Valaam, July 23, 2021
On Wednesday, the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the first service was held in the church of Valaam Monastery’s new Kazan Skete.
There are now 13 sketes in addition to the main monastery.
The first service was a moleben with the blessing of holy water served by His Grace Bishop Pankraty of Troitsk, the abbot of monastery, together with the brethren of the skete. The service was attended by the builders and friends of Valaam, who made a significant contribution to the construction of the skete, the monastery reports.
Photo: valaam.ru
The construction of the new skete, on the territory of a former summer farm in the east of Valaam, lasted four years.
At the end of the moleben, Vladyka Pankraty and all present offered prayers for the health of Archimandrite Methody (Petrov), who was then in the ICU but reposed in the Lord yesterday.
The new church was built very simply, the abbot explained, without any extraneous decoration, “so those who pray here won’t be distracted by any secondary things, but would direct all their thoughts, all their heart to the Lord, so prayer would be the main content of this church.”
Photo: valaam.ru
Valaam has 12 other sketes, named for All Saints, St. Nicholas, the Smolensk Icon, Gethsemane, the Holy Resurrection, St. John the Forerunner, St. Alexander of Svir, Prophet Elijah, St. Arseny of Konevets, St. Avraam of Rostov, St. Vladimir, and St. Herman of Alaska.
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