Brailov, Vinnitsa Province, Ukraine, March 21, 2025
Photo: eparhia.vn.ua
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s Holy Trinity Convent in the village of Brailov, Vinnitsa Province, celebrated the 35th anniversary of its revival after the years of godless atheism on Wednesday, March 19.
The day also marked the feast of the monastery’s Brailovo-Częstochowa Icon.
The double celebration was led by the local hierarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Barsanuphius of Vinnitsa, who was concelebrated by local and visiting clergy from various dioceses, the press service of the Diocese of Vinnitsa reports.
The monastery was filled with pilgrims who came to honor the feasts.
During the Divine Liturgy, Met. Barsanuphius offered special prayers for peace in Ukraine, for all those who are suffering, for wisdom for the authorities, and for the holy Orthodox Church.
Photo: eparhia.vn.ua/
At the end of the Liturgy, a procession took place around the Brailovo Monastery, followed by the rite of glorification before the miraculous Brailovo-Częstochowa Icon of the Mother of God. Afterward, Met. Barsanuphius congratulated the flock on the feast day and the 35th anniversary of the revival of the monastery’s liturgical life, and called God’s blessing upon all.
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The Brailovo-Częstochowa Icon. Photo eparhia.vn.ua
The monastery was founded in 1635 in Vinnitsa at the request of the Bratslav sub-judge and royal secretary Mykhailo Kropyvnytskyi, who later became a Polish senator.
The current monastery building began construction in 1767 in Brailovo funded by Polish magnate Franciszek Salezy Potocki as a monastery of the Catholic Trinitarian order. Construction was completed in 1778.
After Podillia became part of the Russian Empire, the Orthodox convent from Vinnitsa was relocated in 1845 to the building of the Trinitarian monastery, which had been closed following the Polish uprising of 1830-1831.
Photo: eparhia.vn.ua
The monastery was later closed by the Bolshevik authorities in 1932 after they found grain hidden there by peasants from Moskalivka and Kozachivka during the famine. During the Nazi occupation, the monastery was restored in 1942 with permission from the Romanian administration, but was closed again by Soviet authorities in 1962.
Until 1989, when the monastery reopened in this building, it housed the Brailovo vocational school and later a tourist base. In the 1990s, restoration work was carried out on the entire complex of buildings and the monastery courtyard.
The monastery is home to three revered icons:
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The Brailovo-Częstochowa Icon of the Mother of God, which is a copy of the Częstochowa icon and was donated to the Vinnitsa Annunciation Monastery in 1635
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The Brailovo Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God, originating from the Pochaev Lavra. It was found in the Lavra in 1887 by Professor A. Khoinatskyi, who proved that it was a copy of the miraculous image from Brailovo, which disappeared after the town was captured by the Turks in 1672. In 1890, silver-gilt vestments were placed on this icon, which disappeared along with other valuables after 1917. The icon itself is still preserved in the monastery
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Icon of the Mother of God of the Three Hands, painted in the early 19th century on Mt. Athos
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