July 13, 2008
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~Greetings from DC~
I am writing to you from the computer lab at the Clergy~Laity Conference. I am sorry to be so out of touch. I haven’t been able to respond to e-mails or post on the Orthodox Chat message board. I do miss all of you and remembered you in prayer this morning. I always light a candle for the ladies of Orthodox chat and all my dear friends on line.
We arrived in DC late Tuesday night and were very blessed to receive the great surprise that our room had been upgraded – for no additional charge, to a junior suite at the Wardman Marriott hotel. I am so grateful to the young lady that made this change for us. I phoned the hotel from the road saying we would be a late check in due to heavy rains in Pennsylvania and she graciously arranged for us to be in a larger room because of the size of our family. We have room for everyone to sleep comfortably- good thing because this hotel room will serve as our ‘home’ for ten days. When I explained to Maria~Angelica that this is our house now for 10 days she asked me, “Where is the laundry room?” Bwahahaha! She is so girly that it is hilarious to me that it actually trickles down to all thing domestic, as well. During our sight seeing adventures she has been wearing her “tiara”. At the Washington Monument the officer bowed to her and greeted her with “Hello your Majesty” and at Mt. Vernon the historian giving us our tour asked us to please explain to our daughter that, “We are no longer a monarchy.”
Some other highlights of the last couple days have been the National Mall, a delicious falafel lunch at a side walk cafe in Georgetown, lunch at the USDA cafeteria- (safe food and economical) a tour of the National Bureau of printing and engraving- Jonah was loving that- the kid loves money. Eastern Market, witnessing mass protests on Captitol Hill , dinner of Peking Duck in Chinatown. memorials, memorial and more memorials. Walking, walking, walking and now the start of the Clergy~Laity Conference beginning with a beautiful Divine Liturgy this morning. I will leave you with a few photos.
Celebration of the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy by Archbishop
Demetrios, Archbishop Gregorios, Metropolitans of the Eparchial Synod
and over 1100 clergy and laity at Saint Sophia Cathedral
Archbishop Demetrios blessing the faithful during the Hierarchical
Divine Liturgy at Saint Sophia Cathedral
Hierarchs of the Eparchial Synod join Archbishop Demetrios and Archbishop Gregorios in the Holy Altar at Saint Sophia Cathedral
Over 1100 faithful were in attendance at the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at Saint Sophia Cathedral – The kids and I sat to the left of this picture. We all received Holy Communion from our Metropolitian, Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit. The kids did really, really well in this service- it lasted 4 hours.Archbishop Gregory- Our Archbishop when we lived in England.
Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain, the Representative
of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Clergy-Laity Congress, blesses
the faithful during the Divine Liturgy
Comments (5)
WOW!!!
And I thought a visit from the Bishop was a big deal. Wow!!!
Oh, this is so exciting!
Sounds like you are making some lovely family memories! I loved the stories of Maria~Angelica! She will see plenty of that laundry room when you all arrive back with traveling clothes to boot! Have a blessed remainder of your time in DC!!
Gorgeous photos, wow!
And, if you see Presbytera Elizabeth, would you give her a hug from me and know she’s giving you one from me too?
Very exciting! And what a great trip for the kids that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives and feel more connected to politics and DC because of it. Congrats on the room upgrade :coolman: