DC women's monastery looks to secure new property

From the Friends of Holy Monastery "Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple" blog, a history and current status on their new women's monastery near Washington, DC. They also have a Facebook presence (see here). I hope to visit soon.

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Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Christ is in our Midst!

What a blessing it is to have our Reverend Schema-Abbess Aemiliane and her Sisters here on this continent! We are accustomed to seeing them work hard in Greece, in the amazing Sisterhood guided by the Most Reverend Archimandrite, Elder Dionysios, but now they are on this side of the Atlantic! Pan-Orthodox, American, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual, they now reside in the area of Washington, DC. While practicing a daily cycle of prayer, they minister to pilgrims, serve the community, and welcome all who come their way with abundant hospitality.

For those not familiar with their spiritual family, their Elder, Archimandrite Dionysios, is the Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Petra (“the rock”). The Sisterhood is comprised of approximately 70 nuns from more than 15 countries. In 1994 their Elder founded the Sacred Monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, in Thebes, Greece, near Athens. In 2003, at the invitation of the former Bishop of Thessaliotis, some of the Sisterhood moved to a historic 16th-century monastery dedicated to St. George, which had been closed for decades, and other Sisters moved to an 11th-century monastery dedicated to the Holy Apostles – both located near Karditsa in central Greece – in order to reinvigorate and restore their monastic communities. At the same time Elder Dionysios and the Brotherhood (about 30 monks) were invited to revive and rebuild the Monastery of Petra, in the same area, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos.

In a similar context, last year the Sisterhood of the Entrance was canonically invited to America and received by Metropolitan Jonah, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), thus founding the fifth monastery in their family of monastic communities. Metropolitan Jonah had met Elder Dionysios 30 years earlier and was aware of his role as the Spiritual Father of thriving monasteries and countless lay persons and families all over the world. On May 24th, 2011, for the first time in nearly 70 years, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), Metropolitan Hilarion, concelebrated with the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), Metropolitan Jonah.

On this historic occasion, Metropolitan Jonah canonically entrusted the Sisterhood of the Theotokos to his beloved brother bishop, Metropolitan Hilarion, as a token of their spiritual unity and in order to enhance the context of stability and freedom for the continued growth of the Community. By the Grace of God, two new Nuns have been tonsured into their Sisterhood since their arrival from Greece: Sister Ioanna, who was born in Shanghai and named after St. John Maximovich, (now departed to the Lord in May, 2011), and Sister Hilaria, who was born in Germany and recently completed her doctorate in Early Christian Studies. All but one are American citizens, with roots from different Orthodox jurisdictions (Greek, Ukrainian, Russian, Antiochian, OCA). Two new novices have also recently joined the community and many inquirers come to visit. They now have their own Chaplain celebrating the Eucharist in their house-chapel.

After this brief background, we would like to share with you the developments rapidly unfolding in the Sisterhood...

Complete story here.