This is the British Columbia Day long weekend when many people are gone for a brief rest in the countryside, yet there were many people in church for the liturgy. For some reason the service was longer than usual, ending at about 12:30, that is, almost four and a half hours long. Deacon Markel was missed on the kliros, as the singers are struggling to get used to singing without him, but I am certain that they will do well, as they are determined to do their best. Since this was the first Sunday of the month, we would ordinarily have served an abbreviated healing service but, because of the length of the service itself, we only anointed people as they come up for the final blessing. Yuri has been taking photos to use between daily inserts of the diary on the Russian site and he suggested that Father Moses might pose on a ladder in an attempt to crawl through his window as he did last night, however, Father Moses gently declined the offer.