Days going by...with love

Please forgive me for not posting. This has turned out to be a very busy few weeks! Of course, there is so much to say, I can't really remember it all, so i'll share what I can, sorry!

I promised to share about the the Master Class. What is that? Well, a renown conductor from Moscow, Vladimir Gorbik came to offer a three day class to certain seminarians in the Seminary choir. It is quite an honor to be involoved and to sing under these circumstances. I can't say much about Mr. Gorbik, but my impression of him were that he is a very humble and pious Orthodox Christian. I watched him conduct and he did so with the blessings of God. He put 100% into his offering to the Lord, his conducting. I know it sounds strange the way I have described this, but let me tell you what I meean by this kind of description. See, I have a personal quirk about me. I love to watch and hear the performance of orchestras and musicians, but I am physically uncomfortable—put off—when the performance is not 100%. It's not a judgement, but rather a asceticism of listening, of sorts. I am not saying this to puff up my own evaluation of things, but just to describable my quirk. Interestingly enough, the best performers who usually give 100% are real jerks. Sorry to say, but it's usually the case. Again, more of an observation—not a judgement. Anyways, Mr. Gorbik struck me as humble and he gave 100%. It was a joy to watch him conduct with such Godly fear—love.

Vladimir Gorbik

© STOTS/Christopher Patton

Veronika and I did not sing in the choir, rather, we cooked for the workshop/Master Class. What a joy! Boy, the singers were hungry. BTW, the choir was composed of seminarians from St. Tikhon's, St. Vladimir's and Holy Trinity, plus a few from here and there. It was a great gathering and I am sure a great time of bonding for all those involved. The Class began on Friday and concluded with a performance on Sunday night. It was awesome!

© STOTS/Christopher Patton

Well, something delightful happened that Friday of the concert. Some ethiopian Christians can to visit one of the seminarians, an Ethiopian Bishop. They brought delightful food and were so kind to invite me to eat with them. I thank God for the fellowship. The food was so good, so tasty. Ethiopian cuisine is one of my favorites!

Another event that was held was the Dinner in honor of Metropolitan Tikhon. His Beatitude joined us in the seminary community along with His Grace Bishop Michael and His Grace Bishop Mark. Veronika and I cooked the meal (Roast Beef, Tomatos soup, Mash Potatoes and Gravy, Green Beans). We also sang a song together. I played rhythm guitar in the recent incarnation of Dr. Harry and the Dogmatics. Dr. Harry, one of the seminary Theology professors tries each year to get together a band of sorts to plays some tunes. He gets some of the seminarians. This was my second time in he group. It was amazing. The whole dinner was a success and everyone enjoyed the music!

© STOTS/Christopher Patton

The weekend of March 17^th brought none other than St. Patrick's day! Being part Irish, I couldn't but celebrate this venerable Father and Enlightener. Several families gathered at our house and we partook of some great authentic Irish dishes. We were blessed by the fellowship!

 Roasted Cabbage

 Guinness Brown Bread and Irish Soda Bread

 Cál ceannann (Mash Potato and kale)

 Guinness Stout Cake w/Green Tea Icing

Beer Battered Pollock

Veronika and the boys are well. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Baby Baldwin (April 22). Though very tired, Veronika is happy and healthy. She is thankful for the wonderful and loving community here and for everyone's support and prayers. The boys are happy and healthy and loud and rambunctious as ever! We thank God every day for our wonderful little family.

Now, we find ourselves in the Great Fast. Clean Week is nearly over. The time here at Seminary is passing very quickly. During Clean week, there are no classes. We have services from 6am until 8:30, then 10:30 til Lunch. Then again from 4pm til 5:30pm. The schedule is similar on Wednesday and Friday except that the Liturgy of the Pre-sanctified Gifts is celebrated at 10:30am. It is indeed exhausting, but a blessed experience. We have prayed at the monastery all week during these hours of services and have received such great blessings and Grace from God. It is truly beautiful.

Please remember we are happy to pray for you requests. We attend frequent service at the Monastery where the body of St. Alexis is and also relics of many other saints including St. Nikolai of Zicia, St. Herman and St. Raphael of Brooklyn. Please message me or e-mail me (alexis.baldwin@stots.edu). Also, if you would like to help us cover our expenses, we are very grateful. Every little bit counts for a lot. You can either click on the donate for paypal, or send us a check (please contact me if you need our home address). Thanks so much. Please remember us in your prayers!

The Baldwins  

Good and Joyous it is when brothers dwell in unity

I know it has been several weeks since I posted. Please forgive me, it has been super-busy around here! We went to a weekend retreat meeting, we had an well-known Russian Choir Master give a Master Class for the seminary choir and we had the annual pre-lenten Dinner party which was, this year, a Dinner in honor of His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon. Veronika and I cooked for the class and the Dinner Party, but got a weekend off when we travelled to Johnsontown, PA for OISM (see explanation below).

About OISM

From February 22-24, Seminarians gathered for fellowship at Camp Nazareth in Mercer, PA for the bi-annual OISM meeting. They came from St. Tikhon's, St. Vlad's, St. Sophia's, Holy Trinity, Holy Cross , and Christ the Saviour Seminaries. OISM stands for Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement. The weekend meeting ran from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. It was a time in which I got to see some familiar faces and also meet other seminarians. The highlight for me, beyond fellowship, was that His Grace, Bishop Gregory, Ruling Hierarch for the American Carpatho-Rusyn Diocese was present the whole weekend. He sat in on our meetings and took meals with us. He shared his thoughts about OISM with us. He impart his Pastoral wisdom to us. He listened, joked, and encouraged us. He spoke to us in a way that was both sobering and inspirational.

His Grace, being from the South, has several loving parishioners that miss him. They have sent him a couple of King cakes. To our delight, he brought one to share with us! Here is a video of him explaining the King Cake tradition: 

Here is the amazing King Cake in question:

Yes, it was delicious. The absolute comical thing is that the Seminarian who is from Louisiana got the baby. 

 Here's a few pictures of the OISM gathering:

Father Michael Ellis, who is the North American OCF Office announces the recent appointment of Fr. North American Chaplain of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship was a speaker. He presented on establishing an OCF chapter on College campuses and the importance of priestly ministry to Orthodox college students.

We had some free time Saturday afternoon, so I rounded a few guys and hopped into the car. I wanted to visit downtown Mercer--I'm a real get to expreience the local culture kind of guy. So, we travelled to the town square. Needless to say, the lack of pictures of this location indicates exactly our experience with the town square. Long story short, we ended up driving outside of town into the country for a little bit and then:

Yes, that is an Amish buggy. We got purposely lost trying to follow a sign that said "Fresh Baked Good--three miles." We ended up, to my delight, in Amish country! Better yet, we stumbled upon this delightful spot: 

 See the sign? It reads "Baked Goods in the Basement." Okay, so I don't look so happy and it's not because I was subjected myself to Amish Basement Pie. Quite the contrary. That look is the "hey we are in Amish country and I am irritated that you are taking photos in a place where it is rude/forbidden to take pictures." Okay, so I was secretly also delighted that this photo was taken. What about the Pie, you say? It. Was. A. Mazing! I was loan a few bucks by one of my fellow seminarians and picked up a handmade lard infused Crust Pecan Pie. It was awesome. So back to the rest of the weekend. Here's some shots of the Chapel on the grounds of Camp Nazareth:

OISM is not merely about hanging out with other seminarians from the other seminaries. It is not just about a few days away. It's not just an opportunity to see the other seminary schools. Though it includes these things, it is really about forging bonds. We meet and fellowship at these meetings and know that these bonds we make now with our fellow brother seminarians will extend out into our lives when we are finished with seminary. We are forging strong bonds based on fellowship in Christ—bonds that we take with us when we graduate seminary.  

A shot of us all who participated in OISM

I'll have to make another post soon about the Master Class and the Pre-Lenten Dinner, so check back in for that. Please remember to keep us in your prayers and also, contact us with any prayer requests you have. We will remember them in our daily prayers.

In Christ,

The Baldwins