The Summer Feast Day, '24!

We give thanks to God for a wonderful celebration of our Summer Feast Day! The Theme of this Feast Day was the motto of our mission: "Awakening America to Orthodoxy!" Just as the Seven Holy Youths of Ephesus were miraculously raised up from the dead hundreds of years after their deaths as if from a night's sleep, so we are asking their prayers that God too might awaken many in America to be brought into His Church today!

This Feast Day marked the third anniversary of Metropolitan Hilarion's+ of blessed memory joining us in the last year of his life! We were thankful for the more than 40 people who were able to join us including Fr. John from Jordanville monastery, along with other old friends and new. We were especially thankful to welcome Tatiana who came the farthest to join us from Moscow to present an icon of the Seven Holy of Ephesus to the Chapel!

We as Orthodox Christians ask God to help us to be watchful against the constant battle of intrusive thoughts (Logismoi in Greek). We have a wonderful example of this in our group pictures from this feast day. Take a look at Nicholai, in the yellow shirt in the lower right hand corner of the group picture above. In the pictures below, notice how he suddenly takes off in pursuit of a cotton ball that blew by! Nobody notices this at this point but him. But in the next picture you will see how he has captured everybody's attention (including the photographer's!)! Glory to God for this great lesson to be watchful!