Glory to Jesus Christ!
As we enter the home stretch of the Apostles' Fast, we wanted to share with you a bit about what's been happening around the monastery.
Annual RetreatsOver the last month, a few of the nuns have had the opportunity to go away for their annual retreats. We're all so grateful for these opportunities to rest and spend some very intentional time with the Lord, diving deeper into experiencing everything He's already giving us. A few weeks ago, Mother Natalia and Sister Onuphria were both on retreat at the same monastery and went out for a hike together part way through. Here's a photo they took of themselves enjoying some natural beauty midway through their hike.
Fun at Home while our Sisters are Away
Since many of our nuns have been going out for their annual retreats and home visits in the last month, we have had the fun of having different assortments of nuns at home.
This past week, Mother Cecilia, Mother Petra, and Sister Onuphria were the only ones home for Sunday night community recreation. They realized that we have three hammocks, so a plan was hatched: take the hammocks to this beautiful spot at a nearby park and read some of our favorite poems to each other. They had a beautiful time together.
A couple weeks earlier, Mother Gabriella, Mother Iliana, and Mother Petra were the only ones home on Sunday night, so they were able to go out to the shore of Lake Erie to enjoy some time on the beach. What a great gift to get to enjoy creation and community!
Preparing for the Election of a New Hegumena
Since Mother Theodora discerned to step down from her position as hegumena (abbess) in April, we as a monastery have entered a season of transition and discernment. In order to focus more fully on the Lord during this time, we are not scheduling more poustinias or retreats until further notice. We are also taking a break from scheduling guests to join us for meals until after the election for a new hegumena, after which point we may begin scheduling again. We also discerned to not accept invitations to give talks or retreats until further notice. Please trust with us in the fruitfulness of our union with the Lord, both for us and for you, and be assured of our presence alongside you in prayer.
Please keep us in prayer as we prepare to elect a new hegumena in July. Thank you!
As always, we'd love to have you join us for any of our services each day. It's always a good idea to give us a call or send us an email ahead of time just to make sure we didn't need to change our schedule on the particular day you want to come. In general, we pray Matins at 6:30 am, one of the Hours at noon, Vespers at 4:45 pm, and Compline at 9:00pm. On Sundays, we don't have prayer at noon, and we pray Compline privately in our cells.
Our Divine Liturgy schedule can be found here.
Another upcoming opportunity to pray with us is at our Eparchy's annual Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch. This year's pilgrimage will be on August 19th and 20th. On Saturday, there will be the Blessing of Water and Moleben to the Theotokos, Divine Liturgy and an evening campfire and chat. Sunday will include Matins, activities for children and teens, and Hierarchical Divine Liturgy. No registration is required. We hope to see you there!
