Monday, August 14, 2006

​

DAY 4 Monday August 14, 2006
Another day another Lavra.
For some reason - I’ve been getting up around 6 am during this trip. Today - I took a picture from by room window as the sun began to rise...
As I’m getting ready to head down for another healthy breakfast. - I have the TV on - and there’s a girl on there doing her morning exercises in heels! One of the things you’ll notice about the girls in Ukraine - is that most of them wear high heels or a close derivative of a high heel shoe - all day. Here’s a clip from the TV...
Here’s a workout video clip from the TV
Then it’s off to the “Pochaiv Lavra.
Outdoor church at the Lavra - still used for Masses in Summer
History Lesson Time
Pochayiv Lavra of the Assumption of the Theotokos (Ukrainian: Почаївська Свято-Успенська Лавра)has for centuries been the foremost spiritual and ideological centre of various Orthodox denominations in Western Ukraine. The monastery tops a 60-metre hill in the town of Pochayiv, Ternopil Oblast, 18 km southwest of Kremenets and 50 km north of Ternopil. A first record of the monastery in Pochayiv dates back to 1527, although a local tradition claims that it was established three centuries earlier, during the Mongol invasion, by several runaway monks, either from the Kiev Monastery of the Caves or from the Holy Mountain. The legend has it that the Theotokos appeared to the monks in the shape of a column of fire, leaving her footprint in the rock she stood upon. This imprint came to be revered by the local population and brethren for the curative, medicinal properties of the water that issued from it. In the 16th century, the abbey was prosperous enough to commission a stone cathedral and to host a busy annual fair. Its standing was further augmented in 1597, when a noble lady, Anna Hojska, presented to the monastery her extensive lands and a miracle-working icon of the Theotokos. This image, traditionally known as Our Lady of Pochayiv, had been given to Anna by a passer-by Bulgarian bishop, and helped to cure her brother from blindness. The day we were there - it was the Festival of flowers. People would bring their flowers in - and after the Mass - they would hope that the priests would bless them by sprinkling water on them. Here we see the Monks (in black).
The church held thousands of people!
Followed by the priests... I got a little close - and a little wet...
Previous PageDay_3D.html
Next PageDay_4B.html