Monastery
A brother is a better defense than a strong city, and a friend is like the bars of a castle.
(Proverbs 18:19)
A monastic community is conceived as a place where Christ’s teaching is embodied most fully on the earth. We should integrate this teaching into our lives always and everywhere, trying to rise above our selfishness and laziness and serve God and people as well as possible. There is no doubt that we can do this in secular life – by practicing patience, meekness and obedience as Christ did. But it is the monastic environment that is best suited for those wishing to devote themselves wholly to Our Lord Jesus Christ, renounce sin, and fulfill God’s will in its entirety.
A convent in its ideal is an image of God’s love, and everyone here is urged to overcome inner limitations and weaknesses in order to reach the unity which Jesus Christ prayed for in Gethsemane.
A convent is a family made up by God. The members of this family are very different and come from diverse backgrounds, and it is in the convent where they learn to love each other and pray for each other. Through this effort they come to develop a perfect love and a prayerful concern for every living being and all the mankind.
A convent is also an army, inasmuch as its soldiers must be ready for unconditional obedience to God’s command and daily battle against sin with reliance on God’s armour.
The monastic life is full of hardships, and yet it is happy and joyful. No one is left on her own in the convent, as the spiritual father, the Mother Superior and other sisters are always by one’s side to give one encouragement, support and advice.
The St. Elisabeth Convent was founded in 1999. Currently the community consists of 72 women: Mother Superior Euphrosinia, 40 nuns, 24 novices, and 7 lay labourers. The members of the Sisterhood in honour of the Grand Duchess and New Martyr Elisabeth determined to lead a life of prayer, labour and service to people of the glory of God. The creation of the convent was guided by Protopope Andrei Lemeshonok, who is the spiritual father of the Sisterhood. With God’s blessing Father Andrei drew up the convent’s statute. We consider the Martha and Mary Convent founded by the Grand Duchess Elisabeth in Moscow and the Monastery of St. John the Baptist, in Essex, Great Britain, founded by Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), to be exemplary for us in our life within the convent and our relations with the world.
Please support us with your prayers, and may God bless you as He has blessed us with this convent!
