Just under 20 years ago our community appeared next to a mental health institution on the outskirts of Minsk. It 'grew' from an Orthodox sisterhood serving in a psychiatric hospital. Today many of the sisters that stood at its origins have put on monastic habits.
Two years ago, we started a new tradition here at Saint Elisabeth Convent. Every Transfiguration night we gather on the mount Lysaya near Minsk (it is the second-highest mount in Belarus), celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the open air and consecrate apples and other fruits.
