Anniversary and Reunions

-
       
Brother Stavros celebrated fifty years in monastic life, Holy Wisdom Church.

        



The summer after graduation from high school in 1961, Harry Winner (the future Br. Stavros) and one of his best friends, Tim Nau, traveled to the upper reaches of the Saint Lawrence River to Quebec City to attend a special immersion course in French for foreigners at Laval University. The walled and fortified city, the oldest on the continent north of Mexico, and the university, the oldest after Harvard, earned a place in his heart and imagination. This summer, he met up with his friend at his home in Toronto, and they took the train up to Québec to revisit their old haunts. The city has not lost its European flavor; in fact, they observed that it is even more beautiful. Back then as students they ate on the cheap. This visit provided an opportunity to appreciate the superb cuisine of the region. A particular joy, Br. Stavros recalled, was “approaching the basilica at the time of Sunday Mass and hearing, as well as feeling, the massive bell peal repeating the thrill it brought me half a century ago.”



Just before this northern excursion, Br. Stavros enjoyed another reunion, at Ukrainian Greek Catholic seminary just off campus. They had also been together at St. Basil’s Seminary in Stamford, Conneticut. Br. Marc (then Dennis Labish) had been at St. Basil’s a year ahead of them, and our late Br. Elias (Jim Ippolito) preceded them by two years at both St. Basil’s and Catholic University. Josephat’s Niagara Falls, Ontario, this time with four priests who were in his graduating class in 1965 at Catholic University in Washington, DC. Although they earned their degrees from Catholic University, they belonged to St.





On September 13, the Sunday of the Vigil of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Br. Stavros celebrated fifty years in monastic life with a brief rite that concluded the Divine Liturgy, during which he was presented with a candle and a hand cross. A reception was held afterward, generously provided by the many friends and parish members who attended. His niece Susan, her husband, Jack, and their second son, Aidan, traveled from northeastern Pennsylvania to mark the occasion. All joined in the salute: God grant you many years!




















Popular posts from this blog

Monks on the Move

-
Image
  by Brother Christopher   It is not often that monks get to travel, given that our focus is on living the monastic life in this particular community. However, occasionally situations come up when travel is warranted, and one such opportunity presented itself recently for Brothers Christopher and Theophan. The Institute for the Study of Eastern Christianity at Catholic University of America was hosting a conference titled “Ascetic Practices and the Mind: Mental Healing in Eastern Christianity” on March 1-2. We found out about the conference when Robin Darling Young, one of the theology professors at Catholic U and an organizer of the conference, paid a brief visit to New Skete last fall. During the course of her visit she learned that Brother Theo had a background in neuroscience, and she mentioned to us how the conference planners were looking for an Orthodox participant(s) whose interests were in both spirituality and neuroscience. She took advantage of the synchronicity...
Read more

Seeking God

-
Image
  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 hea...
Read more

Liberty and Belonging

-
Image
  By Br Brennan Just over a year ago I was planning an early retirement with an eye to monastic life. While I can’t say that I had one of those great careers and was at the top of my game, I had come to know some really amazing people over my years in the last job. Among those, I always enjoyed truly close relationships marked by great mutual respect. However, I was also one of those artists with a day job, and as a dancer/instructor/choreographer I had come to notice in recent years a certain status of “esteemed eldership” of sorts (at least in my particular genre, that of East European ethnic dance), however awkward I felt about it. After numerous visits to New Skete over the years, I knew the transition to postulancy and novitiate would involve quite a shake-up in my sense of self. And I was correct. First, I was not going to jump in and wow anyone with any diligence, knowledge, or finesse, as I might try to do in a new job. All I could do was pay attention, and learn what t...
Read more