Our Fall Pilgrimage
October 2008

What a beautiful day! The weather was perfect and we were happy to greet many guests, old and new. Each year, while people do drop by or come for just one service, it seems that more and more people come and stay through the whole day. This year we had a good crowd that stayed all the way through vespers and many of our new guests were families with young children!

Father Vincent Saverino presided at the Divine Liturgy, assisted by Fathers Stephen Kopestonsky, Jim Dutko, Kyrill Riggs and Stephen Loposky with Mother Anna doing the serving and Mother Raphaela directing the choir. We apologize that our pictures are not the best -- we were too busy to think about taking them...

The food (we ask for "Pot luck" since we're never sure how many people to plan for, and besides, our friends are such good cooks!) seemed unusually good, too! Mother Raphaela baked many loaves of bread and Mother Katherine made lots of goat cheese from our own milk and everything else came with our guests... Mother Michaela and Sister Suzanna along with our friend Connie Mace worked hard to keep everything going smoothly.

There were a number of light moments, and Father Jim asked everyone to go to www.pierogypocket.com to vote for Binghamton as the defending champion for the title of Pierogy capitol of the world!

Our 31st Myrrhbearers Celebration
May 10-11, 2008

Our thanks to Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia who presided, along with the clergy who joined us, Father Kyrill Riggs, Father Stephen Kopestonsky, Father John Eissman, Father Stephen Loposky, Father Anthony Falsarella, Deacon Adam Sexton, Deacon Martin Meitz (Mother Anna's brother) and to our many guests. Two of our sisters were tonsured to the schema (click here to learn about life-profession) and a third who was already life-professed was received and given the mantia as a member of our monastery. We ask your prayers for our new Mothers. We show below some of the clergy who served in the altar, the Cross, the Scriptures, the prayer rope and the candle given to each (along with the mantia that signifies life profession). Left to right in the center: Mother Michaela, Mother Alexandra and Mother Anna. Finally we show the Paschal bell-ringing that signals each service throughout this beautiful season. Thanks to Gregory Hatrak for these photos! (Please click on the "thumbnails" to see the full-sized pictures.)

We invited Mother Michaela's brother-in-law, Gene, to come with his camera. Father Anthony Falserella who is doing a documentary of Orthodox monasticism in America also asked if he could come to take pictures. Those of you with high-speed access can see his beautiful photos of our monastery and of others at Father Anthony's Monastery Journal. With our slower dial-up service and with his permission we have added these couple of his photos (at a much lower resolution) to this page as well.

Here is Father Anthony's shot of the monastic community and the clergy at the end of the Profession liturgy:

The Akathist service to our patrons, the Holy Myrrhbearers (the following courtesy of Gregory Hatrak):

Followed by the healing service:

Several of our does also decided to join the celebration by having their kids before, during, after and between the services, even as the bishop and his assistants went for a farm tour, greeted by Cinderella and our mascot, Tigg (back to Gregory Hatrak's photos):

We will never forget this weekend and its reminders of the cost of our Paschal joy.