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Holy Transfiguration Monastery Feast Day, Australia
"And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James and John,
his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart,
and was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as
the sun, and His raiment was white as light." (Matt. 17:1-2).
In the Gospel narrative on the Transfiguration of our Lord,
the Apostle Peter, being in a state of spiritual ecstasy at
the wondrous sight of the transfigured Saviour conversing with
the prophets Moses and Elias, exclaimed: "Master, it is
good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one
for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias"(Luke 9:33),
not knowing what he was saying, yet trying to hold on to this
sweet moment as long as possible.
But we have the greatest fortune: not three tabernacles, but
a whole Church in which it is good for us to be, and in which
we always have with us the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Holy
Mother of God, the host of angels, the apostle Peter with all
the apostles, the prophets Moses and Elias with all the prophets,
and all of God's blessed saints.
In Australia our second oldest monastery, after the convent
in Kentlyn, is situated, approximately two hours drive from
Canberra (about an hour from Bombala), on more than a thousand
acres of land. The small monastic community with their Abbot,
Archimandrite Alexis, have done wonders with this bush land,
and many Orthodox people (not only Russians but Greeks, Serbians
and others) from all walks of life find this monastery a spiritual
sanctuary and are therefore frequent pilgrims. When the monastery
feast day falls close to the weekend, there are usually up to
180 pilgrims with many clergy participating, but this year we
had some 80 pilgrims. Our Archbishop Hilarion is also overseas
on a pilgrimage. Many have participated in the construction
of the Church and other buildings. Even to this day, not only
prayer but work on the land can be always found for those of
the pilgrims who wish to assist the monastery to grow and support
itself through assisting with work in the orchard, vegetable
garden, an apiary, a pottery kiln and other endeavors. Father
Alexis (Rosentool) the founding Abbot of the monastery, is also
a student of blessed in memory Archimandrite Cyprian of Jordanville
and paints icons whenever possible; some of our parish churches
house his icons and frescoes. He is also a spiritual elder to
many and is an excellent speaker at Serbian and Russian Youth
Conferences in Australia; many remember him from the days when
he was Chief of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem.
This year the Transfiguration of our Lord, August 19th, fell
on Tuesday. On August 18th, the eve of the feast, there was
a festive all-night vigil at which Archimandrite Alexis officiated
along with visiting clergy. On Tuesday morning at 8:00 am, the
Divine liturgy was headed by Archimandrite Alexis along with
Protopriest Ilija Dragosavlyevic from the Serbian Orthodox Church
in Canberra, Hieromonk Joachim (Ross) from the Skete of St John
the Forerunner in Kentlyn and Hieromonk Macarius (Ericson) of
the monastery , assisted by Protodeacons Basil Hadarin and Basil
Yakimov, followed by the customary procession for the blessing
of the water at the monastery river, at the end of which there
was the traditional blessing of the fruit.
After the liturgy, all pilgrims were invited to a festive meal
in the open air near the Church where tables were set up. It
snowed the previous night and Archimandrite Alexis said that
the land around the monastery was adorned as on the Transfiguration
feast - sitting behind these tables one could experience that
it was still winter in Australia. However the Abbot had to retire
at the end of the blessing of the waters, as he was very ill.
I ask you, dear reader, to pray for the health of Archimandrite
Alexis and the well-being of all his brothers.
Blessed in memory Father Seraphim Rose wrote that Orthodox theology
sees in the Transfiguration a “prefigurement of our Lord's
Resurrection and His Second Coming, and more than this--since
every event of the Church calendar has an application to the
individual spiritual life--of the transformed state in which
Christians shall appear at the end of the world, and in some
measure even before then. In the foreshadowing of future glory
which is celebrated in this Feast, the Holy Church comforts
her children by showing them that after the temporary sorrows
and deprivations with which this earthly life is filled, the
glory of eternal blessedness will shine forth; and in it even
the body of the righteous will participate. It is a pious Orthodox
custom to offer fruits to be blessed at this feast; and this
offering of thanksgiving to God contains a spiritual sign, too.
Just as fruits ripen and are transformed under the action of
the summer sun, so is man called to a spiritual transfiguration
through the light of God's word by means of the Sacraments.
Some saints, (for example, Saint Seraphim of Sarov), under the
action of this life-giving grace, have shone bodily before men
even in life with this same uncreated Light of God's glory;
and that is another sign to us of the heights to which we, as
Christians, are called and the state that awaits us - to be
transformed in the image of Him Who was transfigured on Mount
Tabor."
To You Who was transfigured on Mount Tabor be glory and thanks
always.
Amen.
Protodeacon Basil, Canberra |
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