Posts

Seeking God

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  By Sister Cecelia Seeking to do God’s will in all things is what monasticism is all about. It encompasses all the nitty-gritty happenings in all our lives. At the Nuns’ monastery, after 30-plus years the door and door frame opening to a second-floor deck had succumbed to all the snows and rainfalls and was rotting along the bottom. It took 3 months for a replacement door to arrive and another few months for it to be installed. Further investigation of the deck itself revealed extensive rotting that needed attention. Through many years of repairs to the wooden deck itself, it appeared to be a lost cause. How long would the wood last, since so many coats of stain and preservative had been applied and the wood floor and railing were still cracked with so much snow and rain on it? How long would a repair last before someone leaned against the railing and went tumbling down? Or a floorboard gave when stepped on? We do trust in God, but we also know that God expects us to use our heads w

Wind on the Trails

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  By Brother Luke Suddenly a mighty wind swept in. (Job 1:19) Winter has truly blown in with a fury this year. We have had several winter storms accompanied by strong winds and the crack of trees breaking and falling in the woods. And when that happens, the trails don't get spared. So, my dogs and I have made, and continue to make, forays into the woods to hike the trails and clear away the debris and branches. Those forays are more like reconnaissance because when the trees themselves fall across the trails, then out comes the chain saw. Sometimes all that is required is to cut a path through a large tree trunk. But other times one tree will bring down another, and a jumble of branches blocks the trail. Much of that can be cleared by pulling the broken branches away from the trail and using a simple hand saw to cut some of the branches. In some cases a tree has fallen, uprooted, and hit another tree, and remains hung up perilously over the trail. Bringing that down requi

Listening for God's Voice

  By Brother Luke   It may seem like an oxymoron, but we in the monastic life spend a lot of time talking about silence and listening. Maybe it's not a total oxymoron; one hopes if someone is talking others are listening! And isn't that important? To pay attention when someone is talking, especially when they are talking to you! However, if we are honest we may notice how often our mind wanders even when we are trying to make the greatest effort to stay focused and listen to someone. To listen I have to be silent, both outwardly and inwardly.             Engaging in a conversation with another can produce a challenge of a different order. I can be so fully engaged in the subject of the conversation that I almost end up listening aggressively. Then I have to hold my tongue, and I have to rein in the itch to finish the other person's sentences. And to truly listen I cannot be pondering my response or comment even before the speaker has finished speaking. Otherwise I end

Wishing the Year Away and the Gift of the Advent Season

By Ida Williams   Let’s face it: we all wish time away.   Our commute to work, our mundane tasks, meetings, waiting for the dishwasher repairman—which is what I am doing as I write this.   We wish away times we have to wait.   I have been wishing the year away. On November 4, my father passed away.   His illness and suffering had been long.   He had spent his last six and a half years living in a nursing home.   His being a double amputee made it impossible for any of us in my family to provide the care he required.   My mother went to the nursing home every day to be with him.   During COVID she visited him through his window.   I visited him weekly, spending less and less time during each visit as his health continued to decline and he no longer knew who I was.   When he passed, there was a sense of relief.   The wait was over, and his healing could begin. The only scars in Heaven, they won't belong to me and you There'll be no such thing as broken, and all the ol

Deaconesses for the Orthodox Church Today

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B y Sister Cecelia A Symposium, “Deaconesses for the Orthodox Church Today,” took place on November 10-12 at the Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Boston. Sisters Rebecca and Cecelia attended to show their support and to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess, which sponsored the symposium. There have been many calls through the years, as far back as 1855, to reinstate the ordained ministry of the order of deaconesses. Much research and many writings have been devoted to this matter, but, unfortunately, little has happened. The ordained female deaconate is part of the history of the Orthodox Church. In antiquity the deaconess ministered to women, much as the male deacon ministered to men.   She assisted with baptisms, took the Eucharist to those unable to attend liturgy, mediated between the faithful and the clergy, and taught, counseled, and guided the faithful on their Christian journey, especially those new to

Homily: Our Lady of the Sign

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By Sister Rebecca   Icons are called windows to heaven precisely because they offer us a glimpse into the spiritual world: God’s Time, Eternal Time. In viewing an icon, we actually commemorate the mystery it reveals. The icon of Our Lady of the Sign offers us a mystical vision of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. The name of the Icon comes from the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14: “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Listen carefully, the virgin will conceive and give  birth  to a  son , and she  will  call his name Immanuel.”   Icon: Our Lady of the Sign, Holy Wisdom Nave   The Icon of the Theotokos of the Sign is commemorated in the Orthodox Church in November.   Here at New Skete Monasteries, we celebrate the feast on a Sunday close to the Feast, so that the members of our chapel community may join in the celebration. One of our very good friends, Jerry Leary, a few years ago sent me a poem he wrote at the time of the commemoration of this particular icon:   Our Lady of th

Clément, Olivier. Dialogues with Patriarch Athenagoras. tr. by J. N. Ingpen. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press. 2022

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One of the signs of a book that could be deemed prophetic is its continued relevance close to fifty years after its original publication. Olivier Clément’s Dialogues with Patriarch Athenagoras , recently translated from the French by Jeremy Ingpen, is just such a book. Set within the framework of an intimate dialogue between Clément, an outstanding Orthodox theologian, and Patriarch Athenagoras, the Ecumenical Patriarch from 1948 to 1972, this book opens a treasury of Orthodox reflection that we desperately need to hear in our day. The power of the book lies in its ability to let the reader eavesdrop on the interchange of two brilliant thinkers as they reflect on any number of important issues, both spiritual, theological, and cultural.             The book is divided into three parts. The first, “A Man Called Athenogoras,”   gives a historical overview of the Patriarch’s life, helping the reader to understand the context he came from. It is the tale of a bright young man whose gi