At the Sviatohirsk Lavra, two residents were tonsured into the Great Schema
By the blessing of Metropolitan Arseny, the tonsure was performed privately: for two of the monastery's eldest residents, aged 89 and 82.
On June 12, 2026, at the Svyatogorsk Lavra, by the blessing of the abbot Metropolitan Arsenios of Svyatogorsk (Yakovenko), the tonsure into the Great Schema was performed for two of the monastery's eldest residents. This was reported by the press service of Svyatogorsk Lavra.
The tonsure was performed privately – in seclusion, without a solemn liturgical service. Monk Simeon (Belous) received the tonsure with the name Simeon in honor of Saint Simeon Stylites of Divnogorye, and monk Pachomios (Tishchenko) – with the name Anthony in honor of Saint Anthony the Great. Both elders worked at enterprises in Donbass in their mature years, and came to monasticism in their declining years: schema-monk Simeon entered the monastery on January 1, 1994, in the first years after its revival, schema-monk Anthony – in August 2018, at the age of 74.
Schema-monk Simeon, in the world Anatoly Ivanovich Belous, was born on June 6, 1937, in Vinnytsia region. For more than thirty years he carried out the obedience of a cobbler in the monastery. This spring the elder suffered a serious illness, which became the reason for the private performance of the tonsure. It is noteworthy that the memory of his new heavenly patron – Saint Simeon of Divnogorye – is celebrated by the Church on June 6, on the schema-monk's birthday. Schema-monk Anthony, in the world Pyotr Yakovlevich Tishchenko, a native of the same region, is in his 83rd year.
The Great Schema is the highest degree of monastic endeavor, an image of complete renunciation of the world for the sake of union with Christ. According to the tradition established in the monasteries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the brotherhood who have reached spiritual maturity, as well as the eldest and infirm residents, are tonsured into the schema.
Earlier, the Union of Orthodox Journalists wrote that new monks were tonsured at Molchensk Monastery in Putivl.
