There is an opinion that the monastery leaves from hopelessness. A person is overtaken by despair from unhappy love, financial problems or any other difficulties, and he decides to renounce the world, to leave, to hide from prying eyes. But is it? Not at all. In this article we will look at some convents in which strong people live their lives who are called to serve God.
Definition
Before proceeding to the consideration of convents, let's look at what a monastery is? Such words as “monk”, “monasticism”, “monastery” have one basis. All of them came from the Greek word "monos", translated meaning "one." Accordingly, a “monk" is a person living in solitude.
How did the first male and female monasteries come about? The story of their appearance is quite interesting. Some people preferred to live in seclusion, fencing themselves off from the outside world so that no one would stop them from reflecting on God's covenants, hearing them, living according to His laws. Over time, they found like-minded students, some communities began to form. Gradually, such communities, united by interests, lifestyles, and ideas, became larger. There was a joint farm.
Typically, both male and female monasteries are located behind high walls. A person who has come there does not see anything but the faces of his brothers and sisters. In fact, the monastery is a kind of saving island amidst a storm of everyday problems.
Women's Intercession Monastery
Holy Intercession Convent was founded by Princess of Kiev Alexandra Romanova. In the 30s of the XIX century, she moved there to live with some sisters. This woman put all her strength and resources into establishing a life in the monastery. The town of the convent included a hospital, a parish school for girls, a shelter for orphans, poor children, blind and terminally ill people, and much more.
With the advent of Soviet power, the monastery was closed and looted, many icons were destroyed, the church was beheaded. By 1941, workers lived there. Also on the territory of the monastery were a book depository, a nursery, a printing house.
In October 1941, monastic life was revived in the monastery. An outpatient clinic was organized here, whose doctors saved the lives of many people during the occupation. They gave people certificates of incurable diseases, thereby saving them from being taken to Germany for hard labor.
Now the female Pokrovsky monastery is one of the main attractions of Kiev, people come here not only from Ukraine, but also from abroad.
Holy Iversky Convent
This monastery is quite young, its history began in 1997, when, with the blessing of the Donetsk and Mariupol Metropolitan Hilarion, a stone was laid in the wasteland near the airport for the construction of the temple.
The sisters of the St. Kasper Monastery were the first to settle in the Iversky Women's Monastery. The senior nun Ambrose was at the head. It was not easy to live in the monastery, but thanks to the daily prayers of the sisters, work and perseverance, skillful leadership, the economy was gradually improving.
Monastic life follows a long Orthodox tradition. Nuns work on land, growing vegetables, fruits. The entire territory of the monastery is surrounded by greenery and flowers. In addition to the garden, the sisters work in the refectory, in the temple in obedience, on the choir and in the prosphora.
There is a good tradition in the monastery - reading the Psalms about the living and the dead. This, according to the sisters, drives away evil and enlightens man.
Vvedensky Convent
It was founded in 1904. Located in the center of Chernivtsi. Its founder, Anna Brislavskaya, was the widow of the colonel. Desiring to spend the rest of her life in prayer for her dead husband, she acquired a plot of land and built cells for the poor and old people, as well as two churches.
Now on the territory of the monastery there are two refectory, Holy Trinity Cathedral with an underground church, monastic cells, a building in which workshops and offices are located, a boiler room with a warehouse and other utility rooms. The temple contains the relics of the holy Yosemite martyrs, Kuksha Novy, the oak cross consecrated in Jerusalem and much more. It handles daily services.
Monastery at Pokrovskaya Zastava
The Stavropegial Convent was founded in 1635 by the Moscow Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, but initially it was a man’s. Prior to the monastery, the Pokrovsky parish church existed at this place. Until 1929, the monastery went through a lot: perestroika, the construction of a new bell tower, repeated re-consecration. In 1929 it was closed. At the site of a cemetery located nearby, a culture park was set up. The monastery buildings were adapted for state institutions, it housed a gym, printing house, library.
In 1994, the Holy Synod decided to resume the activities of the monastery. In recent years, the monastery has been practically restored through joint efforts. The former abbess of the monastery - Blessed Matrona - helps everyone who turns to her for help through prayer. The doors of the monastery are open daily for everyone to visit it.
How do they become nuns?
How do convents prepare nuns? First of all, a novice who wants to devote herself to monasticism undergoes a kind of probationary period, which lasts for 3-5 years (depending on the available spiritual education). The abbess of the monastery monitors the fulfillment of the obedience entrusted to her sister, judges her readiness to take vows, after which she writes a petition to the chief ruling bishop. With his blessing, the confessor of the monastery makes the tonsure.
There are three steps of monastic tonsure :
- sheared in a cassock;
- tonsured in mantle or malyshimnitsy;
- tonsured into a great farmer.
The first degree of monasticism is tonsure in a cassock. The cassock is given to the sister herself, a new name may be offered, however she does not give monastic vows. During the tonsure, the vows of obedience, chastity, and renunciation of the outside world are taken. A nun can be a woman no younger than 30 years old, fully aware of all the consequences of her act.