Supraśl, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, September 6, 2024
orthodox.pl
The Polish Orthodox Church held its 25th International Meeting of Monks and Nuns at Holy Annunciation- Supraśl Monastery this week.
The representatives of various Polish monasteries spoke about the histories of their holy habitations, with emphasis on the significant role of His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Poland in reviving monasticism over the previous decades, reports the Polish Orthodox Church.
The conference, consisting mainly of Polish monastics, plus a Hieromonk Palladius from Bulgaria, began on Sunday evening with the All-Night Vigil celebrated by Archimandrite Piotr of St. Onuphrios Monastery in Jabłeczna. After midnight, the Divine Liturgy began, celebrated by His Eminence Archbishop Grzegorz of Bielsk and fathers from various monasteries.
The service was sung by the sisters of the Holy Mother of God Monastery in Turkowice.
orthodox.pl
The conference began the next morning with a moleben served by His Grace Bishop Andrzej of Supraśl, dean of Polish Orthodox monasteries. During the meeting, representatives from every Polish monastery spoke about the often difficult histories of the establishment of their monasteries, “which generally arose in unfavorable conditions, amidst struggles with both external and internal problems.”
The role of Met. Sawa, the primate of the Polish Church, was especially emphasized, “as he participated in the establishment and reconstruction of all currently existing monasteries and had a huge contribution to the organization of spiritual life.”
In the post-war period, there were only two monasteries in Poland, which had a very difficult existence. Today there are 11 flourishing monastic habitations.
The Church recounts the activities of Met. Sawa:
The then-Archimandrite Sawa, first as the abbot of the monastery in Jabłeczna, raised many monks, some of whom later became guides in the monastic life of younger generations. Immediately after taking over the Białystok-Gdańsk Diocese, Bishop Sawa began painstaking efforts to recover the monastery in Supraśl, reactivating the interrupted monastic life in this place. In 1992, he established the women’s Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Białystok-Dojlidy, currently operating in Zwierki, and then in 1995, he established another women’s monastery in Wojnowo. Metropolitan Sawa significantly contributed to the expansion of the monastery on Holy Mount Grabarka. In 2001, he erected the Monastery of St. Demetrios of Thessaloniki in Saki, and in 2007, the Religious House of St. Catherine in Zaleszany. In addition to these examples, His Eminence participated in the establishment of monasteries, including those in Turkowice and Wysowa.
The report continues: “Metropolitan Sawa’s authority has always initiated and supported all activities building and strengthening the structures of our Church, spiritual life in monasteries and parishes, as well as in every other field of Church life.”
Following the conference, the monks and nuns returned to their respective monasteries “to continue laboring for the glory of God and for the salvation of all.”
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