Richfield, Ohio, January 20, 2026
Photo: easterndiocese.org
A new abbess was installed at the Serbian Orthodox Church’s New Marcha Monastery during the Nativity season.
The new abbess, Mother Paraskeva (Milosavljević), was formally established as abbess on January 8, by His Grace Bishop Irinej of Washington-New York and Eastern America, with clergy from the Serbian Orthodox Cleveland Deanery and representatives from other Orthodox jurisdictions in attendance, the diocese reports.
The Monastery of the Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel, also known as New Marcha, was founded in 1975. Mother Paraskeva arrived at the monastery on December 12, the feast of St. Mardarije of Libertyville. She brings a wealth of monastic experience, a talent for chanting, and fluency in English.
Following the Liturgy, Bp. Irinej bestowed upon Mother Paraskeva the insignia of the abbess—the pectoral cross and pastoral staff. In his spiritual exhortation, he instructed the new abbess to “shepherd the rational sheep of Christ’s flock” and “guide the flock entrusted to you according to the command of the Chief Shepherd and Lord Christ the Savior.”
Photo: easterndiocese.org
“By the grace of the All-Holy and Life-giving Spirit, through our lowliness, you have been placed in spiritual leadership in this holy community,” Bp. Irinej told Mother Paraskeva as he handed her the abbatial staff.
The new abbess expressed gratitude to His Eminence Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral, now deceased, and his successor His Eminence Metropolitan Joanikije, under whom she received her monastic tonsure and training. She acknowledged that her appointment came “not only as an honor, but above all as a Cross, and at the same time as a call to a more complete surrender to God and His will.”
Mother Paraskeva emphasized the role of diaspora monasteries as “places of assembly, consolation, and remembrance—places in which we cultivate and pass on our authentic ecclesial tradition, the beautiful tradition of Saint Sava, our language and culture.”
Mother Paraskeva noted the significance of her installation coming during the Nativity season: “It is no coincidence that I receive this obedience during the days of the Feast of the Nativity, when the Church celebrates the great and ineffable mystery of the Incarnation of God the Logos.”
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