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

Busy, busy

It's been like a slingshot. For nearly three years, we have been pulling it back and its being released, us being flung quickly towards the near future. What I mean is that we have been so busy preparing and now as the last semester of our Seminary time is coming, quick week by week, to an end, I have this experience of quick passing time. The Great Fast will start soon, things will really fly by. As it stands now, we have a scant three months left. Of course, a full three weeks of that time there are no classes. Those weeks are Clean week (the first week of Lent), Holy Week (the week leading up to Holy Pascha) and Bright Week (the week after Holy Pascha). Though it is moving by so quickly, we are blessed! We are so very thankful to God that we have had this time.

This past week, we received a visit from two Deans of the Diocese of the West. It is something that us seminarians in the Diocese of the West wait for and look forward to each year. Fr. Matthew and another Dean (the second dean is always a different one) come for a day. This year, Fr. Basil came with Fr. Matthew. A block of 35 min. to speak with each seminarian and their wife is usually scheduled. It provides us with a good measure of support and morale. We feel loved and acknowledged. After Vespers that day, they take us and our wives to dinner. We have a wonderful few hours of fellowship. We hear some encouraging and sobering stories. It is a great blessing for us all. Of course, we in the third year will graduate. For us, this is the last dinner we have with all these people at one table—until the next chapter in the book of our lives comes, whatever God has for us.

I'll make this post a short one because this weekend, I was blessed to travel to a meeting of seminarians from other Orthodox seminaries. I'll put up another post about that experience later this week. Remember, we are always happy to pray for you.

The Baldwins

Fellowship

We are already half way through February. It's still chilly around here, but some days are a little warmer than others. The snow seems to come and go, but the boys have had many chances to enjoy it. We are doing well. Our wonderful little newest family member, baby Baldwin in the womb is keeping Veronika tired. It's exciting to think about April being around the corner and to see baby Baldwin for the first time.

We are trying to have a lot of great moments of fellowship in our last semester here. We are trying to get together with the other families. Mostly, this happens on Sunday afternoons. It's a great blessing to be able to do this. There are a lot of seminarian families here and we have shared some great times with them. It is a huge support to be able t spend time with other seminarian families. We share our struggles, our joys, our plans, stories about our kids, our lives. We are forging bonds that will, God-Willing, help strengthen us on the journey to come, once we leave seminary.

Being as how I grew up in Mississippi and that this past Tuesday was Mardi Gras and that I miss my home, I just had to pay homage to my roots. We had a little get together at the house for Mardi Gras. Of course, I had to start the morning off right with a traditional New Orleans breakfast Calas and a Cafe Du Monde Cafe au Lait.

Left: Calas, a deep fried sourdough-esque rice doughnut covered in powdered sugar

Right: Cafe du Monde Cafe au Lait, Half Coffee and Chicory-Half hot milk

King Cake. It has the Mardi Gras colors, Purple=Justice Gold=Power and Green=Faith. They are said to have been chosen by Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch Romanoff of Russia during a visit to New Orleans in 1872. 

Blackened Catfish 

 Gumbo and Rice

We are thankful for all the prayers and support that we have received during out time here are St. Tikhon's. Even on our last semester, Veronika and I have been blessed to continue working in the kitchen here at St. Tikhon's cooking meals for the Seminarians. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and if you have any prayer requests, let us know. We visit the monastery everyday and are happy to keep your intentions in our prayers. If you would like to help us by donating, please click on the “donate” on the right. Your donations to our paypal account will help us get through this last semester. Whether small or big, every donation help tremendously. Thanks!

Onward, into February!

The weather is off and on around here. We have had some cold days and we have had some warmer days (45 degrees is warm, right?). Overall, it hasn't been to bad. We continue to plow (pun intended!) through this final semester. What an amazing experience we have had, what a blessing! There are so many moments here, moments full of Grace. It is difficult to remember them all—or to write them down. We try and live them. It is that way with the Christian and his life in Christ. Sure, there are ups and downs—days of cold weather, sunny weather. There are so many experiences of the faith, too many to write down. We live them, that is how we “remember them”. We are transformed by Christ in our life into Christ—we become like Him, we become Christians. Our continuing transformation is filled with all the moments.

There was one such moment in Church, recently. Now, I have told Aidan many times that “prayer is talking to God.” He asked me about prayer is and that is what I told him. The other day we were in Church during Vespers. He was quite chatty (which is normal for us Baldwins!). He wasn't being particularly loud, but he was chatting to himself (I thought). I said “Aidan, please, let's be quite, we are in Church.” He looked up at me and said “I'm talking to God.” I told him to God ahead and talk to God.

Another such moment has been our time with the Dean, Fr. Alexander. He has imparted so much experience to us seminarians. He spent 30 years as a parish priest in KY. It has been an immense blessing to receive my formation here at St. Tikhon's while he was Dean.

Now for some pictures of what's been going on around here!

We get some beautiful scenes of sunrise around here. I have always been fond of sunrises and sunsets. Growing up in Mississippi, I saw some amazing ones. Even when I lived in Phoenix, the colors were vibrant. Still, I am going to miss these kinds of scenes here. 

A taste of NEPA (North East Pennsylvania): Deep-Fried Pierogi....soooo good!

Occasionally, there are ordinations at Seminary. Here's photo from the most recent one. It is Deacon David's ordination.

And finally, another video:

Please pray for us! Remember, if you have any prayer requests, please send them to us!

The Baldwins

March for life and Sledding day

We have been busy as usual! Aidan and I attended the March for Life. What an experience. It was cold! It even snowed during the March. Unfortunately, there wasn't accurate media coverage of the March with a general failure to acknowledge numbers. There was, however, a vast amount of people there. When the March began we were separated from our group. I rushed with Aidan up the sidewalk to get to the very front of the March to find our group, but didn't see them. I moved to the sidewalk and stood on a barricade looking for the banner of our group. I stood for an hour and ten minutes before I saw the banner! Here's a video of the crowd that passed us as we waited:

A few numbers have been thrown out by religious media sources ranging from an estimated 400,000 to 650,000 people for the march. What an experience. I was especially proud that our Metropolitan and Hierarchs from our Holy Synod marched with us.

We do have a little fun around here!

Sledding day!
I was excited to take the boys out and they were excited to go! We gathered with seminarian friends, it was a blast! Here's some great photos from that day:

Aidan ridin' the ice solo!!!

Isaak after a trip, trying to squeeze some extra sledding into a ride!

BEHOLD, FROST-BEARD!!!

Poor guys all tuckered out after a day of sledding!

One of the questions I am asked about seminary life is “What do you guys need?” First of all, we need prayers! It is a busy schedule here and we do get emotionally and physically drained. Your prayers help so much more than you can imagine! In our practical day to day lives, we also need financial support. There have been so many people who have been generous in donating to our expenses. Veronika was able to work the first couple of semesters and it was a great help. Although Alexis and Veronika work around 35 hours a week together cooking at the Seminary, it is a challenge to meet all of the basic costs required. We have relied on a variety of donations both from family and others in the Church to meet our costs. Below is a rough outline of the Financial Aspects and Costs for us:

Rough Budget for our Monthly Costs :

Rent: 600

Utilities: 150

Car Payment: 250

Alexis Credit Card: 150

Veronika Credit Card: 180

Car Insurance: 125

Normal Household Stuff: 50

Student Loan Payment: 125

Cell Phone Bill: 50

Internet: 50

Gas: 100

Total Cost: 1830

Please, if you feel encouraged to help us out with monthly costs and you are able to, click on the paypal link to do so. If you would prefer to send us a check in the mail, here is our address: 131 Lake Quinn Rd, Waymart, PA, 18472. Also, there is no such thing as “a little help”. Any amount of financial help is a huge blessing. Whether it is to pick up a few items at the store, get some gas, or help pay for a bill, any financial support is a huge help! Even if you are not able to help out financially, please, pray for us! If you have any prayer requests for anyone or for anything, please share them with us.

In Christ,
The Baldwins
Alexis, Veronika, Aidan, Isaak, and little one on the way

The first of many (We hope) videos about our kitchen cooking experience at St. Tikhon's.

                              We celebrated the annual St. Tatiana's Day Luncheon hosted by the St. Tikhon's century association.

                                Behold! My favorite dessert of the annual luncheon (provided by one of the century association members).