St. Onuphrius Monastery is a stauropegion Orthodox male monastery in Jabłeczna, Poland, under the jurisdiction of the Polish Orthodox Church.

The monastery was founded no later than the late 15th century. According to legend, its establishment was determined by the miraculous appearance of the icon of St. Onuphrius above the Bug river. Thanks to successive land grants from the subsequent owners of Jabłeczna, the monastery became a significant center of Orthodox worship in Chełm Land. After the Union of Brest, the monks of Jabłeczna refused to accept its provisions and, despite pressure, remained Orthodox, remaining an important center of dissenters until the fall of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The situation of the monastery underwent a total change after the three partitions of Poland and the establishment of the Congress Poland in personal union with Russia. From then on, the monastery was financially supported by the Russian authorities and, at their behest, engaged in promoting Orthodoxy and Russification of Chełm Land, especially after the conversion of Chełm Eparchy in 1875. This was one of the reasons why the monks engaged in social and educational activities. However, the low level of education of the monks, their insufficient number, and the fact that the majority of them were not of Russian nationality meant that the monastery did not fulfill its assigned tasks in terms of promoting Russianness and Orthodoxy among the population of Chełm Land.

Despite restrictions imposed by the authorities of independent Poland due to the role of the monastery during the partitions, the monastery functioned throughout the entire interwar period. During World War II, it was burned down in 1942 by a German border guard unit. However, it formally did not cease to function and remained active throughout the entire period of the Polish People's Republic, despite difficult material conditions (on the orders of the Stalinist authorities, it lost all its assets except residential buildings and churches), as the only male monastery of the Polish Orthodox Church.

Since 1999, it has had the status of a stauropegion monastery and is directly subordinate to the , who manages the community through his representative. There is also a parish attached to the monastery, with the monastery's representative serving as its parson.

History

Beginnings

According to legend, the first monastic community in Jabłeczna was established when the icon of St. Onuphrius floated down the Bug river to the village. For this reason, he became the patron saint of the monastery. Another legend tells that St. Onuphrius appeared to a group of fishermen by the Bug river, announcing that his name would be glorified in that place. Later, an image of the hermit was found in the same spot by the riverbank, and the locals retrieved it and hung it on a tree, where they began to pray to the saint. Not wanting to leave the miraculous icon unattended in a remote location, a group of men remained by the oak tree permanently. They later built a chapel next to it and took monastic vows themselves. The cult of St. Onuphrius significantly developed in the western part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the second half of the 15th century.

In older literature on the subject (works from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries), there are views placing the establishment of the monastery in the 16th century (according to various authors, either at its beginning or closer to its end). According to Father , the author of the most comprehensive monograph dedicated to the monastery, this view does not hold up in the light of newer research. In 1522, the monastery in Jabłeczna is already mentioned in a document issued by King Sigismund I the Old. In another document from 1527, the monastery is described as a community that has existed for a longer time. The presence of the Great Schema Cyril, who took his vows in 1516, also indicates the longer existence of the community. Vows of this degree could only be taken in a community with a longer tradition.

Some authors active at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries placed the establishment of the monastery in an even more distant past, pointing to the mid-13th century (Father F. Gorbaczowski). Father Żeleźniakowicz also considers this view insufficiently documented. However, considers the establishment of the monastery in this period possible. The monastery certainly existed before 1498, as the oldest Gospel Book preserved in the monastery dates back to that year. This could have been presented to the monks at the founding of the community, but it could also have been passed to the monastery already in existence. In 1527, the residents of Brest presented the monks with a manuscript containing their rule, probably from 1487. The probable founder of the monastery was the Zabrzeziński (Zaberezinski) family, the owners of the village of Jabłeczna. However, establishing this fact beyond any doubt is not possible due to the disappearance of relevant documents in the 18th century. Another document, issued in 1499, granting the village of Jabłeczna to Mikołaj Nassut, indicates that the monastery functioned in the village but was treated as a separate enclave.

Monastery's growing importance as a center of worship From 1527 comes a document confirming that pilgrims from Berestechko participated in the monastery's patronal feast. The entire 16th century was a period of gradual increase in the authority of the monastery. However, until the Union of Brest, it remained a center of cult with only regional significance. The document from 1527 indicates that the abbot of the monastery was Hegumen Cyril, and besides him, there were at least two monks in the monastery.

Successive owners of Jabłeczna – the Zabrzeziński, Nassut, Bohowitynowicz, Bogusz, Proński, Leszczyński, Sapieha, and Kodeński families – supported the monastery materially. Through the grants they received, the monastery acquired 1,400 hectares of arable land, forests, and meadows on both banks of the Bug river. Special benefactors of the monastery were Teodora Andriyivna Bohowitynowicz (née Sanguszko) and her daughter Teodora Bohowitynowicz, later Prońska, who remained a patroness of the community even after her husband converted to Catholicism.

From the conclusion of the Union of Brest to the fall of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The monks of the Jabłeczna monastery did not accept the provisions of the Union of Brest, and the monastery became a center of Orthodox resistance against its implementation. Monks opposed to the union from those monasteries that decided to accept it joined the community. The Jabłeczna monastery became the residence of the Orthodox Bishop of Chełm, , who lived there and simultaneously served as the abbot until his death in 1633. After Paisius' death, the monastery remained without a superior for several years. In order to change this situation, the owner of Jabłeczna, Władysław Leszczyński, turned to the abbot of the Mielce monastery, Archimandrite Joseph, requesting a monk capable of leading the community in Jabłeczna. This occurred no later than the early 1640s; Hieromonk Makary (Kornilovich) arrived in Jabłeczna at that time. He initiated a moral renewal in the community and carried out a general renovation of its buildings. In the 17th century, the monastery complex consisted of the Church of St. Onuphrius with the Chapel of the Meeting of the Lord, a refectory with the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God, a bell tower (built in 1651), the abbot's house, monks' cells, and farm buildings. The renovation of the monastery was completed around 1659. In the same year, Metropolitan Dionysius Balaban of Kyiv expressed his recognition of Makary's activities in writing; Makary already held the rank of hegumen at that time. The clergyman died in 1677, enjoying immense authority among the monks.

In 1670, the Jabłeczna monastery became the last Orthodox pastoral outpost in the region. When the accepted the provisions of the Union, of which the Jabłeczna community was a filial, with the help of the owner of Jabłeczna, Andrzej Leszczyński, the monks came under the direct jurisdiction of the Orthodox bishops of Lutsk. After the Lutsk diocese joined the Uniate Church, the superior of the monastery became the Orthodox Metropolis of Kyiv. The prestige of the monastery among the Orthodox population grew as the number of monasteries of this denomination in the Commonwealth decreased. From 1 March 1681, the pastoral activity of the monks was further restricted: on this date, a decree from King John III Sobieski was issued to "non-Uniate" communities, prohibiting Orthodox clergy from serving in villages where Uniate churches were located. During this period, a significant portion of the parishioners of the Jabłeczna pastoral outpost came from villages where former Orthodox churches were in the hands of the Uniats, and who did not want to convert to Catholicism.

The situation of the monastery changed radically in 1699, when the Jabłeczna estates were purchased by Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł, a Catholic (unlike the previous owners of the village). The Radziwiłł family exerted strong pressure on the monastery to join the Uniate Church, and, using their patronage rights, forced the local clergy to convert in the parish. in 1701, in order to defend their position, the monastery submitted as a filial to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius. In 1724, the monastery was deprived of four parish churches. In 1752, Hieronim Florian Radziwiłł founded a Uniate church in the village of Jabłeczna. The Uniate parish took over a significant part of the monastery's property and contributed to the conversion of the local population to the Union. Three years later, an armed attack on the monastery took place, in which Basilian monks from the monastery in Biała Podlaska also participated. During the attack, the monastery was plundered, and documents stored in it were stolen, including those confirming land ownership. Nevertheless, the Jabłeczna community remained faithful to Orthodoxy. From 1767, the monastery received regular financial support from the Kyiv Metropolis. Despite this, its financial situation was very poor in 1770, which was related to poor management by Hegumen Moses, who fled the monastery that year.

A description of the monastery from 1775 indicates that it contained a wooden, triple-domed temple, 36 ells (21 meters) long, 27.5 ells (16 meters) wide, and 53 ells (31.5 meters) high. Separate buildings included a bell tower, a refectory with a church, a bakery, and a kitchen. To the northeast was the abbot's house. Seven monk cells were located in two buildings to the south, and one was in the bell tower. The monks also had a granary, two food warehouses, two stables, and a bathhouse. These buildings were in poor technical condition and required renovation. Among the movable property of the monastery were mentioned 25 sets of priestly vestments in the sacristy, as well as six Gospel Books, 16 candlesticks, and two chandeliers. The monastery had a library, and there were five bells in the bell tower. Describing the monastery in 1785, Bishop of Pereiaslav, , claimed that he found not monastery buildings on the site, but rather ruins. In 1793, the community lived in extreme poverty, and money for necessary building repairs was obtained through collections in other monasteries.

Period of partitions

1795–1875