The Catalog of Good Deeds: Ministry of St.Elisabeth Convent

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The Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt founded the House of Love of Labour—a social structure that was ahead of its time. It provided shelter and employment to those who were deemed useless by the public and those who were devastated both spiritually and physically.

Nowadays, Father John’s heritage isn’t forgotten. The House of Love of Labour of St Elisabeth Convent was founded with the blessing of the Very Rev Andrew Lemeshonok, the spiritual father of our Convent. It preserves the main principle of the original facility, that is, serving one’s neighbour. It is fitting that a nun named after Saint Chionia, an Italian martyr who was orphaned when she was very young, is in charge of the House of Love of Labour.

“Everything Begins with Father Andrew’s Dream”

“Everything in our Convent always begins with Father Andrew’s dream. Father Andrew, just like his heavenly patron Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, is always dreaming of bringing as many people to God as possible,” Nun Chionia (Efimova) says. “The foundation that lay in this place for a long time was overgrown with grass. Every time our Father Andrew drove past this place, he prayed, ‘I wish there was a house where the disabled and socially vulnerable people could find a job and learn about God…’ And the Lord made his dream come true.”

Apostle Paul said, “[B]ase things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen” (1 Cor. 1:28). We spent a lot of time talking with Nun Chionia about the truth of this apostolic saying with regard to the House of Love of Labour and how helpful labour is for socialisation and rehabilitation.

I believe that the most important aspect of the House of Love of Labour is that the people who come here discover the meaning of life and figure out that it lies in the salvation of their souls. Each one of these people is brought to us by the Lord, I’m sure.

There are various people among our employees. There are high-skilled specialists among them, too. Given that since the very beginning, our Convent focused on helping our weak neighbours, we try and help these kinds of people, too. Spiritual weakness is characteristic of everyone in this world, so when I talk about weaknesses and illnesses, I mean physical illnesses. We provide jobs for people who have various health issues. The House of Love of Labour becomes the only place where these people can get a job because the labour market in the outside world is extremely competitive.

I’m certain that it is thanks to their work and prayers that the Lord covers up all our shortcomings with his mighty hand. As long as the Convent continues to help the sufferers, it will live and develop.

Improve Life to Get Daughter Back

It turned out that among the employees of the House of Love of Labour there are people who went through serious disruption, such as prison. According to Nun Chionia, the basic approach to the rehabilitation and socialisation of these people is by building warm relationships based on trust. You have to try and understand these people and not tag them as unworthy. Instead, you should support them and give them a chance to improve.

Nun Chionia recalls Vasilissa who had served time in jail for drug abuse. She had a daughter but she lost her parental rights. One day, Vasilissa’s grandmother called Nun Chionia and begged her to give a job to her granddaughter. Currently, Vasilissa works hard to improve her life and her living conditions and dreams of getting her daughter back.

“She is burning with desire to reconnect with her daughter! If you only saw her radiant eyes! That’s what a person who has encountered God must look like. They say that eyes are a reflection of one’s soul; if that’s true, her eyes shine so bright that they are even painful to look into sometimes (smiles). It was in the Convent that she confessed and took communion for the first time. May God help her not to diverge from this path!”

There are dozens of stories like this one. People reject their criminal past and start leading a Christian life, participate in the Sacraments, and have a family. Their lives get better. When one finds God, one also finds the meaning of life. One discovers new experiences. When one realises that he cannot do anything without the Lord, he starts to build his life according to Christian values.

The Lord Is The Only Expert Who Is Always Near

Nun Chionia says that her appointment as the head of the House of Love of Labour came as a shock. She was taken aback by the colossal responsibility that her new position laid on her. Nun Chionia endured some inner struggle with God because she wasn’t happy with His decision. Every time she talked with her spiritual father and with other people, she received one and the same answer: “Do what you can.” Now she perceives those words as her God-inspired motto.

Perhaps, this is the reason why the workshops located in the three-storied building of the House of Love of Labour have almost outgrown their limits. Ceramic Workshop, Sewing Workshop, Gold Embroidery Workshop, Icon Setting Workshop, Stone Workshop: that’s where our sisters make their products with love and prayer. They also make stuffed toys and paint nesting dolls. A Social Support Group for mentally challenged persons named Dobrodel was launched in the House of Love of Labour last spring.

Every workday begins with communal prayer. The workers read morning prayers. They pray for each other, for unity, and ask saints to bless their work. Some workshops add akathists to their prayer rule.

“Work in the Convent is always accompanied with prayer. I’m not a great person of prayer but I’ve long been aware of the fact that you cannot do anything without God,” Nun Chionia believes. “Every day, you stumble upon tasks and problems that you cannot solve. Who can you run to? The Lord is the only expert who is always near.

When a stitch goes awry, you pray, ‘Lord help me!’ We do our best to make the highest quality items, stitch by stitch. A seamstress can foresee certain difficulties with some kinds of textiles (e.g., velvet, which has an exceedingly smooth surface), and she starts asking God for help. That is how, aside from the joint prayer, every worker prays in private in his or her own workplace.”

Unity of Opposites

When I looked at the employees of the House of Love of Labour, I recalled Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) who said that great salvation is born of unity. How can people retain the unity, acceptance of each other, and mutual understanding if they are so different? Many of them have broken lives and crippled souls, and each of them definitely has his or her own personality and ideas of justice… I shared my thoughts with Nun Chionia.

“Father Andrew teaches us that the beauty of unity is that it consists of different people,” Nun Chionia replies. “It is never the case, and God doesn’t need it to be the case, that all are the same. People are in constant motion day by day, and their disposition depends on their mood, situation, and even their physical condition. I was sad yesterday but the Lord comforted me, and I’m joyful and happy now.”

There is a concept of the so-called unity of opposites. It points at spiritual matters directly: if we learn to combine our differences and work together instead of competing against each other, that’s when unity occurs.

Father Andrew says that living properly is when you as a strong person pray for yourself and for that weak person who cannot go to church. When you see that a sister is sleeping, cover her with a blanket, fluff up her pillow, and pray for her.

When we accept each other with all our weaknesses and flaws; when we “carry each other’s burdens” according to the apostle’s words—that’s when true unity and genuine love of God are born.

People Helping People

There is a construction site of a new production floor below the windows of the House of Love of Labour. Looking at the workers and their machines, I recalled a story from the life of Saint Moses of Optina: monks of his monastery criticised his idea to build a new guesthouse because the monastery couldn’t afford it. In fact, Saint Moses undertook that construction project so as lay builders could get jobs to feed their families.

People can distort and besmirch even the best idea. As a rule, people are unwilling to grasp the full picture of some phenomenon before criticising it. That is why we decided to find out what the motivation behind the Convent’s manufacturing efforts is and who are the people whom you really help when you buy products made in St Elisabeth Convent.

“First of all, people help those who work here,” Nun Chionia responds. “For example, our seamstress makes five baptismal sets. She put her effort and prayer into these items, and her love and prayer will then pass on to someone else’s family because new Christians come into this world. The donations of their relatives return to the Convent and are invested in construction and in our workers’ wages. That is how the cycle of goodness works.

A church that is built by communal effort has a strong foundation. That’s precisely how our Convent is being built. Our workshops provide jobs for those who will never be able to find jobs in the mainstream labour market. That is the primary idea behind our Convent: we’ve got to attract as many people as we can and lead them to God.

We have to be courageous! Father Andrew says that with God, you can always find the right solution. Sure, life can be difficult at times. However, the Lord leads us through temptations to increase our spiritual maturity and strength. We genuinely pray only when we encounter hardships. God’s help always comes as a response to our prayers.

October 11, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

Sometimes they only need physical contact. They are excited every time you touch or hug them. The feeling of having someone around makes them sure that they are protected and at peace.

I’m talking about the children who stay in the Boarding Home for Children with Special Needs, where I went to take part in an Orthodox worship service together with the sisters of St. Elisabeth Convent. It is one of the places where the Convent carries out its ministry. I’m a beginner journalist who has only recently started working in the Convent, and the visit to this facility was my first assignment. At first, I was taken aback because I didn’t know what to do and how to react if anything unexpected happened. To be honest, I was a little scared and nervous. This anxiety was relieved as soon as I caught the first glance of a child who greeted me with a subtle sincere smile full of boundless purity.

Soon I discovered that I was in the midst of people who had no fear and no restraints. They are open to everybody and naïve like little children. They can be looking into a book and try to read, imitating the others, but you will never be able to guess what they will do in the next couple of seconds. That was how I was smiled at, shaken hands with, and hugged several times during the service. Imagine riding the subway and feeling sad but then someone… a perfect stranger… approaches you with a tender smile and hugs you — for no reason at all… Apparently, it is normal in the world of the “not indifferent” children. I don’t know them much but their actions leave me floored. We can learn a lot from them. For instance, their sincere prayer or even their attempts at singing with the choir, however similar to moaning it might sound, may be much more valuable and precious in God’s eyes than dozens of highly-educated experts in liturgical studies.

I learned from the sisters that there are about a hundred children who stay in the Boarding Home at the moment. “This Boarding Home is for the most severely disabled children that you can imagine in our city,” Oleg, who is an Orthodox volunteer dealing with these kids, says. There are boarding homes with a school where children can learn. Unfortunately, most children who stay here are severely impaired, but they still have a school. The teachers of that school invest a lot of effort into teaching them.

The life of these children is very complicated and different. Their days begin at 7 o’clock in the morning with lots of tiresome activities, such as changing bed sheets and clothes. All children are different: some of them can put clothes on, albeit slowly, but others are confined to a wheelchair or bedridden, and therefore require assistance of one or more adults. That is why there are ca. 40 brothers and sisters of our Convent who help in the boarding home every day.

A small church was built on the territory of the boarding home thanks to people’s donations. Recently, the Convent (supported by Prince Vladimir Youth Association, USA) has organised a green area with nice footpaths, a fountain, and a contact mini-zoo. The children also have the opportunity to attend horse therapy classes.

Apart from everyday assistance, St. Elisabeth Convent does its best to engage children in cultural life by holding various events, going on sightseeing trips, participating in festivals and creative workshops with the children, and staging plays with them. Naturally, we can’t but mention the spiritual component, namely, weekly molebens and divine liturgies. “This is how we get involved in their lives,” Oleg adds. “We all have families and relatives who love and care for us. These children are abandoned and lack the most important thing, i.e., love. It is this love that we attempt to supply them with.”

Everyone needs someone else’s attention, care, and kind attitude. The children who stay in the boarding home don’t have any other way of interacting with the outside world, aside from the people who cater to them. The sisters and the brothers of St. Elisabeth Convent visit the children as often as possible, thus adding their time — the most vital resource — to the tangible aid that the Convent provides. By giving our time, we sacrifice ourselves.

The service was over. The children returned to their wards. I was standing near the church, staring at the door, and thinking. Why did the Lord allow these children to come into our world with so many health disorders? Did it happen because He wanted to touch the stony hearts of healthy, successful, and self-centered human beings? I didn’t want to leave: not because they needed my help… instead, it was me who needed their help.

By Vladislav Gurin,

the Master of Theology,

a PG student of the Minsk Theological Academy

The Catalog of Good Deeds, 2018

The Rehabilitation Centre of St Elisabeth Convent is a place where labour and prayer help people to build their new life — different from the life in a prison cell or a hospital ward. Many of those who come to the rehab have a dark past. Their new life calls for a different attitude to themselves, to their neighbours, and to God. The old self has to die to give way to the new self in the eternal life.

There are former athletes and previously successful businessmen, as well as those who have never had a home or a family since childhood, among those who come to the Rehabilitation Centre. What can those people possibly have in common, you might ask? Of course, they could never meet and make friends in the past. Today, they are united by the love of Christ who came to bring the scattered ones together.

There remains some good even in the hearts of the most cruel and violent people. You just have to recognise and feel it. When a person is loved, his heart opens up and springs back to life. Many brothers finally learn to trust Father Andrew and the nuns and share their emotions with them.

Nun Martha and Nun Irina have a diary where they write down the brothers’ narratives about their lives before they came to the Rehabilitation Centre. Here are some fragments of this diary.

“He finished school with good grades and played basketball well. He lost his mother when he was 7. She poisoned herself because of unrequited love. When he was 14, his father was sentenced to 8 years in jail for the murder of his mistress. The young man married his classmate upon leaving school. They had a daughter and lived happily until she went to her grandmother who lived in Riga. The grandmother was a Romani, and she promised his wife that if she breaks up with him and marries a Romani man instead, her grandmother would make her the heir to everything she had. The couple broke up. The wife married another man — not a Romani but a wealthy businessman — two months later. After she left, our brother never saw her and his daughter again…”

“He excelled at school. However, when he was in the ninth grade, he made friends with a guy who sniffed glue and taught him to do the same. His mother learned about it and sent her son to a hospital. Then he was admitted to a college where he learned to drink alcohol with his fellow students. During his second year at college, he was expelled for drinking. He returned home and shared the flat with his older sister. She drank heavily, and he joined her. They spent four years living like that. He would earn some money from time to time working as a handyman. He was treated in a psychiatric hospital four times: when he sniffed glue, when he attempted suicide and drank too many pills, and twice for alcoholism.”

“He is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He has PTSD and cannot sleep. This brother is very good at working with his hands. He takes after his father who was a well-known artist and carver. He can paint very well. He can sing and play the guitar, too. When he was sent to a hospital, he didn’t want to go and came back to the Rehabilitation Centre…”

“He was married and had two sons. Both his sons were sent to fight in Afghanistan and died there. His wife couldn’t survive it: she became insane and died, too…”

“He had a family: a wife and two kids. They had a car accident. Everyone died in the crash except him…”

Sometimes it’s painful and heartbreaking to read this diary.

When brothers come to the Rehabilitation Centre, they change their positions with regard to many things. The history of the Centre contains a lot of vivid examples of God’s victory in human hearts.

Brother Nikolai. He smoked for 30 years. Before his baptism he said, “Something has changed in my heart, and I don’t want to smoke any longer.” He quit smoking from that moment.

Brother Igor spent many years in the Rehabilitation Centre. Currently, he is a novice in our Convent and the head of the Candle Workshop.

Brother Roman was homeless for a long time. Now he works in the Rehabilitation Centre and has a wife and a small child.

Brother Oleg suffered from alcohol addiction for a number of years. He doesn’t drink for several years already. He managed to find a good job.

Brother Nikolai used to be a drug addict. He is HIV-positive. He has grown strong in his faith after spending a long time in the rehab. His faith has helped him to quit the drugs and performed a miracle: in spite of the doctors’ predictions, his blood tests have shown an improvement of his health. He lives in Svetlogorsk with his new family.

Of course, we are happy to witness how the brothers’ succeed. However, their final victory will be determined by the end of their worldly path…

September 20, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

The world has so much to offer! Subtle fragrances and various shades of beautiful flowers, a murmuring stream, and singing birds… Isn’t it great to sit and listen to the whispering leaves combined with a melodious bell chimes, or walk barefoot on flat pebblestones and bark, or touch a bouncy green lawn? To fondle a cute little goat, cuddle a fluffy rabbit, catch the fountain drops, sit on a bench, look around and feel great… all that isn’t merely a dream. You can experience all those things if you come to the Boarding Home for Children with Special Needs in Minsk. The sensory garden and contact zoo was opened there on September 13 this year.

This project was made possible thanks to School Piggy Bank programme of the Mother of God of the Sign Cathedral in New York run by Prince Vladimir Youth Association together with the Synodal Youth Ministry Department of the ROCOR.

A sensory garden is a territory that provides favourable conditions for interaction with nature and exploration of the world using one’s senses: eyesight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. It is designed using plants, substances, and patterns that help to perceive the beauty of the environment to the fullest extent. The diversity of colours, smells, tastes, and substances gives an excellent opportunity to improve sensory skills and to have fun.

The sensory garden in the Boarding Home is divided into several areas, each of which has its own purpose, crucial for the development of the children’s nervous system.

When we enter the garden, we get to the area of “good mood” that engages with hearing and eyesight. It consists of two areas, the Rainbow of Sounds and the Sunny Cocktail.

The Rainbow of Sounds area of the sensory garden focuses on hearing. It is achieved by a number of structures made of various stuff and called The Music of the Wind. These structures consist of several hanging pipes and a swinging pendulum, and give out pleasant melodious chimes.

The Hearing area makes use of cereal plants, whose seeds whisper in the wind and create a unique melody blended with the rustle of the leaves.

The Rainbow of Sounds area smoothly transitions into the Sunny Cocktail area with lots of colourful and pleasantly-looking flowers. Flowers with big yellow leaves that resemble chamomiles are in full bloom here right now.

As we move from the area of “good mood”, we enter the area of “tranquillity”, which is titled Quiet Harmony. It consists of cool-hued flowers and aromatic plants. Lilac-coloured asters, veronicas, irises, astilbes and other blue, pale blue, and purple flowers will take turns in blossoming from spring till autumn and make children happy. The area of aromatic plants contains various species of mint (apple mint, chocolate mint, spearmint), marjoram, catnip, savoury, and common sage.

There is a touch-and-feel area on a clear glade in the garden. It consists of a sensory path where one can tread barefoot. Every element of this path is filled with natural materials of varying shapes, sizes, and structures: pebbles, bark, sand, pine cones, corn, and sawdust. Along the sensory path, there are various flowers, e.g., woundwort and lady’s mantle, the leaves of which have different surfaces: smooth, rugged, and soft.

This touch-and-feel area also contains a sensory table filled with sand. It improves manual dexterity, which in turn bolsters speech development. This is because the areas in the brain that are responsible for manual dexterity are located close to the speech area. That is why playing with sand is so helpful for children, especially children with special needs. The table is supported by four thick legs. Its height and width make it possible to play not only in the upright position but also while sitting on a wheelchair.

There is a lawn on a flat plot of land near the sensory area. It is designated for games and walks. Tables for creative work can be moved out to this lawn when the weather is fine. Children can spread out blankets, relax in the middle of the garden, and play with animals on this lawn.

A big fountain that binds all areas together is the focus of the entire sensory garden. The noise of water harmoniously complements the area of sounds and joins the sound of wind, the rustle of leaves, and the Music of the Wind in creating a very special natural symphony.

The sound and ripple of water have a calming effect on one’s nervous system, which is why the fountain matches the tranquillity area perfectly. The outer and inner walls of the fountain are decorated with multicolour mosaic of various shapes, made in many workshops of St Elisabeth Convent. Aside from the fact that one can enjoy looking at the fountain from all sides of the garden, its walls are interesting to touch and look at, which has a beneficial effect on the children’s sensory development.

There is a contact zoo in the sensory garden, which is the most exciting and special area of the garden. Children can not only look at the animals but also fondle them, hold them on their hands, and take care of them.

There are hens and chicken of two decorative breeds, namely, Silkie chicken and Millefiori chicken. These breeds are very cute and noted for their fluffy feathers and calm character.

There is a house for two Pygmy goats near the coop. They never grow as big as other goat breeds. They are known for their friendly character, and everyone can cuddle, feed, and play with them.

There are five cute, fluffy, and harmless decorative rabbits of two breeds (Lionhead and Lop-eared) in the contact zoo. When children communicate with animals, when they touch the wool and the soft noses, it does not only improve their tactle abilities but also boosts their non-verbal communication skills. Children and animals find good rapport with each other instinctively. When a little child holds the little animal, he or she feels the life that is different from his or her own.

Of course, there is a human’s best friend in the zoo, too. It’s a kind, friendly, tender, and attention-seeking dog.

All animal houses were built specially for this garden and have a strong and insulated structure. The animals are going to feel comfortable all year round.

The Sensory Garden and Contact Zoo for Children with Special Needs project was built from the ground up in just a couple of months, from late spring till early autumn, thanks to our American friends and to the effort of many people from the Convent and beyond, who are ready to help the children who live in the boarding home.

Aside from what has already been done, we plan to bring a xylophone to the sound area so that the children could play it and learn to make sounds in harmony with nature.

We also plan to provide children on wheelchairs with eco-therapeutic tables where they will be able to look at, touch, and even plant some flowers and herbs on their own.

We also plan to erect some stakes and poles made of various stuff (timber with and without bark, metal, plastic, tied with rope, etc.)

The sensory garden and contact zoo is a territory of relaxation, development, exploration, treatment, education, and fun. Children will be able to learn about beauty, diligence, kindness, and love of all creatures. We hope that the children who live in the boarding home will have many a great discovery in the sensory garden and contact zoo!

Prepared by Alexandra Ursalova

September 21, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

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A Cycle of Goodness: How the Workshops of St. Elisabeth Convent Appeared and What They Give to Other People

A Visit to the Not Indifferent Ones: a Personal Story about the First Meeting with Special Children

The Brothers’ Lives: Diaries of the Rehabilitation Centre of St. Elisabeth Convent

A Special Garden for Special Kids: a New Social Project of St. Elisabeth Convent and Prince Vladimir Youth Association

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A Cycle of Goodness: How the Workshops of St. Elisabeth Convent Appeared and What They Give to Other People

A Visit to the Not Indifferent Ones: a Personal Story about the First Meeting with Special Children

The Brothers’ Lives: Diaries of the Rehabilitation Centre of St. Elisabeth Convent

A Special Garden for Special Kids: a New Social Project of St. Elisabeth Convent and Prince Vladimir Youth Association

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