Odesa’s St. Elijah Monastery honors memory of its founder

Metropolitan Agafangel led celebrations at St. Elijah Monastery in Odesa on the feast day of St. Gabriel of Mount Athos.

St. Elijah Monastery in Odesa, founded by St. Gabriel of Mount Athos, celebrated its patronal feast on the saint’s feast day, with a festive Divine Liturgy as the centerpiece of the celebrations, the Odesa Eparchy reports.

The service was presided over by Metropolitan Agafangel of Odesa and Izmail, the monastery’s sacred archimandrite. Concelebrating with him were Metropolitan Mykola of Kremenchuk and Lubny, Archbishop Diodor of Yuzhne, Archbishop Viktor of Artsyz, Archbishop Serhiy of Bolhrad, Bishop Anastasiy of Ovidiopol, Archpriest Dymytriy, rector of the Odesa Theological Seminary, along with local clergy and the monastery’s brethren.

During the Liturgy, prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine, for the country’s soldiers, and for all its people. After the service, the hierarchs held a prayer service before the reliquary containing the holy relics of St. Gabriel. At the conclusion of the celebrations, the faithful were treated to a traditional festive meal.

St. Gabriel of Mount Athos was an archimandrite and abbot of St. Elijah Skete on Mount Athos. In 1884, he established a metochion in Odesa to assist pilgrims traveling to the Holy Mountain and Palestine. Between 1894 and 1896, a five-domed Byzantine-style cathedral with three altars was built under his supervision. The saint personally brought some of the building stones from Mount Athos aboard the ship Holy Prophet Elijah.

Following his repose in 1901, the archimandrite was buried in the church’s crypt. In 1994, clergy of the metochion uncovered his incorrupt relics. In 1995, the Athonite metochion was transformed into St. Elijah Monastery in Odesa.

Since 1997, the monastery has housed the Odesa Eparchial Administration. It also operates a Sunday school for children and adults.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the UOC cathedral in Lutsk had celebrated the Synaxis of All Saints of Volyn.