On August 20, 2026, Bryansk hosted the opening of a training class for professional training of volunteers and nurses in the care of the seriously ill and wounded. The project was implemented by the Central Clinical Hospital of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, together with the Bryansk Diocese.
The classroom is located in the Training Center for Church Specialists. On the opening day, a prayer service was held in the house church of St. Nestor the Chronicler for the beginning of a good deed. The divine service was led by the dean of the Bryansk Gradsky district, Archpriest Sergiy Rysin, co-served by the head of the Bryansk Diocesan Sisterhood of Mercy, Priest Ilya Burdukov, and the confessor of the sisterhood, Priest Sergiy Balev.
The solemn event was attended by Alexey Zarov, Director and Chief physician of St. Alexy's Hospital, Ekaterina Andreeva, Deputy Director of the Bryansk Region Department of Health, Tatiana Rein, Deputy head of the St. Alexy's Hospital Training Center for Regional Development, and Natalia Anikina, a teacher at the Training Center.
An ark with a fragment of the relics of St. Luke of Crimea was delivered from St. Alexy's hospital to worship the Bryansk sisters of Mercy.
On behalf of Metropolitan Alexander of Bryansk and Sevsk, Archpriest Sergiy Rysin greeted all those gathered: "Today's class opening is a new stage in the development of this ministry. Now our sisters will not only be able to grow in faith and charity, but also receive systematic professional skills so that their help is even more effective and qualified. Special thanks to Alexey Yuryevich Zarov and his colleagues for their trust and willingness to share their experience and knowledge. We are starting a new good deed, and may the Lord bless the labors of all who will study and teach here."
After the prayer service, the clergy consecrated the classroom. This is the 25th academic class opened by St. Alexy's Hospital in Russia with the support of the Christian Charity Foundation. Similar classes are successfully operating in cities from Lugansk to Irkutsk, from Sevastopol to Vologda.
Over the course of four days, under the mentorship of Natalia Anikina, the Bryansk sisters of Mercy will practice their skills in the most realistic environment. Conditions have been created in the classroom that are close to a real hospital room.
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The Bryansk Diocesan Sisterhood of Mercy was established in October 2025. The sisters are currently serving their duties in the military hospital in Bryansk. The sisters also take care of patients in other medical institutions of the city and the region, and help in the children's hospice in caring for young patients.
St. Alexy's Central Clinical Hospital is a medical institution of the Russian Orthodox Church, a multidisciplinary medical facility with 300 beds. People from all regions of Russia are treated here, regardless of religion. The hospital is located in Moscow. Branches have been opened in Shuya, Ivanovo Region, Zhukovsky, Moscow Region, and Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yaroslavl Region. A Prosthetics and Medical Adaptation Center has been set up in Gorlovka (DPR). There is a licensed Training Center for the training of junior nurses in patient care.