Iveron monastery, Orsk, Russia

WOE FROM WIT. https://youtu.be/dQssofCK-yA
The “smarter” (in commas) we are, the more mistakes we make, as our intellect, or what we call it, is our insanity in truth...

WOE FROM WIT. ARCHPRIEST SERGIY BARANOV

“One may say that the whole Christian life comes down to
the pains of birth for eternity.”The Venerable Saint Sophrony (Sakharov)

WHITE. Doc film. Orsk Monastery. 2023. ENGLISH SUBS. Please share your opinion about our new film!

https://youtu.be/QjmdIlxZFEU

БЕЛЫЙ. Орский монастырь Внимание! В фильме использованы постановочные сцены.

❤️Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ!❤️
We congratulate you on Pascha and have a present for everyone of you.

Do you remember how we asked for volunteers to proofread the translation of Father Sergiy's book 🕊"Fly High?"🕊

✨The proofreading is complete now✨and you can enjoy the book📕 https://ivermon.ru/en/book
Please support us sharing the book with your friends!
We heartily thank everyone who helped and supported us🥰🤗
May God bless you all!🙏

https://ivermon.ru/en/why-lord
WHY, LORD? The day was overcast, wet, and grey. No. It was completely gloomy, black. This day was unbearable. The car was moving across the town bleakly and monotonously. I wanted it to move even slower, so that the car would completely stop, turn around – just not go there… READ THE ARTICLE ON OUR SITE https://ivermon.ru/en/why-lord

CAN WE READ AKATHISTS DURING GREAT LENT?

– During Great Lent, people do not read akathists, but there are the days of commemoration of the holy icons of the Theotokos. And I would very much like to glorify Her by reading the akathists.

– Well, you can go home, close the door and glorify as much as you wish. I think, God will not punish you. I try to find out why we cannot read akathists during Great Lent. They say, there is the word “rejoice, rejoice!” there, but we should shed our tears in the time of Lent. Our tears are sometimes of Pharisees. Alright, today we have the Lent and we will cry. You know, tears should come naturally. When you repent sincerely, you may even cry at the Paschal service, and you cannot help it.
Joy should be natural too. It does not work in compliance with a schedule. For example, you have met God at the Liturgy today, and your heart is jubilant, and no Church canon or rule will make you stop being happy, as you have natural joy and tears. It is bad when we make a kind of rehearsal out of this, or try to have it according to a schedule. All of this resembles some Orthodox theater. You should better not make any plans, but live and pray attentively and be with God. In this case, we will have a state, which combines two opposite things, grief and joy. That means that we are always grieving over the contrast between God, and us, as we see ourselves before God in our attentive prayer. We are so far from Him, but He loves us so much and we do not love Him the same way. That is why we grieve. At the same time, we clearly see and perceive that He loves us no matter what, and does not turn away from us. At that moment, our grief transforms into our joy, and these two states become one.

...The most exact definition of Christ is Christ the Sweetest. When Christ becomes the Sweetest for you, not just Sweet, but the Sweetest, when His sweetness becomes bigger than any earthly sweetness, than the taste of any delicious food we overeat, than the taste of lust we revel in, than the taste of vanity, which soothes us and turns our heads; nothing affects people like vanity does. So, only if Jesus becomes sweeter than anything else, He will win and prevail inside of us. He should become real and the Sweetest for us. (From the word about Transfiguration) ⬆️ WATCH THE WHOLE SERMON ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL, LINK IN PROFILE ⬆️

Great Lent for some people is associated with a kind of sorrow and self-oppression: you should not eat much and what you like, you should not have fun, you should intensify your prayer, go to church… While for those people who have already lived spiritual life it is like holidays coming. As the Church involuntarily made its yearly circle so that even now the parish changed their lifestyle and both their inner and outer worlds. This change should be very kind and serene. I look forward and feel so happy and jubilant as we are going to work more for God tomorrow. Surely, we should do so not only during the fasts. But it is the way of the Church: it set fasts 4 times a year in order to mobilize people, at least before the Great Feasts.

What should a layperson eat during Great Lent?
– What should a layperson eat during Great Lent, especially on the days of a dry diet?
– There is the Church Statute. Nevertheless, the rules listed there are not dogmatic. Use the Statute as a recommendation. Our goal is to observe the recommendations as much as possible.
However, we all have different abilities and limitations. Don’t we? You should discuss these details with your spiritual guide; explain everything to him and he will bless you. Some people cannot take dry food due to their health condition; some may even not exclude oil. There are different circumstances, which are worth discussing. But you should be objective. This should not be like you invent some reasons when you are just hungry and thus, you begin to deceive yourself and tempt your spiritual guide. Be honest. In the end, if a person does not have a strong spirit, this may be a relative reason. The spiritual guide will consider this. On the one hand, some people have a stronger will and they can relatively easily refuse food for ten days, but on the other, there are those who have a weaker will, for whom this will be much harder. The spiritual guide will consider all this if he is a sober minded person.

PASCHAL JOY... IN FEBRUARY
On February 25, the faithful glorify the Iveron Icon of the Holy Theotokos, which is one of the most well-known and venerated icons in Orthodoxy.
This day we had the Patronal Feast and Irenaeus, Bishop of Orsk and G*i, held the Divine Liturgy at the Iveron Church of our Iveron Monastery. Many priests from different parishes of Orsk, Novotroitsk, and Kuvandyk districts of the Diocese assisted His Grace. Mother Xenia (Pashkova), Abbess of the Iveron Monastery, together with the sisters, parishioners, and pilgrims, who came to the monastery from different regions, prayed at the Liturgy.
Spiritual uplifted, true Paschal joy, and jubilance thrilled through people’s hearts. His Grace, Bishop Irenaeus, addressed everyone with his prelate’s words, “Dear Brothers and Sisters! Today we rejoice with tears in our eyes and thank God! Today we have a great feast at this convent! People met and held the service. As this long-awaited meeting took place, our joy multiplied! Every one of us raised his hands, prayed and believed in his way that Heaven will hear him. Everyone prayed knowing that the Lord will not leave any prayer unattended. Sometimes one may think ‘Will I be able to make God hear me if I pray in my own words?...’ …God hears every one of us and rejoices if someone asks or says a prayer with their own words. He hears us anyway. The prayer of the sisters, the priests, and many faithful people was truly heard. Today we all gathered and served this Liturgy. May the Lord grant us to be able to compare our deeds and words to the Words and Teaching the Lord left us. I present the monastery with the Holy Scripture, the Liturgical Gospel, and I believe that everyone hears the Word and will be heard by God. Have a blessed Feast!”
After this, the clergy read troparia and kontakia before the main icon of the monastery and, together with all people who were present at the church, sang very movingly the song “Our Most Gracious Queen” and glorification of the Theotokos.
The Feast ended with a festive meal, where we heard many kind words and wishes addressed to the sisters of the convent.

I wish you to be fascinated by Christ to such an extent, that when somebody will ask you whether you are hungry, you can't answer this question. May you think not about food, but about Christ, this way the Lent will pass in a wink. In the end, Pascha will come, I already feel it.
Open your eyes tomorrow in the morning and say: “Glory be to You, Our Lord! The Great Lent has come!”

From the book "INTO THE LIGHT", archpriest Sergyi Baranov

For more sermons, answers and monastery chants SUBSCRIBE our YouTube channel, link in profile ⬆️ On February 20, a meeting with the Serbian writer, journalist and historiographer Bilyana Živković took place at our monastery. She spoke about the relationship between our two fraternal nations, Serbia and Russia. The audience of the “Eurasia” channel and the subscribers of our YouTube channel joined the guests in the hall.

WATCH THE NEW SERMON on the night of the New Year, https://youtu.be/L-LG7Y2MKlg
..I cannot be excited about the holiday that recklessly began tonight. When the fireworks began to go off, I thought at first we were people who are far away from the war. We feel good when we hear them. Oh, it is midnight already, here are the fireworks, we are having a holiday, and we are celebrating the New Year. Meanwhile people who are close to the war must think at once, “grenade launchers are at work. It is an attack.”..

LORD, DO NOT LET MY HEART BECOME ATTACHED TO THIS!

Deep in the predawn silence… It is still dark and only the light of an icon lamp twinkles before the holy images in my cell. I have already woken up. Glory to God! I get up easily and put my feet into my new slippers, which a pilgrim presented me a while ago. Lord, they feel so soft and cozy; it is so nice to have them. I like them so much that I do not even want to change into shoes…

Lord! Do not let my heart become attached to this! It seems to be such a trifle, but somehow it has captured my heart… I will give them as a gift to one of our sisters today. She is in her venerable age and her feet are sore. Let her have joy… Lord, give me strength!..

It is time for prayer and work. The sisters went to their obediences. I go to help too, joy thrilling through my heart, as I can work by my occupation. It was not for nothing that I graduated from university, I am a professional in this field and everyone pays heed to me. Lord, thank You for having appointed me to this place! Some people help reluctantly, while my job is a hard one, it is desirable …

Lord! Do not let my heart become attached to this! I love my job so much that I begin to worry and have even become afraid of having some other obedience, which will not bring me joy… I should tell this to our Mother Abbess and confess to our spiritual father… Lord, give me strength!..

Here we all, nuns, novices, and pilgrims, come to lunch. Delicious vareniki are steaming on the table. They have different fillings: some of them filled with potatoes and some with mushrooms. Lord, these are my favorite ones! All my childhood and youth, I used to go pick mushrooms and berries. How many dishes and dainties we cooked with them! Come to me, my mushrooms with sour cream…

Lord! Do not let my heart become attached to this! I better put some vareniki with potatoes on my plate. I should better restrain myself from a desirable dish today… Lord, give me strength!..

Prayer takes first place at our monastery. I try to say the Jesus prayer without ceasing. I run my fingers over the beads of my rope and say, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me…” Lord, how convenient those beads are! My fingers go so smoothly and easily over them. I had a weaved one before, they felt completely different… What is going on? Is a prayer rope becoming my fancy? It cannot, it is a thing, which helps to pray, it is a spiritual sword… However, does this thing begin to possess my heart?

Lord! Do not let my heart become attached to this! Give me strength to withstand temptation and do not let my soul burden me with this attachment. Lord, give me strength!..

The night service has ended. I come back to my cell. Lord, it is so good that I have my own room! Glory to God, I can retire to my place for prayer and rest! I can also arrange some small things as I wish in my small cell, which I love so much. Lord, thank You! I feel so comfortable here! Here are my bed, chair, table, and icons that are dear to me…

Lord! Do not let my heart become attached to this! Let me be ready to leave this cell any moment and change it for another. Perhaps, it will not be a separate one and I might live with some other sister or several sisters. Let me be ready not to have a permanent room… Let me only be at the monastery. Lord, give me strength!..

A new day comes again… I am so happy I live at this convent! Lord, I thank You for giving me home and shelter. All the walls, every step and corner, every path and lane, everything here is so dear to me. The air is pure and nature is so fragrant! What beautiful churches and buildings we have at our monastery! Everything is so sweet and adorable. So many guests and pilgrims come to visit us…

Lord! Do not let my heart become attached to this! Give me reason to realize this is not my home, but a temporary shelter. There were nuns who lived here before me and who are now deceased, and there will be others who will live after me. This is nothing but my temporary dwelling, my short-term refuge. I am a guest and a wanderer here… Lord, give me strength!..

My soul is yearning only for the Lord. It learns not to attach itself to temporary and elusive things. It is longing for attaching only to God, my Sweetest Christ, the source of temporary life on earth and the future life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Lord, give me strength!

Isaeva А. V. (Orsk)

December 25, 2022. Within the Regional Stage of the XXХI Global Educational Nativity Readings, a Monastic Round Table took place at our monastery. After the opening speech of Abbess Xenia (Pashkova), the essays of the monastery sisters and registered internet participants were presented. During the event, the sisters shared their thoughts on the following topics:
✔ "Eschew evil and do good" - spiritual warfare of the contemporary monastic.
✔ "Give me reason to do Your will" - on prayer, repentance, and a sober life as the way to know God.
✔ "Nothing should possess me" - monastic life as the way to spiritual freedom.
The principle of the discussion was that the sisters did not announce their own essays, but read aloud the notes of other sisters without knowing the author. So every speaker felt the essay was close to her heart. The sisters based their reflections on different quotes from the Gospel and the Holy Fathers. The presentations differed in their duration and the style of narration, but they were all united by the same spirit of guidance of our spiritual Father Sergey. The main conclusion made by the results of this night:
💭We want to reflect less and do more. We want to perform practically those things we know in theory.
💭Eschew a thought and pray!
💭Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us!

LET US SHARE OUR THOUGHTS

🌿Dear friends! Let us share our thoughts.
🌿Very soon, within the Regional Stage of the XXХI Global Educational Nativity Readings, a Monastic Round Table will take place at our monastery.
🌿 We suggest that you write your essays on the following topics:

✔ "Eschew evil and do good" - spiritual warfare of the contemporary monastic.
✔ "Give me reason to do Your will" - on prayer, repentance, and a sober life as the way to know God.
✔ "Nothing should possess me" - monastic life as the way to spiritual freedom.

🌿 We will translate and read aloud the most interesting pieces at our round table.
✉️ Send your essays with an "Essay" mark to our e-mail [email protected] until December 22
✏️ We also ask you to provide the following information:
Your full name, age, country, and telegram account if you have one

🕊️ Let us be together!

TRADITIONAL NATIVITY CAKE
✨Orthodox Christians start their preparation for celebrating the Nativity from the first day of the Nativity fast. Traditional cakes are an essential part of the preparation for the feast.
🎄This year we decided to cook an unusual Nativity cake, according to a recipe which is several hundred years old. The preparation of such a cake takes more than a month!
😳✨The ingredients for this cake should be specially prepared a week before baking it. After baking the cake (which lasts for 3.5 hrs) it then matures for several more weeks during which, every 3 days, it is soaked with a special mixture.
🎄Our wonderful cakes will be ready by the Nativity. Very soon the inhabitants of Orsk and its guests will be able to acquire them at the monastery shop and at the “Green Buffet” shop.
✨The most amazing thing is that the cake may be stored for a year, provided that all the ingredients are natural!✨Anyway, we will unveil the main secret of this festive dish 🤫... it is the Jesus prayer✨

CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO THE 1000th ANNIVERSARY OF THE REPOSE OF THE VENERABLE SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN TOOK PLACE ON NOVEMBER 22, 2022 AT THE IVERON MONASTERY. Upon the blessing of the Right Reverend Irenaeus, Bishop of Orsk and G*i, the conference “Come, the Light of Truth” dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of repose of the Venerable Symeon the New Theologian, took place at the Iveron Monastery.
The forum is dedicated to the theological teaching and the personality of the Saint. It is commonly known that St. Symeon is called the most outstanding mystic of Orthodoxy. He is one of only three Holy Fathers whom the Church names Theologians: the first is St. John the Theologian, one of the Apostles and the beloved disciple of the Lord, the second is St. Gregory the Theologian, and the third is St. Symeon the New Theologian.
The sisters of the Iveron Monastery consider the latter as their spiritual guide to the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a chapel at the monastery consecrated to this Saint. His name is very dear to the sisters of the monastic community as the main feat of the Venerable St. Symeon was the incessant saying of the Jesus prayer in its short form: “Lord, have mercy!” and the prayerful practice of the Jesus prayer is a fundamental part of their life. All participants of the conference presented very interesting and informative reports (not all of them could be present in person and those absent sent us their video reports.)
Notable participants were:
– Priest Konstantin Korepanov, Yekaterinburg;
– Priest Elijah Kostin, Kolomna;
– Archpriest Artemius Vladimirov, Moscow;
– Abbot Barnabas (Sokolov), Orenburg;
– Priest Alexander Trushin, Novotroitsk;
– Archimandrite Daniel (Ishmatov), Montenegro.
The forum gathered our guests from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Chelyabinsk, Tomsk, Neftekamsk, Kolomna, Samara, Orsk, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and the Chuvash Republic. We also had a live stream of the forum.
The participants of the conference noted a special atmosphere of spiritual joy during the event. In particular, Hieromonk Paul (Gelyastanov), the Rural Dean of the New Monastery of the Saviour in Moscow, said, “This is an international event, as this Saint is really the most unique for all times. Participants attended the conference not only from Russia, but also from abroad. I am very grateful to Bishop Irenaeus of Orsk and G*i, who was an Abbot of our New Monastery of the Saviour, for having blessed the conference and for the support he renders to Abbess Xenia, the sisters, and Father Sergiy. I like everything at this monastery. Here I recollect my spiritual youth: a young monastery, devoted nuns… When everything is at its beginning, the Grace of the Holy Spirit, which dwells in this place, is felt in a special way…”
Viktor and Tatiana Basilevsky
Photos of Viktor Basilevsky

CONGRATULATIONS ON THE BEGINNING OF THE NATIVITY FAST!
This present has come to us from St. Petersburg. (The words on the gingerbread are: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me).
It is an amazing gingerbread box!
We wish everyone good prayer for the coming fast!
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us!

QUESTION: Does a person become sinless after being baptized?

ANSWER: Frankly speaking, I do not share the opinion about one’s becoming sinless after Baptism. All the passions remain with baptized people. The matter is there is a seed planted and it may spring with good care. But if no one waters and takes care of the seed, it will die. That is why the Mystery of Baptism is important. Baptism is not a heal-all recipe; it is an opportunity for purification.

Archpriest Sergiy Baranov

How should I fall in love with God?
What should I do?
What have I got?
How should I fall in love with God?
To love Him with my soul and heart,
And never-ever fall apart.
Just like our Saint Philaret,
You, please, unveil this secret.
– Lovesickness passes away quickly, but true love comes with long-term effort and stability. This concerns both earthly and spiritual life. One should distinguish lovesickness from love. Lovesickness for God may come easily and easily disappear, while love is achieved through suffering in spiritual life.


the views along the Path of the Holy Theotokos

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Mt. 6:21). Anything you are attached to in your life, your heart will be attached to also. It will react to those things your mind is focused on. This is why you should focus your thoughts on Christ through the Jesus prayer. Place faith in God, and realize that the Lord has let these temptations happen, and He will not let these things drive you to desperation. Just say with humility, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” 

MONASTERY CHURCHKHELA

Here is our new natural and healthy treat! The sisters learned how to make churchkhela out of walnuts and 100% natural grape juice! Churchkhela is an ancient Georgian food which consists of simple ingredients. Historians and nutritional scientists say that a long time ago, this national food saved the whole Georgian army from starvation. It is very hearty and nutritious, that is why saturation comes fast. By the way, it is a good food to eat during fasts and a healthy treat both for children and adults!
You will find the Monastery Churchkhela at our church shop and at the “Green Buffet.”

Today is the sixth day of potato harvesting. See the photos above. The work is hard but joyful! We thank everyone who is participating! We count the potatos like the beads of our prayer ropes praying "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us!" The weather is favorable to this work and the smell of smoke coming from the field kitchen makes us move faster along the furrow towards it! Glory to God for all things!

COUNTING BEADS OF OUR GRAPE PRAYER ROPE
Every year we gather several hundreds of kilograms from our vineyard and process them all together.
Try to guess what we are going to do with the grapes this year. 😉

QUESTION. I have read that spiritual fathers said to their children, “You should take up a burden of prayer for others according to your spiritual abilities.” And sometimes they even said, “You should not pray for this person, as you are not able to do that yet.” What can you say about this?
ANSWER. I may give you the answer on the prayer for others with the words of the Lord, “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” (Mt. 6:3) Do it simply and you will avoid these temptations. Even if the temptations do come, you will overcome them easily through your simplicity. You should not begin to pray for someone and expect something to explode. In my view, spiritual fathers should incite people in the right way. One should incite people so that they have inspiration; not exaltation or excitement, but inspiration, which will strengthen them.
We should pray. St. Silouan the Athonite did it and entrusted us to pray for the whole world. Elder Sophrony Sakharov prayed in this way. Surely, it is a burden. In fact, Christianity is dangerous. I am saying it now without irony. The first Christians may tell us, “Do you want Christianity? We tell you it is dangerous. We gave our lives for it. We were killed. We were torn apart by tigers, hung on crosses, humiliated and insulted.” This is what Christianity about. Those people, who want to find comfort in Christianity, take a wrong turn. We do not ask God for comfort, but we ask for strength in order to bear our cross. We do not ask Him to take our cross away, we ask for His support, so that we can bear the cross until the end. We ask Him to support our will, so that we do not give up and allow ourselves the following thought, “Maybe we should drop it?” Even in this case we ask for His support to avoid these thoughts.

For more sermons, answers and monastery chants SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel, link in profile ⬆️