Please forgive me for not posting more
frequently. We are very close to the finish here at St. Tikhon's. The
weather has been up and down, but Thank God, we have had some really
nice, warm days. Spring teasers! Since the last post, I visited the
Old Rite Parish (ROCOR) in Erie, I visited the community of Holy
Theophany in Colorado Springs, we journeyed half-way through Lent,
and I visited Harrisburg, PA to see my Father Confessor. So, a lot
has happened!
Of course, time at seminary has been
quite a whirlwind and with all that we have been doing, it has spun
by so very quickly. Also, with Baby Baldwin on the way, we are in
hyper-mode to get things around the house prepared. We are very
excited for the arrival of our newest little one. Veronika and I and
the midwife (and several others) are pretty sure Baby Baldwin will be
here sooner than expected, before the due date of April 22. Thank God
for all things.
On to the visit to Erie. The Church of
the Nativity was founded by a group of Old Believers many years ago.
The nastovnik, who grew up in the community, would later become Fr.
Pimen Simon. They were priestless and then he realized they needed
the Holy Eucharist. He found priesthood and canonical communion,
leading the parish into the Russian Church Abroad. Though the
services (which are in no way abbreviated ever) are Old Rite, the
entire liturgical corpus, including hymnody, for worship was
translated into English (though they still use some Slavonic).
I travelled up to Erie with a friend of
mine, an older gentleman. He had lived with and taught the Old
Believers in Woodburn, OR. We left Saturday morning. We attended
Vigil that night. I knew this service would be long. It was
beautiful. The Church is magnificent. Truly prayerful worship! We
were invited over to Fr. Pimen's house, the Rectory, next door. The
Vigil had begun at 4:45. As we walked out of the Church, I checked my
phone to see if I had messages from my wife. The time was 9:05! I
couldn't believe we had been in Church for nearly 4 and a half hours!
The service was so full of Grace and Life, with prayer, that I hardly
noticed it had been that long. What a blessing. We attended Divine
Liturgy the next Day. The community was warm and welcoming, full of
prayer. Before we departed to return home, we were shown the
bookstore and community hall. I was able to get a lestovka, poyas,
and a few books. It was a memorable visit, one that I will always
cherish. I pray I am able to return for another visit one day.
The very next weekend, I was off to
Colorado Springs to meet the Parish community of Holy Theophany. The
priest is Fr. Anthony Karbo. The new temple is stunning. The parish
community truly warm and welcoming. I was blessed to attend services
Friday (Pre-sanctified Liturgy), Saturday (Memorial Saturday Liturgy
and Vespers) and Sunday (Divine Liturgy and Mission [Pan Orthodox]
Vespers [in Pueblo]). I gave the homily Sunday at Divine Liturgy and
that evening at the Vespers service. I was able to meet with all the
clergy in area. I even got to see Fr. Zechariah and his family in
Pueblo (friends of ours; he was here our first year of Seminary).
During the visit to the Springs, I was able to see Agia Sophia Coffee
House, Pike's peak, and meet and visit with a lot of wonderful
people. It was a blessing! Veronika will be visiting them in May.
A view of Colorado Springs
Near the top of Pike's Peak: we are up to about 13,500 ft
Holy Theophany
Inside Holy Theophany
A Pueblo Sunset, outside the Greek Orthodox Church
The visit was such a blessing, but since I was traveling without the boys and Veronika, I was really happy to get back to see them. There is a lot more to tell in part 2, Check out the rest of the story!
