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As the monastery was located in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, when Finland gained its independence in 1917, during the Russian revolutions, Karelia and Valaam became part of the new nation of Finland. The Orthodox Christians in Karelia then formed the [[Church of Finland]] that became autonomous under the [[Church of Constantinople]]. Valaam was the most important monastery of the Finnish Orthodox Church. The liturgical language was changed from [[Church Slavonic]] to Finnish, and the liturgical [[calendar]] from the Julian to the [[Gregorian Calendar|Gregorian]] calendar. These changes led to bitter decade-long disputes in the monastic community, but the monastery prospered. In 1940, life for the monastery on Lake Lodoga changed radically.
During the Winter War with the Soviet Union in 1940, the 200 [[monk]]s from the monastery on Lake Lodoga were evacuated, in February 1940, to Papinniemi in the municipality of Heinavesi, Finland. With the end of the war the border was moved westward so that all of Lake Ladoga was within the Soviet Union. Thus, Returning returning to Valaam Island was not an option for the Valaam monks. Having lost their former home, the monks who had moved to Finland formed New Valaam (Valamo) Monastery that is the only monastery for men in the Finnish Church.
The choice of Papinniemi as the new home of New Valaam Monastery is rooted in the tradition of the original founding of the monastery by the monks Sergei, of Greek origin, and Herman, born in Karelia. A icon of the two [[saint]]s was found in the manor house of Yrjo Herman Saastamoinen, a government minister, who had given the estate to the monks. The monks of Valaam interpreted this find as a sign of God that this place should be their new home, having been led there by Ss Sergei and Herman.
