I thank all of you for your prayers, and for your acts of kindness
I wish to thank all of you who sent messages of concern, following the attack on my person. Your caring outreach during this difficult time, meant a great deal to me. For all the cards, the painting done by a little girl, the beautiful porcelain tile depicting me holding our beloved Hammi, as well as all the offers of support and help, meant a great deal to me, and to my monastic community. I only regret that I don’t have the time or energy to answer all of you, personally. I am in recovery, but still suffering from a slight ringing in my left ear, and a slight limp caused by my fall, but I am feeling better.
Nothing new regarding Kevin, the man who assaulted me. Still have not heard a thing from the Seattle Police Department, nor any word regarding my desire to meet with the man. Knowing how Seattle has fallen down regarding the drug and homeless problems, I’m not real hopeful that he will be receiving the help he needs. Please, continue to pray for Kevin, and that the Seattle City Council will actually start addressing the failure of the system to address the issue of widespread homeless camps, the needs of drug addicts, and the mentally ill.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Saturday May 25, 2019 / May 12, 2019
Fourth Week of Pascha. Tone three.
Synaxis of New Martyrs of Butovo (movable holiday on the Saturday after the Pascha).
St. Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus (403).
St. Germanus, patriarch of Constantinople (740).
Glorification (1913) of Hieromartyr Hermogenes (1612) the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
New Martyr Abbess Athanasia of the Smolensk Hodigitria Convent, near Moscow (1931).
New Hieromartyr Peter priest (1937).
Virgin-martyr Eudokia (1938).
Venerable Dionysius, archimandrite of St. Sergius’ Lavra (1633).
Second Uncovering of the relics (1992) of Righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye (1642).
St. Sabinus, archbishop of Cyprus (5th c.).
St. Polybius of Cyprus, bishop of Rinokyr in Egypt (5th c.).
Martyr John of Wallachia, at Constantinople (1662).
Martyr Pancratius of Rome (304).
St. Philp Argyrius (Silversmith) (395-408).
Venerable Theodore of Cythera, monk (Greek).
St. Anthony (Medvedev), archimandrite of St. Sergius’ Lavra (1877).
The Scripture Readings
John 10:1-9
Jesus the True Shepherd
10 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
Jesus the Good Shepherd
7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
Acts 12:1-11
Herod’s Violence to the Church
12 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. 2 Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3 And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was duringthe Days of Unleavened Bread. 4 So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
Peter Freed from Prison
5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. 7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” 9 So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”
John 8:31-42
The Truth Shall Make You Free
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know thetruth, and the truth shall make you free.”
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
Abraham’s Seed and Satan’s
37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have [a]seen with your father.”
39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You do the deeds of your father.”
Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
bless reverend father hegumen:
thank you for the update. i agree with the your sentiments regarding the city of seattle city government. may the Lord grant you father hegumen, peace, health and happiness for many blessed years!
pace e bene!
father john
Lord have mercy on you and Kevin. But, especially on you, dear Father Tryphon.
So thankful you are recovering & prayers for a full recovery. Unfortunately it seems this is the case of failed systems throughout our cities. We can only pray for these sick people.
Master Bless,
Christ Is Risen!
Truly he is
Praying for you and wishing you well and love from the bottom of my heart.
As a tiny minority in this country, the Orthodox Church can hardly make a difference regarding tent cities, crime, mental illness, and drug addiction. Seattle, especially, as a godless city with the highest number of “self-proclaimed atheists in the country”, according to the New York Times, can hardly set aside the problem, while waiting for Christians to do something about the problem. And, I would say, governments have always been the vanguards when dealing with the problems of homelessness, drug addiction, and violent crime. To do otherwise would simply lead to the total breakdown of society, which is what is happening in large cities like Seattle.
As a sheriff and fire chaplain of seventeen years, I have observed countless Seattle police officers resigning from their department, experiencing as they have, a total lack of support from the city council, and the judiciary of that formerly great city. Of course it has always been the Church that took care of the needs of the impoverished, and the homeless. However, at no time in the history of great cities, have we seen criminals simply having their hands smacked, followed by release back into society. Police arrest suspects, only to see them released back onto the streets. It is government, not the Church, that has always dealt with those who have broken the law. Seattle is in this state, along with San Francisco, not because churches no longer care, but because the legal system of these two liberal cities, have fallen down on the job. I therefore stand by my words.
The Byzantine Empire taxed the wealthy, and took care of the needed charity, and social welfare of er people. That is historical fact. Churches, in this day and age, do not have the resources to take care of the large number of homeless people, and the poor. If the churches can’t do it, then who?
Dear Father Tryphon,
I was touched and inspired by your forgiveness and concern for the man who attacked you. Thank you for being a Beacon of Christ’s Light, and may we all follow your example and help those suffering on the streets and in need of help. My own son has chosen a lifestyle close to the Prodigal, and the pain in my heart as he wanders is only eased by prayers to the Lord Christ. May He bless you beyond all you can imagine.
Sincerely,
Debbie
Bonjour Père,
Thanks be to God, you are recuperating.
Concerning Seattle I was surprised to learn that this big American city is not ”healthy” at all. I just checked a disturbing news video on the subject. The poor demented man we see downtown swearing and eating garbage touched my mind and heart (it’s around the video’s 5th minute, right after statistics on property crimes – Seattle is number 2 in the USA!). Compared to that North-West metropolis, I believe my own, Montréal, deals much better with our homeless people, especially with shelters (and Seattle doesn’t have our cold Winters to deal with!).
I invite everyone to check this video called SEATTLE IS DYING :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpAi70WWBlw
-Love in XC
Luc
Canada
Father,
Thank you for the update. I have been wondering how you are feeling. Prayers for continued healing for yourself and the troubled young man.
Pax,
Hillary
Bonjour again Père. About homelessness in Seattle and Montréal.
Homeless disoriented people are to be seen in practically all big cities. Mine is not an exception. But I believe that when diverses groups and resources (City, State, community groups, churches, etc.) work together, they can really alleviate the problem (but the poor will -still- always be with us, as our Lord told us!).
Here’s what kind of help the OLD BREWERY MISSION in Old Montreal offers to our poor:
https://www.missionoldbrewery.ca/en/
And also LA MAISON DU PÈRE (THE FATHER’S HOUSE in French) who was created in 1969 by a Roman Catholic chaplain:
https://www.maisondupere.org/about
Is it because our Winters and our -20 degrees in January and February incited our society to come to the help of those poor souls? God knows but something has been done, even if the number of practicing Christians is very low here and in the rest of the Province of Québec these days (we’re probably the most agnostic place in Canada). Hope Seattle’s situation will soon turn around.
-In XC
(Note : I wrote ”…our -20 degrees in January and February…” I was talking here about the dozen or so nights when the temperature reaches that low -or worse- during those 2 months. Please note also that these are degrees in Celsius. So it’s close to your zero in Fahrenheit!)