New Skete Monasteries News

  By Brother Vladimir   Note:  this is a description of my experiences in the first month of moving back to the Northeast to be closer to New Skete. The transition from the frenetic noise of Silicon Valley to the stillness of rural upstate New York was startling. During this writing, I lived in a log cabin in Salem, New York, and drove to New Skete for daily morning and evening services.   The rhythms of life are more tangible when a person lives in the country. Surrounded by rolling hills, expanses of forests, and mountains, the imagination gradually becomes purified of the dross; stripped of the heavy images that have been deposited there, often without our knowledge. The inner life gradually becomes clarified like fresh spring water.              Sensory impressions are a subtle food for the soul no less than the physical food we ingest and the invisible air we breathe. So often we fail to regulate w...

By Brother Gregory   Back in 1983, a group of chapel community members at New Skete felt very strongly about the monastic witness lived by the monks and nuns of New Skete. These married couples wanted to join in a closer relationship with the monks and nuns as a third monastic community, and they became known as the Companions of New Skete. With their financial resources and the help of the monks and nuns, Emmaus House was built on the property of the monks’ monastery. For the next 30 years, the Companions at Emmaus House added their voices and zeal to the witness of New Skete as a monastic presence in America. The Companions helped in many ways with the hard work needed to keep New Skete alive. They painted icons, trained dogs in the Adult Dog Training Program, made dog biscuits, added their singing voices to the daily monastic services, offered hospitality to guests visiting New Skete, and gave in so many other ways that the Companions developed their own ministry identity. ...

  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...

  By Ida Williams The vintage phrase “in like a lion, out like a lamb” comes to mind as I think about March 2023.               After a three-year hiatus from hosting the Lenten retreat in person, the monks and nuns decided it was once again time to gather with friends old and new to share monastic perspectives on the Great Lent.   The date of March 18th was selected, and the title for the conference was determined: Tilling the Lenten Soil.               I felt a little rusty in my role as event coordinator for this retreat.   Getting the word out, setting up pre-registration, planning meals, and staging the settings for maximum occupancy—all the while keeping in mind the need for ample space so everyone felt comfortable.   All planning went well, and we met our goal of 40 people registered for the retreat.       ...

  By Ralph Karow Typically one would finish the phrase with “when you’re having fun.” I was thinking more along the lines of “when you’re not really paying attention to it.” I haven’t really been paying any attention to time since I came to New Skete and was recently reminded that I had my three-year anniversary in January. As part of a recognitory email, Sr. Cecelia wrote, “Maybe the next newsletter article: what three years can show one?” which got me thinking, what if I hadn’t stayed at New Skete all this time? Certainly I would have been very time conscious and very busy “doing things” as opposed to “just being.” The plan back then was to get an MA in Orthodox Theology from St. Vladimir’s Seminary so that I could write a thesis stemming from an understanding of the Trinity being perfect harmony. And the idea behind the thesis was to put forth a theological basis for an evangelical apostolic community. But not just any community; the intention was, and still is, to draw m...

  by Brother Christopher   Today is the 3rd Sunday of Lent, its mid-point and the very heart of the season. Perhaps strangely to some, the Church celebrates the mystery of the Cross, the central mystery of our faith. We honor it by solemnly placing it at the entrance of the church, in front of the Golgotha, so that it is the first thing that we reverence upon entering Holy Wisdom. Throughout this week we will sing hymns that honor its power and mystery, bringing to our hearts and minds all that Jesus revealed through his sacrifice on the cross: the unconditional nature of his love. One of the stichera we’ll sing this week speaks to this:        The cross is raised on high this day, sending forth its power to all the earth. To all four corners of creation, its arms extend salvation’s awesome grace. In this cross, all believers find unending courage! In this cross, those who fight that unseen warfare find saving strength! How awesome, how great this lov...

  By Sister Cecelia We as contemplative monastics find that this retreat time contains schedules wherein many of our activities are not as time centered or time limited as usual. While many responsibilities need our attention—dogs need their usual care, and decisions can’t wait for retreat time to be over—we have some leisure to spend doing things we ordinarily don’t find time to accomplish. Extra reading, thinking, meditating, cleaning areas that are not on the housecleaning list, going through “stacks” in my office and other work areas to put in order as well as pitching and cleaning out. As librarian, when I categorize new books and enter them into the computer, I want to read a good many more before putting them on the shelves! However, I limited myself to only three books during this retreat. One is Radical Optimism by Beatrice Bruteau. Like the author, I once thought the word schola had to do with schools and scholarship. It turns out that the Latin schola comes from...