New Skete Monasteries News

written by Brother David In my previous articles on Spiritual direction, we considered the nature of spiritual direction itself: how it is essentially a telling of one’s continuing story with special emphasis on one’s relationship with God; how this continuous exercise in self-revelation can be likened to the directee showing the director through the directee’s garden and giving the director the authority to question and challenge the directee concerning said garden; and how spiritual direction is not therapy, even as it is therapeutic and uses many of the same tools. We looked at the qualities and skills of the directee: that the directee strives to grow in the courage and openness it takes to reveal accurately what is going on in her/his life; that the directee “does the work” of reflection and prayer; and that s/he comes to each meeting having reflected on what has happened since the last meeting. We also looked at some of the qualities of a good spiritual director: that...

By Brother Stavros   Today. August 28, 2013, I was listening to the commemorative speeches from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Here in Cambridge it was hot, sunny, and muggy, and I was taken quickly back to a similar day 50 years ago. Somewhere on the northwest side of the reflection pool, close enough to see the speakers without field glasses, I was packed in with co-workers from Georgetown University, where I had a summer job. My aunts and uncles in DC, southern in culture and attitudes, warned me not to go: “There’s gonna’ be big trouble.”   But on the contrary, the atmosphere was like one colossal church picnic. The converging traffic in pre-Metro Washington was like reverse evacuation. The locals disappeared as endless streams of buses flooded in from all over. So we walked down from the East Campus, then the site of the School of Foreign Service and Language Institute, where I worked as an office boy and runner well before computer networks.   ...

A birthday gift on turning seventy: a leap from a mountain named Tiger to hover raptor-like in thermals above Issaquah, and see the length of Lake Sammamish,   and on the north horizon, Fuji-like, the snow  cone volcano tamely named Mount Baker.   My instructor calls in my ear, “lean left” and smoothly we roll, and there rises Seattle to the west. Looking down brings a rush of exhilaration—my feet seem to tread at speeds my creaky knees would never cede upon the spiky tops of Pinus ponderosa , Sitka spruce and Douglas fir, madrone and lodgepole— jade, sea green, and emerald.   A graceful loop to gain some altitude, and we, like mating dragonflies, come ’round to face the mighty massif, the white-maned Tahoma, (Rainier to most of us), fifty miles away, yet immanent as a tsunami to a clam.   We band of gliders, twelve or more, must look like moths around the peak aflamed by late-day sun. Just on...

Photo recap of New Skete Pilgrimage held on August 10, 2013. Photos provided by Bill Samsonoff - New Skete Chapel Member  Following Matins, Liturgy started outdoors near the reflecting pool . Brother David leads the choir during Liturgy. Clergy, choir and pilgrims process into Holy Wisdom Temple to complete Liturgy. Father John Frazier censes the approaching pilgrims at the entrance to the temple. The Bible being brought into the temple by Father Deacon Jeffrey Smith. Acolyte Richard Headwell (left front) stands ready to assist the clergy at Liturgy (left to right: Fr. John Fraizer, Fr. Peter Olsen, Hieromonk Marc and Fr. Michael Pelkon) Brother Jacob's presentations on New Skete iconography were very popular. Guest speaker, art historian William Hood, opened his presentation by leading the pilgrims in the prayer "O Heavenly King" Art historian William Hood speaks to the more than 100 gathered pilgrims on the uses of visual...

A Layperson’s New View of Life at a Monastery and of Herself Written by Ida Williams, Director of Marketing, Sales, and Communications It is hard to believe that it has been over 2 years since my first day working for the monks, nuns, and companions of New Skete.   In my career in sales and marketing, I have represented a family-owned business, a non-profit organization, and local corporate entities, and have worked for two national companies, but never a monastery.   I remember my first day at New Skete.   I was as nervous as if it were my first day on my first job ever.     I reverted to my silly sense of humor and told how I explained my new job to friends as working for God, puppies, and cheesecake.   This was the perfect job for me!   I love God, I love puppies, and I love cheesecake. I was not wrong in my description of my new job, but I was wrong in my notion of what working for a monastery would be like. Much of my perce...

Written by Brother Gregory Well, it’s been a long time since I, Brother Gregory, have had a dog that was pregnant.   It was a long- expected moment for both Raja and me, and the wait was worth it. This was Raja’s first litter of puppies; at first no one knew whether she had conceived, and all eyes were on any signs that the breeding had taken. “I think she is” and “No, she’s not” were common statements among the monks. I noticed that she was showing signs of being pregnant as she displayed a quieter side of herself, and then the “belly” began to show very slowly, nipples began to develop, and eventually the “belly” became very prominent. Eventually she looked as if she had swallowed a beer barrel. Sometimes she would lie on her side, and other times she would just spread out with all four legs extended. Going up stairs was difficult, and she didn’t show her usual energy flying up the stairs to the bedroom to get her evening cookies.   My sleep was often interrupted when she...

By Brother Luke   I am sitting at my desk Monday evening, and I can see the message light on the phone blazing red. I listen to the message. It is my brother-in-law asking me to call. So, I call. Phil answers my hello with a breaking voice, saying, “Susie died this morning at 5:30.” But the doctors had been saying all the time she was in the hospital that she would regain her strength and be home in a few days. But it was not to be. Just two weeks earlier I had called and talked to Susie. We talked about her plans and what the doctors had told her. They had said that they could not stop the cancer this time, but they could continue to fight it with chemo. So the plan was for her to regain her strength, go home, and then reschedule the last two chemo sessions. As we concluded our conversation we said our usual good-byes and our mutual sign-off: “I love you.”  I did not know at that time those were the last words we would speak to each other. The next day she became uncon...