Dear Brothers and Sisters. Allow us to take the opportunity to thank all of those who came today to the monastery, even though it was a public holiday. The cleaning and preparations for the “welcoming” of Vladika Varlaam was an obvious act of love and respect but we still wish to express our appreciation because we could not have done these memorial preparations on our own.
There was an impressive turnout of people working to make the monastery look its best for Vladika Varlaam’s funeral. Not only many of the brothers and sisters from our congregation, but also parishioners from our sister communities of The Holy Apostles parish in Chilliwack and from The Holy Resurrection Sobor in Vancouver. All worked with real dedication and love for Vladika to clean both inside and out and prepare for Vladika’s last 2 days at the monastery. Many tears were shed as people worked as Vladiko is so deeply loved by so many people. We sincerely thank our brothers and sisters from these other 2 communities who came to share in this labour of love with us.
Poklons to you all.