The closer we approach God, the more it hurts inside. Every real step towards God tears a person apart. The Lord does not want us to become attached to time, space, or any particular values. He wants us to be free.
Birthday: 04.08.1956
Name Day: December 13 ( Apostle Andrew the First-Called)
Chirotony Dates: 04/07/1992; 11/14/1992
We all sincerely desire to be saved. Otherwise, we would not be here. Coming to church out of habit, listening to chants, saying some good words and smiling at one another may be beneficial for our mind, but not for our spirit. In reality, we come here because we are preparing for death. The time will come for each of us to ascend his own Golgotha. We should not be afraid however, because we are Christians...
Birthday: 04.17.1964
Name Day: October 8 (Reverend Sergius of Radonezh)
Chirotony Dates: 12/30/1995; 08/28/1996;
The Church has a simple recipe for all of life's emergencies: cling to the Lord in prayer, Communion, and everything that unites a person with Him. Then, our sorrows and misfortunes recede, and our problems are solved. However, doing so takes effort, and renunciation of one's ego and pride, because the enemy is trying to sow anger, resentment and hostility in our hearts.
Birthday: 07.07.1965
Name Day: December 13 (Apostle Andrew the First-Called)
Chirotony Dates: 05/28/1998; 06/06/1998
The Lord is always looking for ways not to punish or defeat a person, but to save each one of us.
Birthday: 10.23.1957
Name Day: December 6 (The Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky)
Chirotony Dates: 03/15/2000; 04/23/2000
In our time, enduring ourselves with all our so-called character traits is probably the greatest act of faith. [This act is necessary] for the Lord to blot out all of these "rough spots" bringing to light the pure gold of the soul that He created, and that is now covered with a crust...
Birthday: 02.14.1950
Name Day: March 22 (Holy Martyr Valery)
Chirotony Dates: 05/23/2001; 11/25/2001
Holiness is not some unattainable height. Holiness is when God begins to act in a sinful person, in spite of all his human talents, or perhaps his infirmities. At this point, it is no longer a personal achievement, but God's grace.
Birthday: 10.27.1974
Name Day: October 8 (Reverend Sergius of Radonezh)
Chirotony Dates: 02/10/2002; 06/16/2013
What does it mean to repent to the Lord for our sins? It means changing our lives by following Christ.
Birthday: 08.07.1979
Name Day: October 8 (Reverend Sergius of Radonezh)
Chirotony Dates: 11/05/2009; 06/20/2010
In any of our trials and difficulties, we must not forget that the church is always open, and that we can come here, be comforted, pray, ask God for forgiveness and achieve the very purpose of our coming into this world—the union with Christ.
Birthday: 08.29.1973
Name Day: November 23 (Apostle Rodion)
Chirotony Dates: 11/28/2011; 02/25/2012
There are words in the Gospel that speak of the simplicity that we must achieve to be able to draw close to God, so that He can lay His hand on us, as if we were children with simple, innocent thoughts and feelings.
Birthday: 09.21.1968
Name Day: November 2 (Great Martyr Artemy)
Chirotony Dates: 12/14/2009; 03/15/2015
I have come to realize that this world has its own ways, none of which has anything in store for me in regard to the salvation of my soul. At the same time, I was moved by the gospel parable of the talents. It really touched my heart, and kept me awake at night. I was thinking, 'What if I am hiding my God-given talent in the sand instead of answering His call? What account will I give for this?' When I was 27, these thoughts led me to enter the seminary.
Birthday: 08.10.1986
Name Day: October 8 (Reverend Sergius of Radonezh)
Chirotony Dates: 07/29/2016; 01/01/2017
Any knowledge that man discovers through science is a gift of God to people, proclaiming His presence in this world.
Birthday: 07.14.1980
Name Day: October 3 (Blessed Prince Oleg Bryansky)
Chirotony Dates: 07/19/2020; 11/07/2020
Birthday: 11.14.1973
Name Day: October 3 (Blessed Prince Oleg Bryansky)
Chirotony Dates: 10/22/2005
Birthday: 07.19.1972
Name Day: August 6 (Blessed Prince Boris)
Chirotony Dates: 06/02/2012
We all sincerely desire to be saved. Otherwise, we would not be here. Coming to church out of habit, listening to chants, saying some good words and smiling at one another may be beneficial for our mind, but not for our spirit. In reality, we come here because we are preparing for death. The time will come for each of us to ascend his own Golgotha. We should not be afraid however, because we are Christians...
The Sisterhood, in honour of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elisabeth, was established in 1994. We began with only a small group of lay sisters visiting the patients of the National Psychiatric Hospital.
The monastic and lay sisters and brothers of Saint Elisabeth Convent make helping people in need an important part of their everyday lives. The sisters are inspired to serve with our heavenly intercessor, Saint Elisabeth, and our Saviour.
Alexey Kolesnikov is an artist and works in a monastic workshop. He is the head of a large and happy family. We interviewed him about the role of art in his family, maintaining work-life balance, and about the foundations of a happy family life.
The enemy is working hard to divert us from our narrow path of salvation; he wants us to lose sight of our homeland in heaven and follow fake leaders in pursuit of a false cause. We plead for the Lord’s help all the time. We need Him every step…
Galina Goncharova is a sister of charity at our Convent. She is also an inspired teacher of music and the leader of a musical group. In our interview, we discuss how her coming to God changed her life and gave it a new meaning.
We follow the footsteps of our Convent’s heavenly patroness, Saint Elisabeth, therefore helping disadvantaged poor people is one of our top priorities. We have established two rehabilitation centers near Minsk - for women and for men.
As our Patron Saint Grand Duchess Elisabeth wrote, God's image in a person may dim, but it can never be destroyed. Today, we asked Ruslan Gurin, a brother from our monastic farmstead, to share his story of his progress.
To be an Orthodox faithful is to be versatile; we are looking for and exploring the best means to express our spiritual movements and sensations in the fullest and most vivid way. We have a great challenge and a duty to ourselves - never to…
Our Convent has welcomed a known visitor, Yury Norstein, author of the internationally acclaimed animation films «Hedgehog in the fog» and «Tale of Tales». In an interview, he shares his views on the present state of film art and animation.
The Scripture provides us with some explanations as to why people who heard the word of God and saw the churches do not see, though seeing, and do not hear or understand, though hearing - many centuries ago or today, and why their hearts remain…
We continue to tell you more about the different ministries that we conduct here at Saint Elisabeth Convent. We have already touched upon the topic of bringing God into the lives of disabled children that live in the boarding homes of Minsk.
A Women’s Rehabilitation Centre of St Elisabeth Convent was established in 2011 near village Nialidavičy close to Minsk. The plan was to build a safe place where homeless, unemployed, disadvantaged women - from all kinds of difficult life situations.
This autumn JOY Festival offers its visitors an exciting and busy programme including concerts, theatrical productions, workshop sessions, special projects, interactive zones, and other events that will have something for everyone.
Can we call the beheading of the Righteous Prophet a celebration? In the Russian language, the word ‘celebration’ is from the word ‘idleness’, ‘doing nothing’ and it happens from some event that we are experiencing and such event can not only…
There is so little and so much that is expected of us: to meet with patience and humility the things and people we may not fully like. By leading their lives in prayer, fasting and hard work, the great saints attained the glory of God.
