Hundreds of believers climbed Anna's Mountain on their knees
On the feast day of the Holy Maccabean Martyrs, pilgrims came to the Anninsky Convent in Vashkovtsy, with many making the ascent up the mountain on their knees.
On August 14, 2026, on the feast day of the Holy Maccabean Martyrs, festive divine services are being celebrated at the church of the Anninsky Convent in the village of Vashkovtsy, Chernivtsi region. From early morning, believers of the UOC began ascending Anna's Mountain to the monastery. As reported by a correspondent of the SPJ, hundreds of pilgrims made the ascent on their knees, offering prayers and bringing personal petitions before the Lord.
Anna's Mountain on the outskirts of Vashkovtsy above the Cheremosh River has long been venerated by Orthodox believers. According to local tradition, the mountain's name is connected to a girl named Anna who, during a raid by Turkish-Tatar forces, fleeing from her pursuers, turned to God and leaped into a ravine. According to the tradition, the earth parted and preserved her from danger. In memory of this event, local residents erected a cross on the mountain.
At the end of the 19th century, during a cholera epidemic, believers gathered on Anna's Mountain to pray for the end of the calamity. After the epidemic ended in 1898, a wooden church dedicated to the Holy Righteous Anna was built here. The church later burned down after being struck by lightning, but the site continued to be venerated by Orthodox Christians.
In 1992, at the initiative of Priest Mykhailo Savva, construction of a new church began on the mountain, and in 1994 the first novices arrived. This is how the convent took shape, which today serves as a place of pilgrimage. Believers come here on the feast days of the Holy Righteous Anna, the feast of the Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos by the Righteous Anna, and the feast of the Holy Maccabean Martyrs.
Anna's Mountain remains a place of prayer for pilgrims, while the nuns of the monastery daily fulfill their monastic obedience here and pray for the salvation of Orthodox Christians.
As the SPJ previously reported, UOC believers set out in a cross procession to the Convent of Saint Anna in Vashkovtsy on the eve of the patronal feast of the Maccabean Martyrs.
