SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2018 – Orthodox Canada

When I walked into the church, Matins had already begun and I saw little Xenia and her younger sister Daria sitting at the back. Since their parents were not present I could not understand how they could have come, learning later that they had a “sleep over” at the home of their uncle and aunt [Deacon Markel and Raisa] and came with them for the 8 am beginning of the service. Today’s service was in Church Slavonic and it was very well attended, with even people coming from Vancouver Island. It has been a long time since I served, for it is impossible for me to stand for any length of time and, as a result, I begin hearing confessions early in Matins and continue until there are no more to hear which, today, was long after the singing of the Symbol of Faith. We had a brief memorial litany and, among the names read, was Xenia who had died suddenly and was refused a burial on the suspicion that it was self inflicted, only to discover later that it was not the case. How tragic that is and let it remind us not to be hasty in our judgments. Before reading the Prayers After Communion, we blessed the communion set that Dima brought from Nizhny Novgorod. No doubt we shall use it for next Sunday’s liturgy. As usual, the hall was crowded for the Agape meal, and even more so when the Georgians came down from the upper church to join us. Plans were made to baptize Evgeny [at the moment I cannot recall his Turkish name] who is a Turk from Istanbul, but who is of Bulgarian ancestry. His godmother to be, Galina Demirbash, is fluent in Turkish, while his godfather to be is our Deacon Markel. It will be a joy to have Evgeny baptized and he especially wanted this particular name in baptism. Feeling very tired, I left earlier than usual and, moments after returning to my cottage, we lost our power, so for over two hours little cold be done and, since it was too dark to even read, there was nothing left but to rest.

Sanctification of Life

[Meleti for 28 October 2018 with Vladika Lazar]

DAILY DIARY FOR SUNDAY 28 OCTOBER 2018When I walked into the church, Matins had already begun and I saw little Xenia and her younger sister Daria sitting at the back. Since their parents were not present I could not understand how they could have come, learning later that they had a "sleep over" at the home of their uncle and aunt [Deacon Markel and Raisa] and came with them for the 8 am beginning of the service. Today's service was in Church Slavonic and it was very well attended, with even people coming from Vancouver Island. It has been a long time since I served, for it is impossible for me to stand for any length of time and, as a result, I begin hearing confessions early in Matins and continue until there are no more to hear which, today, was long after the singing of the Symbol of Faith. We had a brief memorial litany and, among the names read, was Xenia who had died suddenly and was refused a burial on the suspicion that it was self inflicted, only to discover later that it was not the case. How tragic that is and let it remind us not to be hasty in our judgments. Before reading the Prayers After Communion, we blessed the communion set that Dima brought from Nizhny Novgorod. No doubt we shall use it for next Sunday's liturgy. As usual, the hall was crowded for the Agape meal, and even more so when the Georgians came down from the upper church to join us. Plans were made to baptize Evgeny [at the moment I cannot recall his Turkish name] who is a Turk from Istanbul, but who is of Bulgarian ancestry. His godmother to be, Galina Demirbash, is fluent in Turkish, while his godfather to be is our Deacon Markel. It will be a joy to have Evgeny baptized and he especially wanted this particular name in baptism. Feeling very tired, I left earlier than usual and, moments after returning to my cottage, we lost our power, so for over two hours little cold be done and, since it was too dark to even read, there was nothing left but to rest.
Posted by Vladika Lazar Puhalo on Sunday, October 28, 2018

Sanctification of Life

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