Zhyrovichy Monastery ( be, Жыровіцкі манастыр) is an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, in the village of Zhyrovichy (Slonim rajon, Hrodna voblast).

History

Legend

One night around 1500 (storytellers and scholars disagree on the year), some herders noticed a wild pear tree radiating light, whose source in the branches turned out to be a jasper oval, about the size of a child's hand, carved with the image of a woman and child and the Slavonic inscription, «More honorable than the cherubim, And more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim, In virginity you bore God the Word; True Mother of God, we magnify you». The portrait was recognizable as an Eleousa or Tenderness type of icon, with the child's cheek against his mother's, and the words as the refrain of the Magnificat in the Eastern liturgy.

History

The monastery was founded in the 16th century. Due to a belief, an

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

was found in the local woods. A church was built on the place where the icon was found, but soon it was burned by fire and the icon was lost. Many years later the icon was found again with mysterious imprints on it – presumably those of Virgin Mary’s palm and foot. The icon is considered miraculous and the stone became part of the altar in the church of Exaltation of the Cross. Since then the Zhyrovichy monastery is a major place of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

. Until 1609 the monastery was Orthodox. Then the monastery was transferred to the Uniate order of Basilian. The original buildings of the monastery were wooden. A major fire occurred in the monastery in 1655. After that the monastery rebuilt already largely made of stone. At the monastery in Zhyrovichy has three temples. Firstly, it is the center and the main temple of the monastery - the Holy Assumption Cathedral, which was built in 1613–1650 years. The cathedral was significantly rebuilt in 1839, so its appearance is not too well reflects its age. The second temple in Zhyrovichy is the church of God Apparitions, built in 1796. The third temple is the church of the Holy Cross, built in 1769. This church is very unique. The fact that it is designed so that the entrance and to the altar lying wide staircase. In this temple made to slowly climb the stairs, stopping at each step to pray. All the temples and churches of the monastery in Zhyrovichy are important architectural monuments of his time, valuable objects of historical and cultural heritage, and prominent landmarks. Žyrovičy

The complex of buildings of the monastery in Zhyrovichy includes many more facilities which were mostly built in the 17-18 centuries. Among these buildings there seminary building, residential housing for the monks and seminarians, outbuildings and more. Outside the main territory of the monastery in the village Zhyrovichy located a few objects that although there are separate yet related to the monastery. First of all, it is the bell tower, built in 1828 in front of the main cathedral of the monastery. The bell tower in the village Zhyrovichy be performed under the church and the monastery, it is more not only like a bell tower as another separate temple. Belfry made on such a scale is a very unique attraction of Belarus. In Zhyrovichy there are two saints source. A copy of the stone image was brought to Rome, where it is revered as the Madonna del Popolo in the Church of Sts. Sergio and Bacchus. In 1730, Athanasius Sheptitsky, Greek Catholic Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia, solemnly crowned the Mother of God of Zhyrovichy with a Roman crown blessed by Pope Benedict XIII. Being in the hands of uniats, the sacred image was deeply celebrated by both uniats and catholics. A great reverence to this icon was shown by the kings of Poland. In the 1839, the monastery returned to Orthodoxy. In 1915, the icon was moved to the crypt of St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow. Smuggled out of the Soviet Union in a shipment of jam, it returned to the Grodno diocese in 1938, missing most of its ornaments. Nowadays the icon is kept in the cathedral of the Holy Blessed Virgin's Assumption, in the monastery of Zhirovichy.

Practices

The

Belarusian Greek Catholic Church The Belarusian Greek Catholic Church ( be, Беларуская грэка-каталіцкая царква, ''Bielaruskaja hreka-katalickaja carkva'' BHKC; la, Ecclesiae Graecae Catholico Belarusica) sometimes called in reference to its By ...

and Roman Catholic Church in Belarus celebrate the feast of the Mother of God of Zhyrovichy on May 7. Russian and Belarusian Orthodox Churches celebrate the feast of the Mother of God of Zhyrovichy on May 20 (May 7 in the Julian calendar). The Saint Ascension monastery in Zhyrovichy existed even during Soviet times and in 1989 it became a clerical seminary – a highest religious educational institution, accepting entrants from all the countries of the former

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Photo

File:В. Жыровічы - Ансамбаль Сьвята-Усьпенскага манастыра, званіца PICT3040.jpg File:В. Жыровічы - Ансамбаль Сьвята-Усьпенскага манастыра PICT3028.jpg File:Жыровічы, Усьпенскі сабор 2.jpg File:Жыровічы, Усьпенскі сабор 3.jpg File:Жыровічы, Усьпенскі сабор 1.jpg File:Жыровіцы. Інтэр'ер Успенскага сабора.jpg File:Жыровічы, Богаяўленская і Крыжаўзьдзьвіжанская цэрквы 3.jpg File:Жыровічы, Богаяўленская царква 3.jpg File:Жыровічы, Богаяўленская і Крыжаўзьдзьвіжанская цэрквы 1.jpg File:Жыровічы, Крыжаўзьдзьвіжанская царква 1.jpg File:Жыровічы, Крыжаўзьдзьвіжанская царква 4.jpg File:Zyrovicy2.JPG File:В. Жыровічы - Ансамбаль Сьвята-Усьпенскага манастыра PICT3042.jpg File:Zyrovicy1.jpg File:Zyrovicy.JPG File:Zyrovicy3.JPG File:Zyrovicy4.JPG

External links

Жыровічская ікона.Гісторыя вядомай беларускай святыні
- "The icon of Zhyrovichy: history of a Belarusian artefact"
Photos on Radzima.org

Christian monasteries in Belarus {{Belarus-struct-stub