Kaunas (Lithuania) [November 2024]

Project 3654 - Monastery of Kaunas (Lithuania)

Renovation of roomes

The monastery was founded in 1624 by Benedictine nuns from Belarus. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the monastery lost its independence from the governments of the day. In 1948, under the Soviet occupation, the monastery was closed and the nuns expelled. Two remained in Kaunas, keeping a low profile while continuing to meet to pray. The other sisters founded in Germany, followed by some in the United States.

Following Lithuania's independence, the convent church was restored and rededicated. The sisters sold their flats in order to buy back the convent building from the lay people who had lived there during the Soviet period. Today, one of the convent buildings belongs to the community. The other building was recently recovered in 2018. The community now has thirty-six members, fourteen of whom are between the ages of twenty-three and forty.

The sisters try to support themselves by working outside the monastery as teachers, professors, nurses and catechists.

They develop evangelisation and catechetical programmes for families who, after years of Soviet persecution, lack a Christian foundation. There are many requests for training in the life of faith, prayer, the sacraments, etc.

The community welcomes a number of groups throughout the year: catechism groups with forty-five children and around sixty parents, around thirty students and young adults, several prayer groups, excursion groups, etc.

In 2018, the community recovered flats in a building now belonging to the monastery, which the nuns have opened up to different groups.

Project

The sisters would like to renovate a three-room building to accommodate groups: Reconstruction of walls, ceilings & floors in 3 rooms, corridor and toilet, electricity, heating, sanitary install.

Requested amount: 14,000 euros.