Kuremäe, Estonia, March 22, 2018
Photo: monasterium.ru The liturgical glorification of a new saint, Blessed Ekaterina (Maklov-Panina), was celebrated on Tuesday at Holy Dormition Pukhtitsa Convent in Estonia, where the blessed nun had labored for decades in asceticism in service to the Lord, reports the Synodal Department for Monasteries and Monasticism of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Having heard a report on the petition of Abbess Philareta (Kalacheva) of the Pukhtitsa Convent for the canonization of Mother Ekaterina among the number of the locally-venerated saints, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church established that her feast would be celebrated on April 22/May 5, and also gave its blessing to consider the remains of St. Ekaterina as holy relics, should they be uncovered.
Photo: monasterium.ru The Midnight Office was celebrated in the morning in Holy Dormition Cathedral, after which the final panikhida for Blessed Nun Ekaterina was served, as is tradition for newly-glorified saints.
The Holy Synod’s decision to canonize St. Ekaterina was read out from the ambo, followed by the reading of her life and her official liturgical glorification. Icons of the newly-glorified saints were brought out to the singing of her troparion, kontakion, and magnification.
Photo: monasterium.ru Then the Divine Liturgy and a moleben to Blessed Ekaterina, the fool for Christ’s sake, were served by His Grace Bishop Lazar of Narva and Bishop Sergius of Maardu, vicar of the Diocese of Tallinn, and clergy of the Estonian Orthodox Church.
The clergy and nuns of the monastery were joined by a multitude of pilgrims for the joyous occasion.
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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.
