Photos from Odessa

ROCA: in humanly smoothed out English-(Many Photos!)- Visiting in Odessa of GOC Greek Bishops, to the St. John's Women's Monastery

Russian text with these photos:
 http://internetsobor.org/rptcz/tcerkovnye-novosti/rptcz/rptcz-poseshchenie-grecheskimi-episkopami-odesskogo-sviato-ioannovskogo-zhenskogo-monastyria

CHRIST IS RISEN!    XRISTOS ANESTI!      XRISTOS VOSKRESE!

ROCA: Visiting in Odessa of Greek bishops to the  St. John's  convent (Egorovka, Ukraine, near Odessa)-

Author: Vera nun incl. April 29, 2015.

16/29 April 2015  in the Odessa St. John's convent was held a joyful meeting with the three visiting bishops of the True Orthodox Church of Greece - Right Reverend Ambrose Mefonskim, Kliment Ohridski and Photios of Marathon. With them also came the priest Michael, these Pontic  speaking Greeks, originally from Batumi (which dialect is used in Athens), who as well as Bishop Ambrose, had a good command of the Russian language.

Mother Alexandra, the dear guests with the sisters, met with church bells and Paschal hymns at the gates of the monastery. The Bishops blessed each sister, then Abbess Alexandra invited Their Eminences to go to the monastery church. The guests went to the altar, and long admired the icons on the iconostasis, which were  written t by the sisters themselves, they venerated the temple sanctuary and took pictures with the nuns for a good memory.

By the grace of God, I was able to speak briefly with Bishop Ambrose about the Synod of Bishops meeting which was held in the Odessa diocese. His Eminence said that in  the Synod all issues are resolved in a spirit of unanimity and peace. "When there are controversial points, they should always be meet face to face," - said Vladyka. He reiterated the idea that there is a lot of confusion on the grounds that between one another, there  is something which has been passed which is wrong and because of that, truth suffers. In fact, we are given  church councils and synods, in order  to decide matters all together in a spirit of peace and in the love of Christ. Father Michael for his part stressed that all  at the Synod meeting earnestly sought unanimity in Christ, and all the influence that the Greeks want, is  to be in  church unity with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Also, Bishop Ambrose spoke very warmly of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, after which is named in his honor the very Women's  monastery in Egorovka, and whose spiritual daughter was once Mother-Abbess  Alexandra. His Eminence noted that in Moscow, where he recently visited in all the churches, where  he visited to pay homage to the Orthodox holy sites, he saw the icon of St. John.

The warm spring evening quickly came to an end, it was  time to part. The Greek bishops and priests thanked the sisters for their hospitality, and they, in turn, accompanied the visitors to the monastery gate with the ringing of bells and the singing of Paschal hymns..

Thanks to the  Risen Christ!