16,951
edits
Changes
m
link
==History==
Raifa Monastery was established as a [[coenobiticcenobitic]] hermitage in memory of the holy fathers who had been tortured in Sinai and Raithu, from which the monastery’s name is derived. The monastery was founded in 1613 by the [[monk]] Filaret during the Time of Troubles and the beginning of the reign of Tsar Michael Feodorovich Romanov. The Filaret came from the [[Chudov Monastery]] in Moscow where he had witnessed the martyrdom of Patriarch [[Hermogenes of Moscow|Hermogenes]], who died of starvation while a prisoner of the Polish forces who then controlled Moscow. That the [[saint]]ed Hermogenes had been the Metropolitan of Kazan and Sviyazhsk may have influenced Filaret in coming to Kazan to establish a monastery where Hermogenes’ memory was still alive.
Upon arrival in Kazan, Filaret entered the community of the Savior’s Transfiguration Monastery in Kazan. To avoid the worldly environment of the city, Filaret later sought the solitude of the forested lands near the city. In his search he found a place on the shore of a picturesque lake where he built a humble hut. In time his presence became known to the people of the Kazan area and many came to visit and honor him. Among these people were some who settled into heritages nearby, wishing also to dedicate themselves to God and a [[monasticism|monastic]] life and thus led to the establishment of the community of the Raifa monastic skete. It was after the death of the Filaret, that the skete became the monastery.
