Short Biography of M. Paraskeva (Koralientchuk) of Lesna

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m. Evfrosinia
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Short Biography of M. Paraskeva (Koralientchuk) of Lesna

Post by m. Evfrosinia »

Mother Paraskeva (Koralientchuk) 01.04.1919-16.01.2014
Anna Feodorovna Koralientchuk was born April 1st, 1919, in Ukraine, in the Bukovino region, in a family with nine children. The family was well off. M. Paraskeva remembered that her mother ran a shop as well as worked the land. Anna helped out, and said that her mother was strict, but very kind and very good. Her family life was not happy, her husband was unfaithful. M. Paraskeva recalled that her mother even considered suicide, but remembered her children, and never went through with it. Perhaps because of her personal disappointment she let her daughters pursue their monastic vocations without any argument. M. Paraskeva’s oldest sister (20 years her senior) entered the Lesna monastery while the community was in Bessarabia (1917-1920). When the Romanian authorities began to pressure the sisters to change to the new calendar and to celebrate the services in Romanian, the community moved to Serbia. In October 1929 m. Paraskeva’s sister left for the Holy Land together with her monastic guide and spiritual mother, Nun Paula (Kliueva), appointed as abbess of the Holy Ascension Monastery on the Mount of Olives. She spent the rest of her life there, receiving the monastic tonsure with the name of Vera. M. Vera reposed in the 80’s.
In 1936 17-year old Anna decided to enter a monastery and left for Serbia, to the ancient Khopovo Monastery, where the Lesna sisterhood was living. Just about all of the rest of M. Paraskeva’s relatives subsequently ended up in Canada. In all likelihood they, like many Orthodox Christians, and also with 2 sisters living as nuns abroad, left their homes for the West towards the end of World War II with the retreating German army, rather than face the Red Army and Soviet rule. After the war ended they immigrated to Canada. Only one of the sisters remained in their native land, in the village of Toltre.
M. Paraskeva remembered that she was warmly received by Mother Abbess Nina, who took a liking to her straight away and appointed her as one of her cell-attendants. She participated in the other obediences that all the sisters shared, working in the fields and gardens. At one time she worked together with the future Abbess Theodora in the monastery’s orphanage. In the 70’s and 80’s one could still meet former residents of the orphanage, who remembered the young and cheerful sr. Anna

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Re: Short Biography of M. Paraskeva (Koralientchuk) of Lesna

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Part 2
Novice Anna lived peacefully at Khopovo up until the war began. By then the Lesna sisters had been living at this ancient monastery on Fruska Gora, founded by St. Angelina, a princess of the Brankovich dynasty in the 16th century, for 20 years. It was a life of prayer and hard work, in keeping with the traditions of the Lesna monastery, spiritually supporting a flock of dedicated Russians and Serbs, caring for orphans and homeless refugees. As World War II raged on the monastery lived through the retreat of the Serbian army, the Nazi occupation, and then the rule of the inhumane Croatian puppet government that they set up. Many Serbs met a martyr’s death at the hands of these Croats, who were vehemently opposed to the Orthodox faith. Croatian soldiers, lead by a vicious commander, took over the monastery. The nearby woods were filled with Serbian partisans, and at night the monastery was constantly under crossfire. The commander and his wife, a Baptist, forced the sisters to work for them, calling them lazy thieves, and confiscated their things, telling them in a threatening tone that they wouldn’t need them soon, anyway. In 1942, on the eve of the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, the commander declared that the sisters were accused of consorting with the partisans, and were to be thrown out of Khopovo and sent to Serbia. The sisters begged for more time, but another commanding officer yelled out, “We’ve been feeding you bums long enough, you’re good for nothing! Who needs you, old women?! Don’t argue, or you’ll be shot!” The sisters spent all night in prayer, begging the intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God, and at an early morning Liturgy everyone received Holy Communion, as this might be the day of their death. The commander and his wife mocked the nuns, “We’ll see how your Mother of God protects you!” And a miracle occurred. One of the nuns managed to get word out to the leader of the nearest Russian community, and he reported what was happening to the German officials. The nuns were returned to Khopovo.
Winter ended, and the nearby woods, full of communist partisans, came back to life. In 1943, at midnight on Annunciation, they reached Khopovo and robbed the monastery. And on Wednesday of Holy Week these communists set fire to the monastery. The weeping sisters began to carry out their things, and the partisans would confiscate them straight away. Through m. Theodora’s efforts the sisters managed to save the Holy Icons and relics and their most precious things. Most of the sisters were taken in by families in the closest village, while several remained with m. Theodora near the charred remains of the monastery, saving what they could. Thus they celebrated Paskha. Soon after the Nazi authorities ordered the monastery evacuated and within a few hours the sisters were taken away.

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Re: Short Biography of M. Paraskeva (Koralientchuk) of Lesna

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Part 3
At this time, after the fire, sr. Anna failed in patience and a great temptation came upon her. She decided that everything was finished with Lesna, but she wanted a real monastery life. She ran away and began to wander from monastery to monastery throughout old Serbia. She recalled that there were many of them: “One on every hillside, but so miserable, so poor!” She knew a bit of Serbian, it was similar to her native Ukrainian, and finally she settled down in one of these monasteries, where the abbess was very fond of her.
Sr. Anna rejoined the Lesna sisterhood in Belgrade. At first the sisters settled at an old age home on the outskirts of the city. Later they were able to move closer to the center, to an abandoned students’ residence. Everyone who could went out to work: as maids, nannies, nurses. The more educated sisters gave French, English and catechism lessons. The older and weaker sisters kept the cycle of services going and did what they could around the house. Her prodigal’s return to Lesna was one of m. Paraskeva’s most vivid memories, because she would often tell the story, frequently to complete strangers, for no apparent reason. “Listen, let me tell you”, she would start, “one of my friends talked me into visiting the Lesna sisters in Belgrade” Sr. Anna really wanted to see Matushka Abbess Nina, but m. Theodora was frosty and quite firm: “Matushka is not receiving anybody!” Sr. Anna’s friend kept insisting that she ask to be received back, but she just stood at the door to the Abbess’s cell, at a loss as to what to do, until her friend finally simply shoved her into the room. “Bless me! Forgive me!” cried out a frightened sr. Anna. “God forgives, God bless you, my soul!” answered Matushka Nina. Sr. Anna decided that the visit was over, and started to back out, but her friend blocked the door: “Ask her to take you back!” “I didn’t even really want to return”, said m. Paraskeva, “but since I was in there, I had to say, “If you’d like to, take me back!” “My soul!” rejoiced Matushka Nina, “come back!” This was in 1948 or 49, because soon after, during Great Lent, Matushka Nina passed away.
Soon sr. Anna was tonsured a rassaphore nun. She remembered that as she was cleaning fish in the monastery yard, a bishop passed by and asked, “How many years have you been in the monastery?” “Twelve”, said sr. Anna. “Ah! You should be tonsured! We have to tonsure Anechka!” he said. “They sewed a klobuk, and they tonsured me in a split second!”, recalled a jubilant m. Paraskeva.

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Re: Short Biography of M. Paraskeva (Koralientchuk) of Lesna

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Part 4
In 1950 the Lesna monastery moved to France and settled in a former Roman Catholic seminary in Fourqueux, a Parisian suburb. Rassaphore Nun Anna continued to toil, especially in the vegetable garden. She also worked in the kitchen and around the house, went out with the sisters to gather kindling and to reap hay in the nearby woods and fields. On feast days she sang in the monastery choir. She had a lovely contralto, and sang tenor along with Abbess Theodora. She loved to sing the old Lesna Christmas carols and spiritual songs. In 1952 sr. Katya, one of Vladyka John’s orphans from Shaghai, came to Fourqueux, and in 1957 a young novice, sr. Maura Kholmova (the future Abbess Macrina, our present Superior) entered from Morocco. Life at Fourqueux was hard and the sisters were nearly penniless. The cells and the kitchen stove were heated with coal, there was no hot water, most of the community lived in one large dormitory, and sr. Katya and Matushka Macrina remember sr. Anna being constantly at work. In 1960, on the feast of St. Tikhon of Kaluga, Archbishop Anthony of Geneva tonsured her to the small schema with the name “Paraskeva”, in honor of St. Paraskeva (Petka) of Serbia. She received the tonsure together with m. Natalia (Solovieva) and m. Angelina (Maliantovitch). M. Angelina loved to reminisce about the three days and nights that they spent in church together, and how they would sing a trio, “Behold the Bridegroom comes…” exactly at midnight.
In 1967 Lesna moved to Provemont. M. Paraskeva continued to work in the vegetable garden, growing beets and herbs. During the winter she took her turn at cooking, and many still remember her Ukrainian borscht with white beans. Sometimes she joined the choir, but during these years she began to suffer from emphysema, a lung disease that ean in her family, and she was often short of breath. M. Paraskeva was able to visit the Holy Land from Provemont, to finally meet with her older sister, m. Vera, and her relatives from Canada began to visit. She kept up with them, but ultimately the monastery was her whole life, she had absolutely no interest in any goings-on or news from the outside world. A friend from her years of wandering joined her in Provemont: m. Maria (Janko), who reposed in 1995. Her escape from Khopovo and subsequent return seemed to have been enough excitement for a lifetime, and this shielded her from any other grave temptations. She lived peacefully and quietly. M. Paraskeva could explode and have a screaming fit, especially if it concerned her garden plot or something she perceived as being unjust, but these would pass quickly and were soon forgotten. She liked to reminisce about “the good old days”. Often her stories of monastery life would get confused with fantastic stories from her childhood, of mermaids, sea monsters and witches, and the novices like to listen to her. She read with great difficulty and therefore made it a point to attend the Midnight office and the sisters’ evening prayer rule, as well as all of the services, when her gardening responsibilities allowed. Over the years her vegetable garden grew smaller and smaller, as she grew shorter and shorter of breath. In 1992 she dropped gardening all together, but she was still quite independent. She could get to Church and to the Trapeza on her own, and her cell was always neat and orderly. In 2011, on the feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God, she suffered a very bad fall and hurt her knees, and never really walked again. The sisters took turns reading her the monastic prayer rule, the Scriptures, various akathists and passages from the services. And she made every effort to pray on her own. When it became clear that her life was coming to an end, Fr. Evfimy, the monastery’s spiritual father, began to give her Holy Communion frequently. He did so on the morning of January 16th, the feast day of St. Genevieve of Paris. M. Paraskeva was fully conscious. She crossed herself with difficulty and began to murmur her prayers. At about 8 PM she breathed her last, as “More honorable than the Cherubim” was being chanted at Matins. We believe that the Most Holy Mother of God, in Who’s monastery she struggled for almost 78 years, lead her into the heavenly mansions, saying, as She does in one of M. Paraskeva’s favorite Christmas carols, “God will have thee dwell in His Royal Bridal Chamber and will reward thee with His love… and thou shalt know this Holy Love of the Heavenly King, Creator of all, forever, without end.

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Re: Short Biography of M. Paraskeva (Koralientchuk) of Lesna

Post by Alexander Kuzmin »

Thank you, dear Matushka!
Do you have this story in Russian?

I study English, forgive my mistakes.

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Re: Short Biography of M. Paraskeva (Koralientchuk) of Lesna

Post by Barbara »

Thanks so much for all the effort to write up this amazing story !

I wish there could be a book of all the heroic nuns who went through all these years of
intense upheaval to relocate Lesna and found similar Convents in the West.

I hope the stories can be collected and written down right away before too much time goes by.
This was really a unique opportunity to hear the full version of a nun's life, rather than the
paragraph or two usually presented on websites.

78 years as a monastic ! Incredible.

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