Malitsa Nicholas Monastery is a Russian medieval Orthodox
Monastery was found between 1584 and 1595. Although today it
is found within boundary of Tver in the ancient times it was
wilderness away from closest human settlements. It is still
surrounded by a pine forest, but it is shrinking due to
human activity. Most of original wooden abbey was destroyed
by a terrible fire that swept through a complex in 1675. The
only thing that was preserved is a large icon of Saint
Nicholas along with saint Princes Boris and Gleb. The next
year restoration of Malitsa Nicholas Monastery have begun
largely due to donations of Gregory D. Ovtsyn. A five dome
cathedral was erected in the center of reborn monastery. It
was consecrated in honor of the icon of the Virgin
Protectress and Saint Nicholas. Subsequently cells for monks
were restored as well.
During World War II Malitsa
Nicholas Monastery buildings of Malitsa Nicholas Monastery
were almost completely destroyed. Restoration of this
medieval religious complex began only in the late 20th
century and early 21st century.
Short story
Malitsa Nicholas Monastery was
located 6 km (according to pre-revolutionary data - 7 versts) from
the city of Tver, half a verst south of the highway to St.
Petersburg. It was founded between 1584-1595 on the Shevyakov
wasteland, named after the Malitsa River, which skirted the
monastery from the north and west and flowed into the Mezhurka
River, a tributary of the Volga. Around 1675 the monastery was
completely burnt down. According to legend, after the fire, only the
image of St. Nicholas was found in the ashes with a burnt back side,
but with an intact face. This icon measuring 5.5 vershoks x 4.5
vershoks was widely known and popular among the residents of Tver in
the 19th - early 20th centuries. as miraculous. in 1742 Countess
Mavra Shuvalova was healed in front of the image of Nicholas the
Wonderworker, and in gratitude she vowed to build six churches in
the monastery. The beautiful cathedral, several temples and
buildings surrounded by stone walls testified to the gratitude of
the countess. In 1863, on the occasion of the deliverance of Tver
from cholera, an annual religious procession was instituted with an
icon of St. Nicholas from the monastery to Tver. The monastery
entered the 20th century in all its splendor, but in the Soviet
years it was destroyed. The services finally ended in 1939.
The monastery now
By the decision of the Holy Synod of June 23,
2008, the monastery in the village of Nikolo-Malitsa, Kalininsky
district, was re-established, and Hieromonk Boris (Tulupov) was
appointed the abbot of the monastery. The Athonite charter was
adopted in the monastery, and divine services began to be performed
according to the Svyatogorsk rite. The monastery was built in the
Byzantine style. The main decoration of the monastery services in
Nikolo-Malitsa is Byzantine chanting, which is given special
importance. The monastery has a Sunday school and an icon painting
workshop.
Shrines
The miraculous icon of St. Nicholas Myr
of Lycia the Wonderworker
The heavenly patron of the monastery
more than once saved his monastery from complete ruin through the
revealed holy image. Miracles from him were so numerous that over
the course of five centuries a great multitude of people flocked
here to worship. This image was painted at the beginning of the 17th
century on a canvas pasted on a board, 5.5 inches long and 4.5
inches wide (24.5x20 cm). On the sides of the half-length image of
St. Nicholas in the margins are depicted two saints of small stature
- the passion-bearers Boris and Gleb.
Now, within the holy
walls of the restored Malitsa Nicholas Monastery, miracles of
healing human diseases in front of the icon of St. Nicholas
continue. Relief is given to believers with severe, non-healing
burns, injuries, rapidly losing their sight, courageously fighting
cancer, serious pathology of pregnancy and infertility.
Holy
relics of St. Arseny of Tver
The relics of the saint are very
significant for the brethren and parishioners of the Malitsky
monastery, since Saint Arseny is not only the patron saint of the
city of Tver, but also a special protector of all monastics on the
Tver land. The saint founded many monasteries around Tver. In
addition, the saint founded a monastery on the river T'maka near
Tver Zheltikov.