of the Savior Not Made by Hands of the Hermitage (Klykovo village). We visited the house of Mother Zipporah and received loving anointing; Here we had Vespers, and at 2 p.m. we went to the monastery, Optina, for unction. We venerated the shrines of Optina, the murdered monks, and underwent the sacrament of unction. In the monastery of Klykovo, in the church of Saint Martyr Kuksha of Kiev-Pechersk, we were slowly confessed by hieromonk Father Seraphim. We rest in the fraternal building, and in the morning there is Divine Liturgy at the Optina Pustyn Monastery. How many events took place in these 2 days. I can’t even believe that this is possible: ... to venerate the shrines of Optina, come to the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the village of Nizhnie Pryski to St. Leonty..., we return to Optina Pustyn and in the house of Elder Ambrose we listen to the story of the monk Kalinik (leisurely, calmly, joyfully). We are going to the Shamordino Convent..., then to the museum of the Vladimir Skete of the Kaluga Monastery of St. Tikhon's Hermitage (diorama “The Great Stand on the Ugra”).. Strength was running out, but r.b. Natalia (she led our pilgrimage from the “Image of the World”) led us to a service at the Kaluga Monastery of St. Tikhon’s Hermitage, where we were anointed with oil by Archimandrite Tikhon and venerated the relics of St. Tikhon of Kaluga. A magnificent service combining monastic austerity, calm sublimity, and inner joy. Thank you all, especially R.B. Natalia, for her interesting story during the trip, genuine love and care. God's help to everyone. R.b. Galina.