Five nuns take monastic vows in UOC convent in Rivne

on March 27, 2026, on the Friday of the fifth week of Lent, a significant church event took place in the St. George’s Courtyard of the Mykolaiv Horodok Convent: five nuns of the monastery took monastic vows to the minor skema. The ceremony was performed by Metropolitan Pimen of Rivne and Ostroh.

According to the Information and Education Department of the UOC, citing the press service of the Rivne Eparchy, the tonsure took place after the All-Night Vigil on the eve of the Saturday of the Akathist (Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary). Many believers gathered in the church and witnessed the sisters taking the path of the angelic image.

During the tonsure, five nuns received new names: Philothea, Hilaria, Iraida, Eliasara, and Marionilla. Metropolitan Pimen congratulated the newly tonsured nuns, noting that their choice was a response to the divine call. “This is a special path to which the Lord leads a person gradually. And if you are standing here today, it means that He Himself has led you and will continue to lead you,” the hierarch emphasized in his parting remarks. The archpastor wished the sisters strength in their ministry, peace of mind, patience in the upcoming trials and unceasing joy in prayer.

Earlier, the hierarch of the OCU, Gabriel Kryzyna, announced that his mother had taken the great schism (the highest monastic degree) in one of the conventual monasteries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The woman made this decision despite the fact that Kryzyna himself had changed two jurisdictions in his short career.