September 24, 2005
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Today is September 24th a very special day to us!
Today is the feast day of St. Silouan the Athonite.
St. Silouan, was born in 1866, of devout parents who came from the village of Sovsk in the Tambov region. At the age of twenty-seven he received the prayers of St. John of Kronstadt and went to Mt. Athos where he became a monk at the Russian monastery St. Panteleimon. He received from the Holy Theotokos the gift of unceasing prayer, and was given the vision our Lord Jesus Christ, in glory, in the church of the holy Prophet Elijah adjoining the mill of the monastery. After the withdrawal of that first grace, he was oppressed by profound grief and great temptations for fifteen years, after which he received from Christ the teaching, “Keep they mind in hell, and despair not.” He reposed on September 24, 1938.
He left behind his writings which were edited by his disciple and pupil, the Elder Sophrony. Fr. Sophrony has written a complete life of the Saint along with the record of St. Silouan’s teachings in the Book St. Silouan the Athonite.
The Icon shown here depicts the Saint as the Lord appeared to him in Glory in the Church of St. Elijah. The scroll which he holds reads: “I pray Thee O merciful Lord for all the peoples of the earth that they may come to know Thee by Thy Holy Spirit.”
St. Silouan, pray to God for us.
It was on this day , the feast of St. Silouan, September 24th, back in 1989 that I first visited the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Essex , England. There are no coincidences! Just God!!!
“The Monastery of St. John the Baptist is in the village of Tolleshunt Knights, near Maldon in Essex. It is a community for both monks and nuns, founded in the 1950s by a remarkable man, Archimandrite Sophrony. He was originally a painter, born in Tsarist Russia, who lived through the First World War and the Revolution, and emerged with a longing to devote his art to exploring the nature of Divine reality. He emigrated to Paris via Italy, painted, then studied theology for a while, until he decided that he had a vocation to become a monk. So he went to Mount Athos; his spiritual director there was Staretz Silouan. Years later, he came to England and – naturally – the monastery he founded was to be decorated according to Byzantine tradition.“
These photos are from our visit to the monastery last summer.
Icons on the walls of the new refectory. The center icon is of Christ, the Mother of God and the Archangels Gabriel and Michael. The icons to the left and right tell the story of St. Silouan’s life.
Basil and children with Sr. Magdalen.
That wonderful day had so much to do with the rest of our life! The Fathers and Sisters and the regular pilgrims to the monastery became our family during our 10 years in England. They were there in prayer for us while we were going through my cancer, which was diagnosed just days after we became engaged.
The friends we made during our years in London are now life long friends. We celebrated many things together. Wonderful feast days, name days, Holy Weeks and Paschas at the Monastery. Engagements, weddings, the birth of our children , baptisms and sadly the falling asleep of many we loved, including our beloved Fr. Sophrony the spiritual child of St. Silouan.
It was on this day the feast of St. Silouan that Fr. and I were married. Today we celebrate 11 years of blessed marriage. We have been so very , very blessed by God and I can honestly say I have a wonderful life with more than I need or ever deserved.
The Cathedral in Athens, Greece, September 24, 1994
It was on this day the feast of St. Silouan that our eldest and long awaited son Basil was born 8 years ago!
~Happy 8th Birthday Basil! ~
May Christ our true God Grant you Many Years!!!
Today is a very special day indeed! Glory be to God for all things!!
We give thanks to St. Silouan for all his prayers to God for us!
We give thanks to the Lord for all His glorious blessings!!!
Comments (11)
It does sound like you’ve had a very blessed life – and an exciting, interesting one. Great pictures. Thanks for posting them.
Thanks so much for sharing this. How beautiful. May God grant you all many, many years!
WOW Lisa!!! Such beautiful, special memories on such an important day! Happy 11th to you and your dh !!! Love each other up good! :wink: May Basil have a wonderful, blessed 8th birthday!!! :sunny: Much love to you all as you celebrate as a family :love:
I LOVED your wedding pictures! Happy Anniversary!! It sounds like you guys have been through a lot to get to 11 years….praise the Lord for being there with you the whole way. Happy Birthday Basil!
Thank you all so much for you well wishes. We had a nice day at home today. It is really impossible for me to go out at this point. I have a hard time walking and use a walker in the house. Only two more weeks though! Pray for baby and me! Also please do continue to pray for us and our service to Christ and His Church. Things are still not quite settled and we are praying it will all pass soon. Despite the troubles there are so many blessings! Last week we had 4 new catechumens and this Sunday Fr. has 2 new catechumens. The catechumens are so filled with hope and joy and love of Christ and Orthodoxy! It is amazing to me that the evil one can do his work and the Holy Spirit is still busy doing his in the very same small church! Thanks be to God!! Pray for strength and wisdom for Fr. and for eyes to be opened and hearts to be softened.
Wow, an anniversary and birthday on the same day! How fun.
We just had our 11th anniversary in May…it’s gone by so fast!
Happy Anniversary Presvytera and Father! Happy Birthday Basil! And Happy Belated Birthday to Nicholas! :love:
I forgot to tell you this – I can always remember your anniversary because today is the day Les and I met 6 years ago! :love:
Really oooooh that is coooool! Chalk another one up for the blessings of St. Silouan!!!!!! :heartbeat:
Thank you Tracy and Jennifer ! :sunny:
I love that story!!! Happy Anniversary, and Happy Birthday to Basil!! Wouldnt it be funny if your daughter made her appearance today??? :wink: We send you all big hugs! :sunny:
“Wouldnt it be funny if your daughter made her appearance today??? ”
From your mouth to God’s ears! I am sooooooooo ready! :sunny:I will be lamenting the ability to eat what I want and lose weight though! A very strange side affect of pregnancy for me. :spinning: Thanks Alana we send you hugs right back! :love: