I remembered to change my clock and wrist watch before going to bed last night, but when I awoke shortly past midnight, I could not understand what had happened, or what had not happened, so I changed the time once again. When I awoke at three o’clock [I wake up several times each night], the change of time had been made and it was only then that I remembered that the change took place here at 2 am. In the end, all was fine. The sermon was given by Reader Irenee during which time Vladika walked into the church, surprising all, for I had told them that he was not feeling well and probably would not be able to attend. Since many could not be present for yesterday’s Parental Memorial, we had a memorial litany served at the end of the liturgy. Newly baptized Evgeny was the first to receive communion and everyone greeted him at the end of the service. Including him, there was a group of Turkish speaking people present for the liturgy, so perhaps one day we can add a Little Litany in Turkish.I found this of interest because both my grandfathers spoke passable Turkish and they taught me a limited vocabulary in this language. We often have interesting visitors and today was no exception. The well known Roma violinist Lachi Cercel was here for the liturgy. The first time I met him, many years ago, I thought that his name was Churchill, because that is how Cercel is pronounced in Romanian. You can easily find him on You Tube.
[Photo below: our first celebration of theophany at the monastery. We moved into the new monastery in 1991 in the autumn. Our first celebration of Theophany took place in 1992. At that time the creek in front of the monastery was still flowing and the water was crystal clear. We notice the changes as we undergo climate change, and the river no longer flows at all times throughout the year, and the water is no longer clear.]
