The convent named in dedication to the Holy New Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth appeared in the settlement of Novinki in the outskirts of Minsk in 1999. The basis for the convent was the Orthodox Sisterhood of the same name. Since 1996, the Sisterhood has served many care centers, including the well-known Republican Clinical Psychiatric Hospital and Municipal Clinical Hospital as well as boarding homes for children and adults with psychological and physical disabilities, a tuberculosis unit and a home care facility for mentally handicapped children.

The main objective of the convent and sisterhood is to provide spiritual and social help to the sick and suffering. At the convent’s farmstead, located in the village of Bald Mountain, thirty kilometers from Minsk, men and women experience healing from drug and alcohol addiction and formerly incarcerated individuals are given shelter and care.

For the purpose of beautifying the convent’s churches and providing for its physical upkeep, while simultaneously assisting people in need, many workshops and studios operate on the monastery grounds. These include an icon-painting studio, embroidery shop, candle-works shop, joiner’s workshop, furniture workshop, sculptural arts studio, metal workshop and stone workshop. The convent provides religious education and has its own publishing house.

The convent and sisterhood have always worked together in serving God and people.

Sisters and brothers of the convent pray daily for one another, together fulfill work obediences – visit the sick, labor in workshops, participate in Orthodox exhibitions. On Sunday, after singing the akathist hymn to the Holy New Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth, brothers and sisters share their experiences in serving people from the preceding week and discuss concerns of the spiritual life. All decisions regarding the activities of the convent and sisterhood are made with the blessing of the convent’s spiritual father, Archpriest Andrei Lemoshonk. A full cycle of divine services is held in the convent’s churches and the Psalter is read continuously.