Sister Ine of Guatemala

The daughter of one of the richest people in Guatemala, a former Catholic nun founded an Orthodox monastery.

"In Orthodoxy, I feel confident, calm and as if stable. My soul is calm,:says Sister Ines. When at the age of 20 she became a Catholic nun, she was given the opportunity to read a book the St. Seraphim of Sarov and his conversation with Motovilov. Another book  “The Ladder” by  St. John Climacus, which was brought from Russia, and another, in Greek  about the Divine Liturgy of St. Gregory Palamas.

"The books struck me to the core and opened my eyes and heart in order to search and to find. Later, one of the nuns brought several Orthodox icons, including a reproduction of the icon of the Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev. I was fascinated and eager to find out where the roots of all this came from. And sixteen years later, I found Orthodoxy."

Then she traveled a lot around the world. She studied theology in El Salvador, Belgium, and France.
"Once in Brussels, my mentor took me to the Russian Easter service. It took place in a chapel on the second floor of a private house."

Sister Ines went to Jerusalem, where she finally got in touch with real Orthodoxy. “My dad is a scientist, a very famous and influential economist in Guatemala. He said that true faith does not exist. Finally he went to Turkey and to Jerusalem, where the roots of Orthodoxy are. And when he returned, he said: "Yes, true faith exists."
"Mom immediately approved my decision. She was interested in Russia, read a lot about it. Mom also was baptized. Later, Orthodoxy was adopted by my father at the age of 84."

On the day of St. Nicholas in 1995, the Founding of the Orthodox Church in Guatemala was signed by archbishop Antony, the governor of the Antioch archdiocese of Mexico and Central America, a nun of the monastery and 25 parishioners, the first among them were the sister Ine's parents.

The Orthodox monastery in Guatemala is surrounded by a high fence and is kept under the supervision of a guard armed with  shotguns and automatic pistols. According to local residents, the guards are former bandits.

At one time, Guatemalan groups demanded ransom from Sister Ines. These were the troubling days for the monastery (threats fell hourly), but in the end the same people remained to guard it. Sister Ines has a very strong character: she can even force bandits to become defenders.