On the day of our annual Pilgrimage, May 10th, we were blessed to have Fr. Thomas Moore and Fr. Dn. Joseph Kreta from Holy Apostles Orthodox Church in West Columbia, South Carolina, and Fr. John Parker and Fr. Dn. Mark Barna from Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina serving Liturgy .

Lisa Keating graciously assisted in conducting the choir as Mother Thecla’s voice was still recovering from an illness. The picture at below shows people processing to the graves while singing the Paschal Canon. We were grateful for those who took the time to come to our monastery and participate in prayer and fellowship. Over fifty people attended this year.

Two weeks later, we drove down to Mount Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston, South Carolina, and attended the consecration of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church. This was truly a glorious day for this parish. We pray that they will grow in God’s grace and continue to spread the Gospel of Christ.

On June 10th, we robed Pat as a novice into our monastic ranks. She is now Sister Lyubov. This was a wonderful day for all of us, as we are now three again. Also, she is the first woman to be robed in the chapel of our doublewide. We give thanks to God for this blessing. In time, we pray that many of you will come to know her.

The saint for whom Sister Lyubov is named is Saint Lyubov of Ryazon, Russia. You will find St. Lyubov’s story in this issue of our newsletter.

Twice a year we make appointments with a dog groomer for Corelli and Laufey. Corelli, who usually gets into the van and who had an appointment, decided that he was not going and ran off into the woods. As he is truly “a funny dog” who has a mind of his own, he was not coming when called and catching him was not possible. During all of this, Laufey had arrived at the van, leaned on the door, and gave every indication that she really wanted to go. So, having an appointment, Laufey went in Corelli’s stead. This was truly a “happy fault”, since she has sheep-like hair for a collie and needed a summer haircut. Clean and “comfy” she became. Unbeknownst to Corelli, when his new appointment day comes, he will be on a leash before leaving the house and firmly instructed to get into the van. Then he will return to us more handsome than he already is.

Saints Moses and Miriam Youth Retreat for twelve to fourteen year olds was from June 11th–14th. Fr. Peter Smith from Atlanta, Georgia and Fr. Steven Freeman from Oakridge, Tennessee led fifteen youngsters in this retreat. These children came from Orthodox Parishes in South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. Thursday was spent on the ropes course at Camp Gravett in Aiken, South Carolina. The theme for the retreat was “Finding the Place of the Heart”. We enjoyed seeing this group relax, be themselves, and eat well.

Saints Niketas and Elani Youth Retreat began the following Wednesday evening with twelve fifteen through seventeen year olds. Fr. John Parker from Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina and Fr. David Arnold from, Richmond, Virginia led them in this retreat. They also spent the first full day of their retreat at the ropes course. On Wednesday evening, Thursday evening, and Friday they learned about the Orthodox Saints of North America and Orthodox Christian missionary activity on this continent – another great group of young folks. Several of them were seventeen this year, so we will look forward to hearing about their future achievements.

The last youth retreat ended on Saturday, June 21st, and on Sunday, Mother Thecla, although ill, started driving to Dallas, Texas, to attend the Diocesan Assembly of the Diocese of the South. Since our Diocese is all of the Old South plus New Mexico, this is usually the only time of the year that most of us have the opportunity to visit with each other. Be that as it may, we quickly catch up on as much news as possible. Having been an Orthodox Christian in The South since before the Diocese was formed, Mother Thecla saw much to rejoice in and to give thanks to God seeing how much the Diocese of the South, which is only thirty years old, has grown and flourished under the guidance of Archbishop Dmitri and the hard work and many sacrifices of the faithful. Truly God has planted this vineyard, caused it to grow and increase greatly. May we, individually and as a diocese, continue to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ until He comes again.

I must be able to give only Jesus to the world. People are hungry for God. What a terrible meeting it would be with our neighbor if we give them only ourselves.

St. Paul writes to us “By the grace of God I am what I am and His grace toward me was not in vain.” (1Cor.15:10). How many of us believe this about ourselves and live it?

God’s grace, His presence, His power is always with us. Yet we are not satisfied or at peace with who we are – We seem to be striving for more or different, whether in our appearance, our surroundings, even our friends and family. We spend a great deal of our time and energy trying to make ourselves and others different from what God created (and saw was good!). We want to control.

If we accept who we are and surrender to God and let Him work in us and follow Him rather than what our world presents to us, His grace in us will not be in vain. Our strivings will be in peace and will bring us joy.

Let us begin with a first step of accepting and saying thank you to our good God for who and where we are at this moment. We beg for His Spirit to guide us in each decision we make – the small seemingly insignificant ones, as well as, the bigger ones. Remembering His presence within us and the other will give us the strength to know and do His will each moment and His grace will not be in vain.

St Lyubov Semenovna was a fool for Christ and is considered a special intercessor for the citizens of Ryazan. She was born in Ryazan in 1852 and lived during the early years of the communist persecution of the Orthodox Church. She died in 1921.

St Lyubov was one of four children. Her two brothers died leaving just Lyubov and her younger sister Olga. Her father died early on leaving his wife Maria and the two girls alone. St. Lyubov was an invalid for 15 years. She was unable to stand or walk. Her favorite saint was St. Nicholas the Wonder Worker. One day the saint appeared, called her by name, and commanded her to arise and walk and become a fool for Christ. Her mother returned home from work shocked to see her daughter standing. Upon hearing Lyubov’s story her mother consulted the family’s priest, who advised that Lyubov do as the saint requested.

St Lyubov began praying in all the churches of Ryazan and even went to live for awhile at the Kazan Monastery for women. Feeling the desire to become an ascetic she returned to her home and became a recluse in a niche between the stove and a wall. There she remained for three years. After this period of intense prayer she re-entered the world to take upon herself the task of becoming a fool for Christ.

She was known all over the city for her great kindness and generosity to the poor. She would enter merchant’s stores and take whatever she desired. She never paid nor asked permission. She never kept anything for herself but distributed everything to the needy. She knew in advance what each person needed. Merchants felt that her presence was a blessing upon them and their businesses. She always dressed simply but in bright colors. Pink was her favorite color. Often she wore a pink head scarf. Before she died, she directed a young woman to line her coffin with pink material. Not being able to find pink cloth, she found pink gauze which she used instead.

In addition to her concern for the poor, St. Lyubov was noted for her gift of knowing the future. She was fond of using scissors and paper to cut out things that represented a person’s future. She would give these items directly to each person or to a relative. Her predictions were so accurate that people were often fearful when they saw her coming. If they hid their scissors, she would still fashion the items from paper by hand and give them to the person.

After the 1917 revolution St. Lyubov tried to help the people of Ryazan by telling them of future tragedies in advance and what would be the outcome for each individual involved. Perhaps her best remembered prediction was of the forced closing of the Kazan Monastery for women. She foresaw this event long before anyone could imagine this possibility. She took the nuns aside and told each what they would be doing in the future. Many years later several of these nuns met and related their life stories. All of the saint’s predictions had been accurate.

Miracles continue to occur not only at her grave site, but also for those to whom she has appeared in dreams. Although St. Lyubov is the intercessor for Ryazan, she has not limited her help to just its citizens. She is venerated in many places distant from Ryazan. May her life become known to many.

The icon of St. Lyubov of Ryazan depicts her with a cross. She predicted her own death, and that soldiers would occupy her house after her death.

We do not know how she died and have not been able to find any information concerning her death. If anyone has information pertaining to how St. Lyubov died, please contact our monastery.

Place the yolks in a large mixing bowl and the egg whites in a smaller mixing bowl. Beat yolks with an electric mixer on high speed until thick and lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Reduce electric mixer to low speed, add orange juice and vanilla till combined. Gradually add the 1 cup sugar. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat till mixture thickens slightly and doubles in volume, about 5 minutes.

Turn off mixer, sprinkle ¼ cup flour over yolk mixture, and fold in flour with a flat spatula. Continue folding in flour ¼ cup at a time until flour is completely combined with the yolk mixture.

Wash and dry beaters thoroughly. Beat egg whites at high speed until soft peaks form (tips of peaks curl over). Gradually add ½ cup sugar until stiff peaks forms (tips stand up).

Gently fold egg white mixture into the yolk mixture until combined. Pour into an ungreased tube pan.

Bake in a preheated 325°oven for 55 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Remove from oven and invert cake and pan. Allow both to cool to room temperature. Then turn pan and cake right side up and run a knife around the outside edge and tube edge. Remove cake from pan.

Warm milk. In a double boiler mix flour and sugar and slowly stir in warm milk. In a small bowl or mug beat eggs. When mixture has thickened, about 20 minutes, add a little of the hot mixture to eggs, beating well to avoid cooking the eggs. Then quickly stir in egg mixture with custard filling and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and cool to room temperature.

Place mixing bowl and beaters in freezer till cold. Pour cream into mixing bowl and mix at high speed. Add confectioners sugar and vanilla and mix until stiff.

Cut sponge cake into three layers horizontally. If desired, rum can be sprinkled onto each layer of sponge cake. Spread half the custard cream filling. Add second layer and spread second half of custard cream filling. Top with third layer and ice with Whipped Cream Icing. Refrigerate cake till ready to serve.