Holy Trinity Simeon Monastery of Mercy

Saraktash village is located 90 kilometers from Orenburg. It appeared thanks to the construction of the railway station more than a hundred years ago. And now life continues to boil around the "piece of iron" – near a large market, several cafes, a central square.

However, the main attraction of the city today is one of the largest temple complexes in Russia – the Holy Trinity Simeon Monastery of Mercy. There are no others like him, not only in the regional capital, but throughout the Urals. That is why thousands of pilgrims come here every year. You can see the monastery from afar – the golden domes and crosses are visible from anywhere in the village. Looking at such a scale, it's hard to imagine that it all started with a small temple.

History

The history of the monastery is interesting not so much for its chronology or some extraordinary events, as for the bizarre interweaving of the black and white stripes of its existence. You look at how fate masterfully juggles the ups and downs of the Holy Trinity Monastery, and you are simply amazed.

It all started with a community of believers registered in the village in 1943. Three years later, local residents belonging to the Orthodox community petitioned for the opening of a prayer house, and the following year they were given land for the construction of the temple.

As is usually the case, it was not possible to complete the construction on time, even though the parishioners invested all their funds here. As a result, the unfinished building was transferred to a school building. However, the residents of Saraktash did not intend to give up so quickly – they soon obtained permission to build a temple in another location. Surprisingly, this happened at a time when the anti-religious campaign was intensifying, when it was difficult to preserve existing churches, let alone build new ones. Anyway, the temple was built and consecrated in the late 50s of the XX century.

It would seem that the trials of Saraktash residents should have ended there, but no – already in 1961, a wave of atheism reached here. Looters took out everything valuable from the temple, the dome was broken, and a portrait of Lenin was placed on the altar. In the same year, the church building turned into a nursery.

The black streak in the Orthodox life of the village ended in the 1990s - that year the church was returned to the diocese and entrusted to the young and energetic priest Nikolai Stremsky. Over the past thirty years, under the leadership of a young priest, the temple complex has grown to an impressive size – it includes several churches, a house of mercy for lonely elderly people and a gymnasium, which occupy two blocks in the center of Saraktash.

Unfortunately, not a single historical building remained on the territory of the monastery – even the original church had to be dismantled due to its dilapidation. It happened in 2001, at the same time the first stone of the new temple was laid. The new building is a scaled-down copy of the Kazan Cathedral, which was destroyed in Orenburg in the 1930s. In 2005, the largest bell of the Orenburg diocese was installed here.

The white streak lasted until 2019 — this year was remembered not only by the parishioners of the church, but also by the entire region. During this period, there was a loud scandal involving priest Nikolai Stremsky, which they are still trying to figure out.