The prayer beads of St.
Martyr Augustine (Belyaev) were transferred from Minsk to the Penza Diocese.
The transfer occurred in our convent. The guests from the Penza Diocese, with which
the life of the martyr was connected in the beginning of the 20th
century. Alexander Borovkov, the grandson of the saint, is living in Minsk now.
In memory of their father, the daughters of the future grand martyr have preserved his personal belongings. Nina Alexandrovna Borovskaya, the youngest daughter of the saint has passed the beads and the wedding ring of the future archbishop down to her son, Alexander Nikolaevich.
The name Julia
is engraved on the ring. That was the name of the saint’s wife, who died
suddenly. After that dreadful event he decided to devote his life to God: at
first he became a priest, and later he was tonsured as a monk. Archbishop
Augustine prayed with those simple monastic beads until his very martyrly death
in 1937.
Thanks to that
event, people in monastery learnt a lot about St. Martyr Augustine, Archbishop
of Kaluga and Borovsk. What is more, the inhabitants of Penza got the antiquity, which
would become a reminder of St. Augustine for them. The beads will be kept in the
Museum of the history of the Penza Diocese.
September 28,
2017
St. Elisabeth
Convent
CONVERSATION