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Chapter 15: Holy Nativity Convent

When the future abbess of Holy Nativity Convent, Mother Stephania, visited the monastery from the island of Crete, Fr. Gregory was instrumental in convincing her to leave Greece and settle in America and start the convent in Boston. Father Gregory painted two special icons for her to give as gifts to nuns at her convent in Crete. She was old enough to be the mother of practically all the monks and she had a special affection for Fr. Gregory. She embroidered for him a unique great schema which he designed. It was not a full length one, but small enough that a monk could wear it continuously under his cassock. It took her not a little time to complete this work, and it was so beautiful that Fr. Gregory took care to preserve this schema by not wearing it.

Finally, Mother Stephania consented to become the abbess and start the Holy Nativity Convent. Father Gregory and the abbess had a continuous routine that on every Sunday afternoon Fr. Gregory would drive to the convent, and take Mother Stephania out for a ride. They would visit other older women who could not travel to the convent and in this way Mother Stephania would be given a sort of respite from the weekly grind of the convent. She would look forward to Sunday and would always be ready in the afternoon to go on a ride with Fr. Gregory. They had a very sincere relationship, and Mother Stephania would treat the young monk as her son and share her woes of the week with him.


Archbishop Gregory
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Last Updated: July 12, 2011