A very interesting day was today. Fr Moses received a call relating to him that a group of Russian people from St Petersburg were in need of prayers in the big church. It turns out that they were a group of 8 people who wanted both a short memorial service and the 40 day prayers […]
Daily Diary
by Vladika Varlaam
Daily Diary, 15 May, 2020
Today was a perfect day for photography. People often don’t realize what a difference the various intensities of sunlight can make when one is photographing out of doors. Through experimenting with my little camera, it has become clear that the same view might be photographed under a variety of lighting and appear different and equally […]
Daily Diary, 14 May, 2020
This day is an exceptional day to report to the diary. It began, as usual, with the memorial prayers, then a snack and returning to do a bit of checking on how to clean the sewing machine. A person must have to be a trained mechanic in order to properly disassemble and clean a sewing […]
Daily Diary, 13 May, 2020
Another peaceful but physically overcast, super cloudy day. One good aspect of this is that the temperature was much more in my comfort range.The day began with the reading of the memorial prayers (pannikhida) and the lists of names that have been passed along at various times, including the several “40 days” requests. This was […]
Daily Diary, 12 May, 2020
This day has proved to be rather quiet and fairly relaxed. For some reason we lost the use of the Internet so it is only now, very late afternoon/evening, that it has been possible to go on line to check mail and continue doing a few searches on the web, such as the use of […]
Daily Diary, 11 May, 2020
There were a few visitors at the monastery today. A group of people came and did more work on the landscaping and others worked cleaning the kitchen. I spent most of the day indoors because the heat is proving to be extremely uncomfortable (at least for me). It was possible to varnish two more icons […]
Daily Diary, 10 May, 2020
Today was a full and productive day. It began with the serving of the Obednitsa in the big church of the monastery. Since we now have the Pentecostarion in English, as well as the Complete Menaion series, also in English, it was possible to read the appropriate changeable parts of the service, which today was […]
Daily Diary, 9 May, 2020
This day has proved to be what is often crudely termed, “a scorcher”. After all the cold and wet weather, it was rather a shock to have this weather to deal with. Thankfully, inside the buildings at the monastery, it is still relatively cool so bearable. I wasn’t going to go outside with the heat […]
Daily Diary, 8 May, 2020
This day was definitely a prelude to summer: sunny, warm, and more animals seen on the monastery grounds, which is all the more reason for keeping the doors closed when one enters any of the buildings. The interesting piece of news for today is that I opened a packet which I had promised not to […]
Daily Diary, 7 May, 2020
Today I am writing in the diary about what a productive day today has proved to be. First of all, I finally completed two icons that have been worked on for several months; they are based on some very old icons from Carpatho-Rus. These were chosen because they are both basic and carefully follow the […]
Daily Diary, 6 May, 2020
Another interesting day. As before, I began the day by reading the Panikhida for all the 40 day commemorations of the reposed. Then it was time to go next door to the kitchen for another adventure in attempting to cook. What to make? Since we had several kinds of fruits (oranges, grapefruits, bananas, cranberry jelled […]
Daily Diary, 5 May, 2020
Today has proved to be a glorious day, at least as far as the weather is concerned. It has been sunny, though a bit cold and a slight breeze has been noticed. One of my friends just sent an email warning about a new problem that has appeared in the state of Washington, near the […]
Daily Diary, 4 May, 2020
Here at the monastery, it was sunny, warm and much more what a person might expect springlike weather to be. This was good because we had a small group of people who came today to do what, to me, looked like gardening. Since I am not a gardener, this is only my interpretation of what […]
Daily Diary, 3 May, 2020
Today was certainly a day full of activity. The morning began with the reading of the Obednitsa which included the tropars and hymns of the feast for the Myrrhbearing women. The was followed by a simple lunch which included much to my joy, a sandwich. Why was that such a big deal, you are asking. […]
Daily Diary, 2 May, 2020
Another busy day. The first order of business was to go back onto the computer in order to check for some new recipes. There is an interesting site in which the person controlling the content has created recipes that require only 3 ingredients, are easy for beginners, and are nutritious. I have bookmarked this site! […]
Daily Diary, 1 May, 2020
Once again the day has proved to be a combination of warm and sunny, then changing to overcast and rather gloomy. Although the monastery still continues to practice social distancing, that doesn’t mean that we are inactive. An excellent example of that fact is the activity of today which began with a memorial for a […]
Daily Diary, 30 April, 2020
In spite of today being a physically gloomy day, there were a number of interesting and pleasant events to report. The first thing to brighten the day was a phone call from Archbishop Lazar, letting me know that he had Vladika Varlaam’s paints and brushes and that if I wanted them, I should come and […]
Daily Diary, April 28, 2020
Another exceptional day has nearly passed. Much was accomplished in the way of “spiritual food” for the soul. This was accomplished by today serving the memorial (Panikhida) of Vladika Varlaam) at the cemetery in Surrey. Andy and I went in one car and Archbishop Lazar in another since he had to go somewhere after the […]
Daily Diary, 27 April, 2020
This day has proved to be another good day but with weather that was once again a bit unpredictable. In the morning it was raining and wet, then sunny, then cloudy and very windy. It is rather difficult to make plans when the weather is like this. In spite of the weather, Archbishop Lazar and […]
Daily Diary, 26 April, 2020
What a wonderful Thomas Sunday this has turned out to be. The day began with Archbishop Lazar and Fr Moses, serving Obednitsa in the big church. It went very well and a young lady came in toward the end of the service to light a candle and pray. She came with Natasha and several other […]
Daily Diary, 25 April, 2020
Today was an interesting and restful day. Once again I ventured out onto the monastery grounds with my trusty little camera and found some beautiful and interesting views. It continually amazes me to find so many attractive combinations of plants, many which are thought of as weeds. Along with these plants there are often various […]
Daily Diary, 24 April, 2020
We begin the “Bright Friday” diary entry by mentioning the fact that the monastery grounds are sprinkled with a multitude of various kinds of plants, set up in memory of people we have known through the years. I mention this because in late afternoon Archbishop Lazar called to ask if I might photograph the large […]
Daily Diary, 23 April, 2020
Today is Bright Thursday and is proving to be another interesting and meaningful day here at the monastery. To begin with the weather, it is a bit flexible and keeps changing; in the morning it was cloudy, overcast and raining and then the sun came out, it was fairly warm and then once again it […]
Daily Diary, 22 April, 2020
Today was what I consider to be another meaningful and productive day. “Why?”, you ask. Well, to begin, since things are not so rushed, there is time to properly read the prayers for the reposed which is being done for the next 40 days. As well, there was time to return to the sewing machine, […]
Daily Diary, 21 April, 2020
Today has been another bright day for Bright Week and the continuation of the celebration of the feast of Pascha. The day began with the funeral service for the Handmaiden of God, Maria. Although the service was a funeral, the formatting was different and contained many of the prayers we heard at the midnight Pascha […]
Daily Diary, 20 April, 2020
Today being Bright Monday, I decided to try my hand at a bit more culinary exploring. Even though there is no fasting all week, I still wanted to make a bowl of kasha but, with eggs and other foods being allowed, this gave a few new choices in what and how to prepare the kasha. […]
Daily Diary, 18/19 April, 2020
You might be wondering why 2 days are combined. Well, since the traditional Orthodox way of telling time is from sunset to sunset, this means that the Saturday Matin service was held through both days; we began on Saturday evening and continued on into Sunday morning. In fact, we just finished the service and broke […]
Daily Diary, 16 April, 2020
Another fairly quiet day at the monastery. As it was yesterday, today was sunny and rather warm, though nights are still proving to be damp and chilled. For the first time in a very long time, I saw an eagle circling the field but not landing. As well, there was some kind of beautifully coloured […]
Daily Diary, 15 April, 2020
Today I received a reward for being patient. While on the computer, I found a site on sewing and the subject of this particular sewing broadcast was the subject of thread snagging or nesting, which is just the problem I have been having. It turns out that I have been loading the spools and the […]
Daily Diary, 14 April, 2020
This day has proved to be another interesting and full day. Mostly, it was sunny and warm, though for a while in the evening, it became overcast and noticeably cool. Even though we are still observing social distancing and all that this requires, I am painting a few Pascha eggs and enjoying it immensely. As […]
Daily Diary, 13 April, 2020
It is rather late in the day so this diary entry shall be short. The majority of the day was spent reading instructions on the computer screen, regarding the Kenmore Sewing Machine. The instruction manual is amazingly detailed and complete. After reading these instructions, it should be possible to completely disassemble the machine and put […]
Daily Diary, 12 April, 2020
I have to say that today was a marvellous day. The day began with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Entry Into Jerusalem, which most North American people know as “Palm Sunday”. Archbishop Lazar and Father Shio served in the altar and I served as the chanter. Just as before, […]
Daily Diary, 11 April, 2020
Today was most definitely a Spring day; warm, sunny and with a breeze that has nearly stopped at this time of day/evening. The biggest news for the diary is that Vespers for the double feast of “Raising of Lazarus” leading into the “Entry into Jerusalem”, was celebrated this evening. As always, the icon was decorated […]
Daily Diary, 10 April, 2020
I was up at 6:30 this morning, in order to take my first medication, and, to get photos of the sunrise over our beautiful mountains. One of the reasons I chose this morning is that there is a nearly full moon and it is still clearly visible at sunrise. It is pleasing to announce that […]
Daily Diary, 9 April, 2020
Today has proved to be a warm and sunny Spring day. There are a number of birds flying about and there was even a squirrel sitting atop a large granite rock. I was going to take a few photos of the animals but shall save these for later. In the meantime, it has been possible […]
Daily Diary, 8 April, 2020
Today was another adventure at the monastery. I decided to do a bit of research on the sewing machine I inherited from Vladika Valaam. It is a bit old but one of the last made with all metal parts, no plastic. He knew how to use it and used it a lot but it seems […]
Daily Diary, 7 April, 2020
Let me begin the diary by sending feastday greetings to everyone. Today is the glorious feast day of the Annunciation which is an important feast day in the Orthodox Church. Often the feast day celebrations are overlooked because they fall on a week day when people are working. I try to remind people that even […]
Daily Diary, 6 April, 2020
Another glorious day at the monastery with a lot of sunshine and no wind! For the first time, I noticed birds of various kinds. It had been worrying that for a long time there were no birds to be seen as they usually are at this time of the year. I was in the kitchen […]
Daily Diary, 5 April, 2020
What a glorious day today proved to be. The day began with Archbishop Lazar and Fr Moses serving an Obednitsa for the feast day of Saint Mary of Egypt. For those who are not familiar with what is an Obednitsa, to make it simple, just think of a Liturgy served but without any consecration so […]
Daily Diary, 4 April, 2020
This day was a rather relaxed Saturday which is leading to the Sunday celebration of St Mary of Egypt who is one of my favourite saints. In the evening, Archbishop Lazar and I read the Vesper service in the big church, which was physically very cold. My hands were numb and you could see the […]
Daily Diary, 3 April, 2020
Snow had been predicted for the Mission area, which would have included the monastery. We can be thankful that the prediction failed and even though it was overcast and cold at the monastery, there was no snow. In spite of the bitingly cold weather, there are a number of beautifully flowering plants on the monastery […]
Daily Diary, 1 April, 2020
This is the first entry for the month of April. An interesting day which was a mix of sunny day and then cloudy, overcast and windy. We can certainly say that our weather is never boring. This makes me think of the weather in Central Valley California and how I used to think it was […]
Daily Diary, 30 March, 2020
Today I was able to sit at the table and carefully peel a large, navel orange. Those of you reading the diary are probably asking yourselves why this is worth putting into print. I wanted to relate the fact that often in life, the simplest gifts can also be the most pleasurable and meaningful. Back […]
Daily Diary, 29 March, 2020
Today the diary has some interesting news to report. A small group of people came today as individuals, to light candles in the big church. As well, they dropped off a good size parcel of a variety of foods, including buckwheat kasha, and delicious canned fruits. One much appreciated item is a container of canola […]
SAILING IN THE WINTER SUN
As we approach the Sunday of Mary of Egypt, we think, above all, of the power and meaning of confession and repentance. The two are not always the same. If we approach confession in a proper frame of mind it can be a form of “housecleaning of the soul.” We will speak about that later, […]
Fr. Moses’ Daily Diary, 26 March, 2020
Just a few minutes ago, I was speaking to a very good friend about the affect the virus is having on various kinds of human interactions, as well as lack of interactions. This presented a point that it is important for Orthodox people to consider and that point is the total dependence of Orthodox people […]
MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR VLADIKA VARLAAM
Since we cannot gather at the monastery for this service, we will ask people at home if they can join in in their own icon corners. Father Moses and I will serve the Parastas at 5 PM tomorrow in the monastery. If anyone is able to read a kathisma or akathist, or other prayers at […]
Daily Diary, 22 March, 2020
Today has proved to be an unusual day simply for the fact that there was no service and no one came to the monastery. There is one exception and that is our friend Kyril who came on Saturday and spent the night here. We read the Vesper service and Fr Moses and Kyril also set […]
Daily Diary, 21 March, 2020
Although things have “slowed down” due to the Carona virus, there are still various activities being carried on at the monastery. The first to keep in mind is the daily reading of the Moleben services which continues to be served. As well, any of the 40 day requests for the reposed are also being honoured; […]
Daily Diary, 20 March, 2020
Once again, the day was fairly quiet here at the monastery. Even though people are being more cautious about the Chinese virus, there were individual people who came to the monastery to say prayers in the church and some also lit candles. As is usual, there were a number of calls asking about the services […]