The Order of Benedictine Sisters is one of the oldest medieval monastic orders, with more than 1,500 years of history since its foundation. Over the centuries, many Benedictine monasteries operated not only in Europe but also in the territories of the former Soviet Union. Lviv alone, for example, had nine active women’s monasteries, the largest community being that of the Benedictine Sisters, who had two monasteries there. From the Middle Ages onwards, centres of Benedictine life included monasteries in Lviv, Ukraine, and Nesvizh, Belarus. The latter gave rise to numerous new foundations in Minsk, Vilnius, Kaunas, Smolensk, Orsha, Slonim and elsewhere. Most of these monasteries functioned until 1946, although many had been closed during the suppressions of the nineteenth century. In 1946, when Soviet rule was established, the Benedictine Sisters left their monasteries and moved to Poland. Only the monastery in Vilnius, Lithuania, remained active. None of the Benedictine monasteries, churches or schools was returned to its owners. Across the centuries, Benedictine history reveals the sisters’ often difficult lives, shaped by political conditions, material hardship and other circumstances. New vocations brought new foundations.
The history of the Benedictine monastery in Zhytomyr is relatively short, but its roots reach deep into the mother monastery in Vilnius, which established this young foundation. Benedictine religious life in Zhytomyr began in 1988, when several nuns arrived from the Vilnius monastery to establish a new foundation. Founded in 1620, the Vilnius monastery was then 368 years old. The initiative came from its superior, Mother Havryila Hailevych OSB, who discerned God’s will that the new foundation should be established specifically in Zhytomyr. At first, the sisters faced great material and financial hardship, but despite these difficult conditions, the community began to grow. Jan Purwiński, Bishop of Kyiv-Zhytomyr, invited the Benedictine Sisters to his diocese, to St Sophia’s Cathedral in Zhytomyr. The sisters worked as catechists with children and young people and also served in the library. They sewed and embroidered liturgical vestments not only for the cathedral but for the whole diocese. In 1995, construction began on a new monastery with a chapel for the faithful. During the building work, the sisters lived in temporary accommodation, discerning God’s will and striving to fulfil it. They sought to return to their sources and to the heritage St Benedict had so ardently wished to pass on to his sons and daughters, so that they might understand and live their charism ever more deeply. On 8 December 1993, an event of great historical importance for the sisters and the entire Order in Ukraine took place: Bishop Jan Purwiński of Kyiv-Zhytomyr formally established the enclosure according to the Rule of St Benedict. In 2004, the community moved into the new monastery building, although construction was not yet complete. On 24 September 2006, the monastery and the chapel for the faithful were blessed and consecrated under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God.
The purpose of life in a Benedictine monastery is to live out the founder’s motto, “That in all things God may be glorified” — in other words, as the Rule says, to prefer nothing to Christ.
To understand the Order’s life and traditions more deeply, it is necessary to return continually to the sources in the Rule of St Benedict. A Benedictine nun must therefore seek God with an open heart and come to know him above all in prayer, work and encounters with others. Community life in a family atmosphere — the “School of the Lord’s Service”, as St Benedict called it — is a journey of constant conversion in God’s presence: seeking God in the silence of a hidden life and praising him in every event of the day. It means falling in love with Christ in the Eucharist and spending time with him, so that the power of prayer may transform the face of the world. Every aspect of life is to be a praise of God. Following Jesus Christ and the example of her founder, each nun should strive to embody Christ’s obedience and humility. A principal duty in the Order is Gregorian chant in choir and the recitation of the Psalter. God’s glory has enduring and eternal significance and therefore holds first place in Benedictine communities. The founder called his Order the School of the Lord’s Service, where we learn to love and grow towards perfection by fulfilling our duties. This means putting into practice the fifth vow made in this Order: conversion of life. The constant desire to be better today than yesterday and to strive for perfection in order to serve the Lord ever better is the foundation of a nun’s spiritual growth.
Each nun’s abilities and gifts, together with the community’s needs, determine the variety of duties. Every task is to be performed practically, conscientiously, accurately and diligently. Neither the kind of work nor its outward fruitfulness is essential; what matters is its inner fruitfulness, born of faith and deep union with the Lord. An art school for children operates at the monastery. There is also a craft workshop producing traditional oil paintings and icons, small beaded icons, candles, plaster figurines and other items. The sisters also make liturgical vestments of every kind. May nothing be more important or precious than Christ, who may lead us all to eternal life.
Zhytomyr 10003
41 V Korolenka Street
Tel. (0412)46-72-68