Wed, 01 May 2012 08:25:45 +0300 By Helena Gulidova
Translated by Fyodor Vaskovsky

I first noticed women wearing white clothes standing with boxes for donations in underground passages and supermarkets of the city when I was still a student. Sometimes I would pass them and sometimes I would stop to throw some money into the box. ]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 11:00:45 +0300 By Helena Nasledysheva
Translated by Fyodor Vaskovsky

This incident will be remembered in the Convent for a long time. Ca. 50 armed men surrounded the metochion suddenly.

Nun Tamara recalls, “Our brothers were abashed because many of them did not have any proofs of their identity and some of them had only recently been released from jail. I could not understand what was going on, whether that was a training session or an episode from a film, because there were people carrying machine guns all around us. We all went outdoors, and the brothers looked really breathtaking with their tattoos and bald heads... I told them to stand still in case the police might begin to fire. There was a police officer running about and shouting, “Show your documents, show your passports!” and then, “Who's in charge here, where is he?” ]]> Wed, 02 May 2012 14:00:45 +0300 Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

Divine services in our churches are especially solemn in these bright and holy days. Paschal chants fill one's soul with remarkable feelings and reveal the beauty of the celestial world. The soul of every Christian is eager to experience the great joy of this feast and share it with others. ]]> Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:00:45 +0300 This new album is unique because both choirs of St Elisabeth Convent, i.e., the monastic choir and the festive choir, sing together. The monastic sisters lead the chant in two or three voices while the festive choir provides a backup by imitating the sound of a harp or a guitar, typical of this genre. ]]> Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:00:45 +0300 Ten sisters from our Convent were tonsured on April 10, on the Great Tuesday. We were honoured to welcome our dear Metropolitan Philaret who blessed and tonsured the sisters eager to serve the LORD. Every time there is a tonsure in the convent, it is a real feast for the spirit. Indeed, it is a great mystery of betrothal of the soul to God. The words you hear during the tonsure pierce your heart. Human reason is unable to perceive the depth of the monastic vows. However, one's soul is comforted to hear the words, “Yes, God willing, Vladyka!” because it is only thanks to God's help that we are able to cling to our monastic path till the end. ]]> Wed, 13 Apr 2012 15:00:45 +0300 The publishing house of St Elisabeth Convent has published a selection of speeches of the spiritual father of the Convent and the Sisterhood Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok under the title “The Light of God's Love.” These texts were prepared for publishing based on audio recordings of the speeches that Father Andrew said in St Elisabeth Convent in 2003-2004. “The Light of God's Love” opens the series “The Word of the Spiritual Father.” ]]> Wed, 13 Apr 2012 14:00:45 +0300 By Oleg Kovalenko
Translated by Fyodor Vaskovsky

Not long ago we celebrated the Forgiveness Week in our Sunday school, when there were interesting concerts for the children... but time flies recklessly. Here we are in the sixth week of the Great Lent. We will soon celebrate the glorious feast of the Holy Pascha, with a Paschal performance for the young kids, a picnic for teenagers and a Paschal meeting of the youth group... ]]> Wed, 09 Apr 2012 10:00:45 +0300 Three of our sisters became novices yesterday (March 12, 2012). In accordance with a tradition of our Convent, they received their habits early in the morning, during the “Behold the Bridegroom Cometh...” singing of the midnight office. After the rite, Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok, the spiritual father of St Elisabeth Convent, congratulated the sisters on their new status and wished them God's help in their spiritual struggle, inevitable for those who follow the monastic path. ]]> Wed, 13 Mar 2012 13:00:45 +0300 Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, visited our Convent on Monday of the 2nd Week of Great Lent. His Eminence had been invited to Belarus by His Eminence Philaret, Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk. Several representatives of the Belarusian Orthodox Church headed by the Most Rev Gurias, Archbishop of Novogrudok and Lida, the chief of administration of the Belarusian Exarchate, accompany the distinguished guest. ]]> Wed, 06 Mar 2012 13:00:45 +0300 The VII International Orthodox Film Festival “Vstrecha” took place in four towns in Kaluga oblast in Russia on February 17 – 22 with the blessing of Right Reverend Clement, Metropolitan of Kaluga and Borovsk. This festival is the newest among other festivals of religious cinema but it has already taken the honourable 2nd place on the list of such film festivals, according to many cinema experts and critics. This festival has been held annually since 2006. Today it can be called an important cultural project on the Russian soil, which gives insight into history and lifestyle of our contemporaries who live their earthly lives in accordance with Christian commandments. ]]> Wed, 06 Mar 2012 10:00:45 +0300 His Eminence Philaret, Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, visited our Convent on the third day of the Great Lent. His Eminence led the service of the Great Compline and the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete. His Eminence Philaret, our ruling bishop, wished the residents of St Elisabeth Convent to be in constant search of spiritual perfection and to flee from rest and relaxation. The visit of the Patriarchal Exarch comforted and strengthened the monastics in the beginning of the road leading to the Holy Pascha. ]]> Wed, 05 Mar 2012 10:00:45 +0300 Great Lent is the main fast not only for the Orthodox Church but also for many other Christian communities. Its purpose is preparation for the celebration of Pascha. This is a period of the liturgical year marked with penitential prayers and remembrance of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and His glorious Resurrection. ]]> Wed, 04 Mar 2012 10:00:45 +0300 Lenten concerts are a unique phenomenon of the Russian music culture. This tradition was interrupted in 1917 but saw its revival in 2010, almost one hundred years later. This year, Saint Petersburg welcomes choirs from many countries of the world for the third time. The festive choir of St Elisabeth Convent will also take part in the Lenten concerts. ]]> Wed, 27 Feb 2012 10:00:45 +0300 Helena Natykina
Translated by Fyodor Vaskovsky

Are active adults who have their place in the world more necessary for sick kids who live within the four walls of a boarding home and are sincerely joyful when they see each new person coming to them? Or these poor children, who seem to be absolutely unhappy and who lack parental care and love are more necessary for us adults? ]]> Mon, 31 Jan 2012 16:00:45 +0300 Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok

The Kingdom of Heaven is inside one's heart. There is struggle for one's heart and mind going on all the time. This struggle is the path of a soul to Christ and the defeat of death.

The Lord enters our hearts when we are willing to change our lives, to learn to love, when we believe in the victory of God's love over our death. ]]> Mon, 26 Jan 2012 11:00:45 +0300 Dmitry Shevarov

There is a suburb called Novinki on the outskirts of Minsk. Fifteen years ago this area had an extremely sad reputation. If a resident of Minsk was getting angry and wanted to tell the person he was talking to that the latter had lack of intellect, he would usually say, “It's time you went to Novinki!” ]]> Mon, 24 Jan 2012 14:00:45 +0300 Monastic tonsure was held in St Elisabeth Convent a couple of days before the great feast of the Nativity of Christ. Five new Rassaphore nuns and four new Stavrophore nuns put their lives into God's hands, took their crosses and followed Christ. The rite of tonsure was served by His Eminence Philaret, Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus. ]]> Mon, 03 Jan 2012 16:00:45 +0300 Russian text by Vadim Yanchuk.
Translated by Fyodor Vaskovsky.

This studio in honour of St John the Warrior of St Elisabeth Convent has finished two new films: a fiction film called Three Parables – 2 (by Vitaly Lyubetsky) and a documentary called A Little of Paradise (by Maxim Mikhaltsov). These films may become a good gift for Christmas for all who love the works of the video studio of our Convent. ]]> Mon, 27 Dec 2011 10:00:45 +0300 Russian text by Christina Odesenko.
Translated by Fyodor Vaskovsky.

A group of young people are standing near the church watching the parishioners going back to their homes after the Liturgy on Sunday. The young people greet one another happily and go to the church in honour of the Royal Martyrs. ]]> Mon, 23 Dec 2011 16:00:45 +0300