New Skete Monasteries News

    By Ralph Karow On November 3rd the monks were paid a special visit by Michele and Ora. Michele had asked Ora if there was anything she wanted to do for an adventure. Her choice was to visit New Skete and hopefully meet some of our Shepherds. Br regory usually greets visitors, answers any questions, and shows them around with Quilla in tow. He had a doctor’s appointment that day, though, and asked me if I could fill in. Naturally, I don’t have the depth and breadth of monastic experience that Br Gregory has, nor do I know New Skete’s history as he does, but fortunately their main interest was in meeting our dogs and hearing about them—my one and only strong point. First, I brought out Quilla, since she’s such a gentle and quiet dog. I knew that would go well, but next I wanted to bring out my dynamic duo, and I was afraid Greta would be her overzealous, jumpy, puppy self, while Habibah would see people she didn’t know, become standoffish, and start barking in protest. I...

  By Sister Cecelia   For several years, New Skete Kitchens has been aided with their online store by the Goldbelly company in New York City. They set up the website with our information, take the orders along with shipping labels and any greetings, and send them via computer to us. We make the products, pack them, and ship them by UPS with the labels and greetings they send. To prepare advertising videos of some of their many vendors of gourmet products, on a recent Thursday a three-man crew came from Goldbelly.   The men arrived early and filmed a lot of the work in the bakery.   They interviewed Sister Patricia and me about our life and how and why we began making cheesecakes. Not many, if any, of their vendors are a nuns’ monastery, so they asked a lot about our life. I imagine that is why toward the end of our matins they quietly took some shots in our little chapel.   They explained that they are planning three main videos: (1) Something about our li...

  By Brother Luke               The monks are happy to welcome two men who began the discernment process this summer. They were received officially as candidates at Matins, Saturday October 8, 2022, and are living with us in the monastery.             Brennan Kreller comes to us from San Francisco, California, but he hails from Louisiana and brings his love of his home state cooking with him along with the skills to prepare it! So our table has been spiced up since Brennan's arrival. He also brings an avocation in the arts, particularly folk dance, which has taken him on tours in the United States and abroad, including Eastern Europe. His Eastern European connection also includes a degree in Russian History, and he is a long-time member of the Orthodox Church. At New Skete he has joined the team of dog trainers and has taken on one of our German Shepherd Dogs, Li...

  By Ralph Karow Toward the end of June, we had a bit of a lull at the puppy kennel, so Br. Luke decided to take his retreat then instead of in August, when the rest of the monastics go on retreat. At that time, we’d most likely have a couple of litters, along with some dogs in heat, and we would need all hands on deck. It was a good plan, and Br. Luke had arranged for Iris, Fuller, and Amira to each reside with a monk for the week, but his new puppy, Greta, would need to stay at the kennel. The night before he left, however, Iris went into heat and would now have to be at the kennel. That got me off the hook, since I was supposed to take her, but now I felt sorry for Greta, and since I had already moved furniture out of my room to accommodate both Iris and Habibah, I didn’t have a good enough excuse to leave Greta in the kennel with a clear conscience. Habibah loves puppies, and I had been using her to socialize all of the litters since November 2021, so I didn’t foresee any pro...

By Carl Patka, Lay Delegate   With the blessing of Brother Christopher and the support of the New Skete Chapel Community, I attended the All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) as a lay delegate.   The Council represented the 14 dioceses of all the churches and monasteries in North America, including Canada, Mexico, and the United States, in a beautiful hotel conference space over five hot days from July 18 to 22 in Baltimore, Maryland.     The theme of the All-American Council was “Becoming Vessels of Grace.”   In his opening address, his Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon said that while the Council on the surface looked like any large conference organized into many days of business meetings, the gathering was really like that of a large family, similar to his own Packard family reunion.   He said that   “we gather as Christians, as individuals of varied background, culture, and genealogy who yet share one common bond and sea...

By Brother Marc Labish A unique mix of musical experiences has been a vital part of my life in the church. I would like to think this led to the gradual blossoming for me of an awareness of the transcendent, of prayer and the presence of God. When I sense beauty in music, especially church music, it also gives me a further appreciation of life’s many blessings. I continue to feel excited and impelled to delve into the treasury of sacred chants from around the world. From the time I was seven as an altar server, I was immersed in the chanting of the Polish Roman Catholic Felician sisters in their huge double-nave convent church in western Pennsylvania. Since my family lived nearby, I was able to be present for their engaging worship every day, both early morning and early evening. I also enjoyed hearing the high school women’s choir from the nuns’ academy whenever they sang at Mass and Benediction on the lay persons’ side of the church. When I left home for the seminary and its high sc...

                                                                        By Brother Gregory   I’m going to talk with you about a special relationship that several New Skete monastics have and have had: a relationship with their German Shepherd dogs. Over the years I have been blessed with relationships with many dogs under my care at New Skete: Diamond, Raja, Lena, Ombra, Yaki, and maybe more, and while in Maine I had Yugi and Esra.        In 2018, yet another German Shepherd, born in Germany, came into my care and is still with me now. Her name is Quilla and she is now six years old. In 2018 Quilla gave birth to her first litter of puppies, and she was and has been a true mother, licking and cleaning all her puppies. Quilla has had four l...

  By Ida Williams with Brother Luke   During one of the early dog owners’ seminars, one of the attendees asked at the end of Brother Luke’s presentation why some monks are called father and some are called brother. I thought I knew so much back then I had worked for them for at least 5 years, so I answered, “Priests are called father, and monks are called brother.”   WRONG! Here is Brother Luke’s explanation: “In many Christian traditions, both East and West, priests are referred to as father. In addition, in Eastern Orthodox monastic tradition, all professed monks are referred to as father, and professed nuns as mother. However, monks and nuns are also referred to as brothers and sisters. At New Skete, since its founding, the desire was to emphasize the understanding that we are all equal before God and not in some hierarchical order, so we preferred to refer to each other as brother and sister rather than mother and father. Of course, when visitors come who ar...

    By Ralph Karow   When I first heard Br Christopher refer to the choir as the icon of community, I was struck by the rich ground it offered for contemplation. With so many others things to do and think about, however, I let it slip into the back of my mind until it pushed itself forward as I was writing last month’s article. As often happens, not thinking about something for a time leads to better insights later on. In last month’s article, I drifted back in time to the early Church in Rome. It was a time when there were no icons or set doctrines or a structured Church. There were also no choirs or set musical forms or a structured system of music.             One reason I’d put forth for the lack of icons is that the saints and events that were later depicted were still so fresh in memory as to be a living presence for those gathered into Christian communities. And it was also a period of not thinking , whi...

  By Ida Williams     With over 12 years of assisting the dog training program with paperwork and administration, I have seen some unique and fun dog names.     Occasionally, I will ask the owner how they came to name their dog.   Some say it was in memory of a past canine companion. Some say their kids named their dogs, mostly the dogs named after foods.   Most say it was because their puppy looked like the name.   I pulled a query on the last couple of years of dog training applications and then grouped the names into different categories.   Maybe these will help you when searching for your next pup’s name.   Funny Names   Gus From Accounting has to be my favorite name.   I would tell my husband when leaving for work, “I will be working with Gus From Accounting today.”   Not so funny names but still make me laugh:   Mercy and Echo.   I imagine the owners standing in their backyards yel...