COTIUJENII MONASTERY HUSBAND

The monastery of Cușelăuca was founded in 1786 by a village girl from Cotiujenii Mari named Maria Tocanosov, who became a nun under the name of Mitrodora. Originally there was a wooden church and in 1836 the construction of the summer church of the Dormition-of-the-Mother-of-God Dormition began on the initiative of Archimandrite Nicandru, whose sister Irina later became abbess of the monastery. The winter church of Saints Constantine and Helena dates from 1855. The monastery was closed by the Soviet authorities in 1960 and the summer church was converted into a hospital for children with lung diseases. The site was returned to the nuns in 1990.

The fame of this monastery comes from the story of Blessed Agafia Maranciuc, who was born in 1819 at Paşatel. Very religious, her parents decided to go on a pilgrimage to the laurels of Kiev without taking their daughter with them, considering the way too difficult. Very sad, Agafia decided to go alone to Kiev but on the way she fell into a deep well and broke her legs. She stayed there for three years, fed by two birds (considered as angels). A shepherd heard a melodious song and found Agafia, who was able to return to her parents where she lay down and dedicated herself to prayer. Many people visited her and were healed. She was taken to the monastery where she lived for forty-two years before she died in 1873. Many miracles attracted crowds of pilgrims and her body is on display in the church.