At the end of the 19th century, there were plans to add a stone building to the skete church in honor of the Feast of St. John the Baptist. However, the Kaluga Spiritual Consistory did not approve the project, as such extensions did not meet construction standards. It was then decided to build a new stone church. The initiator of the construction was the benefactor of the skete, Yekaterinburg merchant Mikhail Ivanovich Ivanov, who later took monastic vows.

The construction was overseen by monk Victor Weidenhammer. Disagreements arose among the skete brotherhood regarding the necessity of erecting a two-story church, which did not quite harmonize with the architecture of the skete. To resolve the doubts, in February 1901, monk John, a disciple of Elder Joseph, went to Kronstadt for a blessing from the revered Father John of Kronstadt.

Saint Righteous John of Kronstadt blessed the construction and promised to visit the skete in the fall, but the visit did not take place. Then Bishop Macarius, head of the Kaluga and Borovsk Diocese, also blessed the construction. In March 1901, preparatory work began, and in April, Hieromonk Nectarios consecrated and laid the foundation of the church. The construction progressed quickly, and within a year, the main work was completed.

The church has two floors. The upper one was consecrated on October 26, 1902, by Bishop Benjamin in honor of St. Leo of Catania and St. John of Rila. In the lower semi-basement, a church was arranged in honor of the Archangel Michael, where a brotherly burial place was planned, but it was never created. This church was consecrated on November 10, 1902, by the abbot of Optina Monastery, Archimandrite Xenophon.

The choice of saints for the consecration of the church is not accidental. St. Leo of Catania was the patron of the first Optina elder Leo, and St. John of Rila, who shares a name with the righteous St. John of Kronstadt, blessed the construction. The lower church was consecrated in honor of the Archangel Michael in memory of the builder Mikhail Ivanov. In 1907, the lower church was closed due to dampness, and the iconostasis was moved to the monastery. Later, drainage work was carried out, but the church was not reopened. The upper church was used in the summer.

After the revolution, the church was closed. In 1918, services were still held there, but then the building was used by secular institutions, and in recent years, by an agricultural school. In 1988, after the monastery was revived, the skete and church were returned to the Church. Currently, the church building houses a male pilgrimage hotel, and restoration work is underway, which will conclude with the consecration of the church.

On January 17, 2012, a minor consecration of the lower church in honor of the Archangel Michael took place.