The Lord Jesus Christ healed people by word and deed, taking care not only of their bodies, but above all of their souls, and as a result of the whole person. People afflicted by disease need therapy, and also companionship and spiritual support. The Convent's sisters remind the ailing person that their souls are alive and that the Holy Sacraments strengthen the soul and the body, and aid in the healing.
The Convent's lay sisters and volunteers conduct their ministries among patients of the National Mental Health Centre, Minsk City Centre for Rehabilitation of Children with Mental Diseases, National Research to Practice Centre for Pneumonology, and General Hospital No. 2.
Being in the hospital outside of one's habitual surroundings and alone with oneself, one often questions the meaning of one's life, and becomes more open to thoughts about God and the soul. Our goal is to be near, bring comfort, sympathy and love to all who need them during those critical moments. Through our ministry, many have found faith, learned about the Holy Sacraments and started going to Church.
Blessing the establishment of our Convent, Metropolitan Philaret said, "You should look at your ministry in this way, “I have come to care for the sick. I pray to you, O, Lord that You may do Your work through me." His words continue to be an inspiration for the sisters today.
For more than thirty years, the Minsk City Center for Medical Rehabilitation of Children with Psychoneurological Disorders has been helping children suffering from psychoneurological and orthopedic conditions. What makes this institution unique is that its little patients, undergoing rehabilitation here, are given a real chance to integrate into society. These chances grow in proportion to the love, attention, and support each child receives.
Since 2009, the sisters of our Convent have been visiting the center to support not only the children, but also their families. Often the suffering of a child becomes the very door through which an entire family finds its way to God. The sisters spend time with the children, provide care, engage them in conversation, and help them prepare for the Holy Sacraments. A playroom in the center is temporarily transformed into a chapel for prayer services and Divine Liturgies. In this way, the patients of the center receive comprehensive support — physical, emotional, and spiritual.
The sisters of mercy also visit patients of the Second City Clinical Hospital in Minsk, home to the city’s cardiology center and various specialized departments. Here, people of different ages and social backgrounds receive medical treatment.
Venerable Ambrose of Optina once said: “Sometimes illness comes in order to awaken the soul that has fallen asleep.” Being in a hospital, away from daily concerns and left alone with oneself, a person often becomes more open to thoughts about the soul, about God, and about the meaning of life. For many years, the sisters have been coming here to console, to share warmth, and to offer love to those in need. Many patients have learned about the Sacraments of the Church for the first time through their ministry, and some have even begun their journey into the life of the Church.
The Republican Center for Pulmonology and Phthisiology receives patients of all ages and social backgrounds. The sisters of mercy also come here to offer their support. The responses are varied — sometimes there is rejection, sometimes mockery. Yet if even one person out of twenty responds to the call, this is already a victory. And with each passing year, such victories become more and more frequent.
On the territory of the center there is a chapel dedicated to Saint Luke of Simferopol and Crimea (Voino-Yasenetsky). It is not easy to speak of the fruits of this ministry in a place so deeply marked by suffering and fear. Yet we believe that the labors of the sisters are not in vain, and we do see the quiet transformation of souls taking place.
The Republican Center for Mental Health, established in 2009 on the grounds of the former national psychiatric hospital in Novinki, now includes more than thirty clinical departments. Epilepsy, intellectual disabilities, phobias, neuroses, psychosomatic disorders, and alcohol and drug addiction are only part of the long list of conditions for which people come here. The center also has a children’s department, where both teenagers and very young children receive treatment.
The very word psyche comes from the Greek word for “soul.” This reminds us that patients of this center need not only medical but also emotional and spiritual support. That is why, since 1994, the sisters of mercy of our Convent have been serving here in the name of the Holy Nun-Martyr Grand Duchess Elisabeth.
Mental illness is also an illness of the soul. This is what the sisters gently remind their patients. Their mission is not limited to everyday care, practical help, or moral support. Above all, it is to bear witness that the soul is alive, and that the Church offers spiritual means — Confession and Holy Communion — to help it heal, or to give strength to carry the cross of illness with faith to the very end.
At Saint Elisabeth Convent, Elena Dubovik is a sister of mercy. We asked sister Elena to tell us more about her obediences in the mental and tuberculosis clinic. We asked her how her service gives inspiration and hope to the patients and helps…
Xenia Verbitskaya, a sister of mercy, together with Father Andrey Lemeshonok saw patients of the cancer ward at Minsk's city clinic No. 2. We interviewed her about the experience of her ministry and its purpose and meaning.
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.
