The monastery of Petschenga : $b Sketches of Russian Lapland (from historical and legendary sources)Friis, J. A. (Jens Andreas)
History
The monastery of Petschenga : $b Sketches of Russian Lapland (from historical and legendary sources)
Friis, J. A. (Jens Andreas)
Legends -- Lapland; Petschenga (Monastery)
‘Ellen!’ muttered Trifon once more, and died with a smile upon his
face. He saw her beatified, and she received him.
Tradition gives another incident which is related as occurring after
Trifon’s death. While the Czar and the Grand-Duke Theodore (who came to
the throne after his father in 1590) were carrying on a war in Esthonia
against the Swedes, under Karl Horn, in 1584, the Czar had fixed his
camp during the siege of the town at Rugodew, or Ivangorod, and had
deposited his baggage and pitched his tent not far from the town. The
crafty Esthonians, however, unperceived, directed all their cannons
against the baggage and the tent. While the Czar, wearied with the
fatigue of battle, was resting in his tent, a venerable monk appeared
before him, and said:
‘Czar, arise and leave thy tent, that thou mayest not suffer death
before thy time.’
The Czar inquired, ‘Who art thou?’
The monk answered: ‘I am Trifon, on whom thou didst confer thy mantle
as an alms to set others a good example. Therefore saith the Lord my
God to thee, Tarry not, arise from this place.’
The Czar got up at once and left the tent. The Esthonians immediately
began firing at the baggage and tent with their well-aimed cannon, and
a cannon-ball which hit the tent fell on the bed where the Czar had
been reclining.
The Czar then stormed Narva, but was driven back. To save the city and
to escape a fresh storming of it, Ivangorod was delivered to the
Russians by Karl Horn, and Theodore made his entry into the town ‘clad
in white cloth of gold, and drawn by his soldiers in a large sledge,
under which a stove was arranged for warmth.’ The Czar praised God and
rejoiced over his deliverance. He related the episode with the monk to
his boyars, and sent messengers to the monastery at Petschenga to seek
for Trifon. But the old man had already departed to the habitations of
eternal life, and the monastery lay in ruin.
CHAPTER III.
THE MONASTERY AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
After Trifon’s death the monastery continued to grow in numbers,
wealth, and influence. A large conventual building was erected close
beside the church; in it each of the monks had his own separate cell,
but the refectory was common to them all. There was connected with the
convent an entire suite of apartments for guests and pilgrims, who came
to the monastery every returning season.
Opposite the dwellings of the monks there were workmen’s dwellings, and
in these the serving-men lived. All the buildings, as well as the
church, were surrounded by a strong wall of wood. The country was
unsettled and poorly governed, and it was by no means impossible that
some hostile bands might find their way to the monastery in search of
plunder. The monks at the monastery of Solowetski had often to defend
themselves against such attacks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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