Theotokos is the great Intercessor for all Christians. She wishes salvation to everyone, She wants to lead everybody into the eternal Kingdom of Her Son and God. She hears the prayers of each person and responds with motherly love to all supplications. According to the words of the holy Fathers, She embraces the entire world with Her love, and in the Holy Spirit She is able to see all the nations on earth, and, like Her Son, She pities and has mercy on all. She especially favors those who emulate Her virginity and purity and who have completely dedicated themselves to God, as She did. This is no coincidence that many of the monastic convents are named in Her honor, in honor of Her feasts or holy icons. Ekaterinburg, too, has a monastery named in honor of the Mother of God.

Founded at the end of the XVIII century, the Novo-Tikhvinsky convent of Ekaterinburg was the biggest monastery in Ural before the revolution. It had six churches and several workshops in operation: the monastery was like a town within a city. In the 1920s the convent was closed, and for several decades its walls hosted military and Soviet offices. Its revival began since 1994. Now the churches here are being restored, church arts blossom, and, most importantly, monastic life filled with labor and prayer is being revived.

At the monastery, sisters carry out various obediences: they study the history of the convent and the Ekaterinburg metropolia; compile hagiographies of neo-martyrs and men of faith; translate works of the holy Fathers from Ancient Greek and Church-Slavonic; make embroidered hierarchal and priestly vestments, as well as icons, clothes for the clergy, baptismal and wedding sets. The monastery choir revives the ancient chanting traditions. Singing during worship services in the churches of the convent are done in Znamenny and Byzantine chants. Traditions of canonical iconography are being revived in the icon-painting workshop of the monastery. Sisters paint both individual icons and iconostases for churches, as well as the birth size (mernaya), family, and folding icons, wholly following the practices of the ancient masters.

Feastdays and ordinary days

Pearls from heaven, or spiritual revelations in our lives. Talk by Mother Domnika God throws us pearls from heaven every day, and we only need to be attentive to see and catch them. What are these pearls? We can call them spiritual revelations. Of course, these are not revelations about the destinies of the world; such revelations are granted to a few people in special cases. But, to us, other kinds of revelations, which the Lord gives us all the time, are much more important. > > > >

A book about general Ilya Leonidovich Tatishchev has been published “This little book is more valuable than all the books in the world,” – Ilya Leonidovich Tatishchev, the adjutant general of Tsar Nicholas II, used to say about his favorite book – the Gospel which he would always carry with himself and knew by heart. And now a book about himself has been published – about how he in and through his life had fulfilled everything that is written in the Gospel. The Tsar’s general, a diplomat and a scout, through his own life he has shown that there is no status in society and no circumstances which would make it impossible to stay faithful to the Gospel. > > > >

Invincible weapon. A talk by schema-archimandrite Abraham The topic of today’s talk is the stages of the Jesus prayer. Unceasing prayer of repentance is the strongest means in the struggle against sin, but because we do not discern the stages or the degrees of prayerful progression, we may fall into mistakes that occasionally lead because of our inexperience to serious consequences. Prayer, as it is well-known, is divided into three stages: prayer of the lips, mind, and heart. This is the first, and the most elementary division. Saint Ignatiy (Bryanchaninov), a highly experienced ascetic, rightly distinguishes the prayer of the lips into two kinds: of the lips proper – articulated by the lips, silently, and prayer of the lips said out loud. > > > >

The events of the sunny August The last month of the summer gave us many sunny days. As the rays of sun, have the August feasts shined: the day of the All-Merciful Savior, the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. In addition, the Lord has filled the last summer days with amazing encounters and good impressions. We want to remember those events once again and to thank God for them. > > > >

The previous events