Makarievo, Nizhny Novgorod Province, Russia, November 12, 2020
Photo: userapi.com
On Tuesday, November 10, Abbess Mikhaila (Orlova) of Holy Trinity-Makarievo Zheltovodsky Monastery in the Lyskovo Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church reposed in the Lord due to complications from the coronavirus.
She was just 65 years old, reports the site of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“Matushka was the first abbess of the monastery after it was returned to the Church. She labored here for almost 30 years, and passed away into eternity at the age of 65,” the Lyskovo Diocese writes.
Her funeral will be served at the monastery tomorrow by Bishop Silouan of Lyskovo.
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Mother Mikhaila was born in 1954 in a priest’s family. She was educated as a civil engineer, but at the age of 36, she took monastic vows at Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery in Riga.
She spent 30 years in the monastic life, 29 of which were dedicated to restoring monastic life and restoring the monastery.
She suffered from a severe chronic illness that gradually weakened her over the years, but she continued to work tirelessly and diligently to improve the monastery and fulfill her abbatial duties.
Holy Trinity-Makarievo Zheltovodsky Monastery was found in the first half of the 15th century by St. Makary of Zheltovoda. The monastery is named “Zheltovosky” or “Yellow water” because it was built on the banks of the Yellow Lake, which was later swallowed up by the Volga River.
The monastery became a convent in 1883, and by 1917, it had about 300 sisters. It was closed by the soviet authorities and later housed an orphanage, an evacuation hospital, and a veterinary technical school, before being returned to the Church.
