Holy spring of St. Anne (Onishkovtsy village, Rivne region): what heals, how to get there

In the literal sense of the word, Rivne region is a fantastic place, which is in Western Ukraine. There, in the village of Onishkovtsi in the Dubininsky district, St. Nicholas' nunnery and the monastery of Saint Anne Anna once formed. This place is well-known for the fact that St. Anne's holy spring here has hammered in for a very long time, bringing many people relief from various diseases, but mostly he treated infertility.

The Life of the Saints Joachim and Anna

It was named after St. Anne - Mother of the Virgin. The pious people of Joachim and Anna lived in Nazareth of Galilee and had no children for a long time, and the schism in the Jews was considered a disgrace. From people, they endured cruel ridicule and mockery.

Having lived to a very old age, they did not grumble, they relied on the will of the Lord, but they did not stop praying fervently. Once the righteous Joachim brought gifts to the Lord to Jerusalem, but the priest decided not to take from his childless elderly husband his unworthy sacrifice. This time Joachim could not restrain himself and did not return home, but settled in a solitary retreat to spend forty days in fasting and prayer. Learning about the humiliation of her husband, the righteous Anna also began to fast and mournfully pray. And God relented: He sent them the Archangel Gabriel with the news that soon Anna will give birth to a daughter who will be the blessing of the whole human race.

Holy Mary

And indeed, after a certain time they were born Mary - the future Mother of God. When the girl was three years old, her parents took her to the temple for the service of God, after that they did not live long. St. Joachim, when he rested, was 80 years old. Righteous Anna, after her husband's death, went to Jerusalem to her daughter and lived with her in the temple of God for two years, and then also went to bed at the age of 70. Since then, the holy righteous Joachim and Anna are revered throughout the Christian world. Through recourse to them, the childless pray that God gave them strength, health and joy to have healthy babies.

Local legend

The village of Onishkovtsy remembers the folk tradition that in the era of Ancient Rus, near the temple stood a temple. When Tatars came to this land, they captured the Pochaev Lavra, and all the local people were subjected to abuse by the invaders. The wild tribe wanted to destroy this temple, however, according to legend, it disappeared underground. People came here and heard the bells ringing.

The time has come, and they built a new church here, but the memory of the sacred place is preserved. This wonderful story was passed on from generation to generation. Until a real miracle happened, which showed that this place is sacred, and God's grace works here.

Once the young shepherdesses discovered an icon of the holy righteous Anna and decided to take her to the Trinity Church in the village of Onishkovtsi, located 1.5 km from the place where they found her. The whole village ran to look at the wonder icon, which suddenly disappeared the next day and again appeared in its original place. The peasants thought that maybe they did not treat the image so solemnly and reverently. Then, having served a moleben, they again took it and transferred it to the temple, but the icon again miraculously returned to the place of the performance, where the source soon hit. Then it was decided to establish a chapel on this place to place the shrine there. But the barin-master of these lands opposed this, he pretended that he saw neither an icon nor a holy source. After his words, he became blind. In fright he asked the unfortunate to bring him healing water, which he moistened his eyes and again he received his sight. After that, a chapel and stone arches were built over the source itself.

Everyone realized that Saint Anna herself had chosen her place and indicated the place of God's grace. For centuries people have come to this place with faith that the Holy Spring of St. Anne will give them healing.

Soviet time

In the 60s atheistic time, the church was dismantled for building materials and sold, the chapel was also closed, and the holy spring of St. Anna was completely destroyed by excavators, covered with concrete slabs, peat and ground. But the Lord can not be discredited. This source enlivened the local ponds, and when it fell asleep, all the fish began to die there. Then the channel was dug near, and the clean water of the springs again began to fall into the ponds. The time has come, and the locals cleared the healing springs and renewed them, and crystal streams flowed from three streams.

The priest, Father Boris, told a story about how once, at the request of his wife, a man brought his paralyzed daughter to a holy place. They stayed here all day, dipped her in the source on the sheets, prayed and went home. Upon arrival, when his father went to open the gate, suddenly the door of his car opened, and from there the miraculously healed daughter slowly emerged. It was a truly great miracle, to which even atheists believed.

New church

The monks of the monastery say that in 1991 a new stone church was built in honor of St. Anne with a bath. Often it is also called the St. Anne's Lake . The entire structure is fully executed in a sky-blue color and decorated with church paintings, which is extremely fondling. The wooden platform was replaced with plates, a well was built to consecrate the water. Near the bathing pool all equipped for convenience: there are changing rooms, in the pool - fenced booths specially for men and women.

The water in the swimming pool has the same temperature all year round: +4 ° C. And, what is most interesting, even in severe frosts the spring does not freeze, but on hot summer days the water does not get warm here. It is so cold that it pierces to the bones, so without the help of prayer do not go into the water. Usually the "Our Father" is read, or the prayer written on the plate next to each other, and dipped into the water three times with the head. All year round pilgrims come from all over the world, therefore access to the source is always open. Forcing yourself to dive, if a person is not ready, do not, it is better just to wash and drink water.

Visiting rules

However, before you visit the holy spring, it is very important to read some rules. They are that you need to dip into the water in clothes that should not be too open. This suggests that swimsuits will be inappropriate here. This can be a simple long shirt, and on the head - kosynochka. And one more important requirement to keep the source in crystal freshness and purity: all things must be new, for women - shirts, for men - smelting. It is recommended to dry the shirts in the sun, do not wash, and put on and sleep in them in case of illness. People say that it helps a lot.

The source of Saint Anne: how to get there?

Often visitors are looking for this source in the Pochaev Lavra itself, but this is erroneous. The holy place is 30 km from it. From all parts of Ukraine, taxis are sent there, but it is better to arrange a tour through a special agency or a pilgrimage center (it will be both more interesting and exciting).

Many people try to come to the source of St. Anna without fail. Reviews their healed pilgrims are left in a special monastic book, and it is really filled with a huge number of records and evidence of healings, especially from women who have had problems with women's health and infertility.

Analysis of the water in the bath indicates that it is really very healing (enriched with silver and silicon, so it not only cures many diseases, but also gives spiritual healing).

If someone wants to visit the holy spring of St. Anne, it is better to do this not on weekends, but on weekdays, since there will be less people there. Near the well you can drink water, wash your face and hands. You can type healing water for your family and friends. From the hermitage of the Holy Righteous Anna, a mineral silicon is brought, which perfectly cleanses and disinfects water, making it curative.

Rivne region: shrines of the village Onishkovtsi

In this monastery there is another shrine - the Image of the Holy Righteous Anna, she became the blessing of the Holy Mount Athos. The icon was written by Athonite monks and transferred to the nuns of the monastery several years ago. In the monastery there are two more miraculous icons - Our Lady of Onyszczowiec and Jerusalem.

Each pilgrim, having plunged into the holy spring and prayed at the Holy image of the Righteous Anna, begins to feel the grace and some wonderful feature of this holy and namolennoe place, where again he wants to return.