When information of the destruction of the monastery reached the Czar, the pious Theodore Ivanovitsch, he is said to have been deeply grieved, and to have expressed his sorrow at the disaster. To assist those of the monks who had recovered, and were homeless, he gave orders that a new monastery should be built at Kola, within the fortress, so that it might be secure from attacks of the Swedes, or other enemies. The church of the Annunciation of St. Mary in the town was granted, and the monastery was built close to the church. But in the year 1619 both the town and the church and monastery were destroyed by fire.
After this, the then Czar, the orthodox Michael Theodorovitsch, ordered that a monastery should be built in the neighbourhood of the town, but on the other side of the Kola River. This new monastery received the name of New Petschenga, or Koloska Petschenga monastery, and had its own Archimandrites or Superiors, till the bishopric of Archangel was founded.
In 1675 Alexei Michaelovitsch confirmed to this monastery the privileges which former monarchs had bestowed on the monastery at Petschenga. Probably it was the erection of this monastery which caused one Russian author to state that at one time there were two monasteries at the Petschenga River.
In the year 1701 it is said there were thirteen monks in this monastery, and, according to a letter from Laurence, the Superior of it, to Archbishop Athanasius, the monastery exported in that year ‘12,752 stockfish, 144 pounds of train-oil, and 2,470 salmon.’ But this is the last occasion on which anything is said of the industrial activity of the monastery. Among the Archimandrites of the New Petschenga monastery is mentioned [[91]]the holy Jonas, a pupil of Trifon; and, like Trifon, he is still had in reverence by the pilgrims and by the inhabitants of the district.
In the year 1724 mention is made of three churches at Kola, viz., Trinity Church, the Church of the Assumption of St. Mary, and SS. Peter and Paul’s Church. Eventually, the monastery was dissolved in the year 1764, and annexed to the cathedral church of Kola, and appointed the residence of the bishop of Kola. The Empress Catherine II. issued, on February 26 in that year, a brief, according to which the monastery and churches were deprived of their ancient privileges, as well as of their tenants and serfs. At the present time both the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of Russia have their attention directed to the re-erection of the monastery of Petschenga on its ancient site.
In the year 1881 a commission was appointed in Archangel to consider what could be done to promote different kinds of industry in those northern districts, and remedy several defects. This commission decided that it was of great importance that the Petschenga monastery should be rebuilt, and in the year 1882 the Holy Synod permitted and sanctioned its re-erection. Serapion, Bishop of Archangel, has likewise taken great interest in the scheme. He has procured a copy of the picture of Trifon, and has, it is said, had it painted at his own expense. It is thought that the rebuilding of the monastery of Petschenga will, in time, have the same beneficial effect on those parts as Solowetski monastery has had on the region of the White Sea. A Special Committee has therefore been appointed by the ecclesiastical authorities. The Committee appeals to all who may be supposed to feel an interest in the undertaking, and invites charitable contributions, which should be sent to
The Committee at Archangel
For the Restoration of Petschenga Monastery.
Elliot Stock, Paternoster Row, London.