Restorer of Pirita Convent Mother Tekla dies
Long-term Abbess General of the Brigittine Sisters Order of nuns, Mother Tekla, died on Tuesday. Mother Tekla was 83. She had a close relationship with Estonia, and played an important part in the reopening of the Pirita Convent, the Catholic Church in Estonia says.
Right after the restoration of Estonian independence in 1991, Mother Tekla Famiglietti, sent a note to the Estonian government from Rome to enquire about the ruins of the Pirita Convent, in order to find out what sort of state they were in and who they belonged to.
In autumn 1993, Mother Tekla arrived in Estonia for the first time. The country, along with the ruins of the historical Brigittine Sisters Order, impressed her deeply and during the visit, the decision to come back and restore the consistency of the Brigittines in Estonia was made.
In the beginning, the sisters lived in temporary places, first at the Vatican's embassy building in Kadriorg and then in the Catholic Churches' building in the Old Town of Tallinn that had been returned to the community and is an annex of the St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral on Vene Street.
At the end of 1995, the order obtained the land adjacent to the Pirita river.
As a continuation of the cloister of the historical Pirita Convent, the new convent building was consecrated on September 15, 2001.
The convent ruins were the location of a famous Estonian movie from the Soviet era, Viimne reliikvia, made in 1969.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino
