Nativity of the Theotokos Convent in Alexandrovka
On August 4, the Odessa Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church celebrated the centenary of the miraculous foundation of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Convent in the village of Alexandrovka. The monastery was opened during Soviet times, and never closed. The article below details the miraculous foundation and history of the monastery.
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History of the Monastery
The bright and beautifully adorned land of the multinational Bessarabia is a kind of crossroads through which different peoples passed heading westward or eastward. Some stayed only for a time, and later, having grown stronger, continued on their way. Others, having settled down, cultivated the land and raised numerous herds.
Christianity has existed in Bessarabia since olden times, long before the Baptism of Rus’ by the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir. Centuries have passed, and today more than 100 nationalities and people live peacefully on this blessed land. The Nativity of the Theotokos Convent has also written its own page in the history of this region.
A monastery is a haven of salvation, an island of true Orthodox faith and piety, where within the walls of the church, glory and thanksgiving to the Most Holy Trinity and prayers for all Christians, for our country, and for the whole world are continuously offered.
The joy of the entire universe is proclaimed through the Mother of God by the Nativity of our God and Savior Jesus Christ on earth. The Divine Son gave His Most Pure Mother earthly lots, the most famous of them being Iberia (Georgia), Holy Mount Athos, the Kiev Caves Lavra, and the St. Seraphim-Diveyevo Convent.
And in our Bessarabian lands, by God’s providence, the Queen of Heaven and earth chose for herself the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Convent near the village of Alexandrovka.
Here, in this deserted place, far from the hustle and bustle of the world , the Mother of God lit an inextinguishable lamp of prayer. The Most Holy Theotokos showed her concern for the salvation of all peoples inhabiting the multinational Bessarabian region, gathering them for prayer in her holy monastery.
The appearance of the Mother of God
According to tradition, the monastery dates back to the 1920s. A significant event—the appearance of the Mother of God on this spot—is confirmed by archival documents.
The first witness of the miraculous appearance was the mute shepherd Thomas Konstantinovich Tadji. Far from the village, he was tending a flock of sheep when suddenly he saw a majestic woman. The shepherd wanted to approach her, but the Mother of God became invisible. The Queen of Heaven opened the mouth of this mute shepherd and he told his fellow villagers about the miracle that had occurred.
In 1924, on the feast of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene (July 22/August 4), women from the village of Alexandrovka went to the site where the Most Holy Theotokos had appeared. Among them was the forty-nine-year-old Ekaterina Dmitrievna Terzi, who had been bearing the cross of widowhood for thirty years.
The appearance of the Mother of God to Ekaterina They didn’t initially see anyone upon arriving at the indicated place. But suddenly Ekaterina said, “Look, there’s a woman calling us there,” and she ran towards her. The other women didn’t see anyone, but followed Ekaterina anyway. However, it wasn’t possible to look at the woman who had appeared. Ekaterina was kneeling alone with tears in her eyes. She told them what the woman had said: “Tell people to keep the right faith and pray to God in repentance, and that I have found a good place for myself here. Bring holy water, candles, incense, and oil here—there will eventually be a monastery here.” Since then, this date is considered the founding of the monastery.
The next day, August 5, Ekaterina, with the permission of the local authorities, placed a cross and a stone on the site where the Mother of God had appeared. And she was again honored to see the Queen of Heaven. The Most Pure Theotokos walked about the place then disappeared.
The news of the appearance of the Mother of God spread through the surrounding villages, and the faithful began going to the spot on pilgrimage. People brought candles, incense, and oil, and they sang psalms and prayers, glorifying God and His Most Pure Mother.
Archival documents confirming the appearance of the Mother of God Archival documents confirm that both spiritual and secular authorities in Romania took note of the events taking place. A commission consisting of Izmail clergy and county officials arrived to clarify the circumstances of the miraculous appearance. They worked for nearly two months, under the guidance of Archpriest Joseph Belodanov.
The common people sincerely believed in the appearance of the Mother of God. Thousands of believers with candles in their hands prayed day and night in the open field, thanking the Heavenly Queen. People brought various donations, which were used to build a chapel where they hung icons and served molebens. The Nativity of the Theotokos Church currently stands on the site of this chapel.
The founding of the monastery
In 1924, with the blessing of Bishop Justinian of Izmail, a men’s monastery, the Skete of St. Justinian, was founded on the site where the Mother of God appeared. In the same year, the foundation of a church was laid on the site of the chapel, and by the end of the year, it was finished and consecrated in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. Six monks from the St. Nicholas Monastery in Izmail were transferred there, with Hieromonk Benedict being appointed abbot of the new monastery. Among the first ascetics were Hieromonk Obadiah, who bore obedience in this monastery until the end of his life (†1942).
The first abbess when the monastery became a convent, Nun Zinaida Terzioglo In 1933, the men’s monastery was reorganized into a convent. The monks returned to their former monastery in Izmail and eight sisters arrived from the St. Dmitry Skete in Vărzărești, Moldavia. The new convent was headed by Abbess Zinaida (Terzioglo).
In 1936, the number grew to twenty-four: four nuns, three sisters of mercy, and seventeen novices. Among those accepted as novices was the future abbess Alevtina (Anna Petrovna Pisova).
In 1944, after the arrival of the Soviet troops, several nuns, along with Abbess Zinaida, left for Romania. Eight sisters remained in the monastery, and Nun Alevtina became the new abbess. In 1945, with the blessing of His Grace Bishop Job of Izmail, she was elevated to the rank of igumena. The number of nuns soon grew to sixteen.
Abbess Alevtina Mother Alevtina fulfilled the difficult abbatial obedience for forty-two years. Over many years of hardships and severe trials, persecutions and famine, the monastery, with God’s help, was gradually built up and grew spiritually.
After the death of Hieromonk Obadiah, the services were celebrated by Igumen Sergei (Struza). He carried out his obedience in the monastery from 1942 until his death in 1955. Both priests, after long pastoral labors, found eternal rest and were buried near the altar of the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Under the holy omophorion of the Most Holy Theotokos
During the years of Soviet rule, the monastery continued to carry the light of faith, although the state’s stance towards the Church was rather complicated. The heyday of the anti-Church battle in this region occurred in the late 1940s and early 1960s, when Church valuables were actively seized, and many churches and monasteries were destroyed and closed.
In 1949, the Holy Transfiguration Convent in the village of Borisovka, Tatarbunary District was closed and some of the nuns were transferred to the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Monastery.
In 1954, the Izmail Province was subsumed into the Odessa Province. The monastery came under the jurisdiction of the Odessa Diocese, led at that time by His Eminence Archbishop Nikon (Petin).
General view of the monastery in the 1970s
The early 1960s brought a new wave of persecution against the Russian Orthodox Church. The authorities decided to close the Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery, and the sisters were informed of their expulsion. Many of them were deregistered from the monastery. They tried to destroy the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos several times, but the Mother of God, having established the convent herself, preserved it from desecration and ruin under her most pure omophorion.
In those troubled years, the sisters of the monastery mourned and tearfully prayed to the protectress and patroness of their monastery. The Mother of God worked a miracle through her Tikhvin icon. The face of the Most Pure One darkened and tears streamed from her eyes. This miracle encouraged the sisters and gave them great hope for the salvation of the monastery. The workers who came with equipment to destroy the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos refused to follow the instructions given them. Since then, this icon has been especially revered in the monastery.
The history of the monastery also preserves another miraculous manifestation of the special patronage of the Mother of God over her monastery. Abbess Alevtina especially mourned the thought of the monastery being closed. Prayerfully sighing to the Mother of God, she once saw a woman above the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos. The Queen of Heaven held her veil and said, “Do not be troubled. This monastery will never be closed.” The abbess fell to her knees with tears of emotion. The woman became invisible and her veil descended upon the church. With this vision, the Most Holy Theotokos herself strengthened and comforted Abbess Alevtina.
Soon after this incident, Mother Alevtina was summoned by the authorities, who announced that the monastery remained active because the St. Michael’s Convent in Odessa was closing and some of the sisters were being transferred to Alexandrovka. Due to the merging of the two monasteries into one, there was a need for a new, more spacious church. The Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos could no longer hold all the faithful and the increased number of sisters. Therefore, construction began on a new church named for the Archangel Michael.
Archbishop Daniel (Yuzvyuk) The Mother of God sheltered in her monastery many who were persecuted for their Orthodox faith. For example, in 1964, she received the elderly Archbishop Daniel (Yuzvyuk) in retirement. The disgraced bishop didn’t live in this blessed place for long—a year later, the Lord called His faithful servant to Him. He is buried next to the graves of the monastery clergy.
Igumen Alexei (Filozov) Many pastors served in the monastery. We’ll mention just a few of them. From 1967 to 1978, Igumen Alexei (Filozov), a resident of the Holy Dormition Monastery in Odessa, served in the convent.
Igumen Ioanniky (Khorunzhy) From 1969, he was assisted in the services by Igumen Ioanniky (Khorunzhy), who labored in this holy monastery until the end of his life (†1996).
Igumen Andrei (Mashkov) also bore pastoral obedience in the monastery from 1978 to 1994. Being a pupil of the Glinsk Hermitage from before its closure, Fr. Andrei was a spiritual zealot and imitator of the Glinsk elders.
Igumen Andrei (Mashkov) Batiushka embraced everyone with his all-forgiving love. His favorite saying was the words of the holy Apostle Peter: Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be tenderhearted, be courteous (1 Pt. 3:8).
In 1977, while in Odessa, His Holiness Patriarch PImen of Moscow and All Russia, accompanied by Metropolitan Sergei (Petrov) of Kherson and Odessa, visited several parishes of the Kherson-Odessa Diocese and visited the Nativity of the Theotokos Convent.
Visit to the monastery of Patriarch Pimen of Moscow and All Russia
The abbess of the monastery, Igumena Alevtina, reposed in 1987. She bore the difficult abbatial obedience for more than forty years, leading the monastery from 1944 to 1987. After her death, with the blessing of the ruling bishop, Metropolitan Sergei, Nun Evphrosynia (Elena Nikodimovna Paskalova) became the abbess of the monastery and was elevated to the rank of igumena. Mother Evphrosynia continued the work started by her predecessor, Abbess Alevtina.
During the brutal years of God-fighting and persecution, the holy monastery was the sole island, a salvific oasis in the desert of unbelief in southern Bessarabia. Thousands of believers flocked there in search of spiritual support.
Abbess Evphrosynia The Holy Archangel Michael Church could no longer accommodate all the pilgrims within its walls, and many prayed in the monastery courtyard, which prompted Mother Evphrosynia to build a new, spacious church. In 1990, construction began on the large, three-altar cathedral in honor of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity.
The cathedral was built by the prayers and labors of the sisters and the donations of numerous parishioners. Mother Evphrosynia put her heart and soul into the construction of the new cathedral. Building a church of this size in the steppe, far from populated areas, was fraught with great difficulties. With pain in her heart, the abbess resorted to her only hope—the all-merciful Queen of Heaven and earth, the patroness of the holy monastery. The prayers of the abbess and the sisters were heard—the Mother of God helped complete the construction of the cathedral.
But Mother Evphrosynia didn’t make it to a service in the erected church. In 2001, the Lord called her to Himself. The first communal prayer in the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity was celebrated with a large gathering of people even before the consecration of the new cathedral, during the abbess’ funeral, which was led by the ruling bishop, His Eminence Metropolitan Agafangel of Odessa and Izmail, with other clergy. She was buried between the Nativity of the Theotokos Church and the Holy Trinity Church.
After the blessed repose of Abbess Evphrosynia, with the blessing of Metropolitan Agafangel, Nun Ermogena was elevated to the rank of igumena and made the next abbess of the monastery.
Abbess Ermogena, the current abbess of the monastery Mother Ermogena (Irina Dmitrievna Kyulafly) came to the Holy Dormition Monastery in Odessa in 1980. She was accepted with the obedience of a cook in the monastery trapeza. For zealously fulfilling the obedience entrusted to her, in 1992, she was transferred to the bishop’s trapeza.
All these years, Mother Ermogena was spiritually nourished by the Glinsk elders: Metropolitan Zinovy, Schema-Archimandrite Vitaly, who lived in Tbilisi during the years of persecution, and by Archimandrite Nikon in Odessa. On September 13, 1984, in the St. Alexander Nevsky Church in Tbilisi, Mother was tonsured into the small schema (mantia) with the name Ermogena (in honor of the holy Martyr Hermogenes, celebrated on September 1/14). The tonsure was performed by Metropolitan Zinovy. In 1998, Metropolitan Agafangel awarded Mother Ermogena the pectoral cross.
The new abbess paid great attention, first of all, to the spiritual life of the sisters. Under her leadership, the construction of the new Cathedral of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity was completed in 2004. The church was consecrated on September 21, on the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. The celebrations were led by Metropolitan Agafangel. He was concelebrated by more than sixty priests. Thousands of faithful came to pray. The monastery had never seen such a large gathering before.
The young and energetic Mother Ermogena managed to accomplish much for the beautification of the monastery in a short time. From 2002 to 2005, through her labors and prayers, magnificent holy gates and a wall with corner towers were erected around the monastery. With the blessing of Metropolitan Agafangel, the abbess managed to hook the monastery up to gas via a four-mile pipeline. In 2005, a new prosphora bakery was built.
Mother Ermogena shares all the obediences with the sisters of the monastery. She works in the fields and in several of the monastery workshops.
