Diveyevo, June 3, 2020
Photo: wp.com
Several nuns of the famous Holy Trinity-Diveyevo Monastery have reposed in the Lord due to complications from the coronavirus, the press service of the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church confirmed to nn.ru on Monday. However, the remaining nuns who were infected are all recovering or have already recovered.
The monastery was founded by the great St. Seraphim of Sarov, and his relics now lie in repose there.
The holy habitation and the surrounding village have been quarantined since April 25 after a number of cases of coronavirus infection were discovered amongst the sisterhood, due to pilgrims visiting the sacred site from all over Russia, as Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin explained. The monastery closed its gates to pilgrims earlier on April 15.
According to nn.ru, there have been 411 cases of infection to date in the Diveyevo District of the Nizhny Novgorod Province.
“Indeed, several nuns have died due to a coronavirus infection. These were older women, but they also had families and loved ones, so we wouldn’t want to advertise this information unnecessarily for ethical reasons,” the diocesan press service told nn.ru.
The diocese also noted that the situation in the monastery is now stabilizing, and most of the nuns have already recovered or are in a satisfactory condition.
The diocesan report is confirmed by Alexander Smirnov, the chief physician of the central regional hospital, who wrote on Instagram that the last three nuns of Diveyevo were released from the hospital on Saturday.
A number of monks of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra have also fallen victim to the coronavirus.
