The Construction of the Church
After the pouring of the foundations that would comprise the main core of the monastic compound, we built the first monastic cell. Although this first of what would eventually be seven cabins remained unfinished until most of the final buildings were completed, we felt having one cabin completed, together with the empty foundations, would allow us to share the vision of what would one day be a monastery. Standing before the foundations, with blue prints in hand, would be the way we could inspire potential benefactors to provide the needed funds.
Upon hearing of our financial struggles, Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna, Bishop Auxentios of Photiki, and Archimandrite Akakios, abbot of Saint Gregory Palamas Monastery, in Etna, California, offered to bring seven monks to our monastery, with the intention of spending one and a half months constructing our monastery’s temple. All we needed to do was feed them and provide space for their tents. Ours may be the only Orthodox temple in the world where the high place was built by two bishops! We will forever be grateful to these Old Calendar Greek monks, who gave so generously of their carpentry skills, and their time, to help a small, struggling Russian monastery.
Just before construction began on the church, the neighboring eleven acres was sold to a young couple from Minnesota. Since we had an easement that allowed us passage to our five acres, this eleven acre property would be pivotal to the success of the monastery. With the help of a spiritual son, John Noe, who was a commercial fund banker, we’d tried for almost a year to find a bank loan that would allow us to purchase the property. Having failed to convince any bank to grant us a loan, the property was lost to us.
Soon after hearing the property had been sold, I decided to take one last walk on the Valaam Trail. I’d personally blazed this trail, and the thought of no longer having access was painful to me, but I decided to accept the sale as God’s will, and ask our patron saint to protect the future solitude of the monastic community. Taking holy oil from the reliquary of Saint John the Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco, I poured it at the entrance of the trail. As I continued my walk, I was surprised to meet the couple for the first time, as they were exploring their newly acquired land. I saw this chance encounter as providential, and a good omen. I was to be proven wrong.
The young man was manager of an American owned factory in South Korea, and they planned to begin construction of their new home following his one year stint. I invited them to join us for coffee in our old farm house, where we were still living, and shared our vision for the future of the monastery. I told them that we would be interested in purchasing their property, should they ever decide not to live there.
Upon their return a year later, the young man was stunned to see our temple had been built. I met him, again quite by accident, as I walked up the road to the newly constructed church. He made it clear that he was unhappy to see we’d actually built a church larger than he’d expected, and that we had a bell. He’d been told, so he said, that he needn’t worry about living next to a monastery, since “the monks are broke and will likely leave the island within a year”. Within a week we heard from an island realtor that the property was once again up for sale, and John Noe began, anew, his search for that elusive bank loan.
The Assault
Although the monastery had accounts in two separate banks, along with very good credit, neither was willing to give us a construction loan. One loan officer admitted to John Noe that banks are not interested in loaning to churches, as “we don’t want to have to foreclose on God”.
Meanwhile, a woman made an offer on the property, and stopped by the old farm house with a request that we remove the gate, sign, and the cross that marked the entrance to the monastery. We responded that the gate was necessary for security, since we were not as yet living on the property, and we had a church that would be vulnerable to burglars. She proceeded to tell us of her intention to cut down most of the forest on the property so she could raise llamas and rottweilers.
Furthermore, she was not a Christian, and did “not want to offend her friends and family by having them forced to drive past a large cross, when coming to visit (her)”. The thought of having such a neighbor sickened me, for the sound of the barking dogs, the loss of the privacy once the forest was cut down, and a neighbor hostile towards the image of the holy cross, seemed to doom the future of the monastery.
Believing we were within our rights to keep the gate for security, we offered she and her contractor the combination for the lock, and explained that, without the cross and sign, our visitors could not find our monastery. Within a short few weeks, she was informed by the State of Washington that she could not clear the forest of trees. When she withdrew her offer, the owner blamed us, and the hostility towards us began in full.
One afternoon, looking out from the kitchen window of the old farm house, I spotted an SUV parked in front of our gate. Grabbing the binoculars, I was shocked to see a gate post being pulled down. Arriving in our monastery’s van, I found the property owner placing a chain around the remaining post.
He had already taken the monastery’s sign, and thrown it into the public street. I lifted the chain from the post, only to have him ram the post with his SUV, leaving me only a second to jump out of the way. Enraged, he headed for the six foot cross that had stood for years at the entrance. I placed myself in front of the holy cross, and begged him to let me get a shovel and remove it. Instead, he knocked me to the ground and slammed himself into the cross, breaking it off at the base. This all took place on the Feast of Saint Seraphim of Sarov.
The Desecration
Father Paul arrived in our old pickup truck just in time to see me being knocked to the ground. Dialing 911, he described the assault taking place, and two King County Sheriff’s patrol cars were dispatched to the monastery. The owner of the property, after desecrating the holy cross, sped up the hill to remove any other “offending” symbols of our Orthodox faith. When I asked him why he would break the holy cross, he responded by saying, “Big deal, it’s only worth about fifteen dollars in lumber.” Since I’d parked the large van behind his rented SUV, he was forced to drive off the road as he sped away from the monastery.
He was long gone by the time the two deputies arrived, finding me sitting next to the broken cross, weeping. I had never, in all my years as a monk, experienced such violence. That this young man harbored such hatred towards the monastery that he would actually attack a man old enough to be his grandfather, saddened me to the core. That he would do violence to the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, broke my heart.
One of the deputies immediately drove to the headquarters of the island company, in pursuit of the young man, while the remaining deputy made the decision to refer the whole matter to the main precinct off island. Physically attacking a priest, and destroying private property belonging to a religious community, could possibly push this whole situation into the realm of a hate crime.
After the interview with the detective, an Irish Catholic, I was invited to tour the precinct. Upon coming into the area of the holding tank, two young thugs started pointing through the window, laughing at my appearance. As the detective opened the door to the holding cell, I walked in, looked around, and told the young men that I’d heard I would be seeing them in the “Big House”. “I’m the Orthodox chaplain at the State Prison in Monroe, and will be looking for you”. A few moments later, the detective, laughing, told me the young men had been uncooperative, and had been giving the jail staff a hard time. I’d just put the fear of God in them. Before leaving the precinct, he was the first police officer to suggest I should consider becoming a police chaplain.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photos: The construction of our monastery’s temple.
Saturday November 25, 2017 / November 12, 2017
25th Week after Pentecost. Tone seven.
St. John the Merciful, patriarch of Alexandria (620).
Venerable Nilus the Faster of Sinai (451).
New Hieromartyrs Constantine, Vladimir, Alexander, Matthew, Demetrius priests (1937).
New Hieromartyr Boris (1942).
Blessed John “the Hairy,” fool-for-Christ at Rostov (1580).
Prophet Ahijah (Achias) (960 B.C.).
St. Nilus the Myrrh-gusher of Mt. Athos (1651).
“The Merciful” Icon of the Mother of God.
New Martyr Sabbas Nigdelinus of Constantinople (1726) (Greek).
New Martyr Nicholas of Constantinople (1726).
St. Leontius, patriarch of Constantinople (1143).
Venerable Emilian of Vergegio in Iberia.
Venerable Lebuinus, missionary monk of the Netherlands (Netherlands).
St. Machar, bishop of Aberdeen (Scotland) (6th c.) (Celtic & British).
St. Sinell of Cleenish (6th c.) (Celtic & British).
St. Cadwaladr, king of the Welsh (664) (Celtic & British).
New Hieromartyr priest Theodore Gidaspov.
Synaxis of the Russian New Martyrs of Optina: Anatolius, Barnabas, Dositheus, Nectarius, Panteleimon and Vincent.
The Scripture Readings
Galatians 1:3-10
3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Only One Gospel
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Luke 9:37-43
A Boy Is Healed
37 Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. 38 Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. 39 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. 40 So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
41 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.
Jesus Again Predicts His Death
43 And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.
But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples,
Powerful entry today with the generosity of the The Etna monks offset by the wretched behavior of the neighbors! Yet, Christ is in our mists …
Shocking. I would never have guessed that such a thing would ever happen.