Lavra

The Holy Mountains Lavra.

In Orthodox Christianity and certain other Eastern Christian communities, a Lavra or Laura (Greek: Λαύρα; Cyrillic: Ла́вра) is a type of monastery consisting of a cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the center; the term in Greek initially meant a narrow lane or an alley in a city.

History

The Lavrite style of living has its origins in the early fourth century. Some equate the creation of the first lavras with the founding of a settlement of cells in the Nitrean desert at a site known as Nitria, named for the nearby town of the same name. It was a community of 600 hermits who lived scattered over the area, reliant on the town of Nitria for bread, but with their own priest and church. However, unless proven otherwise by future reference, it seems that only modern Coptic authors apply the specific Greek term lavra to the monastic settlements of the Nitrean desert and even attribute the writing down of the formal rules of a lavra to the Egyptian sanctified monk Macarius the Great in AD 330.

The Greek term lavra was employed from the fifth century on specifically for the semi-eremitical monastic settlements of the Judean desert, where lauras were very numerous. The first lauras of Palestine were founded by St. Chariton (born 3rd century, died ca. 350): the Laura of Pharan (northeast of Jerusalem), the Laura of Douka (northeast of Jericho) and Souka Laura or Old Laura in the area of Tekoa. Saint Euthymius the Great (377-473) founded one of the early Lavras in fifth-century Palestine. The Lavra of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified (†532), known as Mar Saba, is one of the most ancient and almost continuously functioning monasteries in the Christian world. A similar system was established in the Jordan Valley in the middle of the fifth century by Saint Gerasimus, with 70 cells surrounding a cenobium, again with monks progressing into the cells after time spent in the coenobium. Weekdays were spent in the cells, accompanied only by a rush mat, a small amount of food and palm blades with which to make ropes and baskets. On Saturdays they would bring their handiwork to the coenobium and receive communion together, returning to their cells on Sunday evening. Cells were left open, and those in need could take whatever they wished from the cell if it were found empty. The lavra had a priest, the lavra’s contact with the outside world, and at least two ordained deacons.

The largest and the most important Russian Orthodox monasteries have been called lavras and have been subordinated directly to the Patriarch of Moscow. In 1721, they became subordinated to the Holy Synod. The Great Lavra founded by Athanasius the Athonite in 963 is the oldest monastery on Mount Athos.

List of lavras

• Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople:
  • Megisti Lavra, Mount Athos (10th century): the Great Lavra

• Georgian Orthodox Church:
  • David Gareja Lavra (since 1505)

• Greek Orthodox Church:
  • Agia Lavra

• Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem:
  • Lavra of St. Sabbas (Mar Saba) (532)

• Polish Orthodox Church:
  • Supraśl Lavra (since 1505)

• Romanian Orthodox Church:
  • Neamț Lavra (since 15th century)

• Russian Orthodox Church:
  • Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra (since 1744) Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra
  • Alexander Nevsky Lavra (since 1797) St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra

• Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church:
  • Univ Lavra (since 1898) Univ Holy Dormition Lavra of the Studite Rite

• Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate):
  • Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (since 1051) Kyiv Caves Lavra
  • Pochayiv Lavra (since 1833) Pochayiv-Dormition Lavra
  • Holy Mountains Lavra (since 2004)

See also

• Coenobium (Monastery)
• Hermitage
• Skete

External links

• (English) The Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra
• Photo of "Holy Mountain" (Sviatogorskaya) Lavra in Ukraine
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