Kampala, Uganda, April 23, 2024
By Mayembar Brian Andonios
During the Great Vespers service for the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt on Saturday, April 20, ten young female novices in Uganda took a further monastic step in dedicating their life in serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Having labored as novices for years at the oldest convent in Uganda, dedicated to our venerable Mother Mary of Egypt, they were tonsured by Metropolitan Ieronymos of Kampala to the first degree of monasticism.
Following the rite, a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy and Thanksgiving were offered on Sunday to celebrate both the patronal feast of the monastery and the milestone of the convent which now boasts twelve nuns.
The Eucharistic service was presided over by Bishop Silvester of Jinja, with the concelebration of Titular Metropolitan Innocentios of Sozusa, Bishop Nectarios of Gulu, and Met. Ieronymos, as well as Archimandrite Prodromos, the Abbot of St. Paraskevi Men’s Monastery in the Kampala Metropolis, and a number of priests from nearby parishes.
Abbess Maria (Mubiru) expressed gratitude for the tremendous love and all forms of support the hierarchs have rendered to the convent over the years and asked them to continue guiding them in all endeavors.
St. Mary of Egypt Convent was founded in the early 2000s at Holy Transfiguration Church in Degeya with the support and spiritual blessings of Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga of thrice-blessed memory. The convent later moved to the more expansive parish of St. Anthony the Great in Monde village, 35 miles North of Kampala City, Luweero District to start with sisters who had been trained at Chryssopigi Monastery in Crete.
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