The period of the Holy Forty Days in the monasteries is known as the time when new spiritual warriors join the host of warriors of Christ as monks of two ranks.

On March 31, Metropolitan Georgiy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas performed the first monastic tonsure of this year’s Great Lent at the end of the prayer service with the akathist to the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov in the Trinity Cathedral of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery. Four novices of Diveyevo were vouchsafed worthy to join the angelic rank.

The tonsure is great and illustrious for promoting the spiritual ascent and life in the likeness of the lives of the saints whose names the newly tonsured monastics receive.

Metropolitan Georgiy handed the newly tonsured nuns Elena, Irina, Anna and Vera over to Hegumenia Sergia, the abbess of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery, their spiritual mother, and, in admonition, told the following: “During the holy days of Great Lent, the Lord ruled that you step on the path of the monastic life. The Lord called each of you to this path in His own way, knocking at your hearts, and you have responded.

The words of the parable from the Gospel about the merchant who sold everything to buy a precious pearl equally apply to you. In the same way you, too, abandoned the worldly things and cares and stepped onto the path of serving the Lord, caring about the most important thing – the salvation of your soul.

The Holy Rus was always built up by way of prayer and repentance, but above all, the monastics took upon themselves the deed of prayer and aspired after spiritual exploits. Thank God the monastic traditions are preserved in the Russian land, as its prosperity depends on whether we can invoke the blessing of God for our lives and make room for the providence of God.” These words, spoken as if from the Lord Himself via Vladyka Georgiy, will forever remain in the hearts of the newly tonsured nuns.

And so today we pray that the souls of the newly tonsured sisters will be transformed, that their spirit burns like the candle they each received at tonsure from the hands of the archpastor.

According to Typikon, the newly tonsured sisters will remain in the church for three days and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ at every liturgy.