Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery today hosted the monastics of the Privolzhsky federal region. Such meetings, that have become a tradition since 2012, are organized to discuss important matters related in the life of the monasteries and monastics.

The current meeting dealt with the problem of receiving new monastics at the monasteries. Speakers at the conference included Hegumenia Sergia (Konkova), the abbess of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery, Archimandrite Innocent (Rudenko), vicar of the Sanaksary Nativity of the Mother of God; Abbess of the St. Alexievsky Nunnery in Saratov; Hegumenia Theodosia (Bessonova), abbess of the St. Alexiy monastery in Saratov, Archimandrite Barlaam (Maksakov), abbot of the Holy Dormition-St. Georgiy monastery of the Ufa Diocese, Hegumen Gabriel (Rozhnov), abbot of the Raifsky Bogoroditsky monastery in Kazan, Hegumenia Barvara (Skvortsova), abbess of the Vladimirsky monastery in the village of Piksur of the Yaransky Diocese.

Metropolitan Georgiy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas headed the conference. Representing theSynodal Department for monasteries and monasticism was its deputy chairman Hegumenia Juliania, (Kaleda), abbess of the Conception monastery in Moscow.

The meeting participants discussed two aspects of the problem: how to attract future monastics to the monastery and how to organize life in the monastery so that the newcomers who enter it wouldn’t leave it.

The main idea voiced by the speakers was that a life leading to salvation and eternal joy with Christ may attract those who desire to live this way. Everyone who comes to a monastery should be welcomed with love and receive consolation if they need it.

153 monastics from 40 dioceses of 14 metropolitanates of the Russian Orthodox Church attended the conference.