The residents of thу Boarding Home №3 for adults with special needs,
the sisters of mercy and the workers of the facility celebrated their patron
saint’s day – the feast day of St. Xenia of Petersburg.
Twenty years ago – on February 6, 1998 – Metropolitan Philaret
of Minsk and Slutsk consecrated the altar of the chapel. Twenty years is a quite
a long period. A new generation of people has grown during that time, and a whole
convent appeared near the Boarding Home. Many people did not believe that was
possible, but today the convent and the Boarding Home are one big family. The
clerics, the sisters and brothers of mercy became close people for the
residents of the Boarding Home. They pray together, they take trips together,
they celebrate the main feast together – they do together almost everything! And today many
people came to the church with their children and close ones.
– It is not just our ministry – we all have one common
life, - Sister Zinaida, the head sister of the sisterhood, said. Archpriest
Andrew Lemeshonok, the spiritual father of the convent, added to those words
that everything is rather native in the Boarding Home, while the relationships
between people are just beautiful.
Fr. Andrew noted in his sermon that St. Xenia, the
patron saint of the Boarding Home, reveals us the example of how we should look
at the circumstances of our life in the right way and how we should seek a
solution: “Do not seek where it is comfortable for you, but seek where
salvation of your soul is”.
There is also a good tradition to give a festive
concert on this day, which is organized by the joint effort of the sisters of
mercy and the workers of the Boarding Home. All the comers could see the
performances of the choirs of the brothers and sisters of the convent, the
choir of the students of the Sunday school, “The Joyful Hearts” ensemble and
many others.
February 6, 2018
St. Elisabeth Convent
CONVERSATION