Holy Trinity ensemble in Vilnius. Past

In the 16th century, a women’s monastic community arose at Holy Trinity Church in Vilnius [1] (↑). The first reliable reference to it dates to 1589. Representatives of the Sapieha family, magnates, played an important role in the life of the community. The first known superior of the monastery was Barbara Sapieżanka, daughter of the voivode of Minsk, Bohdan Sapieha (c. 1530–1593).¹Иосиф В. Щербицкий, Виленский Свято-Троицкий монастырь, Вильна: Типография Губернского Правления, 1885, с. 130; Małgorzata Borkowska, Leksykon zakonnic polskich epoki przedrozbiorowej, t. 3: Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie i Ziemie Ruskie Korony Polskiej, Warszawa: Wyd-wo DiG, 2008, s. 173. It was clearly no accident that she was elected hegumena. The nun’s family maintained close contacts with the spiritual center on Trinity Hill. Barbara’s father was a member of the brotherhood there and also one of its benefactors: together with his wife in 1588 he donated a building not far from the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker to the brothers. After he passed to eternity, Bohdan Sapieha was buried in the underground part of Holy Trinity Church near his father, voivode of Novogrudok Paweł Sapieha (↑).²Archiwum domu Sapiehów wydane staraniem rodziny = Archivum domus Sapiehanae, t. 1: Listy z lat 1575–1606, Lwów: Druk. Zakł. Narodowego im. Ossolińskich, 1892, s. 194.

It is not known exactly when Barbara Sapieżanka was elected hegumena of the monastery, though in 1609 she is already mentioned as its superior. The start of her rule coincided with the years of conflict in Vilnius between supporters and opponents of the Union, of which one of the centers was Holy Trinity men’s monastery (↑). From the protest lodged by the hegumena on 21 March of that year in the books of the Viitov government in Vilnius, it is known that she supported the metropolitan governor and archimandrite, Józef Welamin Rutski,³Лорен Татаренко, “Жалоба игуменьи Василисы Сапежанки перед судом Виленской Магдебургии в марте 1609 года: несколько замечаний по истории женского монашества восточного обряда в первые годы Брестской Унии”, in: Między Rzymem a Nowosybirskiem. Księga Jubileuszowa dedykowana Ks. Marianowi Radwanowi SCJ, red. I. Wodzianowska, H. Łaszkiewicz, Lublin, 2012, s. 689–700. who eventually became head of the Ruthenian Church (↑). The normalization of the religious situation in the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania fostered the monastery’s development. And Metropolitan Rutski’s monastic reforms did not overlook the women’s monastic communities. It is supposed that the rules which the hierarch established for the Basilian Fathers were adapted for the needs of nuns, above all the monastery in Vilnius, and eventually spread to other monasteries of the Kyivan Uniate Metropolitanate.⁴Sophia Senyk, Women’s Monasteries in Ukraine and Belorussia to the Period of Suppressions, Roma: Pont. Institutum Studiorum Orientalium, 1983, p. 107. See more: Olehas Duchas, “Vienuolės”, in: Vadimas Adadurovas, et al., Kultūrų kryžkelė: Vilniaus Švč. Trejybės šventovė ir vienuolynas, moksl. red. Alfredas Bumblauskas, Salvijus Kulevičius, Ihoris Skočiliasas, Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla, 2017, p. 187–190; Олег Дух, “Жіноча обитель”, in: Вадим Ададуров, et al., На перехресті культур. Монастир і храм Пресвятої Трійці у Вільнюсі (series: Київське християнство, т. 16), наук. ред. Альфредас Бумблаускас, Сальвіюс Кулявічюс, Ігор Скочиляс, Львів: Український католицький університет, 2019, с. 279–290. The reformed center on Trinity Hill, headed by the wife of the voivode of Minsk and a relative of Lithuanian Grand Chancellor Lew Sapieha, attracted heiresses of many influential noble families of the GDL. Among those who received monastic tonsure there were the niece of hegumena Barbara and daughter of Lithuanian Vice-Chancellor Paweł Stefan Sapieha (1565–1635) Katarzyna Evdokia,⁵Sophia Senyk, op. cit., p. 129; Иосиф В. Щербицкий, op. cit., с. 130–131; Małgorzata Borkowska, op. cit., s. 174. who at least from 1639 independently ruled the monastery in the capital. Also mentioned among the nuns are Eufrozyna Sapieżanka, daughter of Lithuanian Grand Chef Michał Sapieha (+1611), and Marta Korsakówna. Without a doubt, the reformed Holy Trinity Monastery in Vilnius became one of the main centers of the Basilian nuns in the Kyivan Metropolitanate Archeparchy. Its inhabitants were involved in the establishment or reformation of a number of monasteries on the territories of the GDL. With the blessing of Metropolitan Rutski, the nuns of Vilnius established a monastery in Grodno, and thanks to the efforts of his successor, Metropolitan Antoni Sielawa, in 1650 Katarzyna Sapieżanka went with two nuns to found Holy Trinity Monastery in Minsk.⁶Sophia Senyk, op. cit., p. 21, 33.

At this time the material foundations necessary for the appropriate functioning of the community were laid. In the previously-mentioned complaint of Barbara Sapieżanka of 1609, it says that the monastery property came “in major part from the funds of the reverend abbess and of the honored ancestors of her home”.⁷ Лорен Татаренко, op. cit., c. 689–700. The fact that the first superiors belonged to influential senatorial families encouraged the growth of generous donations from magnates. In his testament, Paweł Stefan Sapieha bequeathed the grange Landwarów (Lentvaris) to the monastery, and Eufrozyna Trzyznianka, wife of the voivode of Vitebsk, Jan Zawisza, bequeathed the Szymański building on Imbary (Ambary) in Vilnius. Finally, Lithuanian Grand Chancellor Lew Sapieha donated to the monastery Ashmyany Naruszewicz grange (Vilnius voivodeship). The nuns also acquired a number of buildings located not far from their monastery. The listed grants were confirmed by the privilege of Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Władysław IV, issued at the request of Hegumena Katarzyna Sapieżanka and thanks to the efforts of Antoni Sielawa, Archbishop of Polotsk and Vicar of the Kyiv Metropolitan. This document also released the listed property from the obligation of station. Soon after this privilege was granted, according to the order of Metropolitan Sielawa, on 28 August of that year a description was made of all the property of the Basilian nuns and a corresponding inventory finalized.⁸ЦДІАЛ України, ф. 201, оп. 4б, спр. 429, арк. 1–12, 35–35зв. Unfortunately, the dynamic growth of the community under the care of the Sapiehas and families close to them was interrupted by the events of the Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667 (↑).

Oleh Dukh