Often it is difficult to quiet ourselves down to be able to reflect. Autumn gives us an opportunity with shorter days and longer nights. Nature has much to teach us as we watch the birds, squirrels and plants. God is so very good to us.

There is so much activity and hype with regard to the economy, to elections (church, as well as political), to the future. A better use of our energy may be to try to become still and know God.

God is the one in control. He knows what is best for each of us individually, as Church, as country, as world. He created all and He is the God who creates miracles! The history of God’s dealings with Israel (Old Testament) as well as His church is filled with highs and lows, power and subjugation, plenty and famine.

God is a loving Father who knows when to caress and when to chastise. We, His children, need to learn from each and respond in love and grow into His image, Jesus Christ. If we let His Spirit work within us, we become Christ and see Him in our brothers and sisters. His love and peace will abide in and around us.

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. – Jesus' Words – John 14:27 (NKJ)

Mother Helena & Bobbie Kogok

Mother Helena’s 50th Anniversary as a nun was wonderful. Over 125 people visited the monastery on August 9th and 10th. Around eighty people attended Saturday Liturgy. You might ask, “Where did we put all those people?” Yes, they were crammed into the doublewide, and around the entryways. Those standing in the living room, which faces the altar area, said they could not move. Since Mother Helena does not look her age, the most asked question was, “How old were you when you became a nun?” The outpouring of prayers of thanksgiving and the encouragement and congratulations for fifty continuous years as a nun was truly overwhelming. Bobbie, pictured left with Mother Helena, was one of her former math students from Maryland.

Mother Helena reading one of the cards she received.

Fr. Alister and Khouri Ann Anderson also made the trip from Maryland. Added to this were the many cards and letters and gifts. $11,445 in monetary gifts was added to the Monastery Building Fund. Those of you who have met her know that God has given her many talents which she shares – love, understanding, and wisdom are but three of them. May God grant Mother Helena many years.

On Saturday, September 20th, Mother Thecla and Mother Helena attended the ordination to the Deaconate of Stephen Matthias Hall at Saint Thomas the Apostle Orthodox Church in Waldorf, Maryland. (Yes, we drove up on Friday and back on Saturday.) Fr. Dn. Stephen truly has all of the attributes it takes to be a good deacon. May God grant Fr. Dn. Stephen and his wife Nancy many years.

From left to right: Mother Helena, Fr. Dn. Stephen & Nancy Hall, Mother Thecla, and Fr. Joseph & Pani Stacey Edgington

Clergy Wives Retreat was the following weekend. There were fourteen in attendance with one infant. This is the largest group we have had to date. These women have a vocation like no other and truly need to get together from time to time to share experiences, to encourage each other, and to enjoy the company of their peers. As you can tell, we had a four-month old who came with his mother and one Matushka who was six-months pregnant. Now we have learned that two of them are expecting. With Matushki who are just starting their families through Matushki who have grand children and even great-grand children, this group had depth and dynamics. By the way, the topic for their retreat was “Reflections on Motherhood”.

Thirteen of the Fourteen Clergy Wives in Attendance

Below is a picture of those who attended a retreat on October 11th which was hosted by St. James Orthodox Church in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Mother Thecla spoke on “The Family.”

One duckling out of four made it to adulthood. She is a lovely brown Indian Runner with cream colored tips on each feather. However, a gorgeous, black Indian Runner hen was given to us. Her name is Iris, and she knows she is beautiful and flaunts it.

Sister Lyubov has taken over the vegetable garden and is doing quite well for a beginner. This is a picture of the fall garden located behind the Barne Shoppes. As all gardeners know, every year brings new experiences and knowledge.

Well, these were the highlights of the last three months. Our regular schedule of prayers, hospitality, making candles, tending to the needs of our furry and feathered animals, daily chores, once-a-month Saturday Liturgies, giving math and piano lessons, and doing whatever God sends our way continue unabated.

Oh yes, we also went to the Barnyard Flea Market on October 18th and raised $144 for our building fund. It was most evident that people do not know what is going to happen next and are very cautious in how they spend their money.

Pray fervently for this country and the world, but always remember that God is in control.

Many works have been written on St. John the Theologian. For this article we chose The Lives of the Holy Apostles published by Holy Apostles Convent as our primary source. St. John is credited with the Gospel of John, the three epistles of John, and the Book of the Revelation. He and his brother James were two of the original twelve Apostles and were sons of Zebedee and Salome, a daughter of St. Joseph the Betroth by his first marriage.

St. John was given the care of the Theotokos by Christ as He was dying on the cross. They remained in Jerusalem for approximately twelve years until the persecution of Christians during the rule of Herod Agrippa forced them to flee to Ephesus. Once conditions improved they returned to Jerusalem until Mary died and was taken body and soul by her Son to Heaven (The Dormition of the Theotokos). Initially, St. John confined his apostolic work to the regions near his home in Jerusalem. Only after The Dormition of the Theotokos did he begin his assigned mission of spreading the Gospel in Asia Minor. (Note: After Pentecost, the Apostles drew lots as to which part of the known world each would go and spread the Gospel of Christ.)

St. Prochorus, one of the original seven deacons, was appointed to be St. John’s scribe, and, in so doing, would also become his companion sufferer during the remaining fifty-plus years of St. John’s life. Sts. John and Prochorus sailed for Ephesus. A storm arose during their voyage. Everyone was washed ashore except St. John and the ship which were lost at sea for forty days. St. John felt that this was punishment for his reluctance to undertake his assignment to evangelize Asia Minor. Having foreseen this, St. John instructed St. Prochorus to wait for him for three months in Ephesus. If he did not return by then, he was to return to Jerusalem. After forty days, St. Prochorus returned to the seaside and found St. John washed up on the shore. Together they went to Ephesus and found employment in a local bath house. St. John tended the fires and St. Prochorus carried water. For a long time, both suffered maltreatment without complaint. Then, one day, a young man who was killed by a demon in the bath house was brought back to life by St. John. This marked the beginning of many miracles that St. John would perform in his apostolic work in Ephesus over the next nine years.

Word of their work reached the Emperor Domitian, who had St. John and St. Prochorus arrested and taken to Rome. There St. John was beaten, given poison to drink, and finally boiled in oil. Miraculously surviving all these tortures he and Prochorus, who had suffered similarly, were exiled to the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. They lived there for fifteen years with St. John continuing his work against pagan beliefs, performing many miracles, and converting almost the entire island to Christianity. During this period on Patmos St. John dictated his Gospel and his book on the Revelation.

When the Emperor Domitian was assassinated, Emperor Nerva succeeded him and pardoned Saints John and Prochorus. Before leaving Patmos, St. John had his Gospel copied so that he could leave one copy in Patmos and take one with him to Ephesus. For twenty-six more years, Saints John and Prochorus lived in Ephesus. Toward the end of his life, St. John wrote his three epistles.

Foreseeing his death, St. John asked St. Prochorus and six of his disciples to dig his grave. He lay in his grave and asked them to bury him up to his neck and to place a veil over his face, and then he died. Later his disciples returned to find only his shoes, but not his body. (Other accounts hold that St. John sent St. Prochorus and his disciples away and instructed them to return at a later time.) He was 105 years of age when he died and the only one of the original apostles to have died a natural death.

Annually, on May 8th a miraculous dust is emitted from St. John’s grave in Ephesus. The Church remembers St. John on both May 8th and September 26th. The miracles that God wrought through His Apostle John during his life on earth and after his repose are too numerous to recount.

Put carrot and parsnip chunks into a two-quart sauce pan and add enough water to barely cover them. Bring to boil and reduce to medium heat until soft. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Drain excess water. Add butter, cream, thyme and salt to carrots and parsnips and mash with a potato masher. Then cream together with a mixer.

Preheat oven to 350° F. With butter grease a one-quart casserole dish. Pour carrot and parsnip mixture into dish and use spatula to even out the top. Generously sprinkle the grated cheese over the top so that it is completely covered. Cook for 30 minutes and serve.