The Morning Offering

The Place

Returning to Where it all Began

Because of my brother's recent serious illness, I decided to spend time with Dwayne before the onset of winter, thus avoiding the snows that will soon make Snoqualmie Pass on I-90, perilous. This visit turned out to be one of the best I've had with my brother, and the highlight was the day we drove to a remote portion of Priest Lake, where our grandfather had built a lake cabin. It was the first time I'd been there since my senior year in high school.

The place was just as I'd remembered it, with the cabin still the same color my grandfather had chosen, and Priest Lake, with the snow capped mountains off in the distance, and the little island just off shore,  just as tranquil as the first time I had walked on that beach, soon after my grandparents had purchased the property from the Idaho Department of Forestry. I remember camping in a tent, while my grandfather began clearing trees, and selecting the site where he'd build his lake home.

The photo of me standing next to the dock is especially meaningful for me, for it was this dock that served as my special place of solitude, as a sixteen year old. I would spend hours sitting in a deck chair, alone, praying, and reading the Bible and theological works. It was on this dock that I first experienced the contemplative life, and sensed God calling me to be a monk.

This beach overwhelmed me with memories of my youth, for it was here where I first felt the desire to wear a black robe, and live a life that would be focused on communing with God. It was this place where God first instilled in me a desire to spend my future in solitude, prayer, and community, as a monk. No longer a sixteen year old with dreams, but a sixty-eight year old monk, wearing that black robe, and gazing out at the beauty that first instilled in me a desire to live a life in communion with God.

With love in Christ,

Abbot Tryphon

click on photos to enlarge

Friday November 15, 2013 / November 2, 2013
21^st Week after Pentecost. Tone three.
Fast. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)
Martyrs Acindynus, Pegasius, Aphthonius, Elpidephorus, and Anempodistus of Persia (341).
New Hieromartyrs Constantine and Anania priests (1918).
New Hieromartyrs Bishop Victorin and Priest Basil Luzgin of Glazomicha (1918).
Venerable Marcian of Cyrrhus (388).
"Shuiu-Smolensk" Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God (1654-1655).
Blessed Cyprian of Storozhev, former outlaw (Olonets) (16th c.).
St. Erc, bishop of Slane, Ireland (512) (Celtic & British).
St. Anthony the Confessor, archbishop of Thessalonica (844).
Women-Martyrs Cyriaca, Domnina and Domna (Greek).
Martyrs of senatorial rank beheaded under Marcus Aurelius (Greek).
You can read the life of the saint by clicking on the highlighted name.


THANKS 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


The Scripture Readings for the Day

Colossians 2:1-7

Not Philosophy but Christ

2 For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, ² that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
⁴ Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. ⁵ For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
⁶ As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ⁷ rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Luke 12:2-12

² For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. ³ Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

Jesus Teaches the Fear of God

⁴ “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!
⁶ “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Confess Christ Before Men

⁸ “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. ⁹ But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
¹⁰ “And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.
¹¹ “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. ¹² For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

 I invite my readers to listen to my
Ancient Faith Radio podcasts:
http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/morningoffering