The population of the city grew rapidly; it was provoked by the building of a metallurgical plant, which demanded a greater number of workers. At the beginning of the 20th century Tsaritsin developed fast. The opening in 1862 of the Volga-Don railway connecting Tsaritsin with Kalach – on-the-Don created a very convenient way for trade. After 10 years the railway Tsaritsin-Gryazi, the city acted as trades mediate between the Volga, the Caspian Sea and the center of Russia were built there. New railroads connected Tsaritsin with the South of Russia. The city had the largest turnover of the goods on the Volga. Tsaritsin traded in first place in wood, on the second place there was fish trade there.

The population of the city grew rapidly; it was provoked by the building of a metallurgical plant, which demanded a greater number of workers.

At that time in Tsaritsin there were more than 1000 private houses, 6 stone and 10 wooden church and cloister buildings, 5 stone and 10 wooden public buildings. In 1913 the number of dwellers made up 131782. But the building of churches, cloisters, schools and asylums didn’t develop so rapidly as industrial building.

On the 16th of May in 1903 gathered a committee for building a new cloister. To the sitting arrived the bishop of Saratov and Tsaritsin Hermogen, who intended to erect his own coaching inn. He bought a city block, there was a little summer chapel for 100 parishioners. In March of 1908 Hermogen invited celibate priest Iliodor to the city, who was very popular in Russia at that time. Iliodor held meetings attended by thousands and agitated against revolutionaries, Jews, all non-Russians, intelligentsia, the latter he called corruptioner of moral. He continued his activity in Tsaritsin and was supported by most city dwellers. He also healed people and was believed to be a wonder-worker. Soon Iliodor was appointed eparchy missionary, the local priesthood didn’t approve of him because of his weak faith.

In 1908 on the 28th of July bishop Hermogen arrived to the city and he was welcomed by a procession headed by Iliodor. Possibly, then architect composition of the building cloister was discussed. The authors of the project were supposed to be Iliodor and the eparchial architect Vasiliy Petropavlovskiy.

Iliodor continued his sermons indulging the authorities and the Holy Synod forbade them, but Iliodor had been acquainted with Grigoriy Rasputin, who helped him. The order was repealed. In 1809 Rasputin visited his friend in Tsaritsin. It should be mentioned, that the conflict between Iliodor and the Governor of Saratov Tatishev ended with the transfer of the latter to Petersburg.

In the first half of 1911 the building of the monastery was finished, it had cost about 3000 rubles. The cloister had 2 storeys, on the ground floor to the North of the temple remained a room for a printing-house, the East building served as a hotel, in the South buildings lecture-rooms. The North building included also a school and cells. On the ground floor in the South there was a kitchen with storage rooms. On the 1st and the 2nd floors there was a refectory. These storeys were also meant for cells for 180 monks. The South building included a lecture-hall, workshops, a cell of a prior and a kitchen. The monastery had central heating, but after a couple of years it failed and the monastery was heated with stoves.

The space between the church in the North and the buildings formed a large square. In the South there was a small square with a garden, a fountain and a pool in the middle. After the monastery had been built, the price of the ground around it rose, but the cloister had no estates. The authorities were asked to give the monastery some ground on the Volga, but a city market was built there.
In 1911 3 celibate priests, 10 lay brothers and only 4-5 monks lived in the monastery. Thousands of believers came to divine services and to listen to Iliodor sermons.

The cloister asked for an estate to build there a burial-vault, but the request was refused. Then Iliodor called on the parishioners to dig caves and donate provision for workers. He foretold the end of the world and the caves were supposed to save the believers, when the Antichrist would arrive and churches would be destroyed. After 4 days under the cloister yard there were 3-tier caves. The vaults were meant for 5000 people, their plans were kept in secret.

The charismatic prior took part in many events oflocal and capital life. Iliodor planned to build near the monastery a temple, larger than the Temple of Christ the Savior in Moscow. After a quarrel with Rasputin Iliodor had no support at court and was sent to the Novosilskiy cloister of the Saint Spirit of the Tulskaya eparchy, but he returned to Tsaritsin without a permission of the Synod and was 20 days besieged in the monastery. Most city dwellers were ready to fight for him. But bloodshed was averted. Under the influence of Hermogen the priesthood of Tsaritsin asked the Tsar to forgive Iliodor. The emperor Nikolay the Second allowed Iliodor to return to Tsaritsin.

Iliodor began to create his own cult. After a fight with Rasputin, when Iliodor and Hermogen tried to persuade the elder not to interfere with the problems of the family of the Tsar, the instigators were punished: Hermogen was forced to retire and the celibate priest was banished to Florisheva hermitage in Vladimirskaya province.

In the monastery during the absence of Iliodor many events took place. New monks and lay brothers went there. Prior of the monastery became the well-known enlightener of people in the Far North bishop Irinarkh (Shimanovskiy)

In autumn 1912 the monastery was reorganized into a nunnery. The monks were transferred to the archbishop's house of Saratov. In 1914 prioress of the nunnery became Pelageja (Lipovskaja), and in 1916 prioress of the nunnery became Mother-Superior Pavla.

In January 1912 Iliodor was imprisoned in the Foristcheva hermitage in the eparchy of Vladimir according to the decree of the Synod. In October 1912 Iliodor applied to the Synod saying that he was going back on the Church. After that Iliodor was unfrocked according to the decree of the Synod. He went to his native land and organized a kind of sect there. An action was brought against him, he was accused of blasphemy. That's why he went abroad, first to Finland, then to Norway, then to Germany. He was helped by revolutionaries. In May 1922 he went to Berlin, and then to the USA, where he died in 1958.

The main part of the cloister was requisitioned by Bolsheviks in 1918. From 1920 till the World War II different institutions were situated there: a camp for forced labour, a children’s home, a reading room, a cinema, a hostel of the pedagogical institute. When fascists came to Stalingrad, many people hid away in the cloister, where Mother-Superior Pavla helped them. Later a fascists' concentration camp was situated there.

After the War the building of the cloister was given to the military unit № 12670. The old buildings of the cloister and the temple were pulled down and new houses were built at that place.

In 1991 the eparchy of Volgograd arose, and on the first of March 1992 the monastery of Saint Spirit was opened there. In November 1992 the Orthodox University of Tsaritsin was opened in the cloister. It is also planned to found a small and secluded monastery near the chapel of Johann the Divine. The chapel is situated over the spring of Johann the Divine. The spring was sanctified in 1994. In autumn 2001 a chapel with a bathing hut was opened there. In 2002 the construction of the Nicolas church began.