JERUSALEM: June 19, 2017
Nun Barbara (Novikova) is Appointed Acting Abbess of Ascension of the Lord Convent on the Mount of Olives

On Saturday evening, during all-night vigil on June 17, 2017, the eve of the 2nd Sunday of Pentecost, Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky), Chief of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, read an ukase issued last week by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in Buchendorf, Germany, as follows:

The Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, held on May 31/June 12, 2017, Heard: A report by Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany on the state of ther Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.

Decreed: 1) In recognition of her special service and many years of labor, and as a result of her serious health issues, to retire Abbess Moisseia (Bubnova), and grant her residence wherever she desires. 2) To express profound gratitude to Abbess Moisseia for her exceptionally fervent service to the Russian Church Abroad, awarding her the right to where a second jeweled cross. 3) To appoint Nun Barbara (Novikova) Acting Abbess of Ascension of the Lord Convent on the Mount of Olives and award her the right to wear a gold pectoral cross. 4) To request that Abbess Moisseia hand over all administrative and financial matters to Nun Barbara in the course of a month, and to vacate the Abbess’ quarters. 5) Henceforth to commemorate the name of Nun Barbara during the appropriate times at divine services within the confines of the Mount of Olives Convent.

Nun Barbara was born Larisa Nikolaevna Novikova on May 26, 1939, in Odessa. She worked in the Science Project University Library, attended church services and was the spiritual daughter of Schema-Archimandrite Iona (Ignatenko). She received blessing from Abbess Moisseia to enter Ascension of the Lord Convent in 2003. In 2010, Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany tonsured her. At the Mount of Olives, she served at the hostel and oversaw renovation and construction projects.