|
8/8/05
Great
Schema
Nun
Benedicta
(Braga)
Fallen
Asleep
in
the
Lord
Rives
Junction
MI
[ROEA
Chancery]
–
It
was
announced
that
Great
Schema
Nun
Benedicta
(Braga)
fell
asleep
in
the
Lord
on
Sunday,
August
7,
2005,
at
her
home,
The
Dormition
of
the
Mother
of
God
Monastery
in
Rives
Junction,
Michigan,
following
a
long
illness.
Mother
Benedicta's
body
will
be
in
the
chapel
at
the
monastery
for
visitation
between
5:00am
and
7:00pm
on
Monday,
August
8,
and
from
5:00am
on
Tuesday,
August
9. The
funeral
service
will
take
place
on
Tuesday,
August
9,
at
1:00
pm
followed
by
burial
in
the
monastery
cemetery.
 Reverend
Mother
Benedicta
was
born
in
1919,
in
the
village
of
Condrita
in
Besarabia. She
entered
Varatec
Monastery
located
in
northern
Romania
at
ten
years
of
age
and
took
the
monastic
vows
at
the
age
of
38. She
graduated
from
Iaşi
University
with
a
degree
in
Natural
Sciences
and
Education,
and
served
as
a
school
teacher,
at
middle
and
high
school
levels,
for
the
sisters
and
nuns
of
Varatec. She
taught
music
at
the
monastery,
as
well
as
setting
up
a
museum
and
serving
as
a
museum
guide
there
for
many
years.
In
1978,
she
left
Varatec
and
came
to
join
the
nuns
at
the
Orthodox
Monastery
of
the
Transfiguration
in
Ellwood
City,
Pennsylvania. Mother
Benedicta's
lifelong
experience
of
monastic
life
brought
a
wealth
of
knowledge
based
on
the
tradition
of
Romanian
monasticism
to
the
community
at
Ellwood
City,
where
she
became
abbess
in
1984. Her
years
in
Ellwood
City
gave
her
the
opportunity
to
become
familiar
with
American
culture
in
general
and
Orthodox
culture
in
particular. The
time
spent
there
prepared
her
for
the
years
to
come.
The
impetus
to
form
another
missionary
monastery
in
the
United
States
was
Mother
Benedicta's
vision
and
understanding
of
the
need
to
spread
the
Orthodox
faith
further
into
America. With
the
blessing
of
His
Grace,
Bishop
NATHANIEL,
Mother
Bendicta,
Mother
Gabriella,
and
Mother
Apolinaria
left
Ellwood
City
in
1987
and
went
to
Terre
Haute,
Indiana. There,
they
set
the
foundation
for
what
was
to
become
The
Dormition
of
the
Mother
of
God
Monastery. The
incorporation
papers
were
made
final
on
March
27,
1987,
and
were
approved
by
the
Episcopate
Council
in
September
of
that
same
year.
The
time
in
Terre
Haute
was
transitory
as
they
sought
a
more
permanent
place
to
establish
the
new
community. After
a
long
and
tedious
search,
they
found
the
Rives
Junction
Property. In
the
second
issue
of
"The
Burning
Bush,"
the
monastery’s
publication,
Mother
Benedicta
remarked,
"...through
God's
will
and
the
donations
of
the
faithful,
we
purchased
a
beautiful
and
quiet
piece
of
property
in
Michigan. It
includes
beautiful
woodlands,
clearings,
and
a
house
at
the
entrance;
...
we
moved
in
on
January
16,
1988." From
1988,
the
tiny
community
was
slowly
but
surely
established. The
church
was
named
in
honor
of
one
the
Church's
great
Feast
Days,
the
Dormition
of
the
Mother
of
God.
In
the
spring
of
1989,
Mother
Benedicta's
younger
brother,
V
Rev
Archimandrite
Roman
(Braga),
who
was
the
spiritual
father
of
the
Ellwood
City
community
when
they
departed
in
1987,
joined
her
and
Mothers
Gabriella
and
Apolinaria
in
Rives
Junction. Mother
Benedicta
assumed
the
position
of
Abbess
and
her
younger
brother,
Father
Roman,
became
the
Spiritual
Father
of
the
community. In
1992,
Mother
Benedicta
decided
to
retire
from
public
leadership
of
the
monastery,
and
passed
the
herald
on
to
Mother
Gabriella. Mother
Benedicta
took
the
stricter
vows
of
a
Great
Schema
Nun. Her
final
years
were
spent
in
prayer,
reading,
and
the
contemplative
life
of
a
Schema
Nun.
Mother
Benedicta's
legacy
will
remain. The
tradition
she
brought
with
her
from
Romania
and
established
here
will
continue
through
the
life
she
led
and
the
continued
leadership
of
Mother
Gabriella.
She
is
survived
by
her
brother,
V
Rev
Archimandrite
Roman
(Braga).
For
more
information,
contact:
The
Dormition
of
the
Mother
of
God
Orthodox
Monastery
3389
Rives
Eaton
Road
Rives
Junction,
Michigan
49277
517.569.2873 / www.dormitionmonastery.com
May
her
memory
be
eternal! |
|
