Ივერია-სოფრონის უდაბნო, Orthodox monastery in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia
Iversko-Sofronieva Pustyn is a small Orthodox women's monastery of the Nizhny Novgorod eparchy, set in forest about seven kilometres from the village of Kovaksa in Arzamas district. Its church is a wooden log building in the Russian style, raised by a team of craftsmen from Saint Petersburg from 2003, with two cupolas and crosses; a chapel-church stands over the grave of the founder, the elder Sofrony.
Archimandrite Sofrony (Smirnov), then superior of the Arzamas Vysokogorskaya Pustyn, founded the hermitage in the late 19th century on forest land owned by that monastery. By a consistory decree of 16 November 1907 he retired and settled there from early 1908 with four novices; a church in honour of Christ's Descent into Hell was consecrated on 26 July 1908. After his death in 1921 Bishop Michael of Arzamas formally established the Iversko-Sofronieva community, closed by the Bolsheviks in 1929. Revival began in the early 1990s, and on 12 July 2008 Sofrony was canonised among seventeen saints of the Sviatogorsk Lavra.
The name combines the Iveron Mother of God icon with the founder, the elder Sofrony (Smirnov), who died here in 1921. After his death Bishop Michael of Arzamas formally established the Iveron-Sofronieva community, which existed until the Bolsheviks closed it in 1929. Today a small community of sisters lives here, and pilgrims come to pray and to give the sisters physical help with the work.
The monastery lies in forest about seven kilometres from the village of Kovaksa, Arzamas district, and is reached by road; the community is small and lives by its own daily round. Visitors come to pray and to give the sisters physical help with the household and grounds. Arrange any group visit with the community beforehand.
The monastery is named after Elder Sofrony (Smirnov), who died there in 1921 and was canonized on 12 July 2008 by the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church among seventeen saints of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, where he began his monastic life. A chapel now stands over his grave.
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