Minsk and Moscow, June 18, 2021
St. Ambrose of Optina Convent in Belarus. Photo: church.by
Two new monasteries have been officially established in the Moscow Patriarchate—one in Belarus, and one in Russia. The relevant decisions were made at the recent sessions of the Holy Synod of the Belarusian Exarchate and of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Synod of the Belarusian Church met in Minks on June 8 under the chairmanship of His Eminence Metropolitan Benjamin of Minsk, deciding, among other things, to establish the Convent of St. Ambrose of Optina in the Novogrudok Diocese, reports the site of the Belarusian Church.
The new convent is the natural development of the Sisterhood of St. Ambrose of Optina that already existed in the village of Rusakovo since 2006, consisting of five nuns previously of the Annunciation Convent in the city of Slonim.
The sisterhood currently consists of three stavrophore nuns, two riassaphore nuns, two novices, and other candidates for the novitiate. The sisters carry out various obediences, including holding spiritual conversations with parishioners.
In December, the senior sister of the Sisterhood appealed to the Diocese of Novogrudok to transform the Sisterhood into the Convent of St. Ambrose of Optina. The appeal was approved first by the Diocesan Council and now by the Belarusian Synod.
Nun Macaria was appointed abbess of the newly-established convent.
St. John the Baptist Convent on Sviyazshk. Photo: business-online.ru
During the session of the Russian Holy Synod in Moscow yesterday, it was resolved to re-establish the Convent of St. John the Baptist on the island-city of Sviyazshk in the Republic of Tatarstan, reports Patriarchia.ru.
Abbess Pitirima, formerly of the Bogolyubsky Convent in the Sverdlovsk Province, was appointed to head the new monastery.
The monastery was initially founded in the late-16th century. By the beginning of the 20th century, it had about 400 nuns and novices, though, unfortunately, it was closed and desecrated by the godless authorities in 1919.
The convent was reopened in March and today is a dependency of the Holy Dormition Monastery on the island.
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