From Mother Paula

Image source: oca.org

Dear family and friends, Wishing everyone a thankful and blessed Thanksgiving day! Hope you enjoy these verses from our Thanksgiving service.

Yours in Christ, Mother Paula & OMT Nuns

Come all you, thankful people, And let us raise a hymn of grateful praise to God, our Benefactor and Creator, The bounteous source of all our blessings, The riches of our earthly life and the glory of the world to come, for in His Great mercy and love for us His children, He has granted us salvation.

We give thanks to God, the Father, For our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, For the love of all His saints, And for the truth of the Holy Gospel, Which we and all the world have received, Bringing forth the fruit of the grace of God, And salvation to our souls.

Come with the angels let us praise our Lord and Maker Our deliverance from distress, our defense in time of danger, Our healing in sickness, our comfort in sorrow, Our hope in despair, our help in adversity; And let us offer songs of Thanksgiving for this His greatest gift, His ever abiding, mercy and love for us,Through which we are granted forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

Guest Reflection: A Monastery Pilgrimage

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

Last weekend Rhett and Jenny Harkins picked up their son, Theo, from Antiochian Village. They then spent the weekend at the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Ellwood City, PA. They were able to meet Mother Paula (our former parishioner, Vicki Bellas) and spend some time with her. I asked Jenny if she would prepare an account of their meeting for the parish, and she has graciously agreed, and now presents this fine description of the monastery, Mother Paula, and the other mothers and sisters. I am sure that you will enjoy her account of their visit.

__________

 

This past weekend Rhett, Theo and I had the opportunity to make a short pilgrimage to the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. We were looking forward to meeting Mother Paula, a former parishioner of our church, whom we had heard so much about! Formally known by many at CTSHS as Vicki Bellas, she served in this church family for a decade or so leading up to the realization of her monastic calling in 2010. She was instrumental in facilitating our parish’s involvement with the Hogar Orphanage in Guatemala City for many years. I understand several parishioners were able to attend her tonsure ceremony on December 13th, 2010 at the monastery under Hieromonk Alexander, con-celebrated by Fr. Hopko and our Fr. Steven. Since then, she has been living out her monastic calling at OMT with her fellow nuns under the guidance of Abbess Mother Christophora.

This past Friday, we drove out to pick Theo up from Antiochian Village Summer Camp and headed two hours northwest for our first pilgrimage to the monastery. The grounds were beautiful and quiet as we pulled up to the main church building. Mother Paula greeted us cheerfully and inquired about our travels, camp, how everyone at church is doing… we immediately felt like family catching-up. She gave us a quick “mini-tour” of the main building including the lovely church, brimming library, new chapel, hospitality room, refectory and nuns’ quarters. Engaging and efficient, she shared a brief history of the older and newer parts of the church and explained components of the reliquary and phases of the iconography to us. Having become familiar with the lay of the land, she led us to the newly-built guest house with abundant baskets full of dinner, assuring us (in Greek “yaya” fashion) that it looks like a lot more than it actually is.

The guesthouse was brand new and spacious, each room with its own accompanying bathroom, a large and cozy living room containing shelves of books to explore and a bright kitchen with all the amenities. Many guests can and do share this space. However, we were the only pilgrims this particular weekend. Mother Paula settled us in, showed us the schedule of services we could attend, and made sure we knew all of the grounds and church would be open for us. She shared how the monastery embraces a dual calling of contemplation and hospitality and their evolution over the years in balancing the two. It seemed to me the spiritual embodiment of Mary and Martha together, serving the Lord. I fell asleep that night enveloped in an armchair with a hopelessly ambitious stack of books joyfully plucked from the shelves, sprawling on my lap; pages of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, Metropolitan Anthony Bloom and Fr. George Florovsky patiently awaiting my next attempt at vigil asceticism. (Spoiler alert- they’re still waiting ;-)

Over the next couple days we were able to attend Vespers and Matins services, an akathist to St. John Maximovitch and Divine Liturgy. The graceful reverence of the nuns was inspiring to us in our own worship. I watched as Mother Paula and the sisters sang the same prayers they must have sung thousands of times with solemn conviction and attention, adoration for the Lord and regard for each other apparent in their posture. Throughout the weekend, each sister made a point to welcome us, introducing themselves with warm smiles, even a few hugs and genuine interest. Twice, Mother Magdalena asked Theo if he wanted to assist her in ringing the large church bells, and with a big grin, he tried to keep in time with her experienced rhythm. During the midday meal on Saturday, our family was eating at a small table next to the larger table for the nuns and Mother Paula asked us to share a little about ourselves and what we do in Cincinnati. Her kind inclusiveness initiated a delightful and dynamic conversation between all of the sisters and our family. We learned a little more about each of them and felt known and loved. 

I was surprised at how hard it was to say goodbye after Divine Liturgy on Sunday. We were sorry to have missed meeting Abbess Mother Christophora as she was traveling to celebrate the 100th birthday of a (still serving!) priest in New Jersey. We did feel like we had a glimpse of her though, through the genuine love and thorough hospitality of her spiritual daughters. As beautiful as the monastery was with its rich history, captivating iconography and peaceful countryside, it is Mother Paula and her fellow nuns who struck a chord that resonated in worship for me throughout the weekend. Their vibrant example of the “crucified life” as it ebbed and flowed in worship from offices of prayer and liturgy, daily teamwork, intentional hospitality, silence and personal prayer… served as a catalyst of encouragement for my own spirit. These sisters in Christ who have truly chosen to surrender all as a love offering to The Beloved, humbled me with their disarming affection and patience. I’m so thankful to have finally met Mother Paula and look forward to someday worshipping alongside the sisters of The Holy Transfiguration Monastery again!

 

Three Key Events on December 13

Dear Parish Faithful& Friends in Christ,

 

Today's date of December 13 has a great deal of significance for Orthodox Christians in North America, especially for those of us within the Orthodox Church in America, and even for our local parish of Christ the Savior/Holy Spirit. 

On this date we commemorate the repose in the Lord of Blessed Fr. Herman of Alaska (+1837). We had a wonderful Liturgy this morning in order to commemorate St. Herman's rebirth into the Kingdom of God. 

I have provided the link to his Life from the OCA website. It is very detailed and thus quite lengthy and may take more than one sitting to read through it all. But St. Herman is one of our few North American saints and we should get to know of his wonderful and holy life as well as possible:

Life of St Herman of Alaska (OCA)

In addition, I would like to include a paragraph from Fr. Thomas Hopko's reflection on Fr. Herman as found in his popular book The Winter Pascha. The entire chapter was read at an appropriate point in the Liturgy:

"By American standards, St. Herman of Alaska, like the Lord Jesus Himself, was a miserable failure. He made no name for himself. He was not in the public eye. He wielded no power. He owned no property. He had few possessions, if any at all. He had no worldly prestige. He played no role in human affairs. He partook of no carnal pleasures. He made no money. He died in obscurity among outcast people. Yet today, more that a hundred years after his death, his icon is venerated in thousands of churches and his name is honored by millions of people whom he is still trying to teach to seek the kingdom of God and its righteousness which has been brought to the world by the King who was born in a cavern and killed on a cross. The example of this man is crucial to the celebration of Christmas - especially in America." (p. 47-48)

 

It was on December 13, 1983, that Fr. Alexander Schmemann also reposed in the Lord. Fr. Alexander is one of the greatest figures in the emergence of an autocephalous Orthodox Church here in North America. It is Fr. Alexander who initiated the liturgical revival in our parishes that make us now strong eucharistic communities.

I studied under him and served with him as an acolyte and briefly as a deacon in my three years at St. Vladimir's seminary in New York. When our daughter Sophia was born, he visited our humble apartment in Yonkers, NY to see her, congratulate us and spend some time with us. And believe me, Fr. Schmemann visiting your apartment was a big thing!

Again, to quote Fr. Hopko from The Winter Pascha:

"For those who knew him, and those who will yet come to know him, the day of Fr. Alexander's death will always be a precious part of the Church's celebration of the Christmas-Epiphany season." (p. 49)

When Fr. Schmemann died in 1983, a brief tribute to him was filmed by CBS News. Reminding me of this, Mother Paula (Vicki Bellas) sent me the following link to this. I would like to share it with anyone who may be interested:

CBS Documentary on Fr. Alexander Schmemann (OCN)

Fr. Alexander appears briefly at the beginning, so there is a brief glimpse of him and his style. The rest is a series of tributes to him from various bishops, scholars, friends, etc. including the words of Fr. Thomas Hopko, who was his son-in-law. The video ends with Fr. Alexander's funeral, an extraordinary event that I returned to New York for. 

I recall approaching Matushka Anne Hopko (Fr. Alexander's daughter) and making a comment about the unique atmosphere of the funeral. She smiled, and then replied: "Yes, just like Pascha!" That response caught the essence of Fr. Schmemann's life - and his death.

Interestingly enough there is an entry on Fr. Alexander at Wikipedia with a listing of all of his publications. Here is the link:

Fr. Alexander Schmemann (Wikipedia)

And it was also on December 13, that our former parishioner Mother Paula was tonsured as a nun at the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Ellwood City, PA. I believe this was in 2010. Mother Paula was known in the parish before her tonsuring by her name "in the world" of Vicki Bellas. She transferred to our parish in the early 90's and stayed with us until 2003 when she left for the monastery to "test" her vocation. I was the one who drove her to the monastery in the Fall of that year. 

When the time for her tonsuring came, a sizeable group from our parish made the trip for the service. That group consisted of: Presvytera Deborah and myself, Roberta Robedeau and our former parishioners Dan and Cristina Georgescu, together with the Callender family and Jeannie Markvan and Elena Drach. We somehow managed to stay just ahead of a snowstorm blowing through the region at that time. 

The hieromonk Fr. Alexander Cutler [formerly the Igumen at St. John the Theologian Skete in Hiram, OH] served as the celebrant of the tonsuring, and Fr. Thomas Hopko and I served together with him. It was an emotional event for all of us who were there. 

Many people journey through life, never quite finding a true "vocation," so Mother Paula was blessed in discovering hers through faithfulness to Christ and a life of prayer and service. It is not a parish footnote that a monastic has come out of our parish community. Rather, it is a true blessing. We can only say "well done" and wish her Many Years!

See also: A Blessed Event ~ The Tonsure of Mother Paula

 

Three Key Events on December 13

Dear Parish Faithful,

Today's date of December 13 has a great deal of significance for Orthodox Christians in North America, especially for those of us within the Orthodox Church in America, and even for our local parish of Christ the Savior/Holy Spirit.  

On this date we commemorate the repose in the Lord of Blessed Fr. Herman of Alaska (+1837). We had a wonderful Great Vespers service yesterday evening to commemorate his rebirth into the Kingdom of God (and, if you count our guests, we reached "double digits" in attendance!).  

I have attached his Life from the OCA website. It is very detailed and thus quite lengthy and may take more than one sitting to read through it all. But St. Herman is one of our few North American saints and we should get to know of his wonderful and holy life as well as possible:

Life of St Herman of Alaska (OCA)

In addition, I would like to include a paragraph from Fr. Thomas Hopko's reflection on Fr. Herman as found in his popular book The Winter Pascha.  The entire chapter was read yesterday evening following the service:

By American standards, St. Herman of Alaska, like the Lord Jesus Himself, was a miserable failure.  He made no name for himself. He was not in the public eye.  He wielded no power.  He owned no property.  He had few possessions, if any at all. He had no worldly prestige. He played no role in human affairs.  He partook of no carnal pleasures. He made no money. He died in obscurity among outcast people.

Yet today, more that a hundred years after his death, his icon is venerated in thousands of churches and his name is honored by millions of people whom he is still trying to teach to seek the kingdom of God and its righteousness which has been brought to the world by the King who was born in a cavern and killed on a  cross. The example of this man is crucial to the celebration of Christmas - especially in America. (p. 47-48)

It was on December 13, 1983, that Fr. Alexander Schmemann also reposed in the Lord.  Fr. Alexander is one of the greatest figures in the emergence of an autocephalous Orthodox Church here in North America.  It is Fr. Alexander who initiated the liturgical revival in our parishes that make us now strong eucharistic communities.

I studied under him and served with him as an acolyte and  briefly as a deacon in my three years at St. Vladimir's seminary in New York. When our daughter Sophia was born, he visited our humble apartment in Yonkers, NY to see her, congratulate us and spend some time with us. And  believe me, Fr. Schmemann  visiting your apartment was a big thing!

Again, to quote Fr. Hopko from The Winter Pascha:

For those who knew him, and those who will yet come to know him, the day of Fr. Alexander's death will always be a precious part of the Church's celebration of the Christmas-Epiphany season. (p. 49)

When Fr. Schmemann died in 1983, a brief tribute to him was filmed by CBS News.  Reminding me of this, Mother Paula (Vicki Bellas) sent me the following note and link.  I would like to share it with anyone who may be interested.

Fr. Alexander appears briefly at the beginning, so there is a brief glimpse of him and his style. The rest is a series of tributes to him from various bishops, scholars, friends, etc. including the words of Fr. Thomas Hopko, who was his son-in-law.  The video ends with Fr. Alexander's funeral, an extraordinary event that I returned to New York for.  

I recall approaching Matushka Anne Hopko (Fr. Alexander's daughter) and making a comment about the unique atmosphere of the funeral. She smiled, and then replied:  "Yes, just like Pascha!"  That response caught the essence of Fr. Schmemann's life - and his death.

"Bless Father, perhaps you have seen this."
CBS Documentary on Fr. Alexander Schmemann (OCN)

Interestingly enough there is an entry on Fr. Alexander at Wikipedia with a listing of all of his publications. Here is the link:
Fr. Alexander Schmemann (Wikipedia)

And it was also on December 13, that our former parishioner Mother Paula was tonsured as a nun at the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Ellwood City, PA.  I believe this was in 2010. Mother Paula was known in the parish before her tonsuring by her name "in the world" of Vicki Bellas. She transferred to our parish in the early 90's and stayed with us until 2003 when she left for the monastery to "test" her vocation.  I was the one who drove her to the monastery in the Fall of that year.  

When the time for her tonsuring came, a sizeable group from our parish made the trip for the service.  That group consisted of:  Presvytera Deborah and myself, Roberta Robedeau and our former parishioners Dan and Cristina Georgescu, together with the Callender family and Jeannie Markvan and Elena Drach. We somehow managed to stay just ahead of a snowstorm blowing through the region at that time.  

The hieromonk Fr. Alexander Cutler [formerly the Igumen at St. John the Theologian Skete in Hiram, OH] served as the celebrant of the tonsuring, and Fr. Thomas Hopko and I served together with him. It was an emotional event for all of us who were there.  

Many people journey through life, never quite finding a true "vocation," so Mother Paula was blessed in discovering hers through faithfulness to Christ and a life of prayer and service. It is not a parish footnote that a monastic has come out of our parish community.  Rather, it is a true blessing. We can only say "well done" and wish her Many Years!

See also:

A Blessed Event ~ The Tonsure of Mother Paula

Lives Transfigured

Fr. Thomas Hopko at Christ the Savior-Holy Spirit, Lenten Retreat 2010.

Dear Parish Faithful,

I wrote last week reminding the parish that the one-year anniversary of the repose of Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko was commemorated on March 18.  In fact, at yesterday's memorial service following the Liturgy we remembered Fr. Tom together with Archimandrites Roman (Braga) and Afanasy.  Fr. Hopko spent his retirement years in a home right by the Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, PA, and became an integral part of the community for many years through serving and teaching.  Whenever visiting the monastery through the years, it was always great to see Fr. Tom and sometimes serve with him in the monastery's chapel.

Mother Alexandra

The monastery publishes a fine journal on a quarterly basis, entitled Life Transfigured.   The latest issue was dedicated to the foundress of the monastery, Mother Alexandra, the former Princess Ileana of Romania.  This dedication is in recognition that the twenty-fifth anniversary of her repose in the Lord occurred this last January.  The entire issue is made up of short essays or articles that she had written over the years in both Europe and the United States.

As Mother Alexandra established the monastery in 1962 (I believe) she becomes one of the great pioneers of Orthodox monasticism in North America, certainly of women's monasticism.  A very fond memory for both Presbyter and myself was that of hosting Mother Alexandra in our home when she came to lead a retreat in the small mission I was serving in London, Ontario, Canada, before coming to Cincinnati.  She left having made a great impact on our community there.  Born into royalty, Mother Alexandra was a woman of great cultural and spiritual refinement.  Yet, through her profound Christian faith, she was also deeply humble and aware of the equality of all human beings before God and our need to repent of our sins.

Yesterday, we read aloud in the church her short but moving meditation on the First Commandment.  Based on the words of Christ as recording in the Gospel according to St. Mark:  "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and with all they strength.  This is the first commandment;" she began her meditation with the following memorable words:

"How many Christians really fulfill this commandment? How many other persons or things come first?  How many people realize, O Lord, that You do not come between them and other loves, but quite the contrary, other loves and cares come between them and You!  The greater our love for God the more our love for home, parents, children and friends grows.  How many even of those that have embraced some form of religious life are conscious of this factor in their spiritual thoughts?"

She closed this meditation with the following prayer that must have been of her own composition:

O! my Lord God, fill my empty heart with Thy love,
revive my flagging spirits. Make me strong through
Thy strength, making me compassionate by Thy
compassion; now that at last I am an empty shell
I pray Thee fill me utterly with Thy love so that my
love may faithful reflect Thy for me and all mankind.
Amen.

A further meditation in this issue is entitled "Regret and Repentance."  I would like to share this short meditation with everyone, noting its deep lenten significance, perhaps as we prepare for the Sacrament of Confession:

There is a great deal of difference between regretting sins we have committed and feeling true contrition about them, repenting of them.

To regret, actually means to be sorry for a loss, or distressed about an event.  This, of course, is no bad start in relation to sin, because in sinning we have indeed lost a great deal more than we realize.  With each sin, big or small, we fall away from grace.  Also, sins have an uncomfortable  way of having visibly uncomfortable consequences, events for which we most certainly are sorry.

But this is a long way from real contrition that brings repentance.  True repentance is not only grief in the unfortunate consequences of our thoughts or actions, a hatred for what we have done, but also deep sorrow for the impulse that gave birth to sin.  It awakes the desire to do penance, to make good, to purge ourselves.  We become conscious of the stain upon the soul.  That is why the 50th (51st) Psalm is given such predominance in all our services, for it is the real prayer of repentance:  "cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgression:  and my sin is ever before me."  Repentance also includes the hope of forgiveness, the knowledge that God can wipe out the stain:  "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow."

Yet David, when he wrote this, had not the assurance that we have, that if we repent, we are forgiven.  "This is My blood of the New Testament which is shed for you for the remission of sins."

Christ instituted the Sacrament of Confession to give you an opportunity, even many opportunities, to heal the diseases that afflict the soul.  When did you last repent and go to confession instead of just being sorry?

Going back twenty five years to the repose of Mother Alexandra, we realize that we have lost many great figures of Orthodoxy in that time span.  Yet, they are still with us "in spirit" as we trust by the mercy of God they now reside in the Kingdom of heaven and pray for us. And we have their written legacy in the form of their writings to nourish us as we are hopefully on that same path.