Donetsk, October 27, 2016
On October 26 the Iveron Convent in the city of Donetsk celebrates its patronal feast, reports the site Orthodox Donbass. With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol the Divine Liturgy has been celebrated there again in spite of the terrible ravages of the combat operations. For the first time since the closure of the convent and the evacuation of the nuns a service was celebrated on February 25, 2016. On May 3, during Bright Week, the prayer of the ruling hierarch again resounded there.
And the long-awaited day came for the convent nuns, parishioners and Orthodox Christians of the Diocese of Donetsk. Despite numerous difficulties and the lack of public transport in that neighborhood of Donetsk, people came to the convent to glorify the Mother of God Whose grace is miraculously revealed in the world through her Iveron icon.
At 8:00 AM the Blessing of the Waters was celebrated and all present were sprinkled with holy water.
The Divine Liturgy, which began at 9:00 AM, was headed by His Eminence Archbishop Varnava of Makeevka. Dean of the Preobrazhensky district (administrative area) Archpriest Peter Ustimenko, dean of the Troitsky district Archpriest Vladimir Leonov, dean of the Nikolaevsky district Archpriest Alexei Bystrov, and clerics of Donetsk parish churches concelebrated with the vicar of the Donetsk Diocese.
A solemn Cross procession crowned the festival. After the prayer service Archbishop Varnava greeted all those present on the feast of the revered Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. In his archpastoral speech the vicar of the diocese of Donetsk made special mention of the labors of the mother-superior of the convent, Abbess Mikhaila (Shevchenko), who greatly contributed to the restoration of the church and the adjacent territory. In her speech in reply Mother Mikhaila thanked Metropolitan Hilarion for his blessing to celebrate the Liturgy on the patronal feast and thanked Archbishop Varnava for the joy of praying together.
And though the bells on the ruined bell-tower did not ring on that day, the hearts of the people were filled with joy because the following words still can be heard on this site, desecrated and worn-out through human malice: “Let us love one another that with one mind we may confess the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: the Trinity, one in essence and undivided”.
