St. Onuphrius Monastery In Jabłeczna
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St. Onuphrius Monastery is a
stauropegion A stauropegion, also spelled stavropegion (from , in turn from σταυρός ''stauros'' "cross" and πήγνυμι ''pegnumi'' "to affirm"), is a monastery or a parish which depends directly on the Primate (bishop), primate or on the Holy Sy ...
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 ...
male
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
in
Jabłeczna Jabłeczna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Sławatycze, within Biała Podlaska County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland, close to the border with Belarus. It lies approximately north-east of Sławatycze, south-east of ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, under the jurisdiction of the
Polish Orthodox Church The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church (), commonly known as the Polish Orthodox Church, or Orthodox Church of Poland, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches in full communion. The church was established in 1924, to accommodate O ...
. The monastery was founded no later than the late 15th century. According to legend, its establishment was determined by the miraculous appearance of the
icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...
of St. Onuphrius above the Bug river. Thanks to successive land grants from the subsequent owners of Jabłeczna, the monastery became a significant center of Orthodox worship in
Chełm Land Chełm Land was a region of the Kingdom of Poland and later of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795). Today, the region is situated in the modern states of Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus. As an exclave of the Ruthenian Voivodeship, i ...
. After the
Union of Brest The Union of Brest took place in 1595–1596 and represented an agreement by Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Ruthenian portions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to accept the Pope's authority while maintaining Eastern Orthodox liturgical ...
, the monks of Jabłeczna refused to accept its provisions and, despite pressure, remained Orthodox, remaining an important center of dissenters until the fall of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
. The situation of the monastery underwent a total change after the three partitions of Poland and the establishment of the
Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...
in personal union with Russia. From then on, the monastery was financially supported by the Russian authorities and, at their behest, engaged in promoting Orthodoxy and
Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...
of Chełm Land, especially after the
conversion of Chełm Eparchy The Conversion of Chełm Eparchy was the forced conversion of the Eparchy of Chełm–Belz that took place between January and May 1875. It was the last eparchy of the Ruthenian Uniate Church that remained on the territory of the Russian Empire f ...
in 1875. This was one of the reasons why the monks engaged in social and educational activities. However, the low level of education of the monks, their insufficient number, and the fact that the majority of them were not of Russian nationality meant that the monastery did not fulfill its assigned tasks in terms of promoting Russianness and Orthodoxy among the population of Chełm Land. Despite restrictions imposed by the authorities of independent Poland due to the role of the monastery during the partitions, the monastery functioned throughout the entire interwar period. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, it was burned down in 1942 by a German border guard unit. However, it formally did not cease to function and remained active throughout the entire period of the
Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...
, despite difficult material conditions (on the orders of the Stalinist authorities, it lost all its assets except residential buildings and churches), as the only male monastery of the Polish Orthodox Church. Since 1999, it has had the status of a stauropegion monastery and is directly subordinate to the , who manages the community through his representative. There is also a parish attached to the monastery, with the monastery's representative serving as its
parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...
.


History


Beginnings

According to legend, the first monastic community in
Jabłeczna Jabłeczna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Sławatycze, within Biała Podlaska County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland, close to the border with Belarus. It lies approximately north-east of Sławatycze, south-east of ...
was established when the icon of St. Onuphrius floated down the Bug river to the village. For this reason, he became the patron saint of the monastery. Another legend tells that St. Onuphrius appeared to a group of fishermen by the Bug river, announcing that his name would be glorified in that place. Later, an image of the hermit was found in the same spot by the riverbank, and the locals retrieved it and hung it on a tree, where they began to pray to the saint. Not wanting to leave the miraculous icon unattended in a remote location, a group of men remained by the oak tree permanently. They later built a chapel next to it and took monastic vows themselves. The cult of St. Onuphrius significantly developed in the western part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
in the second half of the 15th century. In older literature on the subject (works from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries), there are views placing the establishment of the monastery in the 16th century (according to various authors, either at its beginning or closer to its end). According to Father , the author of the most comprehensive monograph dedicated to the monastery, this view does not hold up in the light of newer research. In 1522, the monastery in Jabłeczna is already mentioned in a document issued by King
Sigismund I the Old Sigismund I the Old (, ; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the son of Casimir IV of P ...
. In another document from 1527, the monastery is described as a community that has existed for a longer time. The presence of the
Great Schema The degrees of Eastern Orthodox monasticism are the stages an Eastern Orthodox monk or nun passes through in their religious vocation. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the process of becoming a monk or nun is intentionally slow, as the monastic ...
Cyril, who took his vows in 1516, also indicates the longer existence of the community. Vows of this degree could only be taken in a community with a longer tradition. Some authors active at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries placed the establishment of the monastery in an even more distant past, pointing to the mid-13th century (Father F. Gorbaczowski). Father Żeleźniakowicz also considers this view insufficiently documented. However, considers the establishment of the monastery in this period possible. The monastery certainly existed before 1498, as the oldest
Gospel Book A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels ( Greek: , ) is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the roo ...
preserved in the monastery dates back to that year. This could have been presented to the monks at the founding of the community, but it could also have been passed to the monastery already in existence. In 1527, the residents of Brest presented the monks with a manuscript containing their rule, probably from 1487. The probable founder of the monastery was the Zabrzeziński (Zaberezinski) family, the owners of the village of Jabłeczna. However, establishing this fact beyond any doubt is not possible due to the disappearance of relevant documents in the 18th century. Another document, issued in 1499, granting the village of Jabłeczna to Mikołaj Nassut, indicates that the monastery functioned in the village but was treated as a separate enclave.


Monastery's growing importance as a center of worship

From 1527 comes a document confirming that pilgrims from Berestechko participated in the monastery's patronal feast. The entire 16th century was a period of gradual increase in the authority of the monastery. However, until the
Union of Brest The Union of Brest took place in 1595–1596 and represented an agreement by Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Ruthenian portions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to accept the Pope's authority while maintaining Eastern Orthodox liturgical ...
, it remained a center of cult with only regional significance. The document from 1527 indicates that the abbot of the monastery was
Hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen (, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, or an archpriest in the Coptic Orthodox Church, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of ...
Cyril, and besides him, there were at least two monks in the monastery. Successive owners of Jabłeczna – the Zabrzeziński, Nassut, Bohowitynowicz, Bogusz, Proński, Leszczyński, Sapieha, and Kodeński families – supported the monastery materially. Through the grants they received, the monastery acquired 1,400 hectares of arable land, forests, and meadows on both banks of the Bug river. Special benefactors of the monastery were Teodora Andriyivna Bohowitynowicz (née Sanguszko) and her daughter Teodora Bohowitynowicz, later Prońska, who remained a patroness of the community even after her husband converted to
Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
.


From the conclusion of the Union of Brest to the fall of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

The monks of the Jabłeczna monastery did not accept the provisions of the Union of Brest, and the monastery became a center of Orthodox resistance against its implementation. Monks opposed to the union from those monasteries that decided to accept it joined the community. The Jabłeczna monastery became the residence of the Orthodox Bishop of Chełm, , who lived there and simultaneously served as the abbot until his death in 1633. After Paisius' death, the monastery remained without a superior for several years. In order to change this situation, the owner of Jabłeczna, Władysław Leszczyński, turned to the abbot of the Mielce monastery, Archimandrite Joseph, requesting a monk capable of leading the community in Jabłeczna. This occurred no later than the early 1640s;
Hieromonk A hieromonk,; Church Slavonic, Slavonic: ''Иеромонахъ''; ; ; ; ; Albanian language, Albanian: ''Hieromurg'' also called a priestmonk, is a person who is both monk and Priest#Roman Catholic and Orthodox, priest in the Eastern Christianity ...
Makary (Kornilovich) arrived in Jabłeczna at that time. He initiated a moral renewal in the community and carried out a general renovation of its buildings. In the 17th century, the monastery complex consisted of the Church of St. Onuphrius with the Chapel of the Meeting of the Lord, a
refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monastery, monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminary, seminaries. The name ...
with the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God, a bell tower (built in 1651), the abbot's house, monks' cells, and farm buildings. The renovation of the monastery was completed around 1659. In the same year, Metropolitan
Dionysius Balaban Dionysius Balaban-Tukalskyi (; ? – 10 May 1663, in Chyhyryn) was the Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus' in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Eastern Orthodox Church from 1657 to 1663. Biography He came from an old n ...
of
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
expressed his recognition of Makary's activities in writing; Makary already held the rank of hegumen at that time. The clergyman died in 1677, enjoying immense authority among the monks. In 1670, the Jabłeczna monastery became the last Orthodox pastoral outpost in the region. When the accepted the provisions of the Union, of which the Jabłeczna community was a filial, with the help of the owner of Jabłeczna, Andrzej Leszczyński, the monks came under the direct jurisdiction of the Orthodox bishops of Lutsk. After the Lutsk diocese joined the
Uniate Church The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
, the superior of the monastery became the Orthodox
Metropolis of Kyiv The Metropolis of Kyiv (; ; ) was an autonomous metropolis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople with center in Kyiv after its formation in 988 as a result of the Christianization of Rus by Volodymyr the Great until January 6 ...
. The prestige of the monastery among the Orthodox population grew as the number of monasteries of this denomination in the Commonwealth decreased. From 1 March 1681, the pastoral activity of the monks was further restricted: on this date, a decree from King
John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...
was issued to "non-Uniate" communities, prohibiting Orthodox clergy from serving in villages where Uniate churches were located. During this period, a significant portion of the parishioners of the Jabłeczna pastoral outpost came from villages where former Orthodox churches were in the hands of the Uniats, and who did not want to convert to Catholicism. The situation of the monastery changed radically in 1699, when the Jabłeczna estates were purchased by Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł, a Catholic (unlike the previous owners of the village). The Radziwiłł family exerted strong pressure on the monastery to join the Uniate Church, and, using their patronage rights, forced the local clergy to convert in the parish. in 1701, in order to defend their position, the monastery submitted as a filial to the
Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius The Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit (; ) is a Russian Orthodox church in the Vilnius Old Town, capital of Lithuania, rebuilt 1749–1753 in the Vilnian Baroque style. The monastery serves as the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Diocese o ...
. In 1724, the monastery was deprived of four parish churches. In 1752, Hieronim Florian Radziwiłł founded a Uniate church in the village of Jabłeczna. The Uniate parish took over a significant part of the monastery's property and contributed to the conversion of the local population to the Union. Three years later, an armed attack on the monastery took place, in which Basilian monks from the monastery in
Biała Podlaska Biała Podlaska (; ) is a city in the Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 56,498 inhabitants It is the capital of Biała Podlaska County, although the city is not part of the county (it constitutes a separate city county). The city lies on ...
also participated. During the attack, the monastery was plundered, and documents stored in it were stolen, including those confirming land ownership. Nevertheless, the Jabłeczna community remained faithful to Orthodoxy. From 1767, the monastery received regular financial support from the Kyiv Metropolis. Despite this, its financial situation was very poor in 1770, which was related to poor management by Hegumen Moses, who fled the monastery that year. A description of the monastery from 1775 indicates that it contained a wooden, triple-domed temple, 36 ells (21 meters) long, 27.5 ells (16 meters) wide, and 53 ells (31.5 meters) high. Separate buildings included a bell tower, a refectory with a church, a bakery, and a kitchen. To the northeast was the abbot's house. Seven monk cells were located in two buildings to the south, and one was in the bell tower. The monks also had a granary, two food warehouses, two stables, and a bathhouse. These buildings were in poor technical condition and required renovation. Among the movable property of the monastery were mentioned 25 sets of priestly vestments in the sacristy, as well as six
Gospel Books Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sense ...
, 16 candlesticks, and two
chandeliers A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now in ...
. The monastery had a library, and there were five bells in the bell tower. Describing the monastery in 1785, Bishop of
Pereiaslav Pereiaslav is a historical town in Boryspil Raion, Kyiv Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located near the confluence of the Alta and Trubizh rivers some southeast of the capital Kyiv. It was one of the key regional centers of power during the ...
, , claimed that he found not monastery buildings on the site, but rather ruins. In 1793, the community lived in extreme poverty, and money for necessary building repairs was obtained through collections in other monasteries.


Period of partitions


1795–1875

As a result of the provisions of the
Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...
, the land of Chełm found itself within the borders of
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, which meant that the monastery in Jabłeczna came under the jurisdiction of the . However, due to the distance of the metropolitans' seat from Jabłeczna, it still remained under the actual spiritual care of the bishops of
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
. After the establishment of the Congress Kingdom, which was in a
personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...
with the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, the Orthodox structures in the Congress Kingdom, including the monastery, were incorporated into the Diocese of Minsk. Father Żeleźniakowicz disagreed with the view that the jurisdiction of the bishops of Minsk over the Jabłeczna community was formally extended in 1815, stating that according to him, the monastery came under their control only in 1825, as there were no clear regulations in this regard before. In 1840, an independent Warsaw and Novohrad-Volynsky Eparchy was established, covering the territory of the Kingdom, and it was under its jurisdiction that the monastery fell. In 1816, the monastery was inhabited by three monks. Their main source of livelihood was land cultivation. The financial situation of the monastery in the 1820s was so difficult that in 1828 it was granted assistance in the amount of 2,000 ''złotys'' from the fund for the Greco-Russian clergy. Throughout the 1820s and 1830s, the monastery was involved in legal proceedings over the management of the lands with Count Michał Grabowski, who had received some of the land on lease as early as 1787 and then refused to return it after the leases expired. At that time, it was already the only Orthodox monastery in the Chełm and
Podlasie Podlachia, also known by its Polish name Podlasie (; ; ), is a historical region in north-eastern Poland. Its largest city is Białystok, whereas the historical capital is Drohiczyn. Similarly to several other historical regions of Poland, e.g ...
region; it also served as a retirement home for retired clergy. In 1832, due to the poverty of the monastery, Father Teofil Nowicki, who served as the dean of churches and monasteries in the Kingdom of Poland, obtained a partial tax exemption for it, and in 1833, another grant of 300 rubles. In that year, the monastery was inhabited by five monks, a lay brother, and a widowed priest without monastic vows. According to a description from 1835, the monastery owned 45 dessiatins of land on the left bank of the Bug river and 46 dessiatins of meadows on the right bank. The poverty of the monastery did not diminish its authority among the faithful, which remained very significant. In 1836, the Jabłeczna community consisted of 5 monks. Due to the very poor technical condition of the monastery buildings, work began in 1838 on the construction of a new residential building for the monks, the Church of St. Onuphrius, a bell tower, and a surrounding wall. According to Grzegorz Kuprianowicz, the initiator of these works was Bishop of Warsaw. According to Father Żeleźniakowicz, the initiator of the renovation was Bishop Innocenty of
Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...
, who had been calling for it since his visit to Jabłeczna in 1833, and Bishop Antoni only completed his efforts. On 19 May 1838, the cornerstone for the construction of the Church of St. Onuphrius was laid, and its
dedication Dedication often refers to various religious and secular ceremonies and practices such as: * Dedication (ritual) the ritual or ceremonial establishment of a purpose for a person, place, or thing ** Dedication of churches ** Child dedication, a C ...
took place on 6 December 1840. The cost of its construction, together with the cost of building the residential building, amounted to 29,585 rubles. During the tenure of Archimandrite Joannicius (Mosakowski) as the monastery's superior, from 1832 to 1854, a two-class school open to all, regardless of denomination, was opened in 1838, and the agricultural estate was reorganized. In 1857, 24 students attended the school run by the monastery. In 1843, the Jabłeczna community consisted of 5 monks and 4 lay brothers, the following year – 6 monks and 1 lay brother, and in 1845 – 5 monks and 3 lay brothers. In the middle of the century, the monastery was home to 5 monks, 5 lay brothers, two widowed deacons, and one widowed priest. In a report by the Archbishop of Warsaw to the
Most Holy Synod The Most Holy Governing Synod (, pre-reform orthography: ) was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church between 1721 and 1917. It was abolished following the February Revolution of 1917 and replaced with a restored patriar ...
, the monastery in Jabłeczna was described as a center of high spiritual level. In 1859, the monastery, which had hitherto functioned as non-regular, was entered into the register of second-class monasteries, receiving a higher government subsidy; at the same time, it was obliged to maintain a community of 16 monks, including the superior. This obligation was not respected in practice. The report from 1861 indicated that only six monks and seven lay brothers lived in the monastery, with vacancies for the remaining positions. The exemplary functioning of the monastery was emphasized. Until 1859, the monastery received 300 rubles for the maintenance of the monks and 1,200 rubles for running the school, and from 1859, this sum increased to a total of 3,720 rubles. The increased government subsidy meant that by 1863, the monastery had savings of 5,050 rubles deposited in the bank and could sustain itself from the interest. In 1862, a school of icon painting was also organized in the monastery, but the period of its operation is not established. Hieromonk Palladius served as the iconography teacher, and in the first year of the school's operation, 13 students from the general school run by the monastery attended. According to Father Żeleźniakowicz, the courses in icon painting did not last long, as there are no mentions of them in documents from 1868 onwards. During the
January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...
, a Polish insurgent unit entered the monastery, searching for money. The insurgents disrupted the course of the evening service and destroyed part of the furnishings of the Church of St. Onuphrius. However, thanks to the intervention of the local Catholic priest, the unit withdrew without causing major damage to the monastery. In 1863, the monastery was inhabited by 10 monks and 8 lay brothers. The school they ran had 38 students, 14 of whom were of the Catholic faith.


1875–1915

In 1875, the monastery housed 10 monks and 6 lay brothers. This number only experienced slight fluctuations until the end of the decade. After the administrative abolition of the last diocese of the Uniate Church in the Russian Empire, carried out by the tsarist administration and the military in 1875, the entire activity of the monastery was subordinated to the goal of consolidating Orthodoxy in Chełm Land. Upon explicit orders from the tsarist authorities, the monks undertook a broader social and missionary work among the local Catholic population and former Uniates, expanding the already existing school from their own funds and admitting 50 people in 1880. After 1889, they also ran a school for psalmists for newly established Orthodox parishes in the region. Candidates for teachers in parish schools were trained in a separate facility. Previously, the monastery clergy did not participate in the policy of Russification. The monks made significant contributions to the development of education among the rural population of the region. Thanks to the efforts of Archimandrite in 1862, they obtained an increase in the subsidy for the school's operation, which allowed them to admit 62 children to study from 1881. From 1876 to 1880, further expansion and renovation of the monastery were carried out, including the construction of a two-story residential building for the monks. In the 1880s, the Bug river's course was also changed, resulting in the monastery being situated on the left bank of the river. Thanks to tsarist grants, it owned a landed estate – 1,207.51 dessiatins, including arable land, pastures, and forests. In 1881, Archbishop of Warsaw appealed to the Most Holy Synod to classify the Jabłeczna monastery among the first-class monasteries due to its historical and contemporary significance. In the same year, the Jabłeczna community consisted of 9 monks and 23 lay brothers. In January 1882, this request was positively considered. In 1886, the monastery was inhabited by nine monks and a "significant number" of lay brothers. The superior, Archimandrite Narcissus, enjoyed considerable spiritual authority among the local population. However, by 1896, in a letter to the Most Holy Synod, Bishop of
Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...
claimed that the monastery, as a missionary center (and therefore, a planned center of Russification), did not meet the hopes placed in it: the community consisted of only nine monks, which did not allow it to strengthen the monastery's authority. Local faithful only attended the monastery for worship on its major holidays, and the poverty of the community discouraged potential monk candidates. Flavian concluded that the monastery had no influence on the local population, including former Uniates, whom it was supposed to solidify in Orthodoxy. According to Father Żeleźniakowicz's assessment, such a significant decline in the monastery was the result of the incompetence of its superior, Archimandrite Joannicius, who arrived in Jabłeczna in 1887 after the death of Archimandrite Narcissus, as well as the lack of support for the monastery from the Chełm-Warsaw Eparchy. In 1896, the school run by the monks was moved from the monastery buildings to new facilities in the village of Jabłeczna. The monastery's situation began to improve after Archimandrite assumed the position of superior in 1897. His efforts to strengthen the monastery's role in the social life of Chełm Land were limited by the fact that the monks from Jabłeczna were poorly educated, and their number did not increase. The archimandrite opened an orphanage, a soup kitchen for the poorest, and an outpatient clinic. By managing the monastery's income well, he also improved its financial situation. This translated into the number of candidates willing to join the monastery – in 1899, the monastery housed 39 monks and lay brothers (for comparison, there were 12 monks in 1889, and nine in 1896). However, those joining the monastery were primarily peasants with education levels that did not allow them to participate in missionary activities in line with the policies of the tsarist authorities. Despite this, the monastery's prestige significantly increased, and it became an important pilgrimage center. Archbishop Hieronymus Ekziemplarski of Chełm and Warsaw praised Archimandrite German's work in 1900. German (Ivanov) died after a short illness in 1903; his successor, Archimandrite Arkadiusz (Wielmożyn), due to his advanced age, did not continue his predecessor's social activities on the same scale. From 1905, the monastery belonged to the newly established . Given the fact that the same year's tolerant decree led to the conversion of approximately 180–200 thousand former Uniates from the Orthodox Church to Roman Catholicism, the Jabłeczna monastery was assigned an even greater role in promoting Orthodoxy and Russian identity. However, Bishop Eulogius of Chełm, particularly involved in promoting Orthodoxy in Chełm Land and Russification activities, argued that the monastery was unable to fulfill the tasks set before it. He emphasized especially that there were no clerics with secondary education among the monks. Therefore, in 1906, there were considerations to close the monastery due to its failure to fulfill its tasks. Ultimately, the Most Holy Synod recognized that the oldest functioning monastic community in Podlasie should remain active and, after reorganization, could play its designated role as a center of Orthodoxy and Russian identity. Therefore, a new superior, Archimandrite Joseph Petrovykh, was appointed, and he was tasked with renewing the monastery's internal life. Upon his arrival in Jabłeczna, Archimandrite Joseph reorganized the monastery school. He also revitalized the declining monastery farm. In 1908, approximately 100 people were studying there. On the night of August 5–6, 1906, the monastery was attacked by unknown armed perpetrators, but it did not suffer significant losses. In 1907, it housed 16 monks and 19 lay brothers. In 1907, after Archimandrite Joseph was delegated to serve in
Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...
, the community elected Archimandrite as his successor. Until then, superiors were appointed from above by the synod. In this case, in January of the following year, it merely confirmed the decision of the monks. In 1913, the community consisted of 80 monks and lay brothers, and in 1914, it decreased to 68. The St. Onuphrius Monastery also opened its branches. In 1909, on an island in , the
skete A skete () is a monastic community in Eastern Christianity that allows relative isolation for monks, but also allows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection. It is one of four types of early monastic orders, alo ...
of the Holy Sergius and Herman of Valaam was established. The construction of the skete, which included a wooden church and a house for the monks, cost 50,000 rubles. Since 1912, the monks took care of the church of St. Nicholas in
Dratów Dratów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Ludwin, within Łęczna County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Ludwin, north-east of Łęczna, and north-east of the regional capital Lubli ...
. The monastery complex itself was also expanded: a chapel of the Meeting of the Lord (now dedicated to the Holy Spirit) was built on the site where, according to legend, the icon of St. Onuphrius was found, and opposite the monastery gate, the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God was erected. A two-ton bell cast in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
was placed in the main monastery church. From 1906 to 1910, another renovation of the monastery buildings was carried out. As part of this renovation, Ivan Wolski adorned the Church of St. Onuphrius with
frescoes Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...
. The solemn consecration of the renovated temple took place on 16 December 1907, in a ceremony attended by bishops Andronik Nikolsky and Tryphon Turkestanov. In 1911, in addition to the existing monastery school, the monks opened a two-class school in the village of Otoki, where 62 children studied, and a lower one-class school in Jabłeczna, intended for 60 people. In the same year, a vocational school was established, attended by about 50 people. The institution's program included practical courses in agriculture, gardening, veterinary medicine, forestry, dairy farming, and beekeeping. The establishment of these schools was associated with the promotion of Orthodoxy through the monks' social activities. In 1914, the last year of the monastery's operation in the established form after 1875, 431 people were studying in all the schools run by them. Additionally, in 1912, 1,760 people benefited from free medicines issued at the monastery pharmacy, and in 1913, 4,500 free meals were distributed. The monastic way of life was based on the rule of
St. Basil the Great Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (330 – 1 or 2 January 379) was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370 until his death in 379. He was an influential theologian who suppor ...
with elements of specific traditions drawn from the
Optina Monastery The Optina Pustyn (, literally ''Opta's hermitage'') is an Eastern Orthodox monastery for men near Kozelsk in Russia. In the 19th century, the Optina was the most important spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church and served as the model fo ...
, the Sarov Monastery, and the monasteries of Kyiv. The period of the monastery's final years of operation in Tsarist Russia, as Father Żeleźniakowicz called it, was its ''golden age''. The monastery once again became an important pilgrimage center. On 22 December 1914, a fire broke out in the monastery, completely destroying the building housing the pharmacy and the outpatient clinic.


Interwar period

On 1 August 1915, most of the monks, except for Hieromonk Hiob (Dyczko), went into exile, taking with them the icon of St. Onuphrius. They reached
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
and settled in the
Epiphany Monastery The Epiphany Monastery (, ''Bogoyavlensky monastyr''; better translated as "Theophany Monastery") is the oldest male monastery in Moscow, situated in the Kitai gorod, just one block away from the Moscow Kremlin. According to a legend, it was fo ...
, where they were received by Bishop Tryphon (Turkiestanov), who had visited Jabłeczna several times before. After the German troops entered the Chełm region (two days after the monks' departure), the monastery buildings were taken over for military purposes, and Hieromonk Hiob was arrested. The monks returned to Jabłeczna in 1918 or 1919. The first to arrive at the monastery was Hieromonk Mitrofan (Stelmaszuk), and on 20 September 1919, the superior, Archimandrite , returned. The monastery was devastated and in need of reconstruction. In the early years of the monastery's existence in independent Poland, its activities were limited by local authorities. In September 1919, the Church of St. Onuphrius was closed, and the parish church in Jabłeczna, as Uniate property, was handed over to the Catholic Church. Additionally, the Catholic diocese of
Siedlce Siedlce () ( ) is a city in the Masovian Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). The city is situated between two small rivers, the Muchawka and the Helenka, and lies along the European route E30, around east of Warsaw. It is ...
and the parish priest of the Catholic parish in
Sławatycze Sławatycze is a village in Biała Podlaska County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland, close to the border with Belarus. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Sławatycze. It lies approximately south-east of Bia ...
took actions for the complete liquidation of the monastery. Inspired by them, the local population gathered at rallies demanding its closure. The parish in Sławatycze, without a proper court ruling, also took over most of the monastery's lands. In 1922, Polish authorities expelled the monastery's superior, Bishop Sergius (Korolow) of Bielsko, who as a monk had been involved in strengthening Orthodoxy in the Chełm region and had opposed the
autocephaly Autocephaly (; ) is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...
of the Orthodox Church in Poland after 1918. In 1920, after intervention by representatives of the Orthodox Church in the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education, the monks regained the Church of St. Onuphrius. During its closure, part of its equipment was looted and transferred to the church in Jabłeczna. The monks also regained the church in
Dratów Dratów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Ludwin, within Łęczna County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Ludwin, north-east of Łęczna, and north-east of the regional capital Lubli ...
. In 1924, the number of monks living in the monastery was limited to four, and the land taken from the local Catholics was officially confiscated. Throughout the interwar period, there was talk of liquidating the monastery and deploying a military unit in its buildings. In 1921, the governor of Lublin appealed for the closure of the monastery, accusing the monks of anti-state activities. In the same year, most of the monastery buildings were awarded to the Catholic parish in Jabłeczna, with Orthodox being allowed to keep only 30 ''
morgen A Morgen (Mg) is a historical, but still occasionally used, German unit of area used in agriculture. Officially, it is no longer in use, having been supplanted by the hectare. While today it is approximately equivalent to the Prussian ''morgen' ...
'' of land and "necessary premises". However, the state abandoned support for further claims by the Catholic Church against the monastery (still pursued in 1929) after receiving convincing documents from the Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, indicating that the monastery had never belonged to Catholics. The monastery also failed to obtain permission to operate a parish due to the opinion of the
Biała Podlaska Biała Podlaska (; ) is a city in the Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 56,498 inhabitants It is the capital of Biała Podlaska County, although the city is not part of the county (it constitutes a separate city county). The city lies on ...
''
starosta Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands. The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...
'', who cited the past involvement of Orthodox clergy in the Russification of the Chełm region. From 1924 to 1927, a shelter for Orthodox children, relocated from
Otwock Otwock (Yiddish: אָטוואָצק) is a city in the Masovian Voivodeship in east-central Poland, some south-east of Warsaw, with 43,895 inhabitants (2024). Otwock is part of the Warsaw metropolitan area. It is situated on the right bank of the ...
, operated in Jabłeczna near the monastery. Throughout its existence, the monks remained in conflict with its director, Aleksei Tarasov, who hindered the monks from using the monastery's premises and inventory. In 1927, desiring to carry out renovation of the monastery, Metropolitan
Dionysius The name Dionysius (; ''Dionysios'', "of Dionysus"; ) was common in classical and post-classical times. Etymologically it is a nominalized adjective formed with a -ios suffix from the stem Dionys- of the name of the Greek god, Dionysus, parallel ...
of Warsaw and All Poland requested a subsidy of 5,000 ''złoty'' from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education, which he did not receive due to a negative opinion from the Lublin governor submitted at the ministry's request. The renovation was ultimately carried out without state assistance in the 1930s and involved some of the monastery buildings. In 1929, the monks from Jabłeczna ran a home for retired Orthodox clergy in the monastery. Since 1934, they also organized two-year courses for psalmists, and since 1936, for
deacons A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Catholi ...
, and shortly before the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, they opened a religious teacher training institute. In the 1930s, the monastery's superiors planned to make educational and charitable activities the main focus of its social work. In 1929, the monastery was inhabited by nine monks. By 1935, this number had increased to fifteen. They were mostly Ukrainians or Belarusians. Throughout the interwar period, the monastery faced serious financial problems. Revenues from leasing land to local peasants, running a farm, donations from the faithful, candle sales, and sales from the monastery shop were so low that in the 1920s the monastery was in debt, and in the 1930s, it achieved a favorable financial balance thanks to the help of central management bodies of the Polish Orthodox Church. To improve their situation, the monks were forced to sell the Skete of Saints Sergius and Herman on Lake Białe in 1925, which was acquired by the Orthodox parish in Omielce. In the late 1930s, the monastery complex consisted of four churches (two chapels, the Church of St. Onuphrius, the domestic chapel of St. John the Theologian), the superior's house, a brick residential building, a pilgrim house, a granary, a stable, three cowsheds, a house in the orchard, and a devastated residential building, the renovation of which was not carried out due to lack of funds. The monastery library contained 1,319 volumes, of which a thousand were on religious topics and 319 secular.


World War II and the early post-war years

After the Nazi aggression on Poland in 1939, the monastery in Jabłeczna fell within the borders of the
General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...
. The Bug river served as the border between the General Government and the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
until 1941, so a German military guardhouse was stationed on the monastery grounds. During the night of August 9–10, 1942, the Germans set fire to the main monastery buildings, destroyed the furnishings of the church, the library, and the archives, and murdered Monk . After this event, most of the monks, except for the oldest, were directed by church authorities to pastoral work in the still-active parishes in the region. In 1945, the monastery was attacked by a Polish underground unit. As a result of the deportations of the Ukrainian population to the USSR, and later the
Operation Vistula Operation Vistula (; ) was the codename for the 1947 forced resettlement of close to 150,000 Ukrainians in Poland, Ukrainians (including Rusyns, Boykos, and Lemkos) from the southeastern provinces of People's Republic of Poland, postwar Poland to ...
, the number of Orthodox Ukrainians living in the Chełm region decreased almost to zero. Consequently, most of the parishes of the
Polish Orthodox Church The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church (), commonly known as the Polish Orthodox Church, or Orthodox Church of Poland, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches in full communion. The church was established in 1924, to accommodate O ...
in the region were also liquidated. Bishop
Timothy (Szretter) Timothy, secular name Jerzy Szretter (born May 16, 1901, in Tomachów near Rivne, died May 20, 1962, in Warsaw) was a Polish Eastern Orthodoxy, Orthodox clergyman, the third . After graduating from the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Warsaw and ...
, who agreed with this decision of the
Polish Committee of National Liberation The Polish Committee of National Liberation ( Polish: ''Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego'', ''PKWN''), also known as the Lublin Committee, was an executive governing authority established by the Soviet-backed communists in Poland at the la ...
, managed the Orthodox structures in the
Lublin Voivodeship Lublin Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in the southeastern part of the country, with its capital being the city of Lublin. The region is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lu ...
and requested not to close the monastery in Jabłeczna. Up to that point, five monks had managed to return to the monastery. On 10 August 1946, Father Włodzimierz Wieżański arrived from Warsaw, appealing to the local population for help in rebuilding and maintaining the monastery. Ultimately, Bishop Timothy's request was fulfilled, although the opposite scenario was also considered. However, the monastery lost all its remaining land in 1950 (to the Koroszczyn State Agricultural Farm) and its inventory, thereby losing its economic basis for functioning. In 1951, it only had an orchard and a garden; the remaining fragment of arable land was so small that the State Agricultural Farm had to help feed the monks, having taken over most of its land. Until the 1970s, there were three monks in the monastery, and a dozen people attended services at the parish church. By the late 1950s, after Archimandrite took over as acting superior of the monastery, the provisional reconstruction of the buildings after the war damage was completed. In 1953, the monastery was returned the icons of St. Onuphrius and the Jabłeczna Icon of the Mother of God taken away in 1915. The development of the community, or even its reconstruction in its pre-war form, was impossible because there were no new candidates applying to the monastery, and the other monks were elderly. Additionally, in 1955, the acting superior, Hegumen (later Archimandrite) Eulogius, complained about the low moral standards of the monks, including cases of
alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...
. These allegations were confirmed by a metropolitan commission appointed to inspect the monastery. In 1957, the insufficient number of monks living in the monastery did not even allow for the performance of a full cycle of daily services. In 1962, the monastery was inhabited by three monks and three lay workers. The total income of the monastery amounted to 59,197 ''złotys'', and expenses were 57,000 ''złotys''. Despite all the problems, the monastery maintained prestige among the Orthodox faithful in Poland.


1970–1989

On 8 February 1970, Archimandrite Sawa Hrycuniak became the abbot of the monastery. He completed renovation works in the monastery and then facilitated the relocation of the higher classes of the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Warsaw, which operated in the monastery from 1974 to 1992. The period of Archimandrite Sawa's administration marked a time of actual revival for the community. In the 1980s, the monastery complex was expanded with an additional wing. During this period, the monastery once again became a pilgrimage center. From 1984 to 1987, only one monk resided in the monastery. In 1989, the Orthodox was established. For two years, its headquarters was located in the Jabłeczna monastery.


Modern times

On the night of September 21–22, 1990, the monastery was robbed of the icon of St. Onuphrius and the Jabłeczna Icon of the Mother of God. The monastery regained them in August 1994 after paying a ransom of $10,000. The images were again placed in the monastery church on September 4 and 5, 1994, and to commemorate this event, a local holiday of the recovery of the icons of St. Onuphrius and the Mother of God was established, celebrated on the first Sunday of September. In the same year, a diocesan museum was established in the monastery. The monks run a farm, beekeeping, and produce church candles. In 1995, the monastery housed 15 monks. Four years later, it obtained the status of
stauropegion A stauropegion, also spelled stavropegion (from , in turn from σταυρός ''stauros'' "cross" and πήγνυμι ''pegnumi'' "to affirm"), is a monastery or a parish which depends directly on the Primate (bishop), primate or on the Holy Sy ...
and came under the direct administration of the metropolitans of Warsaw and all Poland. In 2016, a thorough renovation of the domestic church of St. John the Theologian was carried out. After the completion of the work, the temple was consecrated on 18 September 2016 by Metropolitan Sawa. In 2022, there were six monks living in the monastery. The goals of the community's activities are formulated as follows:
Prayer and work, meditation, and maintaining and strengthening the Orthodox faith in the Podlasie region.


Superiors of the monastery

Due to the incomplete preservation of the monastery's archive, not all the personal details of the superiors of the Jabłeczna monastery are known. The first known superior of the community by name was Cyril (Mancewicz), who held office in 1527. The next leader of the monastery, Hegumen Kasjan, is mentioned in 1591. Exact dates of office are known for the clergy directing the monastery after 1747. The superiors of the Jabłeczna monastery before 1832 usually held the title of
hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen (, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, or an archpriest in the Coptic Orthodox Church, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of ...
(except for the monk Jan, who temporarily came from
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
in 1770). From the mentioned year, when Joannicjusz (Mosakowski) became the superior, until World War II, they typically received the title of archimandrite. After World War II, due to material and personnel difficulties of the monastery, it was managed by acting superiors until 1955, one of whom, Father Mikołaj Smolski, was a widowed priest without monastic vows. Since the monastery was granted the status of
stauropegion A stauropegion, also spelled stavropegion (from , in turn from σταυρός ''stauros'' "cross" and πήγνυμι ''pegnumi'' "to affirm"), is a monastery or a parish which depends directly on the Primate (bishop), primate or on the Holy Sy ...
, its titular head has always been the Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, who appoints a deputy to effectively lead the community. From 15 October 2019, this role has been filled by
Hieromonk A hieromonk,; Church Slavonic, Slavonic: ''Иеромонахъ''; ; ; ; ; Albanian language, Albanian: ''Hieromurg'' also called a priestmonk, is a person who is both monk and Priest#Roman Catholic and Orthodox, priest in the Eastern Christianity ...
, later Hegumen, then Archimandrite Peter (Dawidziuk).


Architecture

The main monastery church is dedicated to St. Onuphrius. It was built in the years 1838–1840 in the shape of a
Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Jesus, Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a crucifix and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...
. This structure consists of three parts: a
church porch A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance. A porch protects from the weather to some extent. Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way. The porch ...
, a
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
, and a
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
, with a single
dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
supported by four
piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
. The interior of the building is adorned with a series of
frescoes Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...
, and it also houses a three-tier
iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...
by Vasiliy Lojka and Feliks Skulimowski. At the entrance to the church from the left wing, there is the tomb of one of the superiors of the monastery, Archimandrite Narcissus (Silwiestrow). Adjacent to the church is the
bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
. During the winter months, the role of the main monastery temple is taken over by the domestic church of St. John the Theologian, located in one of the brick buildings of the monastery. It contains a single-tier iconostasis from the early 20th century. The interior of this church is decorated with
polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...
paintings executed in 2016 by Natalia Oniśko from
Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...
. Additionally, the chapel of St. Athanasius of Brest is located in the renovated refectory building. Outside the monastery wall, there are two wooden chapels from the early 20th century: the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God and the Holy Spirit. The former is built in a rectangular plan, while the latter is in the shape of a cross; both are covered with sheet metal and topped with onion domes (the former has five, the latter one). Under the roof of the chapels, there is only the sanctuary space – during services, the faithful gather outside, facing the buildings. The chapel of the Dormition of the Mother of God houses a single-tier iconostasis made in Moscow, and the rest of the church's furnishings consist of 12 icons. The monastery complex in Jabłeczna was entered into the
heritage registers This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In man ...
on 12 March 1966 (again on 18 August 1972, and 19 April 1985) under number A/14. On 2 February 2023, it was included in the list of historic monuments.


Icons

Particularly revered among the Orthodox faithful in Poland are the Jabłeczna Icon of the Mother of God and the icon of St. Onuphrius, kept in the iconostasis of the main church. The image of the monastery's patron saint, according to art historians, dates back to between the 12th and 13th centuries. It was painted on a
cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...
wood panel with a chalk underlay. St. Onuphrius is depicted standing, wearing only a loincloth, with a gray beard reaching below the knees. In the background, the outline of the landscape along the Bug river can be seen. The dimensions of the icon are 112 by 75 cm. The Jabłeczna Icon of the Mother of God is also dated to the 12th–13th centuries. It portrays
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...
with the Child Jesus held in her left hand, while her right hand points to Him. Beside them are the figures of the archangels
Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...
and
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
. The frame of the icon is formed by the figures of
Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
prophets foretelling the coming of the Savior. Therefore, this image is also known as the ''Fulfillment of Prophetic Predictions''. From 1990 to 2010, a copy of the , considered miraculous, was kept in the monastery. In 2010, it was transferred to the female monastery in Turkowice.


References


Bibliography

* * * * {{Cite book , last=Żeleźniakowicz , first=Serafim , title=Istorija Jabłoczinskogo Swiato-Onufrijewskogo Monastyria , publisher=Warszawska Metropolia Prawosławna , year=2006 , isbn=978-83-60311-03-5 , volume=I, II, III , location=Warsaw , language=pl , ref={{sfnref, Żeleźniakowicz, 2006 History of Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Poland Polish Orthodox Church