Daily Life at the Monastery

(A daily "diary" by one of the monks of the monastery)

14 August, 2010

This is the hottest day of the year when even plants are beginning to wilt. Yet, the crew of half a dozen young Moldavians began working at dawn and stopped only once to have lunch, continuing in the hot sun, and stopping only when it became too dark to carry on.
The entire building had been painted so that it looked new and the balcony regained its Athonite appearance.
The icon of the Saviour with the Stern Eyes recently received its frame which had been given a light oak stain and now is waiting in the church to be placed on the east wall.
The baptism was touching. Little Ivan, not quite seven months old, enjoyed it and kept smiling throughout the service.


15 August, 2010

The heat is not quite so oppressive today, still, everyone had beads of perspiration on their foreheads, except perhaps little Yakov who enjoyed lying on the floor. Honey was blessed at the end of the Liturgy although it is customarily done on the previous day.
A group of teachers from Chine, here on a cultural exchange, came for the Liturgy because they were interested in attending an Orthodox service. Alas, no one thought of showing them our icon of the Chinese martyrs that has its inscription in Chinese. Oh well, at least they did enjoy the service.
Another baptism today, that of one year old Gregory who behaved splendidly. Since the Dormition fast has begun, the parents of the child brought a large quantity of fresh fruit to serve after the baptism. How refreshing it is to have such fresh fruit on a hot day.


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13 AUGUST 2010
    Since today is Friday the thirteenth, the media have been engaged in asking people about their acceptance of this supposedly unlucky superstition. Amazingly, many admitted to being wary about this day. This brings to mind the many superstitions that can be found among Orthodox Christian believers, such as the curse of the evil eye, and many others. How sad it is that some people prefer to hang on to such useless ideas rather than firmly grasping the truth that Orthodoxy offers.
    After putting in a whole day's work, under the hot sun, four young men from Moldova, one of whom had just arrived in Canada three days ago, came to pressure wash the konak, the white building for the monks, and also where the printing operation is located. They will spend the night here and paint the building tomorrow. It is amazing to watch these East Europeans tackling such a job and not stopping until late at night in order to complete the preparations. Of course, youth is on their side, but also a burning faith that expresses itself in such worthy deeds. Our experience has been that the young people from Moldava have a living faith in which they joyously make personal sacrifices because, since they are the children of God, they will do whatever is possible for His sake and in His name.

12 AUGUST 2010

    Although the Dormition Fast begins the day after tomorrow, it will be fasting day tomorrow as well, since it is a Friday. What is to be done with the three dozen eggs, one large tub of cottage cheese, one small one of sour cream, the cheddar cheese, yogurt, etc? Since all of it cannot be eaten today perhaps our non-Orthodox neighbours might benefit from these dairy products.
    Vladika Lazar left for the interior of the province, into the heavily mountainous area where he was invited to celebrate some services for a number of isolated Orthodox Christians.
    The monastery's schedule of services is posted on our website, but many people seem to prefer a printed version. Consequently we have had to reprint the July-December schedule again, this time printing several hundred copies.
You might enjoy hearing Elena and Alexander Mikhailov singing "My Joy" on Youtube. Hieromonk Roman was responsible for the words and music. On YouTube, call up: Elena and Alexander Mikhailov

11 August, 2010

    This is another beautiful day with an overcast morning sky and a light breeze. One of the cats has brought an offering of a mouse to show us that she loves us. Thank you, kitty, but we would prefer that you show your admiration some other way (although you are keeping the pests away!).
    It is going to take a while to get used to feeling a refreshing air movement now that the new window has been installed and it can be opened. What are we to expect when the opposite window will be installed? A rush of fresh air? Let's hope so.
    On a more unfortunate note, Vladika Varlaam went out to pick blackberries, knowing from past experience how difficult it can be. This venture was almost disastrous when he stepped forward into a blackberry patch, right into a concealed depression. He flew into the thorny hedge, got his feet entangled and just lay there, wondering how to get out. After much maneuvering, he was able to free himself and slowly return to the main building where he was met by Vladika Lazar who helped him to sponge his bleeding arms and to clean up. As well, time was spent picking out thorns and almost invisible tips from thorns. Our West Coast wild blackberries are famous for their rapid and ungovernable growth as well as their villainous and over abundant thorns. The rest of the day Vladika Varlaam was engaged in something much safer -- sitting in his comfortable armchair while proofreading a manuscript.
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8 August 2010

    Scarcely had anyone entered the church to prepare for Matins and the Divine Liturgy when people arrived for confession. Unfortunately the Matins service is usually poorly attended with about a dozen people in attendance, yet it is such an important service. The magnificent six psalms are read entirely by young East Europeans and, despire the difficulties encountered with some of the words, they resolutely carry on with great fervour. At the conclusion of the Doxology, the bells are rung and the Divine Liturgy begins.

    After each Liturgy, we have an Agape meal where everyone brings food to share. This means that you never know how much food to expect and today was no exception. A number of regular worshippers were away on holiday and many had come for the first time, not aware of the "potluck" practice. There seemed to be a scarcity of food on the serving table and yet, there was enough for everyone and even food left over. One person mentioned that it reminded him of how Jesus Christ fed a multitude of people with two fishes and five loaves.
Some came to give thanksgiving to Christ for His goodness to them; some came because of personal reasons -- illness or death in the family; still others had no one to talk to and they all needed consolation or advice. Yet, as soon as the meal was over, a car had to be blessed, an arrangement made for a bpatism and so on, then the ill had to be visited in hospitals in two different cities. One was a regular worshipper who had almost died the previous night. With tears streaming down her cheeks she listened to the prayers being said and then thanking God for His great mercy in allowing her to live on. Another grandchild is on the way -- "O Lord, Jesus Christ, allow me to live long enough to see this grandchild!"
    The other patient, an extremely elderly woman who had spent almost her entire life in the Soviet Union where she became a well known doctor, was bedridden and could not even stand. She wished to have a confession and so began the outpouring of her past transgressions, passions and injustices. Nothing was left unmentioned -- in the final period of her life, she had to admit all that had weighed down her soul. After this, all she could say was, "Thank God for all things" as her face relaxed into a peaceful composure. There are times when the one hearing a confession is tempted to place his epitrachelion on the neck of the one who is confessing so that that person might hear his confession!
    And so ends a physically tiring, but spiritually and emotionally blessed day.


9 August, 2010

    Today we commemorate Saint Pateleimon, the Great Holy Martyr and Unmercenary Physician. What a joy it was to receive a phone call today from someone who had been diagnosed with cancer to discover that it was only a benign tumour. Thank you, Saint Panteleimon!The refectory is shrouded in darkness, as it has been for two days. The large window could not be opened and often it was almost stifling in the room. A new window was delivered and perhaps tomorrow it will be installed, meaning that fresh air can flow through the room. Eventually the large kitchen window will also be replaced.
    For the first time this year we had fresh corn on the cob. This variety is called "Triple Sweet Jubilee" and it is both sweet and delicious. It is rather messy eating corn on the cob, but how else can one sensibly attack it? Our favourite variety was "Seneca" but no one seems to grow it anymore.

Tuesday, 10 August 2010:

    Today we commemorate Saint Irene Chrysovalantou, a great saint to whom the faithful turn in times of special needs, and who hears and understands the plight of those who entreat her. We also commemorate Saint Antony, Metropolitan of Kiev, no doubt the greatest church father and Orthodox theologian of the 19th and 20th centuries. A brief call informed us that a person who had applied for an extremely important and responsible position had been accepted -- almost miraculously and despite numerous obstacles -- thanks to the intercession of those two great saints and Saint Panteleimon (as they themselves suggested). Glory to God for all things, known and unknown to us!

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6 August, 2010

    On the traditional Orthodox Calendar, today is 24 July. Thanks to the kindness and generosity of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius, we can celebrate the memory of our Holy Righteous Father Polikarp the Hagiologist, because one of the numerous relics donated by His Beatitude to our monastery is of this Kiev Caves saint, whose date is given as 1182 A.D. You can read about his life in the book, "The Kiev Caves Paterikon" published by our own Synaxis Press. It is awesome to have present the relic of someone who lived more than 800 years ago.
The hay fields are mowed, the blueberries are sufficiently plentiful this year, mainly because the bears, for some unknown reason, have not eaten too many of them. We have prepared some jam and one refrigerator is crammed full of these berries. The blackberries have ripened and are especially delicious. As well, our fig tree has begun to offer it's ripe fruit.
    The heavy smoke from the forest fires in British Columbia has eased today, whereas all week it was impossible even to see the mountains round about us.
    Our cats (one is cow-coloured, that is, black and white, much like a Holstein cow, while the other is a black Manx, and thus without a tail) have brought their offering this morning -- a single plump mouse.
    Today's lunch consists of old fashioned rolled oats with blueberries freshly picked from our own organic blueberry field, naturally, and soy milk. It becomes even tastier with a healthy pinch of cardamom.

7 August, 2010

    This month we are having baptisms each week. There was a time when we served funerals more often than baptisms or marriages. With the influx of new arrivals of Orthodox Christians in Canada, young married couples are anxious to have their children baptized. Recently, a father and his daughter were illumined in the same baptismal water. Today we baptized Maria, a ten month old infant, born in Canada of parents from Moldova. The sudden outburst of joy at the actual moment of baptism never ceases to amaze one. It is rather as if everyone is reliving their own baptism and at the reception that follows, the feeling of joy, radiance and shared emotion is palpable, that is, it is so strong that it can almost be touched. We sing "Many Years" to Maria, her parents, god-parents and, of course, all of us present, and we pray that she may grow up as a sincere follower of Jesus Christ and daughter of the Holy Orthodox Church.
Rain is gently falling -- at last! The parched ground has long been awaiting this blessing. For a while, at least, we are freed from uncoiling garden hoses and straightening out kinks that prevent water from flowing freely, as well as carrying buckets of water to distant plants and flower beds. Alas, rain seems to flatten most of the mallows with their proud pink blooms, but the sturdy hydrangeas here bloom so blue and large that pilgrims from the interior on the Prairies are constantly enchanted upon discovering them.
    The newly painted icon of Saint Macrina, set out last Sunday on her nameday, has been left on an analoy for veneration. In the process of arranging the relics for tomorrow's service (on the second Sunday of each month we present all of the Monastery's relics for veneration), the beautifully painted large icon of Christ, often referred to as having stern eyes, was nowhere to be seen. When a frantic search did not reveal it, someone recalled that it had been taken away to have a glass frame built for it. What a relief! Perhaps it will hang above the analoy where people's confessions are heard. The stern gaze of Christ's eyes will surely penetrate even the hardest heart.