Kuremäe, Estonia, October 26, 2018
Photo: orthodox.ee With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the precious and venerable relics of St. Ekaterina (Malkov-Panina) of Pukhtitsa Monastery in Kuremäe, Estonia were uncovered in the sister’s cemetery on Saturday, October 20, reports the site of the Estonian Orthodox Church.
Photo: orthodox.ee St. Ekaterina was a great 20th century Fool-for-Christ.
Photo: orthodox.ee The solemn rite was carried out in the presence of His Eminence Metropolitan Evgeny of Tallinn and All Estonia, who headed the commission for the uncovering of the blessed nun’s relics, as well as His Grace Bishop Viktor of Artsyz, the vicar of the Odessa Diocese of the Ukrainian Church, Abbess Filareta (Kalacheva) and the monastery’s sisterhood, a number of Estonian clergy and researchers, and faithful pilgrims.
Photo: orthodox.ee Blessed Ekaterina was approved for local veneration by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on March 7, 2018, which was celebrated at Pukhtitsa Monastery on March 22.
***
Photo: monasterium.ru The family later moved to Gatchina, and in 1914, Ekatarina entered the courses of the Sisters of Mercy and began to work in free hospitals. She was later part of a detachment that gave assistance to wounded soldiers.
She moved to Estonia in 1919 with her family and on July 5, 1922 was accepted as a nun of Pukhtitsa Monastery. From her first days in the monastery, she began to behave strangely, as a Fool-for-Christ. She was soon transferred to the Gethsemane Skete 18.5 miles away. She returned to the monastery at the beginning of World War II when the skete was closed.
In 1942 she relocated to Tallinn to care for her elderly parents. Her mother reposed in 1942, and her father in 1947, and she returned to the monastery, now openly behaving as a Fool-for-Christ.
The nuns remember that St. Ekaterina often took a special fast upon herself, saying she was preparing either to be tonsured, or to die, and it would turn out that another nun of the convent would soon be tonsured or die. She was widely revered as having the gift of foresight and healing, and many flocked to her for advice and prayers.
She was tonsured as a nun of the monastery in 1966. In her last years, she rarely left her home, but when she was seen around the monastery, the nuns understood that something important was about to happen. She was constantly in pain but did not show her suffering outwardly.
On May 5, 1968, on the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers, Mother Ekaterina peacefully reposed in the Lord. There are numerous known cases of miracles and healings by her prayers, both during and after hear earthly life.
***
For more information on St. Ekaterina, see the article “’Such Was My Heart—To Comfort Everyone, But Not To Pity Myself!’: Blessed Eldress Ekaterina of Pukhtitsa Monastery (1889-1968).”
Follow us on Facebook!
