The second courtyard in Vladychnya

There is the second courtyard of the Saints Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy in the Tver region, the centre of the spiritual life of which is a chapel in honour of the Venerable Sergius (Srebryansky), the New Confessor.

The name of Mitrofan Srebryansky is inseparably connected with the name of Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna. It was his project that formed the basis of the statutes of the Saints Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy, and Father Mitrofan was invited to become the Father Сonfessor of the Convent.

After the arrest and death of the Grand Duchess in 1918, Father Mitrofan selflessly continued to spiritually nurture the orphaned sisters and to preserve the Convent. Soon, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, he and his wife took monastic tonsure and received the name in honour of St. Sergius of Radonezh, and his spouse Olga received the name Elizabeth.

In 1926 the Saints Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy was finally closed, and the priest was arrested and exiled to Siberia. He spent sixteen years in prisons and camps. The last place of exile to the "free settlement" was the village of Vladychnya. The last sisters of the Convent also came there. The locals honored the priest as a Saint. Archimandrite Sergius died on March 23 (April 5, A.D.), 1948. He was buried in the local cemetery. There were also buried: his spouse, nun Elizabeth, and the sisters of the Convent: nun Militsa (s. Maria Zamorina), nun Magdalina (s. Elena Pashkevich), nun Lyubov (s. Euphrosinia) and in 1983 nun Nadezhda (s. Zinaida Brenner).

On September 19, 1999 the New Confessor Venerable Sergius (Srebryansky) was glorified in the Tver diocese as a locally revered Saint, in August 2000 he was canonized at the Jubilee Council of Bishops. On December 10, 2000 was uncovering of his holy relics.

At present, the Holy relics of the New Confessor Venerable Sergius are in the Resurrection Cathedral of Tver.

In fulfillment of the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, in the autumn of 2000, Archbishop Victor of Tver and Kashin blessed the Saints Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy to establish a courtyard in Vladychnya. Over the years, here was built a wooden chapel in honour of the New Confessor Sergius (Srebryansky), a chapel in the cemetery and a chapel in honour of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

November 11, 2001, Archbishop Victor of Tver and Kashin performed the consecration of the church in honour of the New Confessor Venerable Sergius.

Church services are held on Sundays and feast days.