OUR 31ST MYRRHBEARERS CELEBRATION
MAY 10-11, 2008
Our thanks to Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia who presided, along with the clergy who joined us, Father Kyrill Riggs, Father Stephen Kopestonsky, Father John Eissman, Father Stephen Loposky, Father Anthony Falsarella, Deacon Adam Sexton, Deacon Martin Meitz (Mother Anna's brother) and to our many guests. Two of our sisters were tonsured to the schema (click here to learn about: life-profession) and a third who was already life-professed was received and given the mantia as a member of our monastery. We ask your prayers for our new Mothers. We show below some of the clergy who served in the altar, the Cross, the Scriptures, the prayer rope and the candle given to each (along with the mantia that signifies life profession). Left to right in the center: Mother Michaela, Mother Alexandra and Mother Anna. Finally we show the Paschal bell-ringing that signals each service throughout this beautiful season. Thanks to Gregory Hatrak for these photos! (Please click on the "thumbnails" to see the full-sized pictures.)
We invited Mother Michaela's brother-in-law, Gene, to come with his camera. Father Anthony Falserella who is doing a documentary of Orthodox monasticism in America also asked if he could come to take pictures. Those of you with high-speed access can see his beautiful photos of our monastery and of others at Father Anthony's Monastery Journal. With our slower dial-up service and with his permission we have added these couple of his photos (at a much lower resolution) to this page as well.
Here is Father Anthony's shot of the monastic community and the clergy at the end of the Profession liturgy:
The Akathist service to our patrons, the Holy Myrrhbearers (the following courtesy of Gregory Hatrak):
Followed by the healing service:
As a tragic bookend to our celebration, on Sunday evening, our first photographer, Gene, was killed in an accident. We ask you to join us as our hearts and our prayers go out to his wife, Rae, and to his sister-in-law, our Mother Michaela. We have finally been able to get the photos that were downloaded from his camera and will add some of them here, in his memory now as well as in celebration.
Update 05-21-208: Here are two pictures Father Anthony took of Gene: In the first, Gene is the photographer waiting to catch the entrance of the bishop; in the second, the liturgy is over and he joins his wife and her sister, Mother Michaela, and her parish priest, Father John Eissmann, for a family group shot. We hope you will want to go to his web site and see the rest of his photographs. Click here: Father Anthony's Monastery Journal
Several of our does also decided to join the celebration by having their kids before, during, after and between the services, even as the bishop and his assistants went for a farm tour, greeted by Cinderella and our mascot, Tigg (back to Gregory Hatrak's photos):
We will never forget this weekend and its reminders of the cost of our Paschal joy.