“We enter and take off our coats. The master shows us his skillfully made clothes rack. We make the sign of the cross together with him in front of the icons and ask for a blessing. He blesses and kisses each one of us and then bids us to sit. For some reason we felt that this blessing was not like other blessings, but indeed was something special….

Fr. Isidore would say something encouraging. If two of us were to arrive together, then he would recall the travelers from Emmaus; if we were three persons, that was especially good: “And God appeared to Abraham as three travelers.”….

Now he begins to lead us around the cell. For someone visiting for the very first time, he will, without fail, begin to explain the history of several faces depicted on the picture postcards.He begins to recite some religious poetry. He then turns his attention to his flowers and sits us down to the reading of the Psalms, which were put to verse by a blind priest….

Then he would leave his guests alone, while he went out to set the Samovar to boil and to prepare some refreshments, with which he would wholeheartedly treat his guests. We would pray, then sit down to tea…. During refreshments, Fr. Isidore would offer some kind of gift, teach us his prayer of five wounds of the Savior, express his innermost thoughts, present everyone with the leaflets of prayers and verses, give his blessing to all, and then bid us farewell.-Salt of the Earth by St. Paul Florensky

Tone 8
Kontakion I

Chosen wonderworker and superb servant of Christ, who pourest out in the latter times inexhaustible streams of inspiration and multitude of miracles. We praise Thee which love, and call out to Thee:
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Ikos I

An angel in the flesh wast Thou manifested in the latter times by the grace of God Who ever careth for men. Seeing the beauty of Thy virtues, we Thy children now cry out to Thee:
Rejoice, Thou who didst live in virtue from earliest childhood.
Rejoice, Thou who didst ever live in fear of God and do His holy will.
Rejoice, Thou who didst manifest the grate of God in numberless virtues.
Rejoice, Thou who didst mystically hear the distant prayers of those in distress.
Rejoice, Thou who wast filled with love for Thy fellow men and didst do all possible for their salvation.
Rejoice, Thou who dost bring joy to all who pray to Thee in faith and love.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

The entire Akathist is here

Read about the life of St. John (Maximovitch),The Wonderworker,Of Shanghai and San Francisco here

TROPARION, TONE 6
“Glorious apostle to an age of coldness and unbelief, invested with the grace-filled power of the saints of old, divinely-illumined seer of heavenly mysteries, , feeder of orphans, hope of the hopeless, thou didst enkindle on earth the fire of love for Christ upon the dark eve of the day of jugment; pray now that this sacred flame may also rise from our hearts.”

Passing through the front room, you enter into a small garden measuring not more than 5 feet wide. The garden is spread out between the skete wall and the little house, skirting the house and enclosing it on both sides by a tall plank fence with a garden gate. This so-called “Inner Desert” is where Fr. Isidore would retire for prayer and spiritual contemplation. Tall willow trees grow above the “Inner Desert” and sometimes the entire desert becomes whitened with flying fluff. But Father, with childlike joy, and glancing all around would say, “It looks as if it has been snowing here”! The “Desert” also contained herbs tended to by the gardener, nettles and onions: some in tin cans kept dusted by the Elder himself, others planted in straight in th earth. Toads and all types of living creatures also live here in Fr. Isidore’s “Desert”. There is also a little table made of a stump of wood, and another stump for sitting, as well as additional seating being provided by stones which the master of the “Desert” has picked up from various places. But everything your eyes see here has its own symbolic meaning: the willow- this is the oak of Mamre, under which the Forefather Abraham received the Holy Trinity; the stone benches represent the cliffs of the Thebaid; the branching twigs which are joined together by a wooden cross and nailed to the tree and which reminded one of antlers- as the elder himself said- represent a vision of St. Eustathius Placidas. In this “Desert” there is not a single corner without its own special meaning. Even in the air itself is filled with the memories of the lives of the Forefathers and Saints. For Fr. Isidore, events of sacred Scripture and Church history are much closer, clearer, and more alive than the commotion of the world.-Salt of the Earth by St. Paul Florensky

From: Father Damascene
Date: Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 5:59 PM
Subject: Mon June 30 Update: Monks Back at the Monastery
To: Bishop Maxim

Your Grace, Bless, Master!

We have now returned to the St. Herman Monastery, and are busy unpacking our vehicles. Thanks be to God, the whole monastery, as well as our office two miles away, was untouched by the fire. However, three “sketes” on the other (south) side of our ridge were scorched. These “sketes” are actually sites for the celebration of the Divine services outdoors, and were created during the time of Hieromonk Seraphim of blessed memory. The “sketes” that are damaged are: Transfiguration Skete, St. Elias Skete, and “Mount Athos………

…..The area around Platina and our monastery is still hazy, but the sky is not filled with smoke as it was when we evacuated on Tuesday. We are of course very joyful to be back in our monastery, where we will celebrate a service of Thanksgiving to God. Thanking You again for Your Archpastoral prayers, encouragement, and help, and asking Your blessings and continued prayers for us,

In Christ, hieromonk Damascene

Nuns expected to return to Skete tomorrow

Read all about it here

“So, you have entered into the cell. To the right of the icons is a window, below which is a small table with scattered books, letters and papers. Then, to the left of the icons is a little bench and a small table, on which is lying a rather tattered epitrachelion (stole), vestment cuffs with ragged edges, sundry items and a small shelf. Above the little table there are two little windows. On the window ledges there are ‘flowers’ as Father would call them; cans with moss in them- tin cans with some kind of weeds well tended to by the gardener; a corked bottle filled with water in order to serve as a vessel for any ‘flower’; a bottle with a broken willow branch…It’s hard to recall everything that was on the window sill as Fr. Isidore’s.

In the entrance hall stands a small cupboard filled with dishes, as well as a little table on which tea was served. There are also wooden hangers made from knotty wooden sticks- quite like antlers- and Fr. Isidore would have to show them to each of his visitors.” From Salt of the Earth by St. Paul Florensky

When I first approached Fr. Alexander at St. Symeon’s in Brimingham, AL about becoming a catechumen, he asked me what I had read. I mentioned to him that I had read books by Alexander Schmemann, Kallistos Ware, Vladimir Lossky, Michael Pomazanksky as well as other general introductions on Orthodoxy. One thing I had not read were books on Orthodox hagiography or books on the life of the saints which Fr. Alexander recognized immediately. Fr. Alexander lead me to the church library and started pulling off the shelf books about the life of various Orthodox saints. It was at this time that I had my first encounter with Orthodox hagiography and I have developed a love for reading these types of books. I recommend to anyone seeking to better understand the Orthodox Church to read about the lives and sayings of Orthodox saints along with the other introductory books.

Last year when I was studying at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM, I bought a book at Holy Trinity’s bookstore written by St. Paul Florensky titled Salt of the Earth: An Encounter with a Holy Russian Elder Isidore of Gethsemane Hermitage. Though I bought it last year I did not read it until recently. It has been a very inspiring book to read. The book does not begin like many modern biographies with the saint’s date and place of birth. St. Paul Florensky begins with a description of the elder’s cell and then goes on to describe what a visit with the elder was like, as well as the kinds of refreshments Elder Isidore served. The book also contains some very good information on the life of St. Paul Florensky. Over the next few days I want to share a few quotations from this very inspiring Russian elder.

“It is impossible to distinguish his simplicity and love from his detachment to all worldly things. He turned everything upside down and in such a way that it was impossible to find one ounce of self-will or anything ostentatious. His simplicity was an irony and his irony was simplicity itself. He could change all existing conditions in order to allow them to be seen through the window of eternity; and—amazingly enough—he would do this without offending anyone. He would uproot everything in his guests; he would push each one off his pedestal of self-complacency and bring him back down to earth….”

—excerpt from SALT OF THE EARTH

“Saints Peter and Paul: From the earliest centuries Christians in both the East and the West have celebrated this double feast day of those two apostles who are linked in a special way by their martyrdoms in the city of Rome. Even though there seem to have been Roman Christians right from the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:10), the origins of that local church were always associated with the two great men who there shed their blood for the name of Christ. Writing to the Christians at Rome in the year 107, Ignatius, the Bishop of Antioch in Syria, could say to them: “I do not give you commands, as did Peter and Paul.” With respect to the ministry and martyrdom of Peter and Paul at Rome, the evidence from the dawn of Christian history is overwhelming, nor was there any dissenting voice on this matter from any ancient source._

With respect to Paul, of course, we have the Book of Acts and the Second Epistle to Timothy. With respect to Peter, we are not entirely sure when he did reach Rome, but it must have been in the early 60s. If he were at Rome in the late 50s, it is impossible to understand why he was not mentioned among that long list of Christians who are named in Romans 16.” -Read more at Daily Reflections by Fr. Patrick Reardon

And so, brethren, celebrating now the memory of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, remembering their venerable sufferings, we esteem their true faith and holy life, we esteem the innocence of their sufferings and pure confession. Loving in them the sublime quality and imitating them by great exploits, “in which to be likened to them” (2 Thess 3: 5-9), and we shall attain to that eternal bliss which is prepared for all the saints. The path of our life before was more grievous, thornier, harder, but “we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12: 1), having passed by along it, made now for us easier, and lighter, and more readily passable. First there passed along it “the author and finisher of our faith,” our Lord Jesus Christ Himself (Heb 12: 2); His daring Apostles followed after Him; then the martyrs, children, women, virgins and a great multitude of witnesses. Who acted in them and helped them on this path? He Who said, “Without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15: 5).- St. Augustine of Hippo

Troparion - Tone 4

First-enthroned of the apostles,
teachers of the universe:
Entreat the Master of all
to grant peace to the world,
and to our souls great mercy!

Kontakion - Tone 2

O Lord, You have taken up to eternal rest
and to the enjoyment of Your blessings
the two divinely-inspired preachers, the leaders of the Apostles,
for You have accepted their labors and deaths as a sweet-smelling sacrifice,
for You alone know what lies in the hearts of men.

Kontakion - Tone 2

Today Christ the Rock glorifies with highest honor
The rock of Faith and leader of the Apostles,
Together with Paul and the company of the twelve,
Whose memory we celebrate with eagerness of faith,
Giving glory to the one who gave glory to them!

An Email from Fr. Damascene:

Your Grace, Bless, Master!

The back burn was successful, so now we have a larger fire break on the ridge above our monastery. However, last night, due to strong winds the fire spread rapidly, towards the west and south. The fire jumped Hiway 36. The entire town of Platina has being forced to evacuate. We just heard that the western end of the fire is now moving north, which could endanger the town of Platina and the monastery from the other side. More winds are expected over the next few days. We still really need prayers. Today, I spoke with Abbot Gerasim in Ecuador. Most of us will be going to stay at Dmitar Karr’s place in Shingletown today, and will probably be there until, God willing, we are allowed to go back to the monastery. At this point, it looks like we will be evacuated at least for several more days. Asking Your Archpastoral blessings and prayers,

In Christ, Fr. Damascene

——————————————————————————–

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - 4:58 p.m.

An Email from Fr. Damascene to
His Grace Bishop Maxim

Your Grace, Bless, Master!

I’m writing this from our office in Platina, and will return soon to Redding with Monk Paisius. We just went up to the monastery briefly. At 3 pm, Monk Paisius talked to the district supervisor of the fire crew at the top of the ridge on which our monastery in located. The monastery is not yet out of danger. The fire has slightly broken over a ridge which is two ridges away from our monastery, and it also gone down into the gorge, where it is moving closer to the area directly below our monastery. The fire crew, however, is very pleased with the fire’s behavior. It has given them time to make a 20-foot-wide fire break along the top of our ridge, and to prepare more fully for a back burn, which is a controlled burn to clear away shrubs and trees along the edge of the fire break. The fire break, together with the back-burn, will make it so that the fire will have no “fuel” if it reaches the top of our ridge. The fire crew are planning to do the back burn today, and are just waiting for a little more favorable conditions. The back burn itself is somewhat dangerous, since if the wind changes the controlled fire could become uncontrolled. So, the situation is better today than it looked yesterday, thanks be to God. However, things could change for the worse, depending on the weather. We are extremely grateful for all the prayers that have been offered on our behalf, and we ask everyone to keep praying. The fire crew wants us to remain evacuated from the monastery, so we are spending the night in Redding. Asking Your Archpastoral blessings and prayers,

In Christ, hieromonk Damascene

For updates mash here

“If we weigh and examine everything that we do with a reasonable mind and always, out of the purity of our heart, take into consideration not others’ judgments but our own conscience, it is certain that this interval of relaxation will be unable to damage just strictness. But this will only be so if, as has been said, an unsullied mind weighs the proper measure of indulgence and abstinence on an accurate scale and chastises equally an excess on either side, distinguishing with true discretion whether the weight of pleasure is pressing down our spirit or a more austere abstinence is tipping it to the other side, that of the body, and wither lowering or raising the part that it thinks is too light or too heavy.”-Abba Theonas in The Conferences by St. John Cassian

The purity of heart is important to the desert fathers because the tool of reason is lead astray if it is weighed down by sinful pleasures. The holier the life the more clear ones reason and ability to see God. One can be an expert in the tools of logic and still come to irrational conclusions because his heart is filled with the impure, sinful pleasures of this temporal world.The goal is to take the reasoning mind and put it into a pure heart so one can see God. This takes place through a life of faith and repentance in Christ who is the “great physician” of our heart*.

*The “heart” is not to be confused with the modern understanding as the place of the emotions. The heart should be understood as the very center or core of our being.

Wild Fires threaten Saint Herman of Alaska Monastery
in Platina, California

Prayer Request
His Grace Bishop Maxim of the Western American Diocese urges all of our Orthodox faithful to offer prayers for the protection of the St. Herman of Alaska Serbian Orthodox Monastery in Platina, California. Wild fires are quickly approaching the Monastery grounds and the Monastery is in great danger of being burned down. The Monastic Community has been evacuated and are seeking refuge in the neighboring parish of Redding, Calif.

UPDATE
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 5:37 p.m.
Dear Fathers, Brothers and Sisters,

The Monks have evacuated from Platina and are now in Redding with us (St. Andrew’s). They brought down all of their vehicles loaded with possessions of the Monastery. They are collected at one parishioners home right now and we will be finding them accommodations this evening. The fires are still raging. The forest Service just set a back fire on Noble Ridge (the winds were favorable) as a mans of cutting out fuel for the main fire to go over the Ridge. The smoke at Platina was so thick you could barely see or breathe. We will be having Vespers and Compline at St. Andrews tonight.

The nuns at St. Xenia Skete are still there and have not had to evacuate yet, but are on high alert. Two of our parishioners went up today with trucks to bring down Monastery possessions to Redding We still are awaiting to see what they will be doing.

The Monastics will probably be staying in Redding for a while, secondary to the extreme fire conditions (over 875 fires are going in Northern California from a Saturday lightening strike) and the smoke is quite thick. The sky in Redding is like overcast with ash falling.

Please keep them all in your prayers. We ask God’s help to send relief to the Monastics, the fire fighters and others made homeless.

Thank you for your prayers and blessings to all of you,

Fr. Michael Boyle, Parish Priest
St. Andrew Fool-for-Christ Serbian Orthodox Mission Parish Redding, California

Serbian Orthodox Church Info