First tonsure into Great Schema performed at Sviatohirsk Lavra skete

Tonsure into the Great Schema. Photo: the Sviatohirsk Lavra

On June 13, 2026, at the Sviatohirsk Lavra's Skete of Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco in the village of Adamivka, a tonsure into the Great Schema – the highest degree of monasticism – took place for the first time in the monastery history, reports the press service of the Sviatohirsk Lavra.

The tonsure was performed by the spiritual father of the skete, Archimandrite Vsevolod (Georgitsa), with the blessing of the abbot of the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk. Nun Zinovia (Kolosova) received the Great Schema with the name Alexandra in honor of the Venerable Martyr Alexandra of Diveevo.

On the same day, the skete also held its first-ever vesting of novices in monastic attire. The novices Larisa (Sibireva), Natalia (Badayan), and Tatiana (Bizeva) received cassocks, belts, apostolniks (monastic head coverings), and skufias (soft monastic caps). The rite was led by Fr. Vsevolod, who also bestowed upon the sisters a blessing to wear and use prayer ropes.

Upon completion of the rite, Fr. Vsevolod, the senior sister of the skete Nun Eudokia (Radul), and all the sisters congratulated Schema-nun Alexandra on receiving the Great Angelic Habit and asked the newly tonsured for prayers for the monastery and all its inhabitants. The Adamivka Skete is a subdivision of the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), located in the Donetsk region.

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