Once again, a busy Sunday, And one that was a little more difficult. Because of illness, Father Markel, the altar servers and most of the readers were unable to attend. Vladika Lazar was left to serve alone, which was very difficult for him.. Since we had a number of key servers unable to attend , […]
Daily Diary
by Vladika Varlaam
Saturday, October 3, 2020
This Saturday was a slow moving and rather relaxed day. As is the usual practice, the day began with the Pannikhida and reading of lists of names that have been passed on to me. It was necessary to also go through the stacks of names and cull the lists because some of them are for […]
Friday, October 2, 2020
This has proved to be another interesting day. Once again, I was going through very old folders of articles I had written before email, ebooks and “e” everything else, was common. Some of the articles are fine just the way they are but others need a bit of adjustment.Following this, I then went through another […]
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Well, here we have had another day of mixed weather, partly sunny, partly cloudy and warm. It did not rain but looked very much as though rain was just waiting to surprise us.Someone gave us a book of Bible crosswords so I decided to look it over. Quickly it was clear that a person has […]
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
This day has proved to be both sunny and warm, though considerably cooler than during the passed few weeks. In the early mornings we do have a thick blanket of fog resting on the valley floor. As the sun comes up and the temperature rises, this fog slowly fades away until the viewer can clearly […]
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Not much happened today, other than the usual, but a bit was accomplished. The day began with the 40 day prayers and then I had to wait for a call from Andy who arranged to take me into town for a blood test and the restoration of my prescription. This was accomplished without much difficulty […]
Monday, September 28, 2020
A relaxing and quiet Monday was had today at the monastery. After all the activities of the weekend: visitors; the preparation and celebration of the feast; the wedding; the meeting of the monastery council; it was helpful to have a chance to “catch our breath” and catch a little rest. This evening, there is a […]
Sunday, September 27, 2020
Today was an exhausting but meaningful day. We began as is usual for a Sunday, with the morning Matin Service, in the big church. Since it was a major feast day, we did not serve an entire Slavonic Liturgy, but rather had a mixed language service.The Liturgy for the Elevation of the Cross was served, […]
Friday, September 25, 2020
This Friday was a fairly quiet day. I was able to do more searching for the “children’s corner” files and also find more photo frames for colour icon prints. Kyrill came to visit and we had tea and a good talk. He was also here for the baptism and to help with setting up the […]
Thursday, September 24, 2020
After the terrible storm last night, today seemed extremely calm and peaceful. I am estimating that last night we had extreme lightning for nearly an hour, which was so close that I could see it flashing past the balcony. As well, it rained quite hard but today was partly cloudy and partly sunny here at […]
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Today has proved to be a cooler and much wetter day. It was cloudy, mostly dark and we had (and are still getting) a lot of rain.This afternoon, I went for a walk and got some great photos of what are often called “cloud ghosts”. For those who are not familiar with them, they are […]
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
Another warm and sunny day. After reading the memorial prayers for Elena, I then went to the kitchen in order to have tea. Ludmila and Dima had left before I went next door to the kitchen. There was a surprise waiting on the kitchen counter: freshly cut slices of beets and newly picked ripe tomatoes […]
Monday, September 21, 2020
Another beautiful and meaningful feast in honour of the Theotokos; this time, for her birth. Last night we celebrated a quiet and dignified Vesper service for the feast and today we did the same with a Matin Service followed by the Hours and then the Liturgy. Although the church had a scattered congregation, all were […]
Saturday, September 19, 2020
This day began with the memorial prayers for Elena Abramova and then a general Pannikhida. Following this the remainder of the day was spent with a number of visitors. Ludmila and Dima were here and attended Vespers, along with Kirill and Matushka Raissa. The chanting went well and the service flowed smoothly. Following the Vesper […]
Friday, September 18, 2020
Today has proved to be more than a full day of activities. There was a funeral for Elena Abramova at the Holy Resurrection Sobor in Vancouver. This was followed by a memorial meal and then the interment at the Orthodox cemetery in Surrey. There were a number of beautiful bouquets of flowers and some of […]
Thursday, September 17, 2020
>>Today has proved to be another interesting day with less smoke fogging the air and it being much easier to catch a breath when walking.>>The 40 day prayers continue for Elena Abramova as well as the daily Moleben service. Following this, I went to Archbishop Lazar’s “pusteen” in order to pick a bag of both […]
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Today is much improved, in the matter of air quality. It was possible to see the mountains on the opposite side of our little valley. As a result of the improved air, I decided to take a walk around the property and to the gate. It seemed a bit unusual not to see any birds […]
Monday, September 14, 2020
This has proved to be a much cooler day. With the skies being overcast with clouds and the atmosphere being shrouded in smog, the temperature here is noticeably lower. Before making this diary entry, I was gathering some folders of articles which had been created for children when we were still printing our little Orthodox […]
Sunday, September 13, 2020
This day has been rather long but interesting and worth noting in the diary. This being a Sunday, the day began with Matins, which I understand was well attended and had an abundant supply of readers for the service. It is also of interest to note that our little corps of readers have taken to […]
Friday, September 11, 2020
As has been usual for the week, today was both hot and humid. The main difference concerning the day has been the air quality. As I stand on the balcony and look out, over the field, the air is a thin, silvery blue in colour. The air is still and unmoving, otherwise if we had […]
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Once again, the monastery passed through another hot and steamy day. As always, the day began with the various prayers and then a break for a tall and delicious glass of Inka. While indoors, it was possible to again work on a number of projects that require a bit of concentration. This means that this […]
Wednesday, September 09, 2020
As usual, the day began with the reading of the 40 day Moleben services for a list of people who have passed their names on to us. This was followed by the 40 day memorial prayers, also of names which had been passed on to us for commemorations. Again this worked out well because the […]
Monday, September 07, 2020
Today proved to be a rather quiet holiday, which was good because often Sunday can be a busy time and frequently exhausting. Often this means, needing a day with which to recover and that day is Monday. Besides being our day to recover, it was Labour Day. There were a number of visitors throughout the […]
Sunday, September 06, 2020
Today proved to be quite a full day which, being Sunday, began with the serving of Matins in the outdoor chapel. This was followed by the Divine Liturgy which was served by Archbishop Lazar and Father Markel, mostly in English. This Sunday, about 40 people attended the liturgy – smaller than most Sundays when we […]
Saturday, September 05, 2020
This day was a mix of cool and cloudy, then sunny and relatively warm. In the evening, the clouds returned and it became cooler by the time we had the Vesper service.Following Vespers, we had a Pannikhida for a Romanian family. They brought two beautifully woven breads (kolach) and a koliva which was made of […]
Friday, September 04, 2020
Yikes and double Yikes! Another scorching and sunny day. Even so, it was necessary to go into town in order to renew a prescription. Before leaving, I had to call the pharmacy and much to my surprise, learned that the prescription had expired, even though on the bottle, it was marked that I had 7 […]
Thursday, September 03, 2020
Today we will continue with remembrance of the work on the monastery grounds.Our first view will be of the new fountain/rest stop which is in the process of construction. Originally, it was to be a small planting on the slope leading up from the memorial garden and to Archbishop Lazar’s little residence. That idea was […]
Wednesday, September 02, 2020
It seems that the diary has returned after a short break of a few days. Even though a bit of time has passed, the weather is still warm and occasionally uncomfortably hot. There have been a number of developments at the monastery, since my last diary entry, one of them being that I now have […]
Tuesday, 11 August, 2020
Once again we seem to be having a reprieve from the discomfort of extreme heat. For the first part of the day it was sunny then later became overcast. In the afternoon, I returned what seems to be the last section of Archbishop Lazar’s book on the Apocalypse. At the same time, I collected a […]
Monday, 10 August, 2020
Today was definitely another hot and summery day. As usual for this weather, I try to stay indoors and away from both the sun and the heat. Even so, it was possible to make a short trip next door to the kitchen where there was a wonderful salad in the refrigerator, just waiting to be […]
Sunday, 9 August, 2020
What a long and exhausting day this has been. The celebration of Saint Panteleimon began on Saturday evening at the service of Vespers and continued today with the early morning Matin service, followed by the Liturgy. This was all served outside in the little outdoor chapel which is dedicated to the Theotokos “Joy of Canada”. […]
Saturday, 8 August, 2020
This has proved to be a full day. I began the day with the reading of the Pannikhida and the collection of names that have been adding up for a long time. This was then followed by the reading of a Moleben and, again, the reading of a large collection of names of people who […]
Friday, 7 August, 2020
This day was another with overcast skies, a bit of rain and a cooler temperature. The last section on the proposed book by Archbishop Lazar, on the subject of the meaning of the Apocalypse in the New Testament, was completed today. In the kitchen, I decided to try making a vegetable wrap. I took a […]
Thursday, 6 August, 2020
How wonderful that today we got a reprieve from the heat!!! It was cloudy and then rained a bit and so the temperature has dropped and there is a gentle breeze blowing. I just returned from the kitchen where I had a salad which had blue cheese dressing (super yummy) and crumbled seaweed (also super […]
Wednesday, 5 August, 2020
Our weather has not yet changed but, even so, I had to make a trip into town and ignore the heat. Before making the trip, I received a call from Archbishop Lazar, requesting that I bring a copy of the English language Gospel Book which contains the readings for the entire year, in proper sequence. […]
Monday, 4 August, 2020
The weather !!! That is all that need be said about it. Moving on, the day has held some interesting actions. The first of these is having received a call from Archbishop Lazar who needed the dates of two more feast days for the calendar he is preparing to print. This meant going onto the […]
Saturday, 1 August, 2020
The weekend is here and the weather is pretty much the same. This means the planned outdoor Liturgy for tomorrow. I have my trusty umbrella and fan ready for the day. Today, Kirill was here but left to collect his son for what seerms to be another camping/hiking adventure. Before leaving, he showed me a […]
Daily Diary, 30 July, 2020
I have to report to the diary that today began very early, in fact, at 5/30. The reasons for this are that I wanted to do something interesting before the oppressive heat returned, and also wanted to get a beautiful shot showing the moon and the reflection of the moon in the water fronting my […]
Daily Diary, 29 July, 2020
This has proved to be another sultry day with no breeze to cool things down. Once again I stayed indoors and worked on the proofreading which was completed today and so now I am ready for the next section. For a while I hadn’t been working on the picture frames so today went back to […]
Daily Diary, 28 July, 2020
Today I got a bit of a surprise which was also a reminder of the continuing heat: when I attempted to pour milk into my glass of Inka, what came out was like clumps of cottage cheese. Since I often have no sense of smell, I couldn’t tell if the clumping was due to the […]
Daily Diary, 27 July, 2020
Today was a bit difficult. It began with the usual Moleben and 40 day memorial prayers. Then I had to spend some time on my face because I got a sunburn. Even though I had taken precautions, such as an umbrella out on Sunday to stand under during the Liturgy, put on sun screen, I […]
Daily Diary, 26 July, 2020
Today was the celebration of the “Joy of Canada” feast day. The Matins and Liturgy were served outside in an area that had been set up for the purpose of outdoor services as well as a place to honour the Theotokos as the “Joy of Canada” . Mitcha and Nianna stationed themselves at the front […]
Daily Diary, 25 July, 2020
Another warm and sunny day with hordes of mosquitoes! The day began with reading the prayers for the reposed in the morning, then taking my medication and preparing for the day. Liudmila and Dima are visiting and were busy clearing away Morning Glories around the property. Liudmila made lunch but my phone wasn’t working and […]
Daily Diary, 24 July, 2020
What a difference just a drop of a fer degrees in temperature can make. Today has been overcast and even a bit of rain and it is possible to feel the difference. Today it was possible to varnish several completed icons which is good because it helps to prevent them becoming scratched or damaged. I […]
Daily Diary, 22 July, 2020
Today began with the reading of the Moleben for all of those who requested the 40 day prayers. Also, the reading of the 40 days of memorial services. After this, I decided to try out my battery charger; it is still plugged into the wall and the red light has not yet changed to the […]
Daily Diary, 21 July, 2020
As everyone is aware, today is another hot and sweltering day at the monastery. There is a lot of sunshine and once again the heron is in the stream, standing patiently and waiting for something to eat. Today I am retrieving the next section of the book which Archbishop Lazar is writing, on the subject […]
Daily Diary, 20 July, 2020
Today I was remembering people talking about how strange it was that we didn’t have any summer and how late in the year it was. Well, now we are getting summer weather that is making up for lost time, so to speak. Even so, I forced myself to leave the building, go to the kitchen […]