Two monks tonsured into Great Schema at Sviatohirsk Lavra

Two of the oldest monastics. Photo: Sviatohirsk Lavra

On June 12, 2026, at the Sviatohirsk Lavra, with the blessing of the abbot, Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk (Yakovенко), two of the monastery's oldest residents were tonsured into the Great Schema, reports the press service of Sviatohirsk Lavra.

The tonsure was performed privately, in seclusion and without a solemn church service. Monk Simeon (Belous) received the tonsure with the name Simeon in honor of Venerable Simeon the Stylite of the Wonderful Mountain, while Monk Pakhomiy (Tishchenko) received the name Anthony in honor of Venerable Anthony the Great. Both elders worked at enterprises in the Donbas region during their adult years and came to monastic life later in life: Schema-monk Simeon entered the monastery on January 1, 1994, in the first years following its revival, while Schema-monk Anthony entered in August 2018 at the age of 74.

Schema-monk Simeon, known in the world as Anatoliy Ivanovych Belous, was born on June 6, 1937, in Vinnytsia Oblast. For more than thirty years, he carried out the obedience of a cobbler at the monastery. This spring, the elder suffered a serious illness, which was the reason the tonsure was performed privately in his cell. Notably, the feast day of his new heavenly patron, Venerable Simeon of the Wonderful Mountain, is celebrated by the Church on June 6, the schema-monk's birthday. Schema-monk Anthony, known in the world as Petro Yakovlevych Tishchenko and a native of the same region, is now in his 83rd year.

The Great Schema is the highest rank of monastic life, embodying total renunciation of the world in pursuit of union with Christ. According to the tradition observed in the monasteries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), monks are tonsured into the Great Schema upon reaching spiritual maturity, and it is also bestowed upon elderly and frail members of the brotherhood.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that new monastics were tonsured at Putyvl’s Molchensky Convent.

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