A Day in the Life of St. Nina’s Monastery
Life in a Monastery is one of continual progress, continual movement towards God. Every day the Monk retraces his steps to the Church, every day he takes his place in the assembly of the first born (Heb. 12:23). And when the Service concludes, he carries the same spirit with him wherever he goes: in his Cell, going about his chores, in the Refectory, and so on. Everywhere it is the same event, the same experience. And he feels that he has entered into and is living in paradise. – Elder Aemilianos
Daily Cycle of Prayer & Services
The Sisters of St. Nina’s gather for prayer morning and evening. Celebrating the full daily cycle of Services is central to the life of our Sisterhood. We pray primarily in English, but also in Greek, Georgian, Slavonic, or other languages, depending on the needs of visitors and pilgrims.
Two choirs chant the prayers and hymns of the Church antiphonally, just as they were originally structured. Sacred words, inspired by the Holy Spirit and recorded and chanted by generations of Saints before us, thus resound in St. Nina’s Church, in our ears, and in our hearts and minds.
Two choirs chant the prayers and hymns of the Church antiphonally, just as they were originally structured. Sacred words, inspired by the Holy Spirit and recorded and chanted by generations of Saints before us, thus resound in St. Nina’s Church, in our ears, and in our hearts and minds.
Obediences: Work As Prayer
Nuns work. In the Monastery, each job is called an obedience, or ministry. Each Sister receives obediences from her Elder and her Abbess as a blessing from God. At Saint Nina’s, our prayers and liturgies are combined with providing hospitality and spiritual solace to visitors; caring for the gardens, chickens, guinea hens, sheep, goats, and bees; making soaps and natural skin balms, lotions and body butters; roasting coffee; calligraphy; and other works.
But since life in the Monastery is life in the Kingdom of Heaven right here and now, so too is work transformed. Everyday tasks not only acquire new meaning, but also become the means of re-creation and sanctification, as every moment, every movement, is filled with unceasing prayer.
But since life in the Monastery is life in the Kingdom of Heaven right here and now, so too is work transformed. Everyday tasks not only acquire new meaning, but also become the means of re-creation and sanctification, as every moment, every movement, is filled with unceasing prayer.
Stability & Commitment
Every Monastery, and every Nun in a Monastery, has a regular program or schedule. We work together, as parts of one body, whether gathered or alone. According to the Service of Tonsure to the Great and Angelic Schema, Nuns vow “to remain in the Monastery and in ascesis up to our last breath,” “preserving unto death obedience to the Superior and to the whole Sisterhood in Christ.” This is a decision lived out daily, with each Sister and every instrument of work in its time and place, according to the Blessing of our Elder and our Abbess.
The Night: A Time For Prayer
A Nun’s life—and that of every Christian—is rooted in the night. This is when, again and always with the Blessing of our Elder, we offer our sacrifice of love and prayer to God. It is in and from her nightly vigil that the Nun receives every grace and strength to live the next day in joy and peace.
The life of the Christian begins and is formed in the night, in the vigil of prayer offered to God.
– Elder Aemilianos
– Elder Aemilianos