Several sisters took the Rassaphore and Stavrophore
vows in our Convent on February 20 (the Tuesday of the First Week of the Great
Lent) after the Compline and the reading of the Great Penitential Canon of St
Andrew of Crete. They were tonsured by the Most Reverend Pavel, Metropolitan of
Minsk and Zaslavl.
Four Rassaphore nuns and five Stavrophore nuns
received the blessing to tread the narrow yet blissful path in the footsteps of
Jesus Christ.
Here is what Metropolitan Pavel told the newly-tonsured
sisters:
We have sung a wonderful prokeimenon during the
tonsure into the Stavrophore, “For as many of you as have been baptised into
Christ have put on Christ.” The Church sings this remarkable hymn when people
receive the Sacrament of Baptism. You have received a new baptism, and it is
because of this Sacrament that you have had your names changed, which serves to
remind you that both your internal life and your external life has to change.
That is what you have now promised to God, the Most Pure Theotokos, and the
holy Angels. During the Last Judgement, the Lord will not ask you what promises
you made but whether you fulfilled them or not.
The good tradition to perform tonsures during the
Lenten season is not accidental: it’s the time when all services and prayers
are designed to help us reconsider and improve our fallen way of living. We
have heard the Gospel readings during the weeks before the Lent. The examples
described in the Gospel are very edifying for everyone, especially monastics. They
keep us from vices and set an example to follow. Like Zacchaeus who did his
best to see God, you should follow his example by seeking God restlessly.
The Prayer of Saint Ephraim the Syrian, which is
repeated in the church during the Great Lent, has a special meaning and power.
The words of this prayer must be foundational for a monastic. One should
especially abhor idleness. It becomes clear over time that idleness is the
worst sin and it is a precursor to one’s downfall. We can’t feel something permanently.
This is how we are made and this is the result of the Fall. People must move
forward and build up strength. If they stop, their ineptitude will lead to
instant degradation of their way of life and their personalities. That is why
the sisters who have promised to serve God, the Church, and other people for
their entire lives, must build up their spiritual strength by fulfilling their
promises, performing their duties, and strictly following the required prayer
rules and other monastic obligations.
I would like to wish everyone God’s inexhaustible
grace in their monastic life. Get saved in the Lord!”
The sisters were given new names: Eudoxia, Alexandra,
Anna, Nadezhda, and Yekaterina, in honour of New Martyrs. The tradition
requires that newly-tonsured sisters must stay in church for three days and
nights.
February 21, 2018
CONVERSATION