St. Iversky Women's Monastery (Donetsk): life near death

The revival or opening of monasteries speaks of the return of the people to the origins of Christianity. Since the times of Ancient Rus, monasteries and churches have been built, and they were in the war years a shelter for people, and in peacetime - their consolation. The Holy Iveron Convent (Donetsk) is no exception.

Building a shrine

The convent in Donetsk dates back to the construction of the church in 1997 on lands near the airfield. Later, in honor of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God, a church was built, and near it a city cemetery was opened.

The Iberian icon of the Mother of God is a famous shrine that appeared on Mount Athos in the 10th and 11th centuries. Its power helps people to repent of their sins and gain strength to follow the way through life through the righteous. Also, it is peculiar to pray for the salvation of the souls of native people and getting rid of mental and bodily diseases. This wonderworking icon draws the attention of not only Orthodox Christians, but also believers of other faiths.

History of the icon

According to legend, the Mother of God was to go to Iberia to bear the word of God to the Gentiles, but instead Andrew the First-Called went. Sending him on the road, the Virgin washed herself and put a board to write icons for her. Her image with the baby Jesus forever engraved on the blackboard, so the image is called not made by hands. All copies that were written from the icon, received the same force as the original source.

In 1999, the list of the icon of the Mother of God, written in Athos, was carried by the cross through various holy places for six months, until its new home became the Holy Iveron Convent. Donetsk gave shelter to an Orthodox shrine.

By 2001, on the territory of the monastery were buildings for the farm and a residential building with a small plot of land on which the garden and the berry garden were located. In the same year the monastery received independence, and the first inhabitants were the novices of the Georgian-Lomovsky Kasperovsky Monastery.

Growing monastery

The women who came to the Holy Iverian Women's Monastery (Donetsk) were able to set up the farm in such a way that by 2005 a candle store, belfry and a proscenium had been added. The new two-story building housed a monastery library, sisters' cells and a refectory.

Since 2007, construction of another residential annex began, as the monastery expanded. During this time, the monastery was added land and farming. Garden and berry became a gift from the botanical garden of the city of Donetsk.

By 2012, in the Holy Iveron Convent, Donetsk gave to the lifelong possession of 1 hectare of land, which the nuns are working on their own.

In 2014, the opening of the monastery dedicated to Turkovitsky image of the Mother of God was held.

Life of nuns

The life of the sisters is spent in works and prayers. Lazers here do not hold, and the labor day begins at 5.30. The first prayers sound from 6 o'clock in the morning, the day ends with evening prayer, which begins at half past nine in the evening.

Each sister knows her daily routine. Some clean and serve in the temple, others prepare and set the tables in the refectory, while others work in the garden and in the garden. A large farm requires a lot of effort, so nuns have weekends only on great religious holidays.

According to the charter of the monastery, the novices do not belong to anything, but everything is considered common, therefore, for the good of the whole community, it is necessary to store and multiply what is in the monastery. This applies to both simple nuns and abbesses. Everything that is received, grown or built at the monastery, belongs to the spiritual "hostel".

Sisters completely live at the expense of subsidiary farming and grown crops, as well as from the donations of believers.

This monastery is a shrine, which is visited by people who go on pilgrimage to holy places.

Landscaped with sisters' hands, the courtyard and the flower garden invite people to come to the temple to pray, relax and join the great shrine - the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God.