Лавра

On January 26 our native coordinator, Tonia, took us on our first big excursion to the Київ Лавра (pronounced Lavra; directly translated: big and very important monastery) Caves. There are only 6 lavras in all of the world and three are in Ukraine. On our way, however, we passed the "Monument of Unknown Soldiers." It honors the many who died in the "Great Patriotic War" during WWII between the Soviet Union and Germany between June 22, 1941 and May 9, 1945.




When we reached this street leading down to the caves, Tonia told us a bit of the history behind them. She said some monks wanted to be isolated and because this hill had soft soil, the caves could easily be dug. They used it as a place to pray and they have little chapels inside. They only burried the most distinguished monks there. One way they were burried was when they "practically chose it themselves." They wanted to be alone in a room to pray and be connected with God. They were given food from other monks through a little window and when they stopped eating the food the other monks knew he was dead. Now people come here from many countries and little cities to pray and feel recovered.


As we went to go in, she told us it was custom for women to cover their heads and wear a skirt. She failed to mention this requirement before coming but a lot of the girls had long jackets. I, however, was found "inappropriate" along with three other girls. Luckily, people had extra scarfs we could tie around our waist and that sufficed. It looked dumb but it is neat to take part in some of the customs and traditions here. We each had to buy a little candle as well while walking the crowded and tiny, shoulder-width passageways. This was also cool but definitely a fire hazard as we had to follow just inches behind one another with the flames almost touching our furry hoods. Lining the halls are glass caskets of the smallest grown men I have ever seen. They were probably four feet long and two feet across. The bodies were covered of course but some of them had their hands in leather gloves peeking out. It was very interesting and, I'm sure, a very special place to many.