St. Elisabeth Convent

ST JOHN OF SHANGHAI: “I AM ALIVE” Today, 2 July (19 June Old Style), the Church remembers St John of Shanghai and San Francisco — a saint of our own time, known to us through living memory and prayer. Born Mikhail Maximovitch in the Kharkov province, he left Russia after the Revolution and later became a monk and bishop. His ministry led him through Serbia, China, the Philippines, Western Europe and the United States. Wherever exile, illness, or poverty wounded people’s lives, he drew near — visiting the sick, caring for orphans, and gathering the faithful around Christ. For our community, St John is especially dear. His hospital ministry continues to inspire the sisters’ service among the sick and suffering. At the Convent we have a wooden church dedicated to him, where Liturgies are served for patients of the nearby psychiatric hospital. Twice a month, the sisters serve an Akathist to St John for the sick and afflicted. You are welcome to send names for commemoration — for yourself, your loved ones, or anyone in need of his prayers. 📝 https://obitel-minsk.org/prayer-request St John’s holy relics rest in the Cathedral of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in San Francisco. Yet a saint’s love is not confined to the place of his relics. Soon after his repose, he appeared to one of his spiritual daughters and said: “Though I have reposed, I am alive.” The article below helps us hear these words as lived truth. Through the memories of Vera Sokolik, a descendant of Russian émigrés, it shows how St John became a spiritual anchor for those who had lost home and security, yet preserved the faith — and how his care continues to bear fruit today. Read the article: 👉 https://obitel-minsk.org/en/how-saint-john-of-shanghai-inspired-generations-of-faith

WHAT LIES BENEATH THE PSKOV-CAVES MONASTERY June 28 marks the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Pskov-Caves Monastery. Beneath this holy place lie ancient underground passages, cemeteries where coffins rest in wall niches rather than in the earth, and the dry riverbeds of a long-vanished stream. We invite you to discover this remarkable natural monument—shaped by nature, opened and cultivated by human hands—and the secrets it has quietly kept for six hundred years. Text by Alexander Moiseyenko Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Pskov-Caves Monastery

KOSOVO'S HERO TSAR LAZAR: CHOOSING FAITH OVER THRONE The Holy, Glorious and Right-victorious Great Martyr Lazarus, also known as Tsar Lazar, King Lazar of Serbia, or Lazar the Serb, led Serbia at a time when the expanding Ottoman Empire under Sultan Murad I put Serbians under extreme pressure to convert to Islam, threatening Christianity's future in the region. Amidst Serbia's fragmentation due to power struggles among its princes, Saint Lazarus exemplified genuine Christian leadership, embodying Saint Savva's ideal of "everything for Christ – Christ above all." He chose spiritual salvation over earthly power, ultimately accepting martyrdom in the Battle of Kosovo against the Ottomans. 💬 Continue reading

HAPPY ARE THOSE WHO HAVE LEARNED TO LOVE. A NEW E-BOOK What unites a former prisoner who found a new beginning in a monastery workshop, an elderly grandmother whose fading memory left behind only gratitude, and a sister of mercy whose earthly life ended suddenly alongside her two children? Their circumstances were different. Their journeys could hardly have been more unlike. Yet each of them encountered Christ in the midst of weakness, sorrow, or loss. Each learned, in his or her own way, what it means to love. 📚 Download the e-book: 👉 https://obitel-minsk.org/en/e-book-the-blessed-ones In the Church, holiness is not reserved for the distant past. God continues His work in human hearts, gathering people as different as can be and teaching them the same lesson: that life finds its true fulfilment in love. The people whose stories fill these pages were not free from hardship. Yet through repentance, faith, and self-giving love, they discovered a joy that did not depend on outward circumstances. As one of the book's themes reminds us, whether we are happy or unhappy ultimately depends not on what we possess, but on the measure of our love. We invite you to spend time with these stories. They are not accounts of extraordinary feats, but of ordinary lives transformed by grace — a reminder that the Gospel remains as living and attainable today as ever. 📝 You are also welcome to send us the names of your loved ones for commemoration in prayer. Nothing binds us together more deeply than prayer for one another before God. 👉 https://obitel-minsk.org/prayer-request

HOW ONE VISIT TO A CHURCH CHANGED THE LIFE OF SCHEMA-ABBESS TAMAR 23 June is the feast day of a Georgian saint, the Holy Confessor Famari Mardzanova, depicted by the Russian painter Pavel Korin in his work "Russia Leaving". Tamara Alexandrovna Mardzhanishvili (Mardzhanova) was born on 1 April 1868, into one of the most illustrious families in Georgia. Her father, Colonel Alexander Mardzhanishvili, and mother, Elisabeth born Princess Chavchavadze, were faithful Christians. They gave Tamara a brilliant secular education. Her brother Constantine became a famous actor, director and founder of Georgian theatre. Tamara, a gifted singer, was preparing to enter the St Petersburg Conservatoire. At twenty years of age, Tamara lost her parents and inherited a large estate. She was rich and beautiful. Suitors from Georgia's most famous families offered her their hand in marriage. But the intervention of the Divine Providence changed the course of her life. 💬 Continue reading

A PLACE OF HOPE STILL TAKING SHAPE Last year, many of you helped us begin a project close to our hearts at our women’s farmstead in the village of Vishnevka. Thanks to your generosity, significant progress has already been made. We are deeply grateful to everyone who contributed and helped bring this vision closer to reality. Over time, the original vision of a covered outdoor dining pavilion has expanded into a larger space serving the daily life of the farmstead: a summer refectory where meals can be shared, a gazebo where the sisters and residents can gather and rest after services, and a covered immersion font. One challenge at the farmstead is helping each woman find a way to contribute according to her abilities. Hospitality has become one of the most fruitful paths. Welcoming guests, preparing meals, and serving others allows the women to experience something essential: that they are needed. What begins as a simple task often becomes a source of dignity, purpose, and renewed trust in life. This year we hope to continue developing this shared space, so that it may serve both the residents of the farmstead and the many pilgrims, friends, and guests who visit throughout the year. 👉 Follow the link to support the project: https://obitel-minsk.org/donate-st-elisabeth-convent Every contribution, however modest, helps create a place where prayer, fellowship, and healing can flourish side by side. Thank you for walking with us in this work and for helping us continue this ministry. — At the heart of the farmstead stands the Church of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, where the Divine Services are celebrated regularly and prayers are offered for all who support this ministry. If there are loved ones whom you would like remembered in prayer, you are warmly invited to send their names for commemoration. It is through prayer that we remain united across countries, distances, and all the changing circumstances of life. 📝 https://obitel-minsk.org/prayer-request

SAINT IGOR, THE MARTYR WHO BLOTTED OUT THE SIN OF INTERNECINE STRIFE Prince Igor of Chernigov and Kiev lived in a Kievan Rus divided by a fierce struggle between two competing factions fighting for the Kiev throne in the 12th century. The conflict was not his fault, but he accepted death at the hands of a vengeful mob without protest, erasing the sin of arrogance, conceit, and ill will that had consumed his homeland. In the hymns of his feast day, he is praised for "putting off the perishable robe of mankind, and was clothed in the imperishable and much-suffering robe of Christ." 💬 Read full

HOLY MARTYR DIMITRIUS OF UGLICH, A PATRON SAINT OF ALL CHILDREN Among the Synaxis of our saints are people of all ages, including children. On 16 June, we commemorate Saint Dimitrius of Uglich, a child saint. He was a member of the Russian royal dynasty of the Rurikovichs and is venerated as a martyr for the Orthodox faith. Dimitry was the son of the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible and Maria Nagaya. The Church had not sanctified their marriage, and Dimitry could not inherit the throne from his father. Therefore, Ivan's son Fyodor succeeded him on the throne, while the infant Dimitry was exiled to Uglich with his mother. Yet the exile of Dimitrius did not diminish the fears of Fyodor's supporters, as Fyodor had no sons. 💬 Continue reading

LOVE’S BEACON: A SHEPHERD FOR A CHANGING RUSSIA On 14 June 1990, Saint John of Kronshtadt was canonised. For the very first time, an all-Church prayer was raised in his honour. Yet, long before this moment, Father John’s sanctity was felt by his contemporaries, who flocked to him in droves. “He was slender, of average height, with enchanting blue eyes and an expression of profound love on his face. He seemed to have emerged from a land of light, truth, mercy, love, and goodness. For those of us who had never before laid eyes on Father John, it was unnecessary to be told it was him. Out of a thousand priests, he was recognisable by his inspired countenance, those radiant eyes, and that clear expression of face which glowed with an inner fire, reflecting his childlike pure soul,” wrote Monk Iuvian (Krasnoperov) of Valaam Monastery. 💬 Continue reading

SUNDAY OF ALL SAINTS OF RUSSIA | 14 JUNE 2026 On the second Sunday after Pentecost, we commemorate all saints who have shone forth in the Russian land, glorified by the Lord for their God-pleasing deeds and holy lives. In the video, the Lay Choir of our monastery performs the Magnification — a hymn of praise — to the Russian saints. Holy saints of Russia, pray to God for us 🙏🏻

LUHANSK'S HOLY DEFENDER: THE VIRGIN AND ELDER Within the confines of the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Luhansk, an extraordinary icon of the Mother of God, painted in 1992, beckons the faithful and curious alike. As one approaches this awe-inspiring masterpiece, the Holy Virgin’s full stature comes into view, her arms crossed in a gesture reminiscent of the “Tenderness” icon, each detail filled with profound symbolic meaning. Every Wednesday, before the Divine Liturgy, the entire clergy gathers at the centre of the church to serve an Akathist to the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos before this revered icon. However, it is during three days in June, from the 13th to the 15th, that the icon’s commemoration reaches its mystical zenith. 💬 Continue reading