On the lands and lakes of Vologda. Spas-Kamenny
At the meeting, in connection with the petition of His Grace Metropolitan Ignatius of Vologda and Kirillov, the members of the Holy Synod decided to open the Spaso-Kamenny Transfiguration Monastery on Kamenny Island in the Kubensky Lake of the Ust-Kubinsky District of the Vologda Region and appoint Abbot Dionisy (Vozdvizhensky) to the post of abbot of this monastery.
Metropolitan Ignatius of Vologda and Kirillov made the decision to open the Spaso-Stone Transfiguration Monastery on the Kubenskoye Lake.
The July issue of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchy published an editorial about the Spaso-Kamenny Monastery. 
The Spaso-Stone Transfiguration Monastery is preparing to receive the inhabitants
Small Kamenny Island on Lake Kubensky: on a standard-sized football field, it will easily fit entirely. Wherever you look, the ripples of the cold northern lake are everywhere, and the refectory temporarily equipped with the hotel kitchen seems like an elongated wardroom, and the modest quadrangle of the Assumption Church in the second tier of the bell tower looks like a captain's bridge sparing with extraneous decoration.
Desert Storm
Small spool but precious. It was from here that a whole branch of Russian monasticism grew, hung with a full-fledged bunch with the names of several Vologda saints, and two primates of the Russian Church - Metropolitans of Moscow Zosima (1490-94) and Varlaam (1511-21) - ended their earthly days in disgrace ... However, about everything in order.
The stone island has long been nicknamed due to the incredibly hard and hard soil, and also because of the boulders scattered over its surface, left by a glacier that once pierced the lake bed. The day of the birth of monastic life on the island is lost in hoary antiquity. According to church tradition, the monastery was founded in 1260 on the way to Ustyug by the Belozersky prince Gleb Vasilkovich caught in a terrible storm on the Kubensky lake. On the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the princely boats washed up on the saving island, where the ruler, with considerable surprise, found 23 hermit elders praying in the chapel. The prince, who considered his salvation miraculous, ordered the Church of the Transfiguration to be built on the island and founded a full-fledged monastery here, the name of the founder of which - the monk Theodore - has come down to us.
A number of researchers, however, doubt the historical authenticity of this legend. Be that as it may, the handwritten collection of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery names the Athonite Dionysius, who arrived on the island from Moscow 686 years ago by the Grand Duke's decree, as the first hegumen of the Spaso-Stone Monastery. Dionysius himself, in his old age, will be on the Rostov cathedra and, after his blessed death, will enter the Cathedral of the Rostov Saints. And during his tenure as abbess, the golden age of the monastery begins on Kamenny Island. From here comes a galaxy of his tonsures - the future founders of new monasteries of the northern limits of the Russian Land: Rev. Dionysius Glushitsky, Alexander Kushtsky, Pachomius Svyatolu ck ii and Evfimy Syanzhemsky.
Modern pilgrims can see them on one of the shrines of the monastery - an ancient revered icon of the All-Merciful Savior with selected Vologda saints falling down - on the top floor of the restored Refectory, which has actually turned th into the gigantic vestibule of the Assumption Church.
- Icon signed thatgenerally occurs quite rare,- says the rector of the Bishop's Metochion "Savior-Stone Monastery" hegumen Dionysius (Vozdvizhensky), - and comes from the Church of the Great Martyr George the Victorious on Korbang, which is 60 kilometers from here. Her two local peasants ordered the icon painter. A here donated already today by one of the local entrepreneurs. Painted over with brown paint, under a thick layer of dark drying oil, with a sawn off part, the icon served as ... a door in one of the village houses. But after a painstaking restoration, for which the Vologda master Ivan Fed s Shin spent two and a half years,found a second life here.
The consecration of the Church of the Assumption (founded in 1549) on the eve of the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord seven years ago was a truly epoch-making celebration for the monastery. From this joyful event on the island, the revived liturgical life begins. After all, all the previous years of the existence of the Bishop's Metochion, worship here could only be held in an ordinary wooden chapel in honor of all the Vologda saints. Two years ago, the small Assumption Church turned into a capacious warm monastery church: the refectory chamber was completed to the west of the bell tower, and the second tiers of neighboring buildings were connected by a spacious transitional arch.
- Before, back in the 19th century, during one of the reconstructions of the monastery buildings, the iconostasis was installed along the wall of the Refectory, and then the entire room of the second tier of the bell tower became an altar,- says Abbot Dionysius. - But now we have decided to restore the original appearance of the monument, since the brickwork of the bell tower has preserved the original nests of both tables of the original iconostasis, and the descriptions of its local and deesis ranks have survived in the archives..
Fire, water and non-profit partnership
Ironically, the monastery, surrounded by water, was devastated by devastating fires three times: in 1472, in 1657 and in 1774. After the first of them, when the relics of the local monk, the Monk Joasaph Kamensky (+ 1453) - in the world of Prince Andrei Dmitrievich Zaozersky - were seriously damaged in cancer - by order of the younger brother John III In the 15th century, the Vologda specific prince Andrei Vasilyevich Lesser began intensive stone construction on the island. In 1478-81. in the center of the monastery, the majestic four-pillar, three-apse cross-domed Transfiguration Cathedral reigns - the first stone building not only in Vologda, but in general within the entire Russian Thebaid. According to legend, white stone was brought for him from Staritsa, and brick from Tver. Moreover, it was not familiar from the numerous buildings that have come down to us. XVI centuries, a large figured brick, and its predecessor - a flat plinth, the century of mass use of which in construction in Rus' was then just coming to an end.
For four and a half centuries, the Preobrazhensky plinth of Kamenny Island, thanks to the unique properties of the binder solution and dense clay-based waterproofing, effectively withstood constant dampness, fire from fires and the pressure of stone blocks during spring ice drifts. It turned out to be powerless only before the Soviet government. In 1937, the cathedral was barbarously blown up. The brick piles that remained from it still rise in the middle of the island.
- Fortunately, the exact measurements of the cathedral have been preserved, so it is quite possible to recreate it. True, this is not a quick matter: there is not even a project yet, Father Dionysius remarks.
Another church formed by the middle XVI centuries of the monastic ensemble, the reconstruction of which is not yet expected - the gate church of St. John the Baptist. At the eastern cape, he got up in 1558, but died in a fire in 1774 and was no longer renewed. For the restoration of the rest of the monuments of the complex, which since 1960 has been officially classified as a cultural heritage site of federal (All-Russian) significance, the Central Scientific-Repair and Design Workshops of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation have prepared drawings.
Comprehensive scientific restoration on the island has been going on for two decades. At first, the Spas-Kamen Non-Commercial Partnership Foundation, established by the Vologda enthusiast entrepreneur Alexander Pligin, was engaged in it at the expense of philanthropists. With the death of Alexander Nikolaevich in 2004, he took over the batonand wife Nadezhda Alexandrovna and theirson Ivan. And with the transfer of the island buildings to the use of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2006 at the initiative of the diocesan hierarchy, restoration work is being carried out within the framework of the federal target program "Culture of Russia" (the only exception when the Spaso-Stone Monastery failed to get there was the 2016 season).
Geographically, the general restoration vector is directed from the eastern tip of the island to the western one. First, the last of the capital buildings that appeared here before the revolution rose from the ruins - a one-story monastery hotel, which burned down in 1971 due to the fault of would-be fishermen (after the war, a small fishing enterprise functioned here for some time, but with its closure, the watchman left the island, and the last surviving buildings left to themselves). With the restoration of the hotel on the island, it became possible to place at least a small team of builders in order to use the precious time of the short restoration season as efficiently as possible. And in the western wing of the hotel they even launched a small but capacious museum exposition.
Then they put in order the bell tower (1543-49), which suffered from the explosion of 1937, and placed in its third tier a complete set of ten bells (eight were cast anew, including a 230-kilogram evangelist). The tasks of the current season, for which the federal budget has reserved funds in the amount of 7 million rubles, is the builders' exit to the ruined remains of the three-story Rector's Fraternal Building (end of the year). XIX c.) - he, along with the Refectory, died in 1925, when he was set on fire by the juvenile contingent of the educational colony.And on its own, the monastery plans to make interior finishing the basement of the Refectory (a kitchen and a room for meals for monks and pilgrims will be equipped here).
According to Fr. Dionysius, the work on the restoration of the Rector's Fraternal Corps has already been outlined, and it is quite possible to complete them in two or three summer seasons. After that, it remains to drill an artesian well and arrange a local sewage system - and the western core can be put into operation.
We hope that memorial crosses will then be erected on the island in memory of the two Moscow metropolitans who ended their earthly days here, as well as other clerics and laity exiled to the northern monastery “for the sake of correction”. And the relics of St. Joasaph of Kamensky will return to their native monastery, almost a century ago saved from the Bolsheviks by believers and since then have been in the Vologda Mother of God-Christmas Church ...
Oblique on the spit, monks-rescuers plus electrification of the territory
Directly to the island from the village of Ustye - four kilometers along the channels of the vast delta of the Kubeny River and about the same along the water area of Lake Kubenskoye itself. Ten minutes on a motorboat - and an island old-timer retriever Justin condescendingly respectful barking welcomes the guests coming ashore.
However, this path is not as safe as it seems at first glance. Despite the symbolic, three-four-meter depth, the reservoir continues to collect a terrible tribute from the fishermen even today. Both in size and elongated shape, it is strikingly reminiscent of the Sea of Galilee. And at least once a pilgrim who has been on the shores of Tiberias immediately becomes clear: the waves raising from the bottom of clouds of sand into a storm here can be truly crushing, and a life jacket thrown over your shoulders when departing from the coast, even in clear weather, is by no means an empty formality.
It would be unforgivable not to use a piece of land long inhabited by monks to help shipbuilders in distress. The Vologda District Board of the Water Rescue Society opened the first rescue station here 140 years ago. Professional rescuers before the revolution often the monks helped, in the frequent fogs on the lake, a “protective ring” was heard from the bell tower. After the closure of the monastery in Soviet times, the building of the rescue stationlike other wooden buildings quickly disappeared and the lighthouse om served only miraculously preserved Bell tower. From the very beginning of the revival of the monastery under A. Pliginthe island restored this function,sometimes I had to literally save distressed fishermen, and four years ago it was possible to recreate the rescue station at the eastern cape. But once it happened to save a sufferer, unusual even for these deserted places.
- Spring ice moveom on an ice floe brought a hare half-faded, trembling with fear, - Father Dionysius recalls. - For three months the scythe lived here, hiding in the corners, until the spit opened on Banny Island, and we tried to feed him ...
In the summer low water, you can reach the neighboring Banny Island by land: in shallow water, a footpath appears on a sandbank. According to some researchers, this toponym is not accidental: the island could have monastery baths, the presence of which within the monastery was prohibited by the charter. Now guests from among the representatives of the local fauna come from the direction of Bannoy. On the winter ice, the cunning fox often frequented from that side, and once on the bank of the channel, Father Dionysius noticed bear tracks. 
- The island monastery has its own specifics, - I turn to the rector of the metochion. - How are you going to take it into account when selecting future brethren?
It is obvious that life on the island is much more secluded and therefore more convenient for the monks. You have to pay for this with some domestic difficulties. But after an electric cable was laid here from the mainland in 2013, a “technical revolution” took place on the island. Diesel generators are a thing of the past, even partly heated by electric boilers! It turns out, however, a little expensive - but this is a forced and temporary measure. A common monastic boiler room for firewood has already been designed in the Priest-Brotherly Building Oh . Undoubtedly, for a person who is attentive to his own inner life, island isolation from the world is a blessing. I have something to compare with: after all, I lived for 21 years in the Spaso-Prilutsky Dimitriev Monastery, which often became a platform for church and public events at the diocesan level.
- Not far off is the time when the Spaso-Kamenny Monastery will receive monks from among the monastic brethren. How do you prepare for this moment, do you invite workers to work?
As wrote Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov, monasteries are founded by the Holy Spirit. Story majority one of them is the appearance of some ascetic hermit, around whom a small brethren gradually rallies, a subsequent petition to the bishop to bless the opening of the monastery and the consecration of the first temple. Such an "algorithm" we meet in almost any life of the holy founder of any monastery.
Our days are no exception.Although we do not equate ourselves with the ancient hermits.So far, the only novice from among the workers of the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery lives permanently in the courtyard. We regularlystatutoryservices (and this is the main thing): Midnight Office - Matins - 1st hour, then after a break 3rd and 6th hours and Divine aya Liturgies i; in the evening, respectively - Vespers and Compline.
Of course, since I am the only clergyman here, we are not in a position to perform such a circle of services every day. We do this on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as on the Twelfth Feasts, when the All-Night Vigil is still served at night. Brothers from Pryluky sometimes sail to the kliros and the belfry, which assists God.
In the monastery, everything is built on prayer, and since we pray and serve God to the best of our modest strength, we hope that the Lord will not leave us in the establishment of a full-fledged monastic community. Which of the monks the Lord will send here and whether he will send anyone at all - in His Divine will. I don't think big brotherhood is needed here.
Cells in the Rector's fraternal building are planned for seven residents. If someone grows up to be monks of the Spaso-Stone Monastery from among the workers, I will only be glad. You can come here, live and work for the glory of God. But since our territory is small and isolated, workers at the current stage are accepted eat only with the recommendation of the confessor. After all, if in a monastery on the "mainland" you can get rid of a random person very fast , in our small team, before you send him home, he can bring serious discord. On a personal level, I prefer to be guided by the principle commanded to us by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
Dmitry ANOKHIN 
One of the oldest monasteries in the Russian North. It is located on Kamenny Island on Lake Kubenskoye, not far from the village of Ustye, Ust-Kubensky District.
It is generally accepted that the monastery was founded in the second half of the 13th century, which makes it one of the oldest monasteries in the Russian North. In addition, this is the first stone monastery in the Russian North. In 1774, a powerful fire broke out on the island, which destroyed almost all wooden buildings, after which the monastery was closed. In 1801 the monastery was renewed and the monastery existed until 1925. In 1937, the oldest temple of the Russian North, built in 1481, was blown up in order to obtain bricks for the construction of the local House of Culture. Since 1991, by the efforts of enthusiasts under the leadership of A.N. Pligin, the restoration of the Spaso-Stone Monastery began, which continues to this day.
Foundation of the monastery
According to legend, in August 1260, the Belozersky prince Gleb Vasilkovich “sailed on a plow from his homeland from Belozero to the city of Ustyug by the Porozovitsa River and ascended into Lake Kubenskoye, but the waves were so great on the lake that the prince had to stand ten days at the shore, where the church of St. Anthony the Great is. As soon as the abyss subsided, and he set off on his way, a black cloud again overtook with terrible thunder and lightning, and the prince's nasad began to flood with waves. The prince with his people began to pray to the All-Merciful Savior in order to get rid of their proper misfortune and made a vow: where and on what day he would bring them to the shore, in that place to build a church in the name of the celebrated Saint and arrange a monastery. And so, by the grace of God, on the 6th day of August, on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, a storm brought them to the middle of the lake to the island called Stone.
There were about 23 desert dwellers on the island at that time. Apparently, they were people from the Anthony pier, next to which stood the Anthony Church, which is considered one of the earliest northern churches. The elders living on the island led a monastic way of life and were engaged in preaching the Christian faith among the pagans who lived along the nearest shores. “Because of their wretchedness and the attacks of unfaithful people, they did not have a church.” Gleb Vasilkovich, who, by the way, was the grandson of the Grand Duke of Rostov Konstantin Vsevolodovich and the husband of Batu's granddaughter, and who, due to these circumstances, had great influence, kept his word and in a short time the Church of the Transfiguration was erected on the island.
Monastery inXV-XIX centuries
The next milestone in the history of the monastery was the first half of the 15th century, when Dionysius the Greek became rector of the Spaso-Kamenny Monastery by the will of Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy. According to The Legend of the Beginning of the Spaso-Stone Monastery, Dionysius was a tonsured Athos. According to A. E. Tarasov, Dionysius could be a Russian or a southern Slav who left for Greece.
This event testifies to the attention of the court of the Moscow prince, which was drawn to such a remote northern monastery. And such guardianship is quite clear.
The Spaso-Stone, along with the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, was the largest cultural and religious center in the 15th century. Even the Ferapontov Monastery could not boast of such influence in the northern lands. In the Spaso-Stone Monastery, many future great ascetics took monastic vows, whose labors and prayers created the Northern Thebaid. Among them were Rev. Dionisiy Glushitsky, teacher Alexander Kushtsky, teacher Evfimy Syanzhemsky, teacher Ioasaf Kamensky.
In 1481, Rostov craftsmen erected the first stone cathedral in the Russian North, which was consecrated in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Nine years later, in 1490, the same craftsmen erected the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin in the Ferapontov Monastery.
In 1541, a warm refectory church was erected in the name of the Assumption of the Mother of God “under the bells”.
It is noteworthy that Ivan IV the Terrible, who repeatedly visited Vologda, has never been to the Spaso-Stone Monastery. However, it is known that the king sent a bell to the island.
In 1650 Abbot Markell installed a shrine for the relics of St. Joasaph Kamensky.
In 1773, a powerful fire broke out on the island, after which the monastery was abolished, and the brethren were transferred to the Spirits Monastery in Vologda, which in 1775 received the name Spaso-Kamenny - after the name of the burnt and abolished island monastery.
In 1801, by order of Emperor Paul I, the burned-out monastery was restored, and the brethren of the Belavinsky Epiphany Desert were transferred to the island. So the island monastery was named Belavinskaya Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya desert.
In 1892, the original name Spaso-Kamenny was returned to the monastery by the decree of the Synod.
Monastery in the XX-XXI centuries
In 1925 the monastery was closed. In 1937, an attempt was made to get bricks on the island for the construction of the House of Culture by blowing up the Transfiguration Cathedral. However, the Bolsheviks failed to undermine the ancient walls in such a way that they could be used in the future, so to this day the ruined walls of the cathedral lie in the center of the island.
Until 1971, a full-time watchman of the district department of culture lived here. When this position was reduced, the island became a haven for local fishermen and hunters.
Since 1991, through the efforts of enthusiasts under the leadership of A. N. Pligin and A. A. Asafov, the restoration of the monastery began. In 1993, Alexander Asafov died, and Alexander Pligin continued the work on the revival of the monastery. In 2004, Alexander Pligin died, his widow, Nadezhda Alexandrovna, and children continue his work.
Now the hotel building, the bell tower with the Assumption Church have already been restored, work is underway to restore the refectory. The archbishop's residence "Savior-Stone Monastery" was created on the island.
I already wrote here, I dreamed about this island so much. The holy noble prince Joasaph Kamensky lived here.
Joasaph Kamensky (in the world, Prince Andrey Dmitrievich Zaozersky, Vologda), Spasokubensky, reverend, Vologda miracle worker (c. 1428 - +1453). The celebration of the saint takes place on September 10/23 on the day of the repose, on the 2nd and 3rd weeks after Pentecost (Russian and Vologda).
The parents of Prince Andrei are the sovereign prince Dimitri Vasilyevich Zaozersky the Lesser (+ 1429; commemorated September 19 / October 2) and Maria, also of a princely family.
In 1429, Prince Dimitri fell in the battle on Tugova Gora, about the removal of the prince from the house with his retinue, a crowd of robbers attacked his villages and villages along the banks of the Kubena River, betraying everything to fire and sword. The pious Princess Maria met the outbreak of disaster with truly Christian patience. After helping the impoverished inhabitants, she turned to the education of young children.
Prince Dimitri Vasilyevich had three sons - Simeon, Theodore, Andrei - and one daughter - Sophia. Only her eldest son Simeon was married when Simeon reached the proper age, his mother married, taking her daughter from Prince Ivan Dey, who gave Kuben in addition to her daughter, through which the possessions of the Zaozersky princes increased significantly. Maria gave her daughter Sophia to Prince Dimitri Yuryevich Shemyaka, thinking that kinship with the rich and strong Prince of Galich would be useful to her sons, provide them with protection and patronage. Unfortunately, quite the opposite happened.
Least of all the children managed to take advantage of the mother's cares for the youngest son Andrei - he remained after his father a baby, and at the time of his mother's death he was in childhood. Young Andrei began to move away from society and felt disgust for worldly life, this was facilitated by the misfortune that befell the family and completely changed his situation. Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich Dark, for the mere fact that the sister of the Zaozersky princes Sophia was married to Dimitri Yuryevich Shemyaka with whom he had a quarrel, in 1447 he took away all their estates from them and gave one half of them to Prince Mikhail Andreevich of Mozhaisk, and the other his brother Ivan Andreevich. So, the sons of Prince Dimitri ceased to be the sovereign princes of Zaozersky and lost all their wealth and estate. This act of Vasily the Dark was too hard for the princes Simeon and Theodore and could not but arouse hostility in their hearts towards the Grand Duke.
Andrei in the act of the Grand Duke saw proof of the fragility of earthly goods and the vanity of worldly life, he decided to retire from the world, not far from his place of residence were the monasteries of Glushitsky and Kushtsky, built with the assistance of his parents and on land belonging to them. But, wanting to break all ties with the world, the ancient Savior-Stone Monastery on a stormy lake seemed to him the best, in addition, he was famous for the severity of the charter and was headed by an experienced elder hegumen Cassian. Being about 20 years old, Andrei came here to the island. The youth of the prince, his famous family, and the Grand Duke's dislike for his family embarrassed the abbot. He said to the young prince: "Your place is not here, but in the boyar council or on the battlefield." Prince Andrei answered him: "You are embarrassed in vain, father; I firmly resolved not to accept services from others, but to serve others and carry the cross in the footsteps of my Lord." Then hegumen Cassian accepted him into the monastery, and shortened the time of the monastic probation for him. After conversations and edifications for several days, the hegumen clothed Andrei in monasticism, naming him Joasaph in honor of Saint Joasaph, Prince of India, and entrusting him to Elder Gregory (later Bishop of Rostov). Under his leadership, Joasaph led a reclusive life in a cell and achieved high spiritual gifts.
Once his uncle, Prince Boris Vasilyevich Rzhevsky, visited him and brought him gold for the monastery and for distribution to the monks. Blessed Joasaph answered the prince: "We do not need silver and gold when we sincerely wish to live in the desert; give to the poor what you have brought for us, and you will receive a generous reward from the Lord." Prince Boris Vasilyevich acted on the advice of St. Joasaph.
When he sang the psalms of David in his cell, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him and said to him: "Peace be with you, my beloved saint." The monk in fear asked: "What is the reason for Your appearance, Lord?" “Do you see this whole desert?” the Lord said to him. “For your sake I will populate it with hermits who will praise My name!” And the Lord also told him that the fulfillment of His commandments is the most powerful weapon against demons.
The young ascetic felt that his path of exploits would not be long, and with fiery zeal he hurried to do good. He spent only five years ascetic in the monastery. In the last year of his life, he ate food once a week, on Sunday, after the communion of the Holy Mysteries. Not satisfied with the usual monastic exploits, the monk led a reclusive life in a cell, constantly directing his thoughts to the Heavenly One. His body was very weak from his exploits, but he thanked the Lord for that. On the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos (September 8/21), he asked to be taken to church for the Liturgy, took communion of the Holy Mysteries, received blessings and forgiveness from the brethren, and was taken to his cell. The ascetic fell into infirmity, so that the abbot and brethren, coming and seeing his sufferings, grieved greatly. However, the monk continued to console the monks grieving over him, instructing them to avoid all disputes and disagreements. The monks who came to him kissed him with tears and asked him for blessings, and the saint himself kissed everyone and asked everyone for blessings and prayers. On September 10, 1453, when the brethren gathered to see him, he ordered the beginning of the rule, and after completing it he got up from his bed, took a censer with incense and ordered the abbot to coffin the holy icons and all the brethren. Then he made a prayer to the Lord and the Mother of God, pouring out his petitions in it not only for himself, but for the entire monastery, for its spiritual prosperity. At the end of the prayer, the monk again lay down on the bed and prayed, and quietly died with a prayer on his lips. His face was light, as if he had just fallen asleep. The abbot and all the brethren mourned, and carried him on their heads to the church, performed funeral singing and buried him in the Assumption (then still wooden) church, on the right side.
Having heard about the death of the Monk Joasaph, a multitude of people gathered in the monastery for burial, and many sick people were healed at the same time by touching his tomb. The body was laid in the temple of the monastery and began to exude miraculous healing. Young Prince Roman, son of Prince. Oleg Dorogobuzhsky, was mute from birth; kissing the relics of blessed Joasaph, he began to speak freely. Maria, a woman from a rich house, was blind for a long time and, with the relics of the prince, the monk received her sight.
His relics were laid on the right side of the wooden Assumption Church, where for many years they were visible incorruptible and glorified by miracles. On September 3, 1478, when the monastery burned down, the remains of the relics were collected by the elder Martinian, put into the ark and placed under the throne. After that, part of the shrine was built into a tripartite cross, overlaid with silver. On June 10, 1650, with the blessing of Markel, Archbishop of Vologda and Great Perm, the remains of the relics were placed in a tomb built in the Cathedral Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior-Stone Monastery at the southern gate, against the left kliros, and a cross with the relics of the saint was laid on the tomb.
June 24, 1773 (July 24, 1774?) the monastery burned, only the relics of Joasaph with a few monastic property were saved. Since then, the monastery remained neglected for 28 years, the relics and things saved from the fire were transferred to the city of Vologda, to the Spirits Monastery, which since then was ordered to be called the Spaso-Stone. In 1801, by decree of Emperor Paul I, the Spaso-Stone Monastery was restored, and it was already named the Belavinskaya Hermitage, because the brethren were transferred there from the former Belavinskaya Hermitage and all the property was transported.
In 1892, the Holy Synod, condescending to the request of the inhabitants of the villages coastal to Kubenskoye Lake, allowed the transfer of the ark with the remains of St. relics of st. Joasaph from the Vologda Holy Spirit Monastery to the Transfiguration Belavin Hermitage and call it the Spaso-Stone Monastery. The cross, which was on the reliquary, with particles of the relics of the monk, was left in the Holy Spirit Monastery.
After the revolution, when the monastery was closed, pious Christians saved the relics from desecration by passing them on to each other. In the fifties, under Vladyka Gabriel, a Vologda woman who kept the reliquary with these relics handed it over to Bishop Gabriel, and Vladyka placed it on the altar of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos, under the altar. Under Vladyka Damaskinos in 1974, for the relics of St. Ioasaph a special shelf was made in the altar, and in 1989, after the celebration of the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus', Vladyka Mikhail blessed to build a shrine for the relics and take them to the temple for worship. On the right, near the crucifixion, the shrine still stands. On a holiday, they celebrate the memory of St. Joasaph September 21 - the relics are placed during the polyeleos in the middle of the temple. In the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God Cathedral in Vologda in the upper church there is a shrine with the relics of St. Joasaph Kamensky.
Spas-Kamenny Island- is located almost in the center of Lake Kubenskoye (the largest in the Vologda region) on a small piece of land measuring 120 by 70 meters.
The whole history of this small, God-protected island in the middle of the lake, and the monastery founded on it in the 13th century, is inextricably linked with the opposition to nature. Even the monastery itself arose here thanks to a storm in which the Belozersky prince Gleb Vasilkovich fell. The island became a salvation for the prince. In fulfillment of his vow, he founded in 1260 on Spas-Kamenny, as the legend says, the first monastery in the Vologda region. And in the XV century in this monastery, which occupies a special place in the history of the stone architecture of the Russian North, the very first stone church in the region was erected in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
In essence, this is the oldest stone monastery in the north of Russia. This monastery is much older than the famous Kirillo-Bolozersky and Ferapontov.
Island monks more than others were isolated from the world with its temptations and vices. This was facilitated not only by the geographical position of the island, but also by the strict, as on the famous Athos, charter of the Spas-Stone Monastery - the path to the island was closed to women.
In the Middle Ages, Spas-Kamenny was not only the spiritual, but also the economic center of the region. The monastery had 7 villages, 4 villages, 98 villages, two farmsteads in Vologda and two salt pans in Totma.
On the monastery bell tower, in bad weather, they struck the bell. This five-ton bell was cast in St. Petersburg from shell casings left after the war of 1812.
The Soviet authorities closed the monastery in 1925. The monks were driven away, and in the living quarters they tried to arrange a colony for juvenile delinquents, who, however, fled in the autumn.
In 1937, for the sake of brick, which was needed for the construction of the local House of Culture, the Transfiguration Cathedral was blown up. The resulting brick was never used for construction. During the war, a point for the reception and processing of fish was organized on the island. Since 1971, the island has become a haven for local fishermen and hunters. At present, of the monastery buildings on the island, only the unique Assumption Church-bell tower of the 16th century has been preserved.
The latest history of Spas-Kamenny Island is associated with the name of Alexander Nikolaevich Pligin and his wife Nadezhda Alexandrovna, their children Anna, Alexei, Ivan. Since childhood, from the first visit to Spas-Kamenny, Alexander Nikolayevich was not indifferent to the fate of the island.
For ten years, almost without a break, both in winter and in summer, he spent on the island in labor. He managed to find funds, loyal assistants, invested his personal savings in the business. The hotel building was restored, a dome and a cross were placed on the bell tower.
Every summer, since 1999, schoolchildren from the village of Ustye-Kubenskoye work on the island under the guidance of teachers. Employees from the Moscow Orthodox center "Restavros" arrive. With the blessing of Abbot Dionisy, the workers of the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery are working on the island. To the best of their ability, enterprises and entrepreneurs from different cities of the Vologda region and throughout Russia provide assistance with money and building materials. In the 21st century, the restoration of the monastery finally received visible assistance from the regional authorities.
Alexander Nikolaevich did not live to see the revival of the monastery. January 27, 2004 he died. He is buried on the island, the revival of which he devoted his whole life to.
In August 2005, the 745th anniversary of the founding of the monastery on the island was celebrated with the opening of a museum. Here are the preserved Orthodox cross from the bell tower and various monastic utensils found during archaeological excavations.
Getting to Spas-Kamenny Island is not easy at any time of the year. A small piece of holy land is cut off from the rest of the world. In summer and autumn, the waves are so strong that even a light motor boat is carried away. In winter, ice rises, but this is not the most reliable way to get to the island. Especially if there are heavy fogs.
But Spas-Kamenny has some special attraction for those who have learned about it.
Many people dream of seeing the silhouette of the bell tower towering over the lake…
Currently, the main visitors to the island are tourists and Orthodox pilgrims from all over Russia, some of whom donate funds for its restoration.
The island can be visited by taking a weekend cruise from Vologda along the route: Vologda - Spas-Kamenny Island - Kubenskoye Mouth - Vologda Mouth - Vologda.
When writing this text, materials from the following sites were used: www.cultinfo.ru; www.ng.ru www.geocaching.ru; www.rusvera.mezha.ru; www.eparhia.ru; www.powerclip.ru
Main photo: www.temples.ru;
Lake Kubenskoye is one of the largest reservoirs in the Vologda region.
In the middle of Lake Kubenskoye, on a small rocky island measuring 120 meters long and 70 meters wide, the Spaso-Stone Monastery once rose from the waters like the fabulous city of Pushkin's prince Gvidon.
This monastery was founded around 1260. Its founder is Prince Gleb Vasilkovich, the first of the princes of the independent Belozersky Principality.
The legend about the founding of the monastery tells how Prince Gleb, sailing from Beloozero to Veliky Ustyug, was caught en route on Lake Kubenskoye by a strong storm. His ship washed up on a small island called Stone. In honor of his salvation, he created a temple here and built a monastery.
Frequent fires plagued the monastery. In 1476 a fire incinerated the wooden miracle of the Spaso-Stone Monastery. Instead of the burnt one, at the expense of the Vologda prince Andrey Menshoy, in 1481 the first stone church in the North was erected - the Transfiguration of the Savior. The temple is a unique building that has had a huge impact on the architecture of the region. The second stone structure is the Warm Assumption Church - a bell tower with a refectory. Its construction was completed in 1549. Nine years later, a third stone church was built in the monastery. The monastery did not have fortress walls, but was surrounded by a number of wooden cells, which stood on “rows” right in the water.
In the 1930s the monastery was destroyed by the Bolsheviks. For many years, the Church of the Assumption stood lonely and sad in the middle of the island.
Currently, a chapel in honor of all saints, built in the summer of 1998, is located next to the church.
In 1991, thanks to the work of the Ustyansk architect Alexander Asafov and Vologda resident Alexander Pligin, the monastery began to revive.
In January 2004, the keeper of Spas Kamenny A.N. Pligin is dead. He rested on an island, near the eastern wall of the chapel.
The revival of the Spaso-Kamenny Monastery is currently being continued by his family.
Spas-Kamenny is clearly visible from the Vologda-Medvezhyegorsk highway.
In summer, you can get to the island from the mouth of the Kubensky along the shallows (when the water is low), or by boat on the water. In winter, on ice.
Tourists visit the monastery mainly in summer during the navigation period.
from May to September. It is preferable to arrive in groups of up to 20-25 people at a time, depending on the capacity of the vessel. Visiting time: from 10.00 to 16.00 daily. Due to the limited territory, the visit time on the island is 1.5-2 hours.
The visit program includes: a boat trip on the lake, an excursion around the territory of the monastery, a visit to the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ancient storage, shops. In the shop you can buy souvenirs with the symbols of the Spaso-Kamenny Monastery, buy books on the history of the monastery, order trebs.
Walking around the territory is allowed only accompanied by a guide.
The cost of the tour for tourists is 150 rubles.
