St. Anne's female skete

The skete in honour of St Anna the Righteous stands in the village of Onyshkivtsi in the Rivne region and belongs to the St Nicholas convent of Horodok^{1, 9}.

The house was opened on 17 April 2000. On that day the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, presided over by His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv and All Ukraine, heard the report of archbishop Varfolomii of Rivne and Ostroh on the opening in the village of Onyshkivtsi, Dubno district, Rivne region, of a skete of the St Nicholas convent of the village of Horodok, and blessed that opening¹. This is Journal No. 6 of that session¹.

The skete grew up beside the spring of St Anna the Righteous, and its church of the same dedication stands directly on the spring^{2, 3}. The eparchy's reports mention two churches of the house: the church of St Anna above the holy spring^{2, 3} and a church in honour of All Saints⁵.

Particles of the relics of St Anna the Righteous are kept in the house⁵. On 21 September 2023, the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, the relics of the righteous forefather Joachim were also brought to the skete: a particle of the relics of the father of the Mother of God was given by archbishop Viktor of Artsiz, vicar of the Odesa eparchy². To festal bell-ringing, with the singing of troparia and a magnification, the reliquary was carried into the church of St Anna above the holy spring². The eparchy's report notes that from then on the relics of both the mother and the father of the Mother of God rest here, for the prayerful veneration and spiritual intercession of all, and especially of childless families².

At Theophany the water of the spring is blessed by hierarchical rite. On 18 January 2024, the eve of the Theophany of the Lord, archbishop Pymen of Rivne and Ostroh led the Divine Liturgy in the church of St Anna the Righteous that stands on the spring of the same name³. The sisters' and the parish choirs sang at the service³. After the Liturgy all present went in procession to the well on the monastery's grounds, where the hierarch blessed the water by the great rite, and the sisters released doves into the sky, in remembrance of the reconciliation of God and man³. At the end the archbishop blessed the waters of the spring of St Anna as well, after which those who wished could immerse themselves in it³.

The skete is the fixed end of the traditional cross procession "Rivne - Onyshkivtsi". In 2021 it ran from 27 June to 3 July, and those taking part covered 120 kilometres with the wonderworking icon of the Mother of God "The Only Hope of the Despairing", before which St Amphilochius of Pochaiv prayed⁸. The procession began on the Sunday of All Saints after a moleben at the St George metochion in the city of Rivne and went to the skete of St Anna the Righteous in the village of Onyshkivtsi, Dubno district⁸. Each day liturgies, molebens and akathists were served before the wonderworking image, and for prayer and for the night the pilgrims stopped in village churches⁸. The procession ended with a common prayer beside the skete⁸.

The house keeps its patronal feast on 7 August, the day of the memory of St Anna the Righteous. On 7 August 2025 the Divine Liturgy in the church of All Saints was led by the chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, metropolitan Antonii of Boryspil and Brovary, with several hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church concelebrating, among them archbishop Pymen of Rivne and Ostroh⁵. Many of the faithful prayed at the service, together with monks and nuns and abbesses from monasteries across Ukraine who had come to honour the shrine; on that day all present could venerate the particles of the relics of St Anna⁵. Special prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine⁵.

On the same day the house hosts the annual festival of children's Sunday schools. On 7 August 2024 it was held for the eighteenth time: 20 Sunday schools from the Volyn, Sarny, Ternopil and Rivne eparchies took part, and 600 children came to show their skill in singing and performance⁴. The concert lasted more than four hours, and the sisters of the house looked after the children and their parents and prepared meals for them⁴.

The skete also serves as a meeting place for the eparchy's clergy and teachers. On 17 August 2026, with the blessing of metropolitan Pymen of Rivne and Ostroh, a gathering of the teachers of the Sunday schools of the Rivne eparchy was held here, bringing together priests and teachers of four deaneries - Radyvyliv, the 1st and the 2nd Dubno, and Mlyniv⁷. The purpose of the gathering was an exchange of experience among the teachers⁷.

Every summer an Orthodox camp for children and young people, "Dzherelo", works in the house. In 2026 it gathered about 180 children⁶. Each day began with morning exercises and common prayer; a spiritual talk on the Orthodox family was given by a teacher of the Pochaiv theological seminary, the children went through a themed quest with ten stops, and the winners of a small football tournament played a friendly match against a team of clergy⁶. The last day of the camp began with the Divine Liturgy⁶.