Polotsk, Vitebsk Province, Russia, June 6, 2025
Photo: patriarchia.ru
The Belarusian Orthodox Church celebrated its most beloved saint, Venerable Euphrosyne of Polotsk, yesterday. This year, her feast also marked the 900th anniversary of her founding of the Holy Transfiguration-Euphrosyne Monastery.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill traveled to Belarus for the occasion. After being greeted at the gates to the monastery, he venerated St. Euphrosyne’s relics in the Church of the Elevation of the Cross and celebrated the Divine Liturgy with 19 hierarchs and various clerics of the Belarusian and Russian Churches, reports Patriarchia.ru.
Photo: patriarchia.ru
The service was also attended by abbesses of monasteries from Belarus, Moscow, and Jerusalem.
The service was broadcast live:
At the end of the Liturgy, the Patriarch read a prayer to St. Euphrosyne.
His Eminence Metropolitan Benjamin of Minsk presented the Patriarch with an image of the monastery’s Holy Transfiguration Cathedral that was made in the Holy Land, and Abbess Evdokia presented him with an icon of St. Euphrosyne painted by the sisters of the monastery.
The Patriarch then offered a primatial word, reflecting on the rare combination of political power and sainthood exemplified by St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk.
He emphasized that “no state positions, no governmental merits give a person the right and opportunity to be called holy,” noting that sainthood is a Divine gift that seems incompatible with the harsh realities of wielding power. The Patriarch challenged contemporary leaders by asking, “why is power incompatible with sainthood?” and suggested that if this synthesis could naturally emerge “from the spiritual needs of the people and personalities who enter power,” then the countries of Holy Rus’ would become invincible. He praised St. Euphrosyne as someone who achieved this “remarkable synthesis” of power and holiness, calling her an example that should remain “unquenchable for each subsequent generation of people.”
Photo: patriarchia.ru
In turn, Pat. Kirill gave the monastery an icon of the venerable nuns of Diveyevo and Abbess Evdokia a commemorative cross. All the nuns were given a collection of his sermons, A Word to Monastics.
Photo: patriarchia.ru
In 2023, the Belarusian Church celebrated the 850th anniversary of St. Euphrosyne’s repose.
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Photo: patriarchia.ru The Holy Transfiguration-Euphrosyne Monastery was founded in 1125 when St. Euphrosyne, following an angelic vision, moved to a place called Seltso where a wooden church stood. An angel had appeared to her saying “Euphrosyne, here you should be,” and the same night appeared to Bishop Elijah instructing him to establish her there. St. Euphrosyne arrived with one nun, carrying only three loaves of bread and books. Young women soon began joining her, creating a monastic community that included four of her relatives who took vows.
St. Euphrosyne commissioned the construction of a stone church to replace the wooden one, completed in just 30 weeks. In 1161, the famous Euphrosyne Cross was created by jeweler Lazar Bogsha and placed in the church. Around 1155, she also founded a nearby men’s monastery dedicated to the Mother of God.
After St. Euphrosyne’s death in Jerusalem in 1173, her relics were initially buried there but later moved to the Kiev Caves Monastery in 1187 when Christians fled the city.
The monastery flourished for several centuries before entering a long period of decline.
Photo: patriarchia.ru
The monastery faced severe challenges starting in 1582 when Polish King Stephen Báthory transferred it to the Jesuit order. It remained under Catholic control (first Jesuits, then Piarists) until 1832 when the Orthodox regained the church, with the monastery officially restored in 1841.
The most significant event occurred in 1910 when Emperor Nicholas II authorized the return of St. Euphrosyne’s relics from Kiev to Polotsk after 77 years of petitions. The relics were transported by steamship and carried overland in a celebrated procession known as the Holy Euphrosyne Celebrations.
The Soviet period brought repeated closures and persecutions. The monastery was closed in 1925, briefly reopened under German occupation in 1943, closed again in 1960, and finally restored permanently in 1989. During these upheavals, the saint’s relics were moved multiple times and the precious Cross was confiscated (later recreated in 1997).
Today the monastery thrives under Abbess Evdokia (Levshuk), maintaining daily services, workshops, a Sunday school, and hosting pilgrims. In 2007, St. Euphrosyne’s relics were placed in a new silver reliquary in the Cathedral of the Elevation of the Cross, where they remain today.
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