The female monastery, Holy Archangel Michael, is situated in the beautiful picturesque region of Berovo, and it dates back to 1818. Since it has been established, until this day, this monastery has been a nucleus of consistent female monastic life under the protection of the Great Archangel Michael.
Of note is that every structure created, has its own miraculous history; especially the construction of the holy church - as the legends of its construction are interwoven with palpable miracles. Namely, according to the records and statements of the first nuns, there is a legend of how the monastery church was built: at the beginning of the 19th century there had only been one small church in the area, which had been dedicated to St. George. During this time, the local people showed a desire for a new church, but they had to get permission from the ruling Turkish government together with the priest, they went to the Turkish Governor in Radovish, who - as the legend narrates - set three conditions for the church to be built. The first requirement was that the church be built in exactly 40 days; the second was that it should not be higher than the upper road, and the third condition, and most troubling, was that the youngest daughter of the current priest goes to the harem and changes her faith. It can be realized immediately that in this sacred history, and in our faith, the most important thing is the notion of sacrifice. There are many legends where our people believe that every sacred building involves some kind of sacrifice. But, what the Turkish Governor set as the third condition - is a sacrifice that is priceless. In order for the people to live in their faith, it was required for the girl to make the ultimate sacrifice for the entire community. Nonetheless, the first two conditions were equally symbolic and cruel. The first, the church to be built in 40 days implies an impossible feat. The second condition is a kind of humiliation, in that 'faith below the road' is equivalent to faith straying away from the true path. Despite all of this, the people accepted the conditions: an impossible achievement, humiliation and sacrifice, in the name of love for Christ. As the first two conditions were fulfilled with the grace of God, time came for the girl to go to the harem: instead, she fled to Kjustendil, wanting to preserve her faith. There she remained for three years, for as long as the Turkish Governor was alive. After the power changed, she returned to Berovo and became the first nun in this monastery. Her monastic name was Evgenija (Eugene). Thus, at the beginning, her senseless sacrifice (to change her faith) helped her define her true calling in devoting her life to Christ. From that day until the present, by God's will and providence, there has never been a time when the monastery was unoccupied by nuns. while over time their number changed, at one point the sisterhood reached up to 80 nuns. At the time, the monastery's property was quite large, the nuns dealt with many various activities on a daily basis. Today, two nuns live in the monastery, St. Archangel Michael, Daily Liturgy and other church services make visitors feel God's peace and presence in this holy place. In addition to making rosaries and preservatives of forest strawberries, the nuns also engage in making mosaics. This is the only monastery in the Republic of Macedonia where the main activity of the monastery is mosaic art. The monastery has its own gallery, where parts of the works are exhibited. The gallery is open to all visitors. The symbolism of this activity is related to the general symbolism of the Orthodox Christian patience: our faith in Him is built up stone by stone. Each stone reveals the image of God, and represents the small and modest steps we take on our narrow, and often difficult path to Him and our salvation. Thus, the mosaics of this monastery symbolize the longing of every Orthodox and godly Christian: everyone as a small stone to be embedded in the great living Body of Christ  (our Orthodox Church). 

Type of Data Point - Publicly Available Information

Monastery of the St. Archangel Michael - Berovo - Public Info

Visit page of the element - Monastery of the St. Archangel Michael - Berovo

Inserted: 23-05-2023 19:05:29