On October 27, 2003, the first nuns arrived at the Sts. Peter and Paul Monastery in the Khabarovsk village of Petropavlovka in far eastern Russia.
On Sunday, October 29, this year, the 20th anniversary of the founding of this first convent in the Khabarovsk Diocese was festively celebrated with a hierarchical Divine Liturgy led by His Eminence Metropolitan Artemy of Khabarovsk, together with His Grace Bishop Innokenty of Nikolaev and local clergy, the diocese reports.
The service was held in the Sts. Peter and Paul Church, the first church at the monastery, which was painted by the nuns themselves.
The service was attended by abbesses and nuns from the Kaluga Diocese, where the original Khabarovsk nuns came from.
At the end of the service, Met. Artemy congratulated Abbess Antonia and the sisters:
Over the course these 20 years, the monastery has been greatly transformed, because there was not a single brick here. Of course, a lot depends on the abbess. We know what hardships she has endured and what a wonderful abode she has made. But the most important thing is taking care of the sisters. Because stone walls are easier to erect than to build a temple in the soul of every person. From the sisters who came to the monastery, Matushka has created a warm group, a family where everyone serves each other in joy and humility.
The hierarch also gave Mother Antonia a diocesan award. The celebration then continued in the monastery refectory with performances by the Bishop’s Choir and the children of the parish.
Today, Sts. Peter and Paul Convent is a well-equipped monastery, with two churches and two chapels, a refectory complex with bishop’s quarters, a dairy, a 3-story cell building and various monastic workshops: icon painting, mosaic, sewing, embroidery.
There is also an apiary of up to 30 beehives, a garden, greenhouses, and a potato field. The nuns also take care of cows and birds and produce milk, cheese, and butter.
Since September 1, 2016, the Divine Liturgy has been celebrated daily in the monastery, and the Psalter is continually read, with commemorations of the living and the departed. Akathists are also read daily.
The sisters hold catechetical talks to prepare people for the Sacrament of Baptism and takes in local orphans during the holidays.