Nativity of Christ male skete

The Nativity of Christ male skete of the Odesa eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church stands in the village of Male in the Rozdilne district of the Odesa region, on the shore of the Khadzhybei Liman⁹. It is not a house of its own: the skete belongs to St. Panteleimon's Monastery in the city of Odesa and on its own website presents itself precisely as that monastery's skete¹, while the monastery names it among what it has accomplished in recent times².

A detailed account of how the skete was built is given by the newspaper of St. Panteleimon's Monastery of Odesa itself. In its issue for January 2010 it summed up the building of the brothers' block: in the autumn of 2008, in October, the pit was dug, in December the foundation of the building was poured, in the summer of 2009 the builders began to raise the walls, and the monastery met the winter with the walls, the internal floors and the roof of a three-storey structure already standing³.

In the spring of 2010 the house hoped to resume the work - to fit windows and doors and to carry out the interior finishing - and, God willing, to consecrate the new block that same year and settle in it brethren from among those wishing to lead a more attentive, quiet and prayerful monastic life³.

The church at the skete was already in use by then. On 4 January 2010, on the eve of the Nativity, the Liturgy in it was celebrated by the superior of the monastery, Archimandrite Arkadiy (Taranov), concelebrating with the clergy of the house, and a festal moleben was served after the service⁴.

The church was being decorated at that time: painters were at work on the sanctuary, the walls and the drum beneath the dome were still to be adorned and a new iconostasis to be made, and scaffolding still stood in the middle of the church, raised into the space under the dome⁴. The labours and the joys of setting up church life in this quiet spot far from the city were shared with the brethren by willing helpers from among the parishioners and the local people⁴.

Summing up the year 2010, the monastery newspaper listed what had been done at the skete. A borehole 80 metres deep was drilled on its grounds; analyses and tests confirmed the quality of the water, so that the residents gained a source of their own, and from then on the drinking water for the monastery's needs was carried to Odesa from here, from the village of Male⁵.

The external finishing of the brothers' block was completed as well: the whole building and the outbuildings adjoining it were covered with marble chip render, a plaster rated to last 25 years⁵. Inside the block the walls of the first floor were plastered, where the design provided for a refectory, a kitchen and a baptistery⁵.

Work on the carved wooden iconostasis was drawing to a close, and it was planned to install it in the church in February; fine handwork covered every element of it like continuous lace, and for the first tier the full-length images of the Saviour, the Mother of God and the archangels Michael and Gabriel had already been painted⁵.

The next step was to be a heating system for the church and the block: once the interior work in the living quarters was finished, a small brotherhood would be able to remain at the skete the year round - gradually putting the grounds in order, holding regular services and leading a quiet and silent life⁵.

On 4 January 2011 the service on the eve of the feast at the skete was again celebrated by Archimandrite Arkadiy⁵. The church here, in the newspaper's words, is consecrated in honour of the Nativity of Christ, and the parishioners and helpers, of whom there were still few at that time, prepared for the temple feast with particular diligence⁵.

In August 2011 the newspaper wrote that the three-storey brothers' block had been raised, but that it was ready only on the outside, and that work remained to be done within before brethren could be settled there⁶.

At the beginning of February 2015 the monastery reported that in the skete's church the painting of the dome with icons and ornament had been completed, and that the sanctuary had additionally been decorated with wall painting and gilding⁷.

On 21 July 2017 the skete's church in honour of the Nativity of Christ was consecrated by Metropolitan Agafangel of Odesa and Izmail, concelebrating with Bishop Arkadiy of Ovidiopol and the clergy of the eparchy^{8, 9}; the Divine Liturgy and a procession followed, many worshippers and parishioners of the monastery gathered for the service, and the feast ended with a meal for pilgrims in the courtyard⁸.

In the article on St. Panteleimon's Monastery of Odesa in the Orthodox Encyclopaedia, the skete in the village of Male is described as a monastery skete with a cell block and a church in honour of the Nativity of Christ⁹.