Workshop of St. Elisabeth Convent Creates Stained-Glass Windows for other Churches
The churches of St. Nicholas Convent will be decorated
by the stained-glass windows created by the workshops of our convent. The
craftspeople are working on them since last summer. On this moment, our artists
are working on compositions for St. Nicholas church and the churches in honor
of St. Barbara and St. Spyridon of Trimythous.
The
windows are supposed to help us to tune in to prayer
For example, the decoration of the Church in honor of
St. Spyridon includes the works in the forechurch, the middle part of the
church, the altar and the stairs. For comparison, we can say that the amount of
work that is going to be made exceeds the work that has been made in the church
in honor of the Reigning icon of the Mother of God in St. Elisabeth Convent.
Our artists had an aim to support the festive mood,
which is created by the murals inside the church. In case of windows, this mood
is expressed through colors and specific details. At the same time,
stained-windows were always made less staring. “The windows create a chamber
atmosphere in the church, which is supposed to help people in the church to
focus on what is inside, on prayer”, - said Alexander Turovsky, the head of the
project.
The
convent in the eyes of our craftspeople
The last trip of our craftspeople fell on the feast
day of St. Spyridon of Trimythous. Alexander recalls those days warmly: “The
convent is located in the Yaroslavl diocese, among the forests on the bank of
the river Solba. When we came, we saw the snowmen on the territory of the
convent. Children played and went sleigh riding. There are also an orphanage
and a school in the convent.”
“We organized a master-class for children. By the way,
there is a mosaic workshop in the convent, so the technique was familiar to
them, - adds Sister Anna Alexeichik. - We offered the children to create the
Nativity decorations by the examples we gave them, but many of them got
creative and made their own original compositions”.
“We will surely organize another master class in May
at the festival that will take place there. It will be a special event, - says
Alexander. – We were happy to experience the nuns’ hospitality and the joy of a
common celebration on the patron saint’s day and on the birthday of Nun
Eroteyida (Gazhu), the abbess of the convent. It is as if we have been in a big
family, where everything is alive, natural and sincere! People even give each
other handmade gifts.
Since the moment of the convent’s restoration, even
when there was no money, after the Sunday service, all the comers from the
neighboring villages were fed at first in a small refectory, later in the
church of St. Xenia of Petersburg, and then in a large refectory, when it was
finally built. This tradition is still alive. We have seen that with our own
eyes and were really impressed”.
About miracles and responsibility
It is not a secret that at our economically diffocult time,
it is hard to work as an artist. The whole workshop was praying to St.
Nicholas the Wonderworker, and after a short period of time and through the
prayers of the saint, God brought the sisters of St. Nicholas Convent to us. They
were looking for people, who could decorate their churches with stained-glass
windows for long. Last spring was the first time when they came to our convent,
and at that time, they got acquainted with the craftspeople of our workshop.
Now we have an important commitment to do our work as good as possible.
January 27, 2018
St. Elisabeth Convent
