Augustianie w Brześciu Litewskim pod panowaniem rosyjskim
Augustinian Hermits in Brest-Litovsk under Russian rule

Summary/Abstract: After the third partition of Poland the Augustinian Monastery in Brest survived 35 years under Russian rule (1795–1830). In 1797, after the dissolution of the Polish Province of the Order, the monastery was incorporated into the newly established Russian Province. Until 1801 the Augustinian Hermits in Brest ran a small orphanage for four children of the gentry. Attempts to run an elementary school (1804–1805) ended in failure. In 1801 a fire destroyed the monastery Church of the Holy Trinity. The monastery and the sacristy survived, but the rich library perished in the fire. The church was rebuilt by 1808, but burnt down in another fire the same year. It took another reconstruction to make it functional again in 1814. This once wealthy monastery in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth already in 1795 lost main part of its landed estate, i.e. the village of Kostomłoty situated across the Bug River and as such confiscated by the Austrian partitioner. Until 1820 the Augustinian Hermits were paid a fixed interest (annual rent) on capitals deposited in the Brest Kahal (4,845 silver roubles) and until 1830 interest on other private perpetual subsidies (2,100 silver roubles in total). In 1804 the Brest Augustinians received nearly 400 roubles of annual interest. In addition, they had their own savings and rented some rooms in the monastery to the apothecary and the wine merchant, who paid a high rent. They also continued to accept alms as well as offerings from the faithful for their pastoral services. In 1830 the Augustinian monastery shared the fate of nearly all Catholic institutions in Brest. It was to become the site of a fortress planned by Tsar Nicholas I. In 1851 the garrison Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas was built next to the demolished Augustinian church and the monastery was now to house the Committee of the Engineers of the Fortress.

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