The Tolgsky Svyato-Vvedensky nunnery is called the pearl of the Yaroslavl land. Not only pilgrims flock to its walls, but also ordinary tourists who come to Yaroslavl with an excursion purpose. Orthodox Christians come here to pray in front of the miraculous icon of the Tolga Mother of God, to bow to the relics of the saints and admire the cedar grove.
From the history of the founding of the monastery
The beginning of the foundation of the monastery dates back to 1314, when the noble Prince David ruled in Yaroslavl. He was the son of Fyodor Cherny, who during the years of the Tatar-Mongol yoke and the internecine wars of the princes preserved the peace and prosperity of the Yaroslavl land.
Once Archbishop of Rostov and Yaroslavl Prokhor was returning home after visiting the territories under his jurisdiction. He stopped for the night on the right bank of the Volga where the Tolga River flows into it. His retinue, consisting of priests and other ministers of the church, pitched tents.
At midnight, Prokhor suddenly woke up and saw a bright light that illuminated the surroundings. He went to this light and found himself on the other bank of the Volga. High in the air, he saw an icon of the Mother of God holding the baby Jesus Christ in her arms. He began to pray in front of the icon with tears in his eyes from the miracle he had seen.
Then the bishop returned to the tent where his companions slept. In the morning they got ready for their further journey. Prokhor did not tell them anything about what happened to him at night. The bishop began to look for his staff, but it was nowhere to be found. Suddenly it dawned on him: he had forgotten the staff where he had been at night - on the other side of the Volga. He had to tell his companions about this secret. The priests went all together to look for the staff. At the place where a miracle appeared to Archbishop Prokhor, they found an icon of the Mother of God, which stood between the trees. Next to her was the bishop's staff.
Prokhor realized that this was a sign from above. He laid a temple on the site of the appearance of the icon. The miraculous icon of the Mother of God was transferred to it. Bishop Prokhor gave his blessing to create a monastery at this church.
The miraculous icon of the Tolga Mother of God
On August 8, 1314, the miraculous discovery of the icon took place. Believers celebrate the celebration of the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God on August 21 (new style).
According to the testimony of chroniclers, in 1392, during the service in the church, the icon began to stream myrrh. Miro brought healing to many sick people who were anointed with him.
In 1953, Tsar Ivan the Terrible visited the Tolgsky monastery with the hope of healing his sore legs. The king could not walk and sat in an armchair in which he was carried in his arms. Many hours of prayer in front of the icon with tears brought him healing. Ivan the Terrible got up from his chair on strengthened legs. As a token of gratitude, the tsar ordered to build a stone church in the monastery, for which he allocated funds from the treasury. The temple was built in the 16th century.
In 1612, a pestilence struck in Yaroslavl. People were dying from an unknown disease. With the icon of the Tolgskaya Mother of God, along with other shrines of the monastery, a procession was made, after which the disease stopped.
Unique cedar grove
The history of the emergence of the cedar grove is rooted in the past. According to legend, the Tsar of All Russia Ivan the Terrible gave the monastery two cedar cones, from the grains of which cedars grew. The tsar received these cones as a gift from Ermak, the conqueror of Siberia.
The grove was planted in the 16th century. The site for planting cedars was not chosen by chance. The grove was founded where the icon of the Tolga Mother of God was found after a fire in the monastery. In the 14th century, during a fire, the Vvedensky Cathedral and the icons that were in it caught fire. Only one icon miraculously survived. She found herself on the branches of a tree near the monastery. This is the place where the cedar grove was founded. Believers pray at the chapel of the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God, built on the site of the second acquisition of the icon.
When planting cedars, the monks dug ponds to water the trees. The cedar massif became the first artificially created plantation of the Siberian cedar.
In 1879, a terrible tornado passed through the Yaroslavl land. Almost all the trees were felled and some were uprooted. The servants of the monastery had to restore the cedar grove again.
During the years of Soviet power, when the Bolsheviks destroyed temples and churches, there was a colony for juvenile delinquents in the Tolgsky monastery. At this time, the cedar grove suffered greatly from drought, as the ponds built by the monks fell into disrepair.
In 1987, when the monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, 27 cedars were preserved in the grove, planted more than two hundred years ago. Younger trees were planted by the inhabitants of the monastery.
At present, the grove has 193 trees, thanks to the labor of the nuns who care for the cedars. The height of the trees reaches 18 meters, the diameter of the trunk is 60 - 70 centimeters. Almost all cedars have fruits - cones. Each tree is revered as a shrine.
The monastery attracts with the beauty of the churches, the well-groomed territory, as well as the positive energy that reigns everywhere.
