Saints Mary and Martha, Orthodox Monastery, Wagener, SC

Fr. Ernesto Rios and his lovely bride of fifty years are pictured to the left. It was a great honor for Mother Thecla to be present for the celebration at Saint James Orthodox Church in Pt. Saint Lucie, Florida, on May 8th. God grant them many years! We spent the following Friday at the Barnyard Flea Market in West Columbia. Given the multitude of items that were $1 or less, we managed to raise $214.95 for our building fund. It all adds up.

It was hard to believe that Fr. Basil Zebrun could be celebrating his 25^th Anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood on May 27^th. Having already planned a trip to Texas at the end of May and having received an invitation, Mother Thecla was able to attend this most auspicious occasion visit with old friends and see the blessings God has wrought at St. Barbara Orthodox Church in Ft. Worth, Texas.

May God grant many years to Fr. Basil, the whole Zebrun family, and the parishioners of St. Barbara’s.

Fr. Robert Royer of Holy Resurrection Orthodox Mission in Aiken, South Carolina, graciously served Divine Liturgy for our monastic community on June 4^th, our Matronal Feastday. For this, we are most grateful.

Ilana Lu, a budding welder, spent much of her high school, senior year working on a tall, three-bar cross to designate the beginning of our graveyard. The finials and vine work is hard to see in this picture, but she did a beautiful welding job.

The cross has been set in concrete and is now surrounded by stones. We pray that she will do well in her chosen profession of welding.

The month of June was filled with guests, preparation for, and hosting of two youth retreats. From June 16-17, there were fourteen 12-14 year olds attending Sts. Moses and Miriam Youth Retreat with Fr. Stephen Freeman of St. Anne Orthodox Church in Oakridge, Tennessee, leading the retreat (see picture below). Fr. Robert Royer provided his much needed assistance in chaperoning these teens. Elizabeth Jones from Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in Mt Pleasant, South Carolina, taught them beginning calligraphy and bookmaking (see picture below.).

From June 23-26, eleven 15-17 year olds attended Sts. Niketas and Elani Youth Retreat with Fr. John Parker leading the retreat (see picture below). Vilma Colon-Oliver from Holy Resurrection Orthodox Mission in Aiken, South Carolina directed the craft for this retreat which was macramé necklaces and bracelets – popular among our teens today.

For twelve years we have hosted youth retreats and enjoyed meeting a number of our teens and watching them grow into young adults. The time has come for us to hand on to other Orthodox Christians who have the facilities and personnel to better handle youth retreats, or rather, youth camps.

With sadness, this marks the last year that we will be hosting these retreats. Before next June, we will provide information about other Orthodox Christian youth retreats/camps on our web site and in this newsletter. We are most grateful to everyone who has helped with these retreats.

Several months ago we were contacted by a family who live in Finland and were planning to visit family who lived in North Carolina. While they were here in the America, they visited us. Although it was very hot, they took a tour of our monastery. Later that day they prayed Vespers with us, sang “O Heavenly King” in Finish for us, and spoke with us about their journey to Orthodoxy, the Orthodox Church in Finland, and asked us many questions about Orthodoxy in America.

On Sunday evening, June 27^th, Metropolitan Jonah blessed our monastery with his presence. All of us enjoyed visiting with him and Fr. Gregory. After a rest from the heat of the day, we took them on a tour of our monastery to show him what God has wrought here.

For over a thousand years, Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, was noted as having the most churches and shrines dedicated to the Virgin Mary, also known as the Theotokos, meaning Mother of God (the Son). Blachernae, the far northwestern section of Constantinople, was the site of a sacred spring (Hagiasma), numerous churches, palatial homes, and an imperial palace. In 450, the Empress Pulcheria began construction of the great Church of St. Mary of Blachernae (Panagia Blachernitissa) near the site of the spring. Unable to complete this work before her death in July 453, her husband, Emperor Marician (r. 450-457), brought this massive undertaking to completion. Emperor Leo I (r. 457-474) and Empress Verina donated an icon of the Theotokos (Blachernitissa) and added a round building next to the Church of St. Mary of Blachernae which was known as the Parecclesion of the Hagia Soros (a holy reliquary chapel) and the Hagion Lousma (sacred bath). It was in the Hagia Soros that many relics of the Theotokos were kept, most notably her robe, cincture, and veil. Ancient chroniclers have provided us with the following account (which is synopsized here) of how the Virgin Mary’s robe, which is made of wool, came to be in the Hagia Soros.

Galvios and Kandidos, former Arians and patricians and military commanders who were in the service of Emperor Leo I, made a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. While traveling in the region around Nazareth and Capernaum, they found lodging at the home of an elderly woman named Anna, who was a Christian of Hebrew linage and was known as a reverent and virtuous woman. Kandidos observed that there was a room in the house with many lit lampadas, burning incense, and a number of infirmed people reclining on cots. The two patricians being overly curious asked Anna to join them at table and began questioning her at length on this matter. Not wanting to divulge anything, Anna was finally coerced into speaking when they intimidated her by proclaiming their nobility.

Anna recounted that, prior to the Dormition of the Theotokos, she had bestowed an article of clothing which she had worn upon each of her two virgin handmaidens so that they would be blessed by having these garments in her physical absence. One of the virgins was a member of Anna’s family. With the instruction to keep the true identity of this miracle-working relic a secret, this raiment was passed down from one virgin in the family to the next until she herself received this most sacred charge. Always, there were many miracles and wonder-workings wrought by the Theotokos through her raiment. Now, there was no other virgin in the family to whom she could bequeath this priceless treasure.

Upon hearing this and more, Galvios and Kandidos convinced Anna that they would be most grateful if she would allow them to spend the night in prayer in the room where this most precious relic was kept. Anna, thinking them to be pious men, agreed. After everyone had fallen asleep, they took careful measurements and made drawings of the small chest that held the robe of the Theotokos. In the morning, they thanked their hostess and stated that they would visit her again on their journey back to Constantinople. During their pilgrimage to many Christian shrines, they found a carpenter who could duplicate the small chest. Before returning to Anna’s house, they purchased costly incense and fragrant aromatics and a leather covering for the chest that was ornately crafted with inlaid gold.

Anna was most pleased with these gifts and again permitted them to spend the night in the sacred room where the Virgin’s robe was present. Once everyone was asleep, they approached the sacred relic with much caution. Not being prevented in any way, they took the original chest with the robe and replaced it with the replica.

After expressing their gratitude to Anna for allowing them to spend the night in the presence of the most precious robe, they departed for Constantinople. Wanting to keep this possession a secret, they built a church to Saints Peter and Mark the Apostles in Blachernae. However, the church became a place of much grace and many miracles. So much so, that Galvios and Kandidos were compelled to make public that the robe of the Most Holy Theotokos was present there.

Upon being informed of the presence of such a great and holy relic, Emperor Leo I and Empress Verina hastened to the Church of Saints Peter and Mark and venerated it. They had the Hagia Soros built next to the Church of St. Mary of Blachernae. (The Hagia Soros was a beautiful, round building which connected to the church and was gloriously adorned on the inside.) The emperor had a small chest made of amber to contain the robe and a koubouklion (canopy) of gold built over an ornate table upon which the chest lay. An icon of the Theotokos (Blachernitissa) was commissioned for the Hagia Soros. Great were the preparations for the day when Emperor Leo I would wrap the robe of the Theotokos in imperial purple, place it in the amber chest, and affix the imperial seal to the chest.

It is said that Anna was richly compensated for her loss.

If, indeed this account is true, no one seems to be bothered by Galvios and Kandidos having “pinched” this relic; but rather look upon its being taken to Constantinople and enshrined in Hagia Soros in 473 as the will of God to preserve His mother’s robe. The Virgin’s robe along with cincture and veil were also enshrined in Hagia Soros and were among Constantinople’s most sacred relics.

Few people were allowed in this great reliquary. Most of the faithful prayed in the adjoining great church dedicated to the Theotokos in Blachernae. The Theotokos, who contained God the Son and is most blessed among women, has worked and continues to work many miracles of healing and deliverance through her most precious robe.

---------to be continued

The Lives of Georgian Saints, by Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze, trans. David & Lauren Elizabeth Ninoshvili, St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, California, 2006

The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church, July, Holy Apostles Convent, Buena Vista, Colorado, 2008