Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2)
Our convent bearing the name of St Martyr Grand Princess Elisabeth was founded in the settlement of Novinki on the outskirts of Minsk in 1999. The convent originated in an Orthodox Sisterhood of the same name. Since 1996, the Sisterhood has served many care centers, including the National Psychiatric Hospital and Municipal Hospital as well as boarding homes for children and adults with special, a TB clinic and a home care facility for mentally challenged children.
The mission of our convent is to provide spiritual and social help to the sick and the suffering. The Convent runs a homestead located 19 miles far from Minsk. It helps drug and alcohol addicts as well as socially vulnerable persons tackle their problems and provides the homeless with shelter and care.
To support and develop the above ministries numerous workshops and studios operate within the frameworks of the Sisterhood. These include an icon-painting studio, sewing and embroidery shops, candle workshop, wood-carving and blacksmith workshops. The Sisterhood activities also include religious education and publishing.
The convent and sisterhood have always worked together in serving God and people.
Sisters and brothers of the convent pray for each other daily. On Sundays, after singing the akathist hymn to the St Elisabeth, the brothers and sisters share their experiences in serving people and discuss spiritual issues. All decisions regarding the activities of the convent and the sisterhood are made with the blessing of the convent’s spiritual father, Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok. Full cycle of divine services is held in the churches of the convent and the Psalter is read continuously.
News
August 22 is the birthday of St Elisabeth Convent. The first monastic tonsure was performed eleven years ago.
Monasticism means complete love to God, which cannot divide itself between God and His creation. Monasticism means longing for the lost paradise and thirst of heavenly beauty.
Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin)
“I don’t want to live as I used to…”
(Interview with Brother Ilya Melnichenko)
It has been a year since Brother Ilya was appointed the head brother of the blue cabin settlement located near the Convent where people with torn-apart lives live. Among these people there are drug and alcohol addicts and ex-prisoners. The Lord gathers these people in order to change their lives thanks to prayer and obedience…
«Lord, I want to be as close to You as possible...»
Interview with nun Joanna (Orlova), the head sister of the video studio in honour of St John the Warrior of St Elisabeth Convent.
Please tell us about your way to God.
I lived in the North with my parents. There were no churches there. The Lord touched my heart through mentions about Him in some articles or film episodes. Even «Master and Margaret» by Bulgakov played a positive role for me, even though many people would consider this book as having mainly negative impact on its readers…
April 19, 2010 - Our Myrrh-Bearers
Our life is all about constant service to God and neighbour
There are moments in our life when the Lord lets us see that beauty can grow in our hearts through hardships and sorrows. If only everything had been good and cool from a worldly point of view, we would have grown mouldy and never seen God because of it. Through hardships, the Lord gives us comfort and joy of His presence that we cherish for a long time…
April 13, 2010 - All live to him (Luke 20:38)
His Eminence Philaret, Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, presided over the Divine Liturgy in St Lazarus Church located at the Northern Cemetery in Minsk on April 13, Tuesday of St Thomas Week, which is celebrated in Belarus as Radonitsa (Day of Rejoicing) – a general commemoration of the dead…
April 10, 2010 – Festival of Orthodox Chants “The Voice of the Reigning”
On April 10, during the Bright Week, the church in honour of the “Reigning” icon of Mother of God hosted the Festival of Orthodox chants “The Voice of the Reigning”…
The image of the invisible God (Colossians 1,15)
A new workshop for icon restoration was opened in our Convent in September 2009. Restoration of icons is a real art, which can help to bring ancient sacred images back to life.
In ancient times, people never threw icons away, even if they were severely damaged. Christians tried to preserve and strengthen the sacred icons, preventing them from further damage…
Sermon on the Bright Day of Pascha
It is good for us to be here (Luke 9: 33), — this is what we can tell our God who came to this world to save man. Today we are here because God’s love is here. His love heals the mortal wound, corrects any error and restores everything that is lost. An Orthodox Christian has the only way, which is the way to Christ. All other ways will sooner or later lead us to a dead end, where we will be unable to find anything but our selfishness, our insanity and our loneliness…
Tonsure in the Convent
A Step towards the Lord
Monastic state...is the highest blessing possible for a person here on earth, there is nothing higher than this in the world. This is because monasticism gives one a key to one’s inner life. Blessing is inside us, one simply has to open it up.
Saint Barsanophios of Optina
His Eminence Philaret, Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk visited our Convent on March 31 to perform tonsures.
Nine of the sisters of our holy Convent became brides of the Heavenly Bridegroom. The children of God who abandoned the vain beauty and wealth of this world to be with Christ have been received in the embrace of the Father…
April 1 — commemoration of Saint Sophia, Princess of Slutsk
Righteous Sophia was the last descendant of the famous family of the princes of Slutsk and Kopyl, who were descendants of the Great Prince Alherd from the family of Rurick. Some representatives of this family had been the Great Princes of Kiev, some had been the rulers of the Great Novgorod. The ancestor of the princes of Slutsk was Alherd’s grandson Olelko Vladimirovich…
При использовании материалов сайта гиперссылка на obitel-minsk.by обязательна.
