The most famous monasteries in Russia are not located in cities making it a little more difficult, but not impossible, to reach them. This post contains directions for those wanting to venerate SS Cyril and Maria, parents of St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Sergius of Radonezh, and St. Innocent of Moscow (Alaska).
Saints Cyril and Maria, parents of St. Sergius of Radonezh
Monastery of the Protection of the Theotokos (Pokrov)
My hostess for this trip to Moscow told me that it is a pious tradition to stop at the monastery which contains the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh’s parents, SS Kyrill and Maria, before going to the Holy Trinity lavra to venerate St. Sergius. Thankfully the Pokrov monastery is en route.
SS Cyril and Maria were members of the Russian nobility who were also pious Orthodox Christians. Some famous stories are of Bartholemew (St. Sergius) crying out during the liturgy while still within his mother’s womb, and of this holy couple asking their yoiungest son to delay entering a monastery until after their death. They both entered monasteries and became schema monastics in their old age, however Bartholemew was obedient and did not pursue his own monastic calling until 40 days after he had buried his second parent.
DIRECTIONS:
The monastery may be reached by taking a suburban train from Moscow. Take the metro to the Komsomolskaya (Комсомольская) station (on the red or brown lines). The Komsomolskaya metro station is at the center of three different train stations (воксал) – the Leningrad station, the Yaroslavsky station, and the Kazan station. Because this metro station is at the intersection of two different lines there are two ways to exit. If, upon exiting, you see a road with cars beyond the sidewalk, turn left and left again, as if going behind the metro station you just exited. If, upon exiting, you see a lot of buildings and various ticket booths, turn right. Next to the metro station is a large building which houses the Yaroslavsky railway station. There are various small shops along its sides and coffee kiosks on the pedestrian street in front of it. You are looking for an entrance that says (in both languages) ‘suburban trains’. Go inside, put your bags on the scanner and go through the metal detector. The walls are lined with ticket windows, but there are also bilingual machines you may buy tickets from. This trip, my hostess insisted on buying my ticket for me, but I have gone alone in the past and bought my ticket from the bilingual machines. Buy a ticket that goes to Sergei Posad – it is possible to get on and off suburban trains without a change in price. Once you have bought your ticket go out the doors directly behind you, through the green ticket booths (scan the QR code on your ticket to get through), and then find your platform and train. There are no assigned seats in suburban trains.
The opposite side of the platform. NOT the direction you want to go.
Your ride will take approximately an hour, the station you want is Khotkovo (Хотково). Get off the train, walk back along the platform towards the direction you just came from and then leave the platform. Turn left. There is a train station to your left, a small parking lot on either side just beyond, and then three small shops to your right. Pass the shops and continue down the sidewalk. You are walking on Sovetskaya ulitsa. You will cross two streets and then come to a third intersection, do not cross the street, but turn right and go down ulitsa Mikheenko. When ulitsa Mikheenko intersects with ulitsa Mayolik you will see the monastery across the street and to the right. It is a small monastery without a crowd of visitors. Head toward to the back of the monastery, towards the large red-brick church,
The church of St. Nicholas
Inside the church of St. Nicholas
pictured here. This is the church of St. Nicholas and as of this writing it was closed for frescoing, though it was possible to get in if you tagged behind a tour group.
Beyond the church of St. Nicholas is the Church of St. Seraphim, which contains the relics of SS Cyril and Maria. (Serafimovskiy khram shows up on my mapping app, while the monastery proper does not). To the right of the church entrance is a small lavka where one may buy candles and submit names for commemoration.
The relics are to the right in the nave of the church proper. There is a brass gate that prevents one from accessing the main church outside of services.
The relics of SS Cyril and Maria are in the wooden shrine to the right.
Saints Sergius of Radonezh and Innocent of Moscow (Alaska)
Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius Lavra
St. Sergius of Radonezh and the monastery he founded may be the most famous and universally venerated of all the saints in Russia. Also at the monastery, in a different church, the relics of St. Innocent, our own beloved bishop of Alaska and apostle to the Aleuts (as well as later Metropolitan of Moscow), may be found.
DIRECTIONS
If you are coming from the Moscow, use the train directions given above, but get off at Sergei-Posad (Сергеи-Посад). If you went to the Pokrov monastery first, retrace your steps back and get back on the train from the platform you left. It is best to check teh timetables before going, there is a mid-day break of several hours when no trains run, as this line is primarily considered a commuter line.
Disembark once your train reaches the Sergei-Posad station. You need to cross the ytracks to get to the correct side of town. Once you have left the station turn right and walk past various shops and kiosks until you find yourself at a T-shaped intersection. Cross the street and continue on Segievskaya ulitsa. The road will curve to the left, continue on. When the road hits an intersection you will be in view of the lavra.
The lavra as seen from the intersection of Segievskaya ulitsa and Voznesenskaya ulitsa
You may turn right, or continue on the street you are on, but the direction of the lavra should be obvious. There is only one entrance, a large gate. These days there are large numbers of Chinese tour groups who come to the monastery so do not be surprised to see a tour group clustered at the entrance.
St. Sergius’ relics are in the gold-domed Holy Trinity (Troitsa) church while St. Innocent’s relics are in the blue & gold domed Uspensky church. It is better to go to venerate St. Sergius straight away, as the line can be rather long, sometimes even snaking outside of the church itself. You may write down names for the molieben which is being held while you are in line (hand your slip to someone after you venerate the relics).
After you leave the Holy Trinity church you will see across the way a large green bell clock tower that contains a souvenir shop at its base. Be sure to look at the clock faces, each side has a different numeric system, including Roman, Arabic, and Slavonic. There will also be a small permanent canopy covering the monastery’s holy well, which has water continually streaming from it. There is a small pink chapel beyond the well, and a bit beyond that is the larger white Uspensky church. Here you may buy more candles, leave names for commoration at the liturgy, and buy prosphora from that day’s liturgy. St. Innocent’s reliquary is to the right, in front of the further column. Beyond St. Innocent there is a reliquary against the wall which contains St. Sergius’ coffin.
There is a small room at the back of St. Sergius’ relics which contains numerous other relics, but it is not open to the ordinary public. I have been able to visit it twice, but only because I had a friend with connections who could tell someone with permissions, “this pilgrim came all the way from America.”
Saints Cyril, Maria, Sergius, and Innocent pray to God for us!
Orthodox Pilgrim 