Assumption Monastery (Ratburi)

The appearance of this monastery was due to the absence of an Orthodox cemetery in Thailand and the practice of cremation of the deceased throughout the country, which contradicts the tradition of the Orthodox Church, but since it was impossible to establish a cemetery in Thailand in close proximity to Bangkok , a decision was made to purchase land in 100 km from Bangkok ^{[2] [3]} .

On February 17, 2009, the Chairman of the Committee of the Orthodox Church in Thailand Foundation, Deacon Daniil Vanya, made a working trip to Ratburi Province, where on behalf of the Orthodox Church in Thailand, he made a deal to acquire a parcel of land of 8,200 m² in church ownership, where it was planned to arrange the Holy Assumption Parish, a spiritual schools and Orthodox cemeteries ^[4] .

On August 15, 2009 Priest Daniil Vann visited the province of Ratburi , where he met with 11 elders of local villages at their request. In connection with plans to build an Orthodox church in this province, 98% of which profess Buddhism, representatives of local self-government wished to get to know the teachings of the Orthodox Church more closely, fearing the possibility of inter-religious conflict ^[5] .

In November 2009, the construction of the temple was started on the acquired site. In the area adjacent to the territory, a site was consecrated for the first Orthodox cemetery in Thailand.

Due to the lack of a sufficient number of parishioners, instead of a parish, it was decided to create a male monastery here ^[3] . In July 2010, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill supported the proposal of Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin) to create the Holy Assumption Monastery. At that time, the construction of the temple was completed in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a complex of residential and utility buildings. Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin) is blessed to begin work on organizing a monastic community for the new monastery, having submitted the nominees for consideration to the Secretariat of the Moscow Patriarchate for foreign institutions ^[6] .

In September 2010, a monastery was visited by a group of parishioners of the St. Nicholas Church of Bangkok and students of catechism courses who familiarized themselves with the final stage of construction and finishing works. They delivered furniture, household and household utensils donated by various benefactors to the monastery ^[7] .

In November 2010, the monastery under construction was visited by the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Thailand, Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin) and the Chairman of the Orthodox Church Foundation in Thailand, Priest Danai Vanya, and approved the project of the Holy Gates of the monastery, cemetery fence and chapel in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Iverskaya”, which was decided arrange at the entrance to the cemetery. The project of landscaping the territory of the monastery and the construction of additional premises for household needs was also agreed ^[8] .

In December 2010, Deacon George Maximov donated church utensils and vestments for clergy donated by the Orthodox Missionary Society named after teacher Serapion Kozheozersky mountains. Moscow ^[9] .

On January 27, 2011, Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin) visited the monastery under construction, where by that time landscaping had ended and gardeners had begun to work and consecrated four domes with crosses, designed to be installed over the Holy Gates of the cloister and chapel of the Mother of God of Iverskaya at the monastery cemetery ^[10] .

On February 12, 2011, the rank of small consecration of the monastery and the civil opening ceremony were held, led by the representative of the King of Thailand - Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee of the Thai Defense, Lieutenant General Akachai Chintoza ^{[6] [11] [12] [13]} .

On September 13, 2011, the construction of the bell tower was started, which was not provided for by the project for the construction of the Assumption Church in the monastery. However, taking into account the opinion of the monks and pilgrims of the monastery, the Orthodox Church Fund Committee in Thailand decided to allocate the necessary amount for the construction ^[14] . On November 6 of the same year, construction was completed ^[15] . In the future, it was planned to build here the buildings of the catechetical school and the monastery bell tower ^[16] . However, in the future it was decided to build a religious school on the island of Phuket near the Holy Trinity Church.

On February 9, 2012, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Office for Foreign Institutions, Archbishop Mark Egorievsky (Golovkov) performed the order of the great consecration of the church in honor of the Assumption of the Mother of God Monastery in Ratburi. During the service, Hierodeacon Seraphim (Raicha) was ordained to the rank of hieromonk ^[17] .

As a result of torrential rains on the night of November 8 to 9, 2013, the water level in the reservoir located in close proximity to the monastery and, accordingly, in the by-pass channels from it, increased sharply. Water overflowed the shores and in a matter of minutes flooded the entire surrounding area. The territory of the monastic community in Ratburi was flooded. The depth of flooding was up to 70 cm. According to preliminary estimates, the losses of the monastic community in Ratburi ranged from 10 to 20 thousand dollars ^[18] .

On February 6, 2014, Archbishop Mark (Golovkov) visited the Assumption Monastic Community, where he performed the evening service and the next day, February 7, the early Liturgy ^[19] .

In 2014, it was noted: “This monastery is already different from most monasteries by the ban on the use of the Internet and the minimized use of the telephone. All that is available - a temple, library, cemetery. Pray, read, remember death. Only one monk constantly lives here, but often lay people come to him to live and pray ” ^[20] .

In September 2017, heavy torrential rains in the province of Ratchaburi led to flooding of a significant territory of the monastery ^[21] . On September 29, 2017, in accordance with the decision of the Committee of the Orthodox Church Foundation in Thailand, the repair of buildings and the construction of the monastery began. The monastery fence was excavated and painted along the entire perimeter, drainage channels were installed to prevent flooding of the monastery in the future, the Holy Gates were completely renovated and the domes of the Assumption Church were restored ^[22] .

For 2015, the monastery complex included ^[16] :

• fully equipped church in honor of the Assumption of the Mother of God
• chapel in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God
• Mother Superior
• monastery cells
• other outbuildings
• garden

At the monastery is an Orthodox cemetery ^[16] .

A common celebration in the Assumption Monastery of the Assumption of the Mother of God , which unites not only the brethren, but also believers from all parishes in the Kingdom, is a notable annual event and tradition of the spiritual life of Orthodox Christians in Thailand, which gives the joy of communion among the flocks of various Orthodox parishes ^[23] .

• Burial rules at the cemetery of the Holy Assumption Monastery (Ratchaburi Province, Kingdom of Thailand)