Pilgrimage to the Minsk St. Elisabeth Convent

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53.952062; 27.533732

Belarus, Minsk, Novinki microdistrict, 1st Marusinsky lane, 3

Minsk

Belarus

Telephone:

+375 29 121 25 41

Email:

St. Elisabeth Convent

- the only functioning monastery in the city of Minsk. The monastery provides assistance to sick and suffering people. There is a refectory and a hotel at the monastery.

History[edit]

St. Elisabeth Convent is the only functioning monastery in the city of Minsk. Founded in the 1990s on a site where no churches previously existed. Named in honor of the holy martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. The basis for the monastery was the Orthodox sisterhood of the same name, which since 1996 has looked after the Republican Clinical Psychiatric Hospital and City Clinical Hospital No. 2.

The main goal of the monastery and sisterhood is spiritual and social assistance to sick and suffering people.

In the monastery churches: the lower one - in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (consecrated on December 10, 1999) and the upper one - in honor of the patron saint of the Venerable Martyr Elizabeth (consecrated on January 2, 2005), a full circle of the statutory Divine Service is performed daily, and the Inexhaustible Psalter is read.

Choir of the St. Elisabeth Monastery

There are several choirs functioning at the monastery. Each of them is the pride of the monastery. Choirs produce music albums and films of performances. Within the walls of the St. Elisabeth Monastery you can listen to choirs at festive services and on Orthodox holidays. Video recordings and notes are available on the monastery website. St. Elizabeth's Monastery regularly publishes new material from choir performances around the world.

Songs of the St. Elisabeth Monastery can be downloaded or listened to online. In the “Listen” section, not only the hymns of the St. Elisabeth Monastery are available, but also sermons.

Video of the choir of the St. Elisabeth Monastery: “Just something”

Festive choir. A choir was formed at the monastery in 2007. Before this, the choral group was known as the choir of St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Minsk. All singers of the festive choir of the St. Elisabeth Monastery are professional musicians. Many of them are laureates of international competitions and candidates in art history. The repertoire of the festive choir is based on the melodies of Byzantine and Znamenny chants.
Choir of Sisters of the St. Elisabeth Monastery. The musical group consists of members of the amateur choir of sisters of mercy. The number of choir participants is 25 people. The basis of the repertoire is Znamenny chant, but Valaam and Byzantine are also present. On holidays - Greek, Old Bulgarian, Georgian chants.
Brotherly choir. It was formed in 2001. The choir adheres to the Valaam chant, its authentic version. The main goal of the choir members is to help prayer.

Listen to the choirs of the St. Elisabeth Monastery online

Current state[edit]

The monastery conducts active economic activities. It operates numerous workshops of various profiles - mural painting, mosaic, restoration, ceramics, sewing and others.

The monastery cooperates with the nearby Republican Clinical Psychiatric Hospital, Psychoneurological Boarding School No. 3, and a boarding home for disabled children with special needs of psychophysical development.

People suffering from alcohol and drug addiction, as well as people released from prison, undergo rehabilitation in the monastery's courtyards.

The monastery carries out charitable activities in the Republican Clinical Psychiatric Hospital, boarding schools for children and adults with special needs of psychophysical development, and city hospitals.

Where can I stay nearby?

Guests can stay in the pilgrim's house at the monastery or in the Monastery House . The monastery house is located on Polevoy Lane, 25, and the pilgrim’s house is located on Vygotsky Street, 1A. The pilgrim's house is a modern five-story building with wi-fi, refectories, and a tea room. There is also a chapel where at 18.30 on Wednesdays an akathist is served to Valentina Minskaya. The pilgrim's house can accommodate up to 125 guests, and check-in is possible until 22.00.

To reserve places, you must first contact the relevant service of the monastery and submit a request by e-mail (a sample can be downloaded on the monastery website). Groups with fewer than five people or single pilgrims must reserve a place no later than two months before the expected arrival, and three days before it - confirm the relevance of the application.

Important! Visitors are accommodated according to the monastery rule: women and men are placed in separate rooms. The only exceptions are families with children.

Temples[edit]

Church of the Martyr Elizabeth
Temple in honor of the “Sovereign” Icon of the Mother of God
Temple in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Inexhaustible Chalice”

Lower Monastery, in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Upper Monastery, in honor of the patron saint of the monastery, the Venerable Martyr Elizabeth
House church in honor of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg in psychoneurological boarding school No. 3 for adults
Temple in honor of the Resurrection of the Righteous Lazarus of the Four Days at the Northern Cemetery of Minsk

Temple in honor of the “Sovereign” Icon of the Mother of God

Temples in honor of the Royal Passion-Bearers (located in the crypt of the temple in honor of the “Sovereign” Icon of the Mother of God)

Temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Inexhaustible Chalice” (located on the monastery courtyard in the village of Lysaya Gora, Minsk region)

The temple in honor of St. Nektarios of Aegina (on the territory of a children's boarding school) has not yet been consecrated.

Products

The workshops of the St. Elisabeth Monastery produce various church products. You can purchase goods from the workshops in the shop on the territory of the monastery or online. The official website of the online store of the St. Elisabeth Monastery sells exclusive handmade products:

icons : painted, stone, triptychs, printed;
crosses : wooden carved, pectoral, altar and altar crosses;
books (including from the publishing house of the St. Elisabeth Monastery): the Bible, children's books, prayer books, fiction on spiritual topics;
sewing products : hats, church vestments, towels and tablecloths, parish clothing;
utensils : lamps, candles, censers, rosaries, incense;
ceramics : dishes and church utensils;
souvenirs : leather and wood products, brooches and pendants, personalized spoons.

Bench at the St. Elisabeth Monastery, © Anna Kudryavtseva

The balm from the St. Elisabeth Monastery is especially popular. But the healing cream-balm can only be purchased locally, at the monastery, or from some suppliers of natural cosmetics. This also applies to other cosmetics from the St. Elisabeth Monastery. Prices for products from the St. Elisabeth Monastery in Minsk are affordable, and the quality is famous throughout the Orthodox CIS countries.

Buy products from the St. Elisabeth Monastery

When visiting the monastery, you can take with you church items that need restoration. The shops of the St. Elisabeth Monastery are engaged not only in the sale, but also in the restoration of icons, crosses and other objects.

Elizabeth's Church inside: panoramic view

Patronal holidays[edit]

Lower Monastery: Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra, Saint
- May 22, December 19

Upper Monastery, in honor of the patron saint of the monastery, the Venerable Martyr Elizabeth (July 18)

House church in psychoneurological boarding school No. 3 for adults (February 6): Ksenia of Petersburg, blessed
- February 6, June 6

Temple in honor of the Resurrection of the Righteous Lazarus of the Four Days at the Northern Cemetery of Minsk (October 17)

Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Sovereign”
- March 15

Temples in honor of the Royal Passion-Bearers
- February 5, June 25, February 11, July 17 (located in the crypt of the church in honor of the "Sovereign" Icon of the Mother of God) - July 17

Temple in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “Inexhaustible Chalice”
- May 18 (located in the monastery courtyard in the village of Lysaya Gora, Minsk region) - May 18

The temple in honor of St. Nektarios of Aegina (on the territory of a children's boarding school) has not yet been consecrated.

Schedule of services at St. Elisabeth Monastery

The schedule of services for the next 14 days is published on the official website of the St. Elisabeth Monastery. A detailed schedule for each day describes services in all churches of the monastery, records the names of employees, and marks the days when the choir of sisters performs.

On the website you can find out what holiday is celebrated on the day of the service, and whether you need to observe a special fast. Services at the St. Elisabeth Monastery begin on some days at 03:30–5:45, on other days at 06:40–07:00. In the evening (usually at 17:30 or 18:00) an all-night vigil, vespers, and sometimes an akathist are held.

Schedule of the St. Elisabeth Monastery (official website)

Other attractions of the monastery

In addition to the above buildings, when visiting the St. Elizabeth's Monastery, you can admire the bell tower, see the cell rooms and the refectory decorated with frescoes of icons. Pilgrims are also equally interested in visiting workshops where masterpieces of Orthodox culture are created. The products of the St. Elizabeth's Monastery are famous for their beauty and elegance of execution.

There are about 30 workshops on the territory of the shrine. Among them, you should pay attention to:

carpentry;
candle;
sewing and embroidery;
mural-mosaic;
plumbing and mechanical;
iconographic.

It is here that all the products of the St. Elizabeth's Monastery are produced.

The amazing fate of one woman

A German princess, a Russian princess, an Orthodox Saint - all this can be said about one woman: Elizabeth Feodorovna. It was in honor of her that the Belarusian monastery got its name.

The German princess, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England, having refused other suitors for her hand and heart, married her beloved man: the brother of the Russian Emperor Alexander III - Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. So, as fate would have it, she became one of the Romanov family then reigning in Russia.

Elizaveta Fedorovna devoted her entire life to charitable causes and helping those in need. She founded a charitable society, which was intended to help children, as they now say, from disadvantaged families. She did not have her own children in the family, but together with her husband they raised their nephews, since their own mother died during childbirth.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the princess organized a community to help soldiers, where clothes, medicines and other things necessary for soldiers were prepared. After the death of her husband, Princess Elizabeth sold most of her jewelry.

Using the money she received, she bought an estate in Moscow with 4 houses and a beautiful garden, and founded the Martha and Mary Convent there, where the sisters carried out charitable and medical work, helping everyone who asked for help.

It is surprising that this institution was not a monastery in the full sense of the word. The sisters took vows of obedience, non-covetousness and chastity, but after a certain time they could leave and start a family at their own discretion - they were freed from all the vows they had previously made.

Elizaveta Fedorovna accomplished many good deeds during her life. But after the revolution that took place in Russia, she was arrested and killed some time later. Together with other members of the Romanov family, they were thrown alive into a mine near the city of Alapaevsk and left to die of hunger and their wounds.

Witnesses said that for some time prayer chants could be heard from the mine, and the wounds of one of the dead were bandaged with a piece of Princess Elizabeth’s clothing.

And in 1992, the Russian Princess Elizaveta Fedorovna, a woman of difficult fate and amazing holiness, was canonized by the Orthodox Church. She began to be revered as a Saint.