Holy Transfiguration Temple - Transfigured!

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By Brother Luke

            We are excited about re-opening our Holy Transfiguration Temple for services, meditations, private prayer, and retreats. A few finishing touches remain, but we are now able to use the church again. The first activities have been individual meditation and prayer and the mid-day Tersext office. Affectionately known as the small church or chapel, the local landmark is renewed and gleaming brighter than ever. The outside of the church is what everyone notices first: new siding, roofing, and gold gilded domes, with a spotlight at night (and Christmas lights in season), and a wide ramp next to the steps that take you to the landing outside the glass front doors. In fact, with all the exterior doors now glass, more light is let into the church, illuminating the inside even without the interior lights on. And when you turn those lights on, what a vision is revealed. The entire interior has been cleaned, the ceiling replaced, and completely new lighting using energy-efficient LED lights installed. The original chandelier has been refitted and refurbished. The altar floor is now hardwood oak, slightly darker than the icon screen wood, setting off the icons to great effect. What you can’t see is the completely re-insulated ceiling, which now makes the heating system much more energy-efficient. A new air conditioner was also installed to deal as much with the humidity in the warmer months as to cool the church. The old de-humidifiers were noisy and inefficient.

            The ultimate proof of the value of the improvements will come when we begin to hold services in the church. We are planning to have the Sunday Divine Liturgy there the first two Sundays in February. As we begin to see how this worship space will fit into the liturgical rhythm of our life, we may add daily offices to that, using the large Holy Wisdom Temple for major feasts and weekend services.


            This project followed our complete cleaning of the large Holy Wisdom Temple, which preceded the 2016 celebration of our 50th anniversary. So, both of our worship spaces have been cleaned and upgraded. The success of the renovation of the Holy Transfiguration Temple was achieved because of the generosity of so many friends and benefactors of the monastery. We thank you so much for all you have done, and we encourage you to come and see the results of your participation in this project. We hope that the photos accompanying this article will give you an idea of the dramatic impact this work has made on the church. This is now, as it was always intended to be, a spiritually inviting environment for all who visit us, whether local friends just coming up from our village of Cambridge seeking a quiet place for a break in their routine, or guests staying for a longer visit and participation in the prayer and community life of the monastery, or tourists just passing through. We hope you too will be one of those visitors in the near future.















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