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Native place of refuge

2022-04-16T14:06:25.012Z


Native place of refuge Created: 04/16/2022, 16:02 The Buchendorf sisters are there for refugees: Abbess Maria, priest Andrij Gubka with daughter Mariia (1 year old) and son Oleksandr (5 years old), Kristina, Mikhail, mother Snizhana and sisters Tamara (from Ukraine) and sister Kassia. © Andrea Jaksch The only Russian Orthodox convent in Germany is in Buchendorf. For the sisters it is a matter o


Native place of refuge

Created: 04/16/2022, 16:02

The Buchendorf sisters are there for refugees: Abbess Maria, priest Andrij Gubka with daughter Mariia (1 year old) and son Oleksandr (5 years old), Kristina, Mikhail, mother Snizhana and sisters Tamara (from Ukraine) and sister Kassia.

© Andrea Jaksch

The only Russian Orthodox convent in Germany is in Buchendorf.

For the sisters it is a matter of course to take in refugees from the Ukraine.

Buchendorf –

"We pray for peace," says Abbess Maria, head of the Russian-Orthodox convent in Buchendorf, "the Ukrainian Church is our Orthodox brother." That is why the Ukrainian priest Andrij Gubka lives in the guest house of the only Russian-Orthodox convent in Germany his wife and two children.

The war refugees Snizhana, her daughter Kristina and her fiancé Mikhail have just moved here.

Peaceful tranquility reigns on the monastery grounds next to St. Michael's Church.

The first Russian Orthodox sisters came to Buchendorf in 2005.

Archbishop Mark founded the first convent in Germany on the leased premises of the Congregatio Jesu under the patronage of Grand Duchess Elisabeth: The martyr was a victim of the Bolsheviks in 1918 and has since been venerated as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church abroad for her mercy.

"I don't follow the news," admits the Russian-speaking abbess, who was born in Greece.

With her 14 nuns, the Ukrainian priest Andriy and Archbishop Mark, “we regularly pray for peace.

This is our main mission and we are ready to help."

Orthodox refugees from the Donbas or from eastern Ukraine also come to Buchendorf with their personal pain to tell their story.

There has been war there since 2014.

Three war refugees and the Ukrainian priest Andrij and his family are currently living in the monastery's guest house.

In contrast to the Catholic Church, only married priests are ordained in the Orthodox Church, explains Abbess Maria.

Metropolitan Onufrij, the head of the Ukrainian Church, sent the young priest to Buchendorf four and a half years ago.

"Our Mascha (Maria) was born here," says the clergyman, who also celebrates masses in Munich-Fasanengarten.

"The people who fled Donbas in 2014 are now helping their brothers and sisters," emphasizes the Buchendorf abbess.

"I've been here in the monastery for 13 years," says Sister Kassia. Born in Germany, she studied Slavic studies and translates the concerns that the three refugees tell.

The grandmother, her five cousins ​​and the aunt all still lived in Chernivtsi in western Ukraine, says Kristina.

Just because her fiancé Mikhail was studying at the spiritual academy in Kyiv, he was not drafted.

Before the war, Mikhail worked as a coach driver, driving tourists back and forth between Germany and Ukraine.

On February 22, he left the Ukraine – and stayed in Munich two days later when war broke out.

In the state capital he met his fiancée Kristina, who had fled Chernivtsi.

"My mom came later," says Kristina.

Snizhana had to wait three days at the Polish-Ukrainian border for her departure.

"But now we're all together," says Kristina gratefully.

"After Pentecost we will get married here." The wedding with Mikhail was originally supposed to take place in Ukraine.

“Our services are open to everyone,” emphasizes Abbess Maria.

She is happy to say that there is already a large circle of friends around the Buchendorf monastery, which, among other things, organizes aid transports to the Ukraine.

“We also offer pastoral care through the Gautinger support community Ukraine.” And thanks to Sister Kassia, communication works perfectly.

Christine Cless-Wesle

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-04-16

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