8 September 2019 года

Day of remembrance of blessed elder Natalia Dmitriyevna

On the day of remembrance of the holy martyrs Adrian and Natalia, the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery prayerfully remembered the blessed elder Natalia Dmitrievna. On a Saturday night before, the memorial parastas service, Liturgy with prayers for the dead, and panikhida were served at the Transfiguration Cathedral. On her name day on Sunday, Litya service was held at the elder’s grave located beside the Trinity Cathedral. 

Natalia Dmitrievna entered the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery in 1848. She never missed a church service nor has she ever visited anyone’s cells. She spent her nights reading the Psalter and calling the sisters for the nighttime prayer by ringing the bell. Natalia Dmitrievna loved prayer and immersed herself in the spiritual and enlightened reading she later used to instruct the pilgrims who flocked to her cell in great numbers. 

During her twilight years, elder Natalia founded her own women’s community separately from the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery. In 1899, her followers acquired a plot of land for the new community that later became known as Milyavskaya community named after a field in the Ardatov District. The blessed elder never ventured to leave the Diveyevo monastery without the abbess’s blessing and she guided her followers in spirit from Diveyevo. The church in Milyaevo has been recently restored and the Diveyevo monastery’s skete is located there.