OUR DAYS

Today Raifa Monastery does a great deal of missionary and charitable work. Every day, hundreds - and even thousands on holy days - of pilgrims, come to Raifa. We help poor families. Twenty-six orphans and boys from troubled families are being brought up in the monastery orphanage. Poor people and their children are baptized without charge. The monastery buys equipment for schools, hospitals and kindergartens, helps them with building materials and money during the repairs. The convicts in prisons and penal colonies are supplied with religious literature, clergymen visit them and a constant correspondence continues.

The monastery has its own fire-brigade which also helps to fight fires in neighboring villages. It is considered to be a well prepared and experienced group.Not only monks but also lay brothers live in the monastery. These are men who have decided to dedicate their lives to God but are not quite prepared for that final step. They must discharge obediences – special individual orders and tasks in the monastery life. They help in building projects and are also allowed to assist the priests during the church services. They live in the monastery free of charge and are allowed to use all its facilities. Their number is not constant but usually it is around 40 people.

Everyone who seeks hermitage in the monastery, even for a short time, can find it. A small hotel on the banks of the lake gives shelter for pilgrims for several days without charge. Believers who come to the monastery to help out with their labor are welcome and supplied with everything they need to pray and work.

Guided tours of the monastery usually begin near the bell tower, going down the circle alley around the Trinity Church to the Church of Our Lady of Georgia.