Polotsk has a unique icon: it features three saints at once – Mina, Dionysius, and Simeon
The Spaso-Yefrosinievsky Monastery houses a unique icon depicting three spiritual patrons of the Polotsk land simultaneously.
Among the host of saints, there are few about whom so little information has been preserved as about the three Polotsk bishops – Mine, Dionysius, and Simeon. These hierarchs stood at the origins of Orthodoxy in the Belarusian lands. Each of these names is closely intertwined with Polotsk, the recognized cradle and spiritual center of our country. To learn about the ascetics of faith, who are revered with love and great respect on par with Saint Euphrosyne, we head to the Spaso-Yefrosinievsky Convent.
We visited this place in the summer with the author's project "Saints of the Belarusian Land." We recall the sound of the bells, the riot of colors and the fragrance of flowers carefully planted by the hands of the nuns, the joy that permeates you as soon as you cross the threshold of the cloister. In winter, the monastery is no less enchanting. There is a crystal silence and grace in the air. The white snow here seems especially pure, and the sky is a piercing blue.
Nun Rachel, a resident of the monastery, hospitably greets and leads us to the temple:
Our guide laments that the lives of the three saints have not been preserved. Fragments that allow us to trace the path of the bishops are concentrated in the book "Orthodox Saints of the Belarusian Land." About ten years ago, the icon-painting workshop of the monastery began to paint a unique icon. It depicts the faces of three saints at once, united by sincere faith and the land of Polotsk.
Candles are burning in the temple, and quiet prayer is heard. The heavenly protectors of the region are commemorated together, but first, Saint Mina. He is the first Polotsk bishop about whom a chronicle record has been preserved. Nun Catherine, a resident of the monastery, says:
— It is assumed that Saint Mina was born in Polotsk in the 50s-60s of the 11th century. His childhood passed here, and he grew spiritually here. The desire for asceticism led him to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, where he took monastic vows under the name Mina.
Soon, according to historians, Mina became the abbot of the Zverinets Cave Monastery in Kyiv. Evidence supporting this conclusion is the discovery made in 1911 after a downpour on the Zverinets rampart. A landslide opened the entrance to an underground gallery. In one of the caves, which served as a church, on the damp clay in a niche above the altar, the names of the Zverinets abbots were found. Among them was Mina, who later became the Bishop of Polotsk.
— He became the Bishop of Polotsk between 1156 and 1166 and is mentioned during the tonsure of the nieces of Saint Euphrosyne. There was a strong spiritual connection between the learned Greek bishop and the abbess of Polotsk. There are historians who believe that it was Dionysius who consecrated the Church of the Transfiguration, built in our monastery.
The bishop blessed the abbess for a long journey to holy places. By his blessing, the local veneration of the saint also began, her life and service were composed. The burial place of Saint Dionysius, as in the case of Mina, is shrouded in mystery. According to one version, he is buried in the Spassky Monastery, according to another, in the Lavra caves in Kyiv.
Under the shrine in the Tver Cathedral rests the relics of the seventh Polotsk and the first bishop of the Tver diocese, Saint Simeon of Polotsk. A full namesake and countryman of the famous enlightener of the 17th century, he descended from local princes. Wealthy and educated, he preferred a life of asceticism in one of the Polotsk monasteries to worldly joys. Later, he was ordained to the priesthood, and then elected bishop of his native city.
The Nikon Chronicle describes him as a man knowledgeable in Holy Scripture, virtuous, one whose intercession was invariably received by the poor and orphans, widows and the unjustly offended... A conversation between Saint Simeon and Prince Konstantin of Polotsk is recorded. Deciding to mock his steward (judge), Konstantin asked: "Where will the stewards be in the other world?" The bishop replied: "The steward will be in the same place as the prince." And he explained that a good and God-fearing prince who pities people and loves truth will appoint the same judge, and therefore they will be together in paradise. Or exactly the opposite.
The strife of the Lithuanian princes and the murder of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Mindaugas and his nephew Tautvil, who ruled in Polotsk, in 1263 forced Saint Simeon to move to Tver.
Simeon of Polotsk is the only one of the three saints whose tracesto find in his native land. The Holy Nikolsky Monastery he founded in Luchno has not survived, but the history of the church in the village of Kollektivnaya, Polotsk district, can become a useful thread.
The Church in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker stands here in the same place where Simeon Polotsky founded the male Zapolotsky Monastery in the 13th century. The rector of the church, Father Alexander, provides an update:
Priest Alexander Kozel, rector of the church in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Kollektivnaya, Polotsk district.
— A large stone church was built in 1750. In the 1920s, the church was plundered. The monks and clergy were repressed, and the building itself became a dormitory for the flax mill. Only in the 1990s was it returned to the Belarusian Orthodox Church. Since then, restoration work has been ongoing.
Father Alexander is 26. Another of his parishes is in the church of the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon in Polotsk, but it is the church in Kollektivnaya that he considers his non-random trial:
The rector does not hide that many people still have a purely historical and cultural interest in the church in Kollektivnaya. But the young priest is not used to giving up:
— Thanks to donations, we have already painted the building on the outside, laid the floor, and are carrying out interior finishing work. When we manage to connect electricity and heating, prayer will sound within the ancient walls all year round. We held the first Divine Liturgy in 100 years here on September 17, 2021. It is significant that our own m
Among the host of saints, there are few about whom so little information has been preserved as about the three Polotsk bishops – Mine, Dionysius, and Simeon. These hierarchs stood at the origins of Orthodoxy in the Belarusian lands. Each of these names is closely intertwined with Polotsk, the recognized cradle and spiritual center of our country. To learn about the ascetics of faith, who are revered with love and great respect on par with Saint Euphrosyne, we head to the Spaso-Yefrosinievsky Convent.
We visited this place in the summer with the author's project "Saints of the Belarusian Land." We recall the sound of the bells, the riot of colors and the fragrance of flowers carefully planted by the hands of the nuns, the joy that permeates you as soon as you cross the threshold of the cloister. In winter, the monastery is no less enchanting. There is a crystal silence and grace in the air. The white snow here seems especially pure, and the sky is a piercing blue.
Nun Rachel, a resident of the monastery, hospitably greets and leads us to the temple:
— Not much is known about Saints Mina, Dionysius, and Simeon of Polotsk, but one thing is beyond doubt: that Polotsk land has become our spiritual pearl, the beginning of light and goodness — their invaluable contribution.
Our guide laments that the lives of the three saints have not been preserved. Fragments that allow us to trace the path of the bishops are concentrated in the book "Orthodox Saints of the Belarusian Land." About ten years ago, the icon-painting workshop of the monastery began to paint a unique icon. It depicts the faces of three saints at once, united by sincere faith and the land of Polotsk.
Candles are burning in the temple, and quiet prayer is heard. The heavenly protectors of the region are commemorated together, but first, Saint Mina. He is the first Polotsk bishop about whom a chronicle record has been preserved. Nun Catherine, a resident of the monastery, says:
— It is assumed that Saint Mina was born in Polotsk in the 50s-60s of the 11th century. His childhood passed here, and he grew spiritually here. The desire for asceticism led him to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, where he took monastic vows under the name Mina.
Soon, according to historians, Mina became the abbot of the Zverinets Cave Monastery in Kyiv. Evidence supporting this conclusion is the discovery made in 1911 after a downpour on the Zverinets rampart. A landslide opened the entrance to an underground gallery. In one of the caves, which served as a church, on the damp clay in a niche above the altar, the names of the Zverinets abbots were found. Among them was Mina, who later became the Bishop of Polotsk.
Saint Mina is glorified by the church as one of the first archpastors who contributed to the spread of Christianity in Belarus. Saint Euphrosyne, the future abbess of Polotsk, grew in faith precisely under his spiritual guidance and took monastic vows during the saint's lifetime.Even less is known about SaintDionysius, who possibly arrived in the Polotsk principality from Byzantium. Nun of the monastery, novice Elena, shares:
— He became the Bishop of Polotsk between 1156 and 1166 and is mentioned during the tonsure of the nieces of Saint Euphrosyne. There was a strong spiritual connection between the learned Greek bishop and the abbess of Polotsk. There are historians who believe that it was Dionysius who consecrated the Church of the Transfiguration, built in our monastery.
The bishop blessed the abbess for a long journey to holy places. By his blessing, the local veneration of the saint also began, her life and service were composed. The burial place of Saint Dionysius, as in the case of Mina, is shrouded in mystery. According to one version, he is buried in the Spassky Monastery, according to another, in the Lavra caves in Kyiv.
Under the shrine in the Tver Cathedral rests the relics of the seventh Polotsk and the first bishop of the Tver diocese, Saint Simeon of Polotsk. A full namesake and countryman of the famous enlightener of the 17th century, he descended from local princes. Wealthy and educated, he preferred a life of asceticism in one of the Polotsk monasteries to worldly joys. Later, he was ordained to the priesthood, and then elected bishop of his native city.
The Nikon Chronicle describes him as a man knowledgeable in Holy Scripture, virtuous, one whose intercession was invariably received by the poor and orphans, widows and the unjustly offended... A conversation between Saint Simeon and Prince Konstantin of Polotsk is recorded. Deciding to mock his steward (judge), Konstantin asked: "Where will the stewards be in the other world?" The bishop replied: "The steward will be in the same place as the prince." And he explained that a good and God-fearing prince who pities people and loves truth will appoint the same judge, and therefore they will be together in paradise. Or exactly the opposite.
The strife of the Lithuanian princes and the murder of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Mindaugas and his nephew Tautvil, who ruled in Polotsk, in 1263 forced Saint Simeon to move to Tver.
Simeon of Polotsk is the only one of the three saints whose tracesto find in his native land. The Holy Nikolsky Monastery he founded in Luchno has not survived, but the history of the church in the village of Kollektivnaya, Polotsk district, can become a useful thread.
The Church in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker stands here in the same place where Simeon Polotsky founded the male Zapolotsky Monastery in the 13th century. The rector of the church, Father Alexander, provides an update:
Priest Alexander Kozel, rector of the church in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Kollektivnaya, Polotsk district.— A large stone church was built in 1750. In the 1920s, the church was plundered. The monks and clergy were repressed, and the building itself became a dormitory for the flax mill. Only in the 1990s was it returned to the Belarusian Orthodox Church. Since then, restoration work has been ongoing.
Father Alexander is 26. Another of his parishes is in the church of the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon in Polotsk, but it is the church in Kollektivnaya that he considers his non-random trial:
— Two years ago, there was a sandy floor here, and at different levels everywhere, stones were scattered all over... Whatever I took on, everything required strength, patience, and resources. At first, I even had tears in my eyes, but by the grace of God, at every most difficult moment, there were people ready to help. I believe that one day a special icon for this place will appear in the restored church – Simeon Polotsky.
The rector does not hide that many people still have a purely historical and cultural interest in the church in Kollektivnaya. But the young priest is not used to giving up:
— Thanks to donations, we have already painted the building on the outside, laid the floor, and are carrying out interior finishing work. When we manage to connect electricity and heating, prayer will sound within the ancient walls all year round. We held the first Divine Liturgy in 100 years here on September 17, 2021. It is significant that our own m