In Memory of Hammi

Our Cat Hammi was a loving furry gift from God

Every evening I tried to spend an hour or so in the library, sitting in front of the fire place with our beloved Norwegian Forest Cat, Hammi. He slept in the library, and was most happy when the entire monastic brotherhood was gathered together with him, before he curled up in his basket for the night. He was an important member of our community, loved by all of us, and was the only cat I knew who has his own facebook fan page, started by a woman who’d met him on a pilgrimage to the monastery (if my memory be correct).

I first met Hammi, a large male cat, as I was walking between our old trailer house (now gone) and my cell, more than twelve years ago. We startled one another, but as I reached down with extended hand, he came to me. When I picked him up he began purring immediately, so I opened a can of salmon, and he never left. A month after his arrival we took him to a vet to be checked out. It was the veterinarian who suggested he’d most likely been dumped by someone from Seattle, as happens frequently when people want to dispose of a pet, and make sure the animal can’t find it’s way back home (impossible from an island).

I often tell people that Hammi domesticated me, since I’d not previously been a cat fancier, being allergic to cat dander. Little did I know at the beginning that Norwegian Forest Cats do not have dander. They have a very soft double fur coat, large paws, sweet facial features and a very loud purr box. They are known to be personable, liking to be around people. He greeted everyone who came to the monastery, escorting them up the walkway from the parking lot. Everyone who’d ever met Hammi, fell in love. I’d lost count of the number of people who’d stated they didn’t like cats, but wanted to get a Norwegian Forest Cat for themselves, once they’d met him.

Intelligent breed that they are, Hammi learned to let us know just what he wanted, be it water, food, cuddling, sleep, whatever. He was a great companion to all of us, even going into the forest when one of us would take a walk on the Valaam Trail. He had a special game which he seems to enjoy with me, particularly. I’d head out on the trail with Hammi running ahead. He’d hide behind a large fern, and even though I knew he’d be waiting ahead, he always managed to scare me. I’d then run ahead and hide behind a tree and jump out when he walked by. We played this game until the end of the trail!

He started to slow down with age, just as was I. We both suffered from arthritis and liked to sit by the fire on a cold evening, Hammi in the lap of the old abbot. I’d grown so attached to him that I couldn’t even begin to think of what life in the monastery would be like after he’d gone. Although I’d grown up with dogs and cats, pets had not been a part of my life throughout my adulthood, until Hammi came into my life. His death on November 8, 2018, at the age of 23, was a loss like I’d never experience before. Although we now have two new kittens, and a three year old cat, I still miss my sweet little friend, Hammi.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Photos: 1) Hammi, the Norwegian Forest Cat. 2) I’m holding one of our two new kittens, Lily.

Tuesday July 30, 2019 / July 17, 2019
7th Week after Pentecost. Tone five.
Great-martyr Marina (Margaret) of Antioch in Pisidia (4th c.).
Venerable Irenarchus, abbot of Solovki (1628).
Venerable Leonid, abbot of Ust-Neduma (Vologda) (1654).
Translation of the relics of Venerable Lazarus, monk, of Mt. Galesion near Ephesus (1054).
“Svyatogorsk” (1569) Icon of the Mother of God.
Child Martyr Prince Kenelm of Wales (821) (Celtic & British).
Martyrs Speratus and Veronica (Greek).
St. Euphrasius of Ionopolis, bishop (Greek).
St. Timothy, fool-for-Christ of Svyatogorsk near Pskov (1563).

The Scripture Readings

1 Corinthians 6:20-7:12

20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Principles of Marriage

7 Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me:

It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment. 7 For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.

8 But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; 9 but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Keep Your Marriage Vows

10 Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. 11 But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.

12 But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her.

Matthew 14:1-13

John the Baptist Beheaded

14 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus 2 and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.” 3 For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. 4 Because John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.

6 But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. 7 Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

8 So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.”

9 And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. 10 So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. 11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought itto her mother. 12 Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

Feeding the Five Thousand

13 When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.