The Morning Offering

The Planting of a Monastery (chapter 4)

The Move to the Island

After packing our belongings we returned to the island from Oregon, with the camper so full we scraped the bottom as we drove onto the ferry. We gave thanks to God as we stood on the deck, closing in on our new island home. I had dreamed of living on an island, nestled in a forest, for much of my life, and now God was granting me my wish.

The two-bedroom house was up for sale, and the agreement was that we would move out within thirty days once they found a buyer. Since there were no other houses within our price range, we worried we’d have to leave the island before winter set in. The constant flow of perspective buyers worried us a bit, but we trusted God's will would be done. With a ceiling of only six feet five inches high, the look on people's faces upon seeing me with my kamilavka (a stiff monastic hat), with only an inch to spare, was priceless.

The island's weekly newspaper had an ad for an old farmhouse that had caught our eye when we first explored the island, so with the sale of the first house we packed up and moved within sixty days of having come to the island. The house had been built in 1906 by a Norwegian shipbuilder during the days Dockton had been the location of the largest dry dock north of San Francisco.

Soon after moving into the house, we drove back to Santa Rosa, CA., retrieved the monastery’s library, icons, and furniture out of storage, received a blessing from my spiritual father, Archimandrite Dimitry, and said goodbye to our many friends and benefactors in the Bay Area. Once back on the island we turned a small room on the main floor into a chapel, with the living room, complete with fireplace, becoming our community room and library. The second floor had two bedrooms, the largest of which we separated into two cells by constructing a wall and turning the extra bedroom into a guestroom. An old school bell from Montana, a gift from Father Paul’s dad, was hung from the front porch, completed our move. Set in the middle of two acres, with a beautiful pasture serving as the backdrop and a small orchard in the front yard, the house was truly an answer to prayer. After planting a vegetable garden, we settled into living the rural life we’d so desired.

The islanders welcomed us warmly, making us feel as though we’d always been a part of the community. A neighbor left flowers and fresh farm eggs on our doorstep, and another islander gifted us with a large basket filled with smoked salmon, and fresh garden vegetables. When walking out on a pier to view close up a commercial fishing vessel, the captain gave us three freshly caught salmon, all the largest I’d ever seen. A woman who worked in one of the two island grocery stores would approach us monthly, in the store, with a check written out in the amount of $200.00. Complete strangers would approach us at the post office, welcoming us to the island.

Love in Christ,

Abbot Tryphon

 

Monday October 15, 2012 / October 2, 2012
20^th Week after Pentecost. Tone two.


Hieromartyr Cyprian, Virgin-martyr Justina and Martyr Theoctist of Nicomedia (304).
Blessed Andrew, fool-for-Christ at Constantinople (911).
St. Theodore of Sanaskar (Ushakov), admiral of the Russian Navy (1817).
Virgin-martyr Alexandra (1938).
Venerable Anna of Kashin (1338).
Venerable Cassian, monk, of Uglich (1504).
Martyrs David and Constantine, princes of Argveti, Georgia (740) (Georgia).
Blessed Cyprian of Suzdal, fool-for-Christ (1622).
New Martyr George of Philadelphia in Asia Minor (Mt. Athos) (1794) (Greek).
Venerable Damaris of Athens (1st c.) (Greek).
Great-martyr Theodore (Gavra) of Atran in Chaldia of Pontus (1180) (Greek).
Venerable Theophilus the Confessor (Greek).

You can read the life of the saint in green, by click on the name.

THANK YOU, to all of you who have been able to contribute towards the support of the monastery. These difficult times of economic hardship have impacted the monastery, and those of you who have been able to donate, have been our lifeline. May God bless you for your generosity, and kindness.

With love in Christ,  
Abbot Tryphon

Donations can be made directly to the monastery through PayPal, or you may send donations to:

All-Merciful Saviour Monastery
PO Box 2420
Vashon Island, WA 98070-2420 USA

Philippians 2:12-16

Light Bearers

¹² Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
¹⁴ Do all things without complaining and disputing, ¹⁵ that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

Luke 6:24-30

Jesus Pronounces Woes

²⁴ “But woe to you who are rich,
    For you have received your consolation.
²⁵ Woe to you who are full,
    For you shall hunger.
Woe to you who laugh now,
    For you shall mourn and weep.
²⁶ Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
    For so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Love Your Enemies

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. ²⁹ To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.

 

http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/morningoffering

I invite my readers to listen to my Ancient Faith Radio podcasts.