Sister Chrystalla Petropolou

Sister Chrystalla Petropolou, who this past April finally achieved her lifelong goal of becoming a Greek Orthodox nun, died Oct. 12 at All Saints Greek Orthodox Monastery in Calverton. She was 92 years old.
A former Mattituck resident and longtime seamstress, she was an integral part of the effort to construct the monastery, donating thousands of dollars to the project between 1997 and its completion in 2005.
According to an April 17 Newsday article, she had longed for the religious life since her youth in Cyprus but found no monasteries where she could study. Later, after moving with her family to England and the U.S., caring for her elderly parents kept her from pursuing her dream.
“What should I say, I’m happy,” Newsday quoted her as saying after taking her vows. “I don’t care about doctors, I don’t care about medicine. I just want to die at the monastery.”
Despite confinement to a wheelchair, Sister Chrystalla adhered to the rigors of prayer-centered life at the monastery, where she had lived since last fall with several younger aspiring nuns who cared for her there.
Sister Chrystalla is survived by her sister, Anna Orros of Mattituck, and several nieces and nephews.
She reposed at the monastery until Oct. 14, when the Divine Liturgy was celebrated there by the Reverend Fathers Vaselios Govits, Gerasimos Makris, Constantine Makrides, Gerasimos Ballas and John Kefalas and the Rev. Deacon Parthenios. Interment followed at Northport Rural Cemetery.
Arrangements were handled by Defriest-Grattan Funeral Home, Mattituck.