Moscow Sretensky Choir Appeal Petr Gudkov The famous Sretensky Monastery Choir is touring the United States and will be singing in Seattle on Sunday, and in San Francisco on Monday. This is the very choir that sang for the Vigil Service on the Eve of the Unification Service in Moscow
The Bell Tower of St. Panteleimon Monastery The German At the conclusion of the service we once again approached the holy icon, offering our final veneration. I joined the other monks, but I could not look upon her, shamed as I was. I prostrated, kissed the base of the holy
The entrance to the Great Lavra Inside the Great Lavra One’s first sighting of the Great Lavra is overwhelming. Constructed over a thousand years ago to withstand attacks by pirates, Latins, and Muslim invaders, it looks like the ancient medieval fortress town that it is. When entering the main gate
Holy Community (parliament) The main street of Karyes, capital of Mt. Athos The Holy Community Arriving in Karyes, Father Basil and I proceeded to the Holy Community in order to present our passports and visas, thus gaining official entrance to the Holy Mountain, the world’s only monastic republic. Mount Athos
Mount Athos () The Holy Mountain In May of 1989, a little over a year after moving to Vashon Island, my friend Father Basil Rhodes took me on a month’s journey to Greece. We spent time in Athens and Thessaloniki, before heading for our ten day stay on the Holy
The Move to the Island After packing our belongings we returned to the island from Oregon, with the camper so full we scraped the bottom as we drove onto the ferry. We gave thanks to God as we stood on the deck, closing in on our new island home. I
We are enjoying our first rain in 87 days! Orthodoxy is not about a list of beliefs, nor is it about liturgical and ceremonial tradition. Orthodoxy is a way of life that must be lived. If it is not lived, it is nothing. With love in Christ, Abbot Tryphon The
The House in Medford With the prospect of winter ahead, we knew our days of camping had come to an end. Visiting a small Orthodox mission parish in Medford, Oregon, we were invited to move into the vacant house next door, formally the home of an old man who had
The Search In early 1987, after receiving a blessing from our bishop to relocate the monastery, we rented a storage unit in Santa Rosa, packed away our library, icons, and furniture, and left the Bay Area in search of our promised land. We rented a two-bedroom cabin on Cobb Mountain,
The Flowering of a Monastic Community In many ways this monastery was founded as one would plant a garden. The germination took place in a small blue collar house in a poor part of Richmond, CA, in 1983, where we struggled in a neighborhood constructed for ship builders in World