Monasterio Sretenski (Moscú, Iglesia orthodoxa rusa)

Marian devotion

Where is he?

The Stretski monastery is in Moscow, Russia, in the surroundings of the Stretski alley. OpenStreetMap identifies the enclosure as a monastery and allows it to be placed through the 3325777 ratio. The coordinate is offered with verified place accuracy: it corresponds to the cartographed enclosure, not to a supposed supernatural point.

Documented history

The history of the monastery is linked to the Orthodox veneration of the image of the Mother of God of Vladímir. In 1395, at the close of Timur's troops, the image was moved in procession from Vladímir to Moscow. The historic page of the monastery itself states that the population went out to receive it in the Kuchkovo Field and that there was a prayer trade. The Russian name Sretenie means meeting or receiving; from this event comes the name of the future monastic community.

The same institutional account places in 1397 the foundation of the monastery in the place where the image was received. The date expresses the historical memory of the Russian Orthodox Church itself; it must not be confused with independent proof that a military withdrawal had a supernatural cause. The church of the Presentation of the image of Vladímir was rebuilt in stone over the centuries. The monastery marks 1679 as the year of construction of its main cathedral, preserved as one of the center of the enclosure.

The community also went through difficult periods. The fire of 1737 affected the city and the monastery, and in 1764 the imperial authority reduced the condition of the community and limited the number of monks. During the Napoleonic invasion of 1812 there was a hospital for the wounded in the monastic area; the official site also states that the cult continued in one of its temples while other spaces suffered from plunder and military use.

The monastery was closed in the Soviet period, in early 1926, after there was in 1925 the habit of the patriarch Pien. The Cathedral of the Presentation survived, although the buildings and paintings were transformed and damaged. The return of the temple to the Church began in 1991; in 1994 a courtyard of the Pskov-Pechory monastery was opened and in 1995 the community was constituted as a stavropégic male monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Tradition

The Orthodox tradition interprets Timur's withdrawal as a protection of the Mother of God linked to the arrival of his image and to the prayer of Moscow. The monastery also transmits the account of a dream in which the conqueror would have seen a woman surrounded by angels and decided to withdraw. This interpretation belongs to the Orthodox devotional memory and is presented here as a tradition, not as a military fact demonstrated by an independent source.

Legend or uncertainty

There is no archaeological evidence to ensure that each currently visible element marks exactly the point of reception of 1395. Nor does the Catholic Church have a judgment on the episode, because the monastery belongs to another Church. The fact sheet does not convert the dream attributed to Timur, nor the coincidence between the procession and its withdrawal, into a Marian apparition or a miracle approved by the Catholic Church.

Ecclesial State

Another Church: The Stretski monastery is a place of worship for the Russian Orthodox Church. The main source of this document is the official site of the monastery itself, which describes its history, its temples, its prayer life and its link to the image of Vladímir. This classification does not express a Catholic approval of an apparition; it identifies the ecclesial tradition to which the place belongs.

Anecdotes and stories

The anniversary of six hundred years of the reception of the image, held in 1995, included the temporary transfer of the image of Vladímir from the Tretiakov Gallery for prayer in the monastery cathedral, according to the institutional account. The historic page also recalls that the community was a reception point for the wounded in 1812 and that, after the Revolution, the preserved building had non-cult uses before it began its recovery. They are episodes of the history of the place; they are not presented as wonders.

Prayer

Mother of God, venerated by Christians of the Orthodox tradition before your holy image of Vladimir, pray for those who seek God with a sincere heart. He intercede to Jesus Christ for the peace of Moscow, for Russia, for the harmony between Christians and for those who suffer. Amen.

Sources

• Stretski Monastery, history of the community and reception of the image of Vladímir.
• Stretski Monastery, the image of the Mother of God of Vladímir.
• Tretiakov Gallery, Vladímir image tab.
• OpenStreetMap relation 3325777, monasterio Sretenski, Moscú.

Documentary expansion: the image and the Orthodox community

The official history of the monastery presents the image of the Mother of God of Vladímir as the center of a liturgical and community memory: her reception in Moscow in 1395 gave name to the place and the community was re-established as a male monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1995. The fact sheet therefore describes a specific Orthodox tradition, not a Catholic sanctuary or an apparition subject to the discernment of the Catholic Church.

The Tretiakov Gallery also documents the historical trajectory of the image of Vladímir: it came to Rus from Constantinople around 1130, passed through Kiev and Vladímir and became a reference image for Russian religious history. These data help to understand why the image has a weight that exceeds the Stretski compound. They do not authorize the tradition of Timur to be converted into a proven military fact or to present as a approved miracle what sources narrate as a devotional memory.

Source of this enlargement

• Stretski Monastery, history of the community and the reception of the image.
• Tretiakov Gallery, historical chart of the image of the Mother of God of Vladímir.