Spring 2000

In This Issue
Volume5,Number1

The Official Publication of the From His Grace................................................................1

Diocese of the West of the
Orthodox Church in America The Monastery in the Mountains:
The Portection of the Holy Virgin Monastery....................2
Diocese of the West
650 Micheltorena Street The Life of Fr. Cleopas (Ilie).............................................4
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Phone: 1-800-323-6921
Concord Celebrates 25 Years.............................................6
Publisher
His Grace Bishop TIKHON In Memory of His Grace, Bishop BASIL..........................7
Bishop of San Francisco and
the Diocese of the West Las Vegas Mission Deanery Holds Annual Retreat...........8
Address all stories and
editorial comments to:
What is Antidoron?..........................................................9
Editor-in-Chief
Priest Eric G. Tosi A Teen Recounts Project Mexico......................................10
14 Shadow Place
Billings, MT 59102 St. Herman’s Celebrates 25 Years....................................11
Phone and Fax: (406)254-1194
Email: marsaba@aol.com
New Fresco Work Begins on Church...............................12
Address all circulation
and advertising to: Choir Conference Held in Santa Rosa............................13
Office of the Chancellor
5400 Annie Oakley Drive From the Fathers:
Las Vegas, NV 89120 Arch. Cleopa (Ilie) “The Passion of the Lord”................16
Phone: (702)898-4800
Fax: (702)898-0303

The Orthodox Vision is published three times a year The new Diocese of the West webpage is now online.
by the Diocese of the West. It is free to all parish mem-
bers and outreach within the Diocese. Subscrip-
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in the United States and $15 per year in Canada.
For the latest information on the Diocese of the West
The articles contained herein do not necessarily re- Information on all parishes, institutions and departments
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Archived issues of The Orthodox Vision
The advertisements contained herein are not nec-
essarily endorsed by the Diocese or Editorial Staff. Complete letters of instruction from His Grace
And much, much more

From His Grace Bishop TIKHON
“Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me!”
Recently a member of the Faithful frankly told me
of his feelings about some of the services of the
first week of the Great Fast. He belongs to a par-
ish that follows the customary order: Compline is
chanted Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday evenings of that first week, and during
Compline, after the “usual beginning” of Bless-
ing and Trisagion prayers, “O come, let us wor-
ship” three times, and a Psalm, one quarter of the
Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is inserted each of
the four evenings. [These services, together with
Presanctified Liturgies on Wednesday morning
and Friday evening of that first week, make up a
‘customary minimum” for that week. (The “cus-
tomary minimum”, of course, falls far short of what
is actually prescribed for that week, lacking Mat-
ins, the Lenten Hours, and Vespers.) These ser-
vices, like all the services of our Church, provide
blessed participation in the life of the Church
for those that come to them and worship. (It some-
times seems ironic that many who loudly demand
that every word of every prayer at the Sunday
Divine Liturgy must be spoken aloud, and must
be in the hands of the parishioners in a booklet
whereby they can “follow along” by reading, with
the alleged purpose to “allow our greater partici-
pation”, these same have an inexhaustible sup-
ply of reasons why they can not participate at all
or only rarely in the majority of the services of
the Church!] The parishioner told me he regretted
not having participated in any of the services where
the Canon had been read this year: moreover, al-
though he knew that many characterized these ser-
vices as beautiful, he did not find them beauti-
ful!
This bothered me. To me (but I am a Bishop, after
all) every word of every Trisagion (and there are
several of them during Compline) is “beautiful.” I
find the Trisagion beautiful when I chant it at
home, alone, but I find it extraordinarily beauti-
ful and affecting when I am able to participate in
it in Church with all the Faithful through the
1
The Orthodox Vision
chanting of an or-
dained Reader of the
community. I feel the
same way about all
the Psalms that are
the main content of
Compline. I remember the tedium, the shifting
around in the pew that accompanied the compul-
sive “Presbyterian mass mumbling” of Psalms,
rather than their chanting by a skilled Reader,
that marked the services of my Lutheran child-
hood. How beautiful to be able to peacefully con-
template and participate in the letter and content
of the Psalter when it is chanted by a Reader!
What in the world could possess my Parishioner
not to find the Trisagions, or the Psalms beauti-
ful?
If one goes on to consider the sung portions of
these services, especially the Canon itself, the “All-
Holy”, the “God is with us,” and “O Lord of
hosts, be with us,” the expressed sentiment of
my Parishioner becomes, to me, totally incompre-
hensible. The troparia of the Canon of St. An-
drew are like small gemstones of found prayer.
Consider only the Kontakion and one of the
Theotokia:
(Kontakion): My soul, my soul, rise up! Why art
thou sleeping? The end draws near and soon thou
shalt be troubled. Watch, then, that Christ thy
God may spare thee, for He is everywhere present
and fills all things.
(Theotokion): As from purple silk, O undefiled
Virgin, the spiritual robe of Emmanuel, His flesh,
was woven in thy womb. Therefore we honor thee
as Theotokos in very truth.
I feel that the content of those two verses alone
would make standing in Church for a couple
hours worthwhile. Further, the constant refrain of
Cont. on p. 15
The Orthodox Vision
TheMonasteryintheMountains
Protection of the Holy Virgin Monastery in Lake George, Colorado
By Khouria Thekla Hatfield
Over the past few years our family and our entire
parish has become very close to the nuns of the
Protection Monastery located outside the little
Colorado village of Lake George. It all started
when someone suggested that we invite one of
the nuns to speak at a retreat at our parish in cen-
tral Kansas where most of the congregation (our
family included) were recent converts! Little did
we expect that a retreat of two days would de-
velop into the loving and precious relationship
that we now enjoy with this Monastery. Our only
regret is that we did not enter into this spiritual
relationship sooner!
The summer following the retreat, on several occa-
sions a number of us managed the eight-hour drive
from flat Kansas out to Colorado, around Pikes
Peak and up to the small Monastery. Since most
of us are former Episcopalians, we had expected
to see massive stone buildings; what a surprise
when we found a small house (actually, it is big-
2
ger than it looks) in a clearing of the woods! I
must also confess that eight-mile drive down a
gravel road in the National Forest convinced us
the first time there that we had not been given
good directions...we were wrong. As an artist, the
first thing I noticed was the homemade sign (on
plywood) that announced we were at the right
place. Well, I knew right away that we had one
project to work on! My own first visit was with a
friend from our parish (there’s safety in numbers!),
but I now prefer to go alone to soak up all the
peace and quiet that I find at this holy place.
One need that obviously exists at the monastery
is firewood since the nuns heat the building with
wood-burning stoves. My husband and a group
of people, teens and older, were already planning
on a trip to help cut wood. Obviously, I was
going to have to tell them that accommodations
are very limited! The men, when they went, slept
on makeshift beds in the then-unfinished base-
 The Orthodox Vision

ment, the girls slept on couches and the floor in times a

the common room and the boys slept in sleeping year,
bags on the deck, but they had a great time! In T h e
addition to cutting and hauling wood from the Ve i l ,
national forest (it’s right across the road!), the two that is
teenage boys repaired, painted and fixed up a v e r y
very tiny little shelter which had formerly been well re-
used as a school-bus-stop shelter, and it became ceived
the “Chapel of All Saints of North America.” by lay-
Many of the people from our parish, and from m e n
other parishes that we have contact with, now have a n d
a wonderful relationship with this monastery. It clergy
has been a tremendous joy for us to watch things alike.
grow and improvements made over these past few
years. It is hard to believe that this monastery was
W e
founded only in 1993 when the nuns first came have re-
to Calhan, Colorado with very little means. With ceived
faith in God and the help of generous and kind count-
benefactors, they were given a promise of land in l e s s
Delta. This proved unfeasible to develop, but fi- bless-
nally a piece of land was purchased (with the help i n g s
of a large mortgage) outside Lake George. (By the since
way, don’t bother trying to find Lake George on becoming Orthodox and one of them is definitely
the map, it’s very small, but located about one our closeness with Protection Monastery. Living
hour west of Colorado Springs) and working in a city, my trips to the Monastery
have come to be very precious to me. It is beauti-
There are presently three nuns living at the Mon- fully situated high up in the mountains, with
astery who follow the Romanian monastic tradi- pristine air and the glories of God’s creation all
tion. It has proven to be a nice blend of Byzan- about. This very location brings a calming si-
tine and Slavic traditions. lence to the heart. Things slow down and time
seems to stop. The day is punctuated by prayer,
The works that the nuns do to help support them- work and meals of simple but nourishing food,
selves include much of which
making and If
is you are inter-
prepared from
s e l l i n g ested in help-
the monastery’s
mounted icons ing
simplethe monas-
garden
and beautiful tery
and the would
or wild
hand-woven like
edibleto seeplants
their
rugs, as well as catalog,
that grow please
in
running a small write to:
the forest. Since
but growing tomatoes do
bookstore that Protection
not grow at the of
provides Or- the
altitudethe Holy of
thodox litera- Virgin Monas-
9000 feet, we
ture and gifts. tery,
have taken 2243 it
They also write County
on ourselves inRoad
and send out a 4Kansas
0 3 . L to asend
k e
very nice news- George,
the nuns Colo-
toma-
letter several rado
toes 80827
almostor
call
weeklythe rectory
from
3 at
our (719)748-3999. own garden!
The Orthodox Vision
The Life of Archimandrite Cleopa (Ilie) 1912-1998
By Mother Cassiana (Petrow)
In December 1998, Orthodox from Romania and
around the world lost a truly great spiritual father
and teacher, when Archimandrite Cleopa (Ilie) of
Sihastria Monastery in northern Romania fell asleep
in the Lord. Just a few months after his burial, his
life was published in Romanian by one of his
spiritual sons, Archimandrite Ioanichie (Balan).
Holy Protection Monastery, with the help of God,
plans to translate and publish this account of Fr.
Cleopa’s life, as well as his counsels. What fol-
lows is a very brief outline of a truly holy man
who guided the faithful of Romania through the
most difficult days of Communist oppression and
then through the first years of freedom, when the
evil one began attacking in ways which were un-
familiar to the pious faithful who flocked to him
at Sihastria.
Father Cleopa was born in 1912 in a small vil-
lage in northeastern Romania, one of ten chil-
dren. His parents raised him in a true Orthodox
environment; he himself would often reflect on
his father, Alexander, who would urge the chil-
dren to prayer: “If we children would ask to eat as
soon as we got up in the morning, he would tell
us sternly, ‘First, your prayers!’ And until we had
prayed for at least one hour, he would not even
consider allowing us to eat. On fast days he would
say, ‘You don’t eat now, not until you come home
from school in the afternoon. You are not animals
4
that need to eat in the mornings on fast days!’
My father did not know how to read, but he was
very faithful and feared God; No one would go
to bed at night without having said their prayers,
nobody would eat without having said the Our
Father; he would not hear of someone in the fam-
ily not going to Church.”
So, having grown in such a God-centered house-
hold, it was not a surprise when young Cleopa,
then called Constantine, decided together with
his brother Vasile, to enter the monastic life. He
often related his departure from home to the Mon-
astery, “On December 12, 1929, the feast of St.
Spiridon, when I was 17 years old, I left my par-
ents’ house with my older brother Vasile We had
two backpacks. One of them contained the book
of the Lives of the Saints, Book of Hours, and
Holy Scripture, and the other had two icons, one
of the Mother of the Lord and the other of St.
George. We did not take anything else with us
when we left home. Our parents, Alexander and
Ana, walked along with us, crying, until we
reached the outskirts of the village where the fields
begin. Then Vasile began to sing the Kontakion
from the Akathist Hymn to Christ, ‘0 Lord, van-
quisher of Hades and mighty defender...’, there
we bowed to our parents and kissed their hands,
then turned and left them as we headed for the
Skete of Cozancea...”
They went on to Sihastria Monastery where they
were “tested” by the Abbot to see if they had real
vocations for the monastic life or not. Having
passed the test after three days of total fasting and
very little sleep, the abbot heard their confession,
and administered Holy Communion to them, de-
ciding that these brothers had the patience to en-
dure the rigors and obediences of monastic life.
Father Cleopa, then Brother Constantine, was
given the obedience of tending the monastery
sheep high up on a mountain belonging to
Sihastria. It would have appeared that he was for-
gotten by those in the monastery, for he remained
all week long on the mountain with the sheep,
coming down only on Saturdays and Sundays
for Vigil and Divine Liturgy. What the brother-

hood did not realize was that during these years
of peacefully tending the sheep, Brother
Constantine read constantly, never being with-
out the books of the Lives of Saints, the Sayings
of the Holy Fathers and the Holy Bible. In addi-
tion to these, every weekend when he would come
down to the monastery he would borrow more
books from the library and in the quiet of the
mountain he would read these as well. These were
very quiet, peaceful years for the young monk
who never wasted a moment, but used all the time
for prayer and study, absorbing a wealth of infor-
mation which he was able to pass on to those
who flocked to him in later years. After ten years
of this obedience tending the sheep, Brother
Constantine was tonsured into the Little Schema
and given the name of Cleopa, but then was re-
turned again to the mountain to care for the sheep
until 1942 when he was called back from there to
serve in the administration of Sihastria Monas-
tery.
Father Cleopa did not readily accept ordination
to the priesthood, for he felt unworthy of such
an honor, but finally he felt that it was God’s will
that he accept this yoke, “in the fall of 1944, as
we were travelling on an ox-drawn cart to the
Monastery vineyards an elderly woman came out
to meet us weeping, carrying a Liturgicon, a priest’s
stole and a hand blessing cross; she came up to
me and handed them to me saying, ‘Father, these
were left to me by an elderly priest who died; I
give them to you; maybe you will need them!’ I
took these things back to the monastery. This
incident touched me so much that I considered it
a divine sign that I must accept the Mystery of
Ordination to the Priesthood and the obedience
of being the Abbot. Then in January 1945 I was
ordained a priest and named to be abbot of the
Monastery in the place left by the elderly abbot
who had fallen asleep in the Lord.”
When Father Cleopa received the staff of Abbot
of Sihastria, the monastery was in a great state of
disarray and need of repair. A fire in 1941 had
left many of the buildings either totally destroyed
or greatly damaged. There were almost no cells for
the monks, yet young novices continued to en-
ter their ranks; it was difficult to find and obtain
5 heard from again, presumed dead. Fr. Cleopa had
The Orthodox Vision
building materials and even the most basic neces-
sities of life, yet in just a few years, under the
guidance of Fr. Cleopa, the community of
monastics at Sihastria doubled to over 80. It was
during his years as abbot that many of the tradi-
tions of Sihastria which exist to this day were
established: vigil lasting truly all night long for
each of the 12 major feasts as well as the Protec-
tion of the Theotokos, ceaseless reading of the
Psalter in the Church by all the brotherhood in
order, beginning with the Abbot, and many an-
cient monastic practices which had fallen into ne-
glect during earlier years.
In 1949 the Holy Synod of the Romanian Or-
thodox Church called Father Cleopa to take 30
of the brotherhood from Sihastria and go to re-
new Slatina Monastery. It was with tremendous
heaviness of heart that he left Sihastria for this
new obedience. Once at Slatina he immediately
set everything in order there as at Sihastria and
remained there as abbot until 1956 when he again
returned to his beloved Sihastria.
The most interesting period of time in Fr. Cleopa’s
life, and the one which people want to know the
most about, are the years which he spent living
alone in the forests and mountains between
Ceahlau Mountain and Sihastria. These were years
of terrible Communist oppression when count-
less elders, priests, monks, nuns, and bishops
were ar-
rested and
held under
unmen-
tionable
conditions
in prisons;
some were
later re-
leased,
some died
under the
torture and
inhuman
c o n d i -
tions, and
many were
s i m p l y
Cont.
n eonvp. 14e r
 The Orthodox Vision

St. Michael’s Celebrates 25 Years...and a Move

By Doug King
St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church in the parish to examine our life and ministry, espe-
Concord, CA celebrated its 25th Anniversary cially in light of our recent move from Danville to
Patronal Festival over the weekend of November Concord, California.
6-7,1999. His grace, TIKHON, Bishop of the Dio-
cese of San Francisco and the West, led the cel- St. Michael the Archangel was founded in the fall
ebration. of 1974

Festivities commenced on Saturday with a when Metropolitan VLADIMIR (Nagosky), then

Panikhida for members of the parish who have acting Primate of the Western Diocese, charged Fr.
fallen asleep, followed by a light supper. After Michael Prokurat to survey all Orthodox Chris-
supper, All-night Vigil tians in the Walnut
was served. Music was Creek, California area,
provided by a visiting with an eye towards
choir led by Archpriest opening a “primarily
Stephen Meholick, of English-speaking mis-
St. Nicholas Parish, San sion parish … in Wal-
Anselmo. nut Creek.” With a
nucleus of six families,
At the Hierarchical Divine Fr. Michael was ap-
Liturgy on Sunday pointed the mission’s
morning, attended by first rector, and services
parishioners, as well as were commenced in No-
many friends and former vember of 1974. After
members of the parish, His three years of holding
G r a c e , B i s h o p services in various tem-
TIKHONpresented Archpriest Michael Regan, Rec- porary facilities, the parish purchased its first prop-
tor of St. Michael, with a palitsa. Following the erty, a house in Danville, CA in 1977. In 1981,
Liturgy, Bishop TIKHON presented Grammotas to the Danville facility was renovated for use as a
parish founders Nadine Blank, Nicholas Cooke, Day Care facility during the week, and as a Church
John Maruschak, Alex and Millie Sturmer and Al on weekends. In the fall of that year, Fr. Michael
Victors. The parish as a whole also received a left the parish to become Chancellor of the Dio-
Grammota in recognition of our 25 years service. cese of the Midwest, and Fr. Michael Regan be-
The festival then continued with a banquet lun- came rector of the parish. During the following
cheon in the Atrium of the Concord Sheraton, dur- years, parish membership reached the capacity of
ing which Bishop TIKHON challenged the Danville facility, and several plans were exam-

Protection of the Holy Virgin Monastery Releases Catalog

To recieve the catalog call
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❏ Cds P.O. Box 416
❏ Books and more Books Lake George, CO 80827

6
 The Orthodox Vision

In Memory of His Grace, Bishop BASIL (Rodzianko)

The whole Orthodox Church mourned the pass- While in
ing of His Grace, Bishop BASIL, former Bishop England, he
of the Diocese of the West. His Grace passed away worked on
at his home on September 17, 1999, ironically the BBC’s
on the day before he was to receive his American Russian lan-
citizenship. His Grace was one of the most promi- guage divi-
nent Orthodox churchman of the century. sion and
broadcast re-
Bishop BASIL was born Vladimir Rodzianko in ligious ser-
Otrada, Russia on May 22, 1915 to a prominent mons into
aristocratic family. His grandfather was the presi- the Soviet
dent of the Russian Imperial Duma during the U n i o n .
turbulent last days of the rule of Emperor Nicho- These “un-
las II. In 1919, his family was forced to flee to de r gr ound”
Yugoslavia where he grew up. His father-confes- broadcasts”
sor was St. John of San Francisco who had pre- became im-
dicted that young Vladimir would one day be- mensely
come a bishop. He received his degree from the popular in
University of Belgrade and pursued graduate work Russia and
at the University of London. In 1937, he mar- h e l p e d
ried his beloved Mary Kolubayev. bring the Faith to the people. He was considered
an enemy of the Soviet State and his life was threat-
At the outbreak of World War II, he returned to ened at times. In fact, his grandson was killed
Serbia and was ordained a priest. He served his during what was thought to be an assassination
first Liturgy with St. Nicholas of South Canaan attempt on him. He also participated in many
on the day of the Nazi invasion. During World ecumenical projects and became an important scholar,
War II, Fr. Vladimir observed the massacre of ci- particularly on the question of the Holy Spirit.
vilians by the Nazis invaders. And as he often
quoted, “The day the Nazis left, the Communists In 1979, his beloved wife passed away and he took
moved in.” In 1949 he was arrested by the Com- monastic vows and was received into the Orthodox
munists for alleged illegal religious propaganda Church in America. He was consecrated bishop on
and sentenced to eight years of hard labor. He January 12, 1980 as an auxiliary to His Beatitude
was released after two years through the interven- THEODOSIUS and was given the name Basil. He
tion of the Archbishop of Canterbury and brought served as Bishop of San Francisco from 1980 until
to England. his retirement in 1984. He then resumed his reli-
gious broadcasts into the Soviet Union from Wash-
There are many poignant stories of Bishop ington, DC.
BASIL’s time in the prison camp. He was stripped
of his cassock and his cross and the guards cut During the time of Perastroyka, he was invited to
his beard. He was, of course, denied the right to come back to Russia and serve in Leningrad with
serve while at the camp. Once during the Feast of Metropolitan JOHN. There was a rumor going
Theophany, faithful gathered in a circle around around that the city’s name was to be changed back
him as they exercised. An outer circle was formed to St. Petersburg. At the Liturgy, he was the first to
by non-believers to shield him from the guards. remember Metropolitan JOHN as the Bishop of St.
There, while they walked, he recited the service Petersburg, something that had not been done in
and pointing to the falling snow said that was eighty years. That event, he later remarked, was
the Holy Water and it blessed the whole camp. important to him. Since his grandfather had been
associated with the beginning of the Revolution
(His grandfather presented the papers of abdication
7 to the Czar), he felt as a Rodzianko, he could begin
The Orthodox Vision

Mission Deanery Retreat Held in Boulder aspects of mis-

City sion life. This
year’s featured
As has become an annual tradition, the Las Vegas speaker was
Mission Deanery held its pre-Lenten Retreat. In M o t h e r
attendance were representatives from over 21 mis- Gabriella
sions currently being served by the Diocese across (Ursache), the
the western United States. The missions cross Abbess of Holy
into traditional deanery territories but are also ex- Dormition
panding into previously open regions of he Dio- Monastery in
cese. The phenomenal growth of the Diocese has Rives Junc-
been fueled in part by enthusiasm generated by tion, Michigan.
these missions. Each year as new missions are M o t h e r
being formed with established mission being Gabriella spoke
moved into the geographical deaneries. In the in depth about
end, it spurs growth in the Diocese and energizes the discipline
the deaneries with young missions. of the spiritual
life, especially
The concept of the retreat is to gather the mis- focusing on the unique calling of the monastic.
sions together for prayer, reflection and to ex- She focused on our life gaining an identity, mainly
change information vital to opening and operat- a unique identity by reflecting the image of God.
ing a mission parish. Mission life presents unique Using numerous insights and examples from the
problems and issues that are better dealt with when Bible and the Holy Fathers, she was able to paint
they can work together for the common good of a beautiful portrait of a spiritual life grounded in
the Church. The sessions become invaluable for the Church and built on the gifts the Church
fellowship and information since many of these offers us through the liturgical and sacramental
missions are isolated and can rarely have contact life. She presented a strong belief that the best
with other Orthodox Churches. education we can all receive is through a full par-
ticipation in the liturgical cycle of the Church.
The retreats have traditionally brought in speak-
ers to focus on different spiritual and practical Mother Gabriella also shared many anecdotes
about her upbringing in Roma-
nia under an anti-religious re-
gime. This was translated to
highlight the difference between
growing up in America where
freedom can mean a loss of Faith
and in a country with strong
Orthodox roots which the
people cling to in order to sur-
vive the difficulties. She also
encouraged the parishes to es-
tablish a strong relationship
with monastic communities so
that they can mutually feed each
other in the Faith.

Cont. on p. 14

8
 The Orthodox Vision

WhatisAntidoron?
By Archpriest Joseph Hirsch
At our Church we take bread and wine right af- our Lord, needed to “Cover the Holy Gifts” both
ter we receive Holy Communion. When I go to the to prevent the inadvertent spitting forth of a par-
Greek Church, they only take some bread. Also, ticle from the mouth while singing or praying
we all take some bread when we come to kiss the after reception and to prevent choking on the
Cross at the end of the Liturgy. They call this particle. Also it seemed appropriate that those who
“Antidoron” and the priest gives it to catechu- had fasted from the previous evening in prepara-
mens and non-Orthodox visitors as well as pa- tion for reception of the Holy Mysteries, should
rishioners. What is the meaning of these prac- be fed something lest they should, “Faint by the
tices and why do some Churches give wine and wayside” for want of nourishment.
others do not? Also, as the Church grew and spread, it was com-
mon for the faithful to bring offerings of Bread
The blessing and distribution of bread to the faith- (Prosphora), wine, oil, honey and other com-
ful is a very ancient tradition of the Church. We modities to the Church. From among these offer-
know that, in some of the early Churches, a meal ings, usually brought to the Vigil Service, the
followed the Liturgy, although St. Paul criticized Deacons would select the best to be used in the
the practice of the Church at Corinth, in which Divine Mysteries. The rest, including such items
the rich ate their own food and did not share with as fruit and grain, would be distributed among
the poor. In some other places, there was a practice the Clergy as part of their support and among the
of blessing bread, boiled wheat, wine and olive widows and worthy poor of the parish.
oil during the, “All-night Vigil” and this practice
has survived in monasteries, where the brethren From among the Prosphora or “Offering Loaves”,
retire to the Narthex or Refectory for such a meal five or sometimes seven loaves were set aside for a
in the midst of certain Vigil Services. It also sur- particular Liturgy. And, from these Loaves, only
vives in the Lytia which accompanies many of the a small portion would actually be placed on the
Vigil Services in our parishes and in the Discos as Elevated Gifts, either as the Eucharistic
“Artoclasia” or “Braking of bread” which Greek Lamb or as particles in commemoration of Our
parishes sometimes serve as a Moliebin following Lady, The Holy Saints, or living or departed Or-
the Divine Liturgy on the feast day of a Saint. thodox Christians. The remainder of these loaves
was and still is, cut into small portions and dis-
Long after the Liturgy ceased to be served in the tributed either to those who have just received
context of an ordinary fellowship meal, the prac- Holy Communion, in order to, as we said above,
tice of distributing blessed bread to those who “Cover the gifts”. In the Russian tradition this is
had received Holy Communion remained. In the accompanied by a swallow of wine mixed with
West, leavened “Holy Bread” continued to be hot water. The remainder of these loaves is dis-
distributed, long after unleavened “Hosts” were tributed to those who have failed to prepare for
substituted for the Artos or Leavened Prosphora Holy Communion, during the chanting of the
in the Latin “Mass”. In North Africa, a double Psalm, “I will bless The Lord at all times” which,
handled “Calix Caritatis” or “Loving Cup” of according to the Service Books, precedes the Dis-
wine mixed with water, was passed around among missal at Liturgy. This bread is called Antidoron
communicant at certain liturgies. Greeks, sometimes, (Anti = In place of + doron = Gifts). It is received
refer to the Antidoron as “Agape” bread, from in place of the Holy Gifts and is also, sometimes,
the Greek word for Christian Love. called “Naphra” from the Greek word Anaphora
or “Offering”.
Two impulses seem to account for this tradition.
First, it was felt that those who had received the The Antidoron should be handled with great re-
Most Precious and All-Holy Body and Blood of spect. Sometimes, pieces of it or a special small
prosphora, from which the priest has made com-
9 memorations for the living and departed of the
The Orthodox Vision
A Teen Recounts Project Mexico
By Katherine Pylypczuk
On July 14, twenty-eight Ambassadors of Christ
crossed the border into Tijuana, Mexico. Ortho-
dox Christians form Massachusetts, Illinois, Cali-
fornia, and Colorado had come together to pray,
share the gospel, and perform a work of great
mercy. I had been on two other missions with
Father Anthony and a group from Colorado
Springs, but anticipation and curiosity still filled
my mind. On each trip, I seemed to find a key that
unlocks a secret to life that has been hidden away,
waiting to be freed. I could only wonder what I
would discover on this trip.
We humbly stayed at Saint Innocent Orphanage.
Everyone slept in tents on the rocky ground, ate
rice and beans for every meal, and shared one toi-
let. The day was filled with prayer, hot sun, and
hard work. The whole group worked together and
each day constructed more pieces to a house for a
needy family. Many had never done construction
work before, but with a little patience, everyone
2000 Clergy Wives’ Retreat
May 19 to 21
in Portland, Oregan
This year’s guest speaker
Archpriest Lawrence Russell
For more information, call
(503)659-3646
10
found a way to contribute their talents.
After four days, the small, stuccoed house stood
completed before us. The house had two win-
dows, no plumbing, no electricity, and exposed
two by fours in the interior. As I looked at this
family’s new house I saw another shack crammed
into the steep hillside but the family saw a bless-
ing a new beginning. This new house had solid,
sturdy walls to keep the rats, neighborhood dogs,
and insects out. It also had a cement floor. Now,
they wouldn’t have to fear for their children’s lives
during the rainy season. Many other Tijuana chil-
dren die each year from pneumonia during the
rains because the dirt floor in their homes turns to
mud, making it impossible to stay dry. In the
United States we live in fear of car accidents, sec-
ond hand smoke, or plane crashes, never rain.
At the end of our week I began to prepare to cross
the border again. I hoped that the memory of my
week would not fade too quickly as I returned to
a life of luxury in the United States. We live a
convenient life, but it is often an empty life. The
nights I spent sleeping on the ground hoping
nothing would get into the tent and the days of
hard work were the happiest I have ever experi-
enced. I often feel lost and don’t know who I am.
In Tijuana I had a purpose, a place in God’s plan.
Because of something I helped build, a family
was given a new beginning and shown how pow-
erful the love of God can be.
I hope to return to Mexico, the cluttered shacks
on the hillsides, the tents and the people. Here I
can leave a piece of myself in a house for a poor
The Diocese of the West
Announces
The Annual Fort Ross Celebration
at historic Fort Ross outside of San Francisco,
California
To be held on July 4th
Divine Liturgy begins at 10:00 AM
For more information, call
 The Orthodox Vision

St. Herman’s in Oxnard Celebrates 25 Years of Service

By Priest Paul Waisanen
With help from brethren from other parishes in Scott Cowan and John Soucek came from St. In-
the Diocese, St. Herman Orthodox Church, after nocent in Tarzana and led the choir on Sunday.
celebrating 25 years of genuine worship in the Reader Stephen Butler, who teaches music com-
Orthodox Tradition, enters the third Millennium position at Westmont College and his wife
with a Holy Tradition and new vision of the fu- Serafima joined us from St. Athanasios in Goleta.
ture in particular. The parish dedicated an entire You can imagine how wonderful they sounded
weekend to prayer and reflection as well as study- and what an expression of brotherly love this was
ing the life of the patron St. Herman of Alaska. to St. Herman’s parish.

The parish had help from choir directors for the On Saturday, there was a seminar on the life and
whole weekend. Carol Shumaik came from St. ministry of St. Herman himself. Fr. Lawrence
John of Damascus in Poway. Kyril Sokolov, son Russell, scheduled to discuss the place of Saints
of Fr. Victor Sokolov of Holy Trinity in San Fran-in the Orthodox Church, had an opportunity to
cisco also helped in the celebration. The parish visit Holy sites in Russia so Fr. Paul took his
was able to form a deanery choir to sing the ser- place. Fr. Gregory Safchuk spoke from personal
vices. experience of the continuing living ministry of
St. Herman in the lives of the Alaskan people.
Ann Jarlson, her daughters, Elena and Stephanie Mother Victoria (in spite of being quite sick with
and the youth choir director from St. Paul’s in the cold and flu) dealt with the actual life of St.
Las Vegas, Athena Rodis came, helped us through Herman himself, pointing out the need for a real
a practice for the Liturgy and sang with us dur- historical study of his life. The women of the
ing the Vigil and stayed over at their own ex- parish prepared a wonderful Lenten meal followed
pense and sang again at the Hierarchical Liturgy. by the All-Night Vigil with our Chancellor

being
1 1Archimandrite Nikolai (Soraich).
The Orthodox Vision

FrescoPaintingUnderwayatSt.SeraphimChurch

In 1992, Fr. Michael Margitich, then rector of the

Protection of the Holy Virgin Parish in Santa
Rosa, CA, proposed that the parish build a new
church to accommodate the rapidly growing con-
gregation. It was agreed that the church building
itself would be faithful in every way to the archi- the
tectural Tradition of the Church. It was also agreed parish has embarked on the wall painting project.
that the iconographic scheme of the new church The iconographer in charge of the project, Fr.
building—the wall paintings of feasts and saints, Simon (Doolan), is a monk at the monastery of
and so on—would be of primary importance and St. Gregory of Sinai, located in Kelseyville, Lake
determine to a great extent the actual shape of the County, CA, which is not far from Santa Rosa.
new church’s interior and wall surfaces. (Fr. Simon, who was a student of Leonid
Ouspensky, is currently working on a biogra-
In the Orthodox Church, architecture serves the phy of Ouspensky.)
iconographic scheme and provides for wall sur-
faces that are “icon friendly.” For example, the For the iconographic wall paintings, Fr. Simon is
dome provides the traditional and significant cir- using fresco technique, in which paint is applied
cular area for the Pantocrator icon and is the highest directly onto wet lime plaster. As the plaster dries,
and most theologically significant area of the the paint pigment forms a bond with the plaster.
building; the conch of the Apse at the eastern Numerous Orthodox churches in this country have
end of the church provides the place for the Vir- wall paintings produced using various methods,
gin Mary; the lower Apse allows the Fathers of but to the best of our knowledge, none of them
the Church to stand around the Holy Altar; the has used the fresco technique. Fresco paintings
upper wall areas in the Nave provide the space for adorn countless Orthodox churches throughout
the Feasts of the Church; the west wall, at the the Balkans, Russia, and Greece, and one can see
back of the church, yields space for the scenes of a vast amount of pre- and post-Renaissance West-
the Passion and the Virgin’s Dormition; the lower ern religious art painted in this manner, especially
walls harbor the saints, who stand all around the in Italy.
congregation as a “great cloud of witnesses”; the
columns uphold the pillars of the church, the The photos show Fr. Simon and his assistant, Fr.
Apostles Peter and Paul, the Saints “Equal to the Emilanos, painting the icons of the Archangel
Apostles,” and other Saints. Gabriel and the Theotokos (that together form the
Annunciation) and the icon of St. John the Bap-
After four years of worshipping in the newly con- tist. Each icon was begun at about 3 AM, starting
structed St. Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church, with the application of the final coat of lime plas-
ter. Painting began at about 8 AM and continued
12

Music Seminar Held in Santa Rosa
The Liturgical Singing Seminar 2000 took place
in Santa Rosa, CA, on February 4th and 5th and
was hosted by the parish of the Protection of the
Holy Virgin Mary. Approximately seventy par-
ticipants, representing most of the jurisdictions,
came from far and near to study the singing of
the “Special Melodies” (Podoben in Russian and
Prosomion in Greek).
What are the “Special Melodies” and how are they
used? The hymn books of our Church
(Oktoekhos, Triodion, Pentecostarion, Menaion,
etc.) contain approximately 65,000 different
hymns, specified to be sung at various occasions.
Perusing these books, one will see that any given
hymn is to be chanted in one of the Eight Tones.1
However, a large number of hymns will have the
additional heading “Sing to the Special
Melody…,” after which the name of a special
melody is given. For example, Special Melody:
Joy of the Heavenly Hierarchies or Special Melody:
O Marvelous Wonder. When a hymnographer
writes a Service to a newly glorified saint, he uses
the melody of a well-known hymn as the model
and “tune” for the new text.
Open your Festal Menaion to the Forefeast of
Nativity, and you will see that at the Matins
Aposticha we are instructed to sing the hymns in
Tone Two, to the Special Melody “O House of
Ephratha….” If we then open our Menaion to
the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin, at Small
Vespers at the Aposticha we are told to sing those
particular texts once again to “O House of
Ephratha….”
We see that these Podobni, to use the Russian
word, serve a number of purposes. First, they pro-
vide musical variety, especially in the daily ser-
vices of Vespers and Matins where the majority of
stichera are sung to Special Melodies. This means
that there are chant melodies to be used other than
the usual pattern melodies of any given Tone, as
is the practice in most of the parishes of our Dio-
cese.
Second, for the Greek (and Byzantine usage) it
1 3For more information about upcoming Liturgi-
The Orthodox Vision
means that a church singer does not have to learn
a new and different melody for every hymn—with
65,000 hymns over the course of the year, that
would be impossible. Instead, one only needs
to learn some twenty-plus Special Melodies (not
an easy task either) in addition to the usual
Tones.2 (Russian practice uses fewer Special Melo-
dies.) Finally, the Special Melodies remind us of
the other feast and saints’ days, and one has the
sense that the hymns of the year are interrelated.
Where can one find these chants? The Slavonic
chant books have the melodies in them, but no
publications in English of the sets of Special
Melodies are available currently. However, two new
books are now being prepared. In the near future
we can look forward to a book by Walter
Obleschuck, of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Bos-
ton, which will include the Russian, Kievan, and
Galician Special Melodies. Holy Transfiguration
Monastery of Brookline, MA, is also preparing a
book of the Byzantine Chant Special Melodies
to be used in conjunction with the hymns in the
Pentecostarion and the Horologion. 3 At the
Singing Seminar, the participants were provided
with a list and the music of the Special Melodies.
Featured speakers at the Seminar this year were:
Fr. Stephen (Meholick) from St. Nicholas Ortho-
dox Church in San Anselmo, CA, who spoke on
the history and use of the Special Melodies; John
Boyer, chanter at the Annunciation Greek Ortho-
dox Cathedral in San Francisco, who was in charge
of Byzantine chant; Ann Schoep and Alice
Hughes, the event organizers, who worked with
singers and directors on technique; Fr. Lawrence
Margitich, from Protection of the Holy Virgin Par-
ish in Santa Rosa, who spoke on liturgical sing-
ing and “aliturgical singing”; and Fr. Simon
(Doolan), the iconographer, from St. Gregory of
Sinai Monastery in Kelseyville, Lake County, CA,
who gave a presentation on the iconography of
the church and the use of a canonical model and
type for both chanting and iconography.
Great Vespers and Divine Liturgy were served on
Friday and Saturday mornings, respectively. On
Saturday evening, the Resurrection Vigil was sung
antiphonally with two large choirs comprised of
the participants.
The Orthodox Vision

Cleopa News of his falling asleep on December 2, 1998

Cont. from p. 5 spread quickly throughout the entire world. His
funeral was served by eight bishops, countless
groups of people began coming to the Monas- priests, with tens of thousands of faithful in at-
tery to hear him, to confess to him, to bring their tendance. His cell has been preserved as it was
problems to their beloved and trusted elder; these during his life, and the iconographer from Sihastria
flocks of people travelling down the unmaintained has painted a portrait of Fr. Cleopa which is placed
road to Sihastria, continued until his falling asleep. among the icons in his cell. His grave is covered
The name of Fr. Cleopa spread not only through- with flowers in the summer and candies in the
out Romania, but through the entire Orthodox winter. There is no doubt that the people who
world. come to his grave say now, as they did during
his life, “Fr. Cleopa, pray for us sinners.”
In the 1970’s Fr. Cleopa had occasion to visit
the Holy Land, Mount Sinai, and Mount Athos.
His later counsels to people were often peppered
with “when I was ‘in Jerusalem, Mt. Sinai, the
holy Mountain...” and he would describe these
holy places to those who came to him so vividly
and simply that it was as if others could see these
things through his holy eyes. On returning to
Romania from Mt. Athos, Fr. Cleopa went through
Serbia and sought the counsel of Father Justin
Popovich. He told Fr. Justin that he wanted to
return permanently to Mt. Athos, but Fr. Justin
told him “Father Cleopa, if you go back to the
Holy Mountain, you will add another flower to
the Garden of the Mother of God. But to whom
will you entrust all the faithful (of Romania) who
come to you? There, on the Holy Mountain, you Another highlighted speaker was Archpriest Paul
will pray for your soul. But in Romania you pray Kucynda, the coordinator of the Missions Unit
for all who come to you and you can offer to for the Orthodox Church in America. Fr. Paul
God countless souls who would otherwise be has been a regular attendee at the retreat and has
without a guide.” offered much practical and useful advice on orga-
nizing and funding a mission. He is continually
Thus, Fr. Cleopa returned to Sihastria, never to soliciting feedback from this unique deanery to
leave again. His cell was a cottage up on the hill help in training other missions across the coun-
just behind the Monastery compound. There he try. One of the highlights of his visit was to offi-
stayed, counseling individuals who came to him, cially establish a new mission grant for St. Mary
speaking to groups of people, guiding them in Magdalene Mission in Merced, California, the third
the spiritual life, and, after the Revolution of 1989 in the Diocese to receive such a grant.
when Communism in Romania fell, he strongly Retreat
warned the faithful to beware of the Protestant Cont. from p. 8
proselytes who were appearing in every comer of
Romania. Other sessions included talks by Archimandrite
Nikolai (Soraich) on Diocesan issues that affect
During the three short years when I myself lived mission work. Archpriest Ian MacKinnon, the
at Varatec Monastery in Romania, very close to Dean, also spoke of various projects and work of
Sihastria, I was blessed on countless occasions to the Deanery. New missions communities are now
go to Sihastria for one reason or another. What a being formed in Helena, Montana and Kelso,
joy it was to go up the hill to Fr. Cleopa’s cell Washington. The Dean also welcomed Priest Paul
and receive his blessing. His humility and his1 4Schellbach into the Deanery as the new rector of

Have Mercy on me
cont. from p. 1
the Canon, “Have mercy on me, O God, have
mercy on me,” when repeated throughout to the
traditional melody, resembles very much the waves
of the sea of life breaking on the shore of our
soul, and we bow down with compunction each
time.
And what of the long, beautiful prayers begin-
ning, “O undefiled, untainted, uncorrupted,
most pure, chaste Virgin…” and “And grant unto
us, O Master, in the coming sleep, rest for body
and soul…?”
Perhaps we need to re-examine the curricula of
our parish educational programs, especially as they
relate to our liturgical life. Two things become
apparent to me when I think about my unfortu-
nate parishioner’s comment about Compline and
the Canon of St. Andrew. We are not properly
preparing the Faithful for participation, real par-
ticipation, in the prayer and worship of the
Church that God has given us. Compline and
the Canon of St. Andrew were not part of my
parishioner’s childhood. And perhaps too little
emphasis may have been given to the imperma-
nence, to the fragility, of our life in the world
vis-à-vis the Life that has been prepared for us by
Christ in eternity, so that a service almost entirely
15
The Orthodox Vision
Passion
Cont. from p. 16
“And if I stay on Tabor, Peter, who will break asunder the gates of bronze,
for Scripture says, ‘Arise, princes, lift up your eternal gates, for the King of
glory shall enter.’?”
So, Peter’s conscience bothered him for trying to stop the Savior from going
to His crucifixion. The Savior then said to him, “I will show you who I am
on Tabor, but from there we will go to Golgotha, the other mountain, and
there I will suffer and fulfill the Scripture, and then I will ascend in the glory
which I had from My Father from the foundation of the world, and so
raise up all of Adam to the right hand of glory.”
It was the Savior’s good will to take the three apostles, Peter, John and his
brother James, and to go up to the top of Mount Tabor. There, the three
apostles, tired from the climb up the mountain, slept. Through God’s dis-
pensation, when they awoke they beheld the Savior transfigured before
their eyes; they saw Him standing in spirit and speaking with the two great
prophets, Moses and Elijah.
In the words of St. Ephraim, Mount Tabor became the image of the Church.
The Father spoke from heaven; the Son was transfigured; and the Holy
Spirit was represented in the image of the cloud. The new law was repre-
sented by the three apostles who fell to the ground at the brightness of the
divine light, and the two prophets, Moses and Elijah, representing the Old
Law, were present in spirit speaking with the Lord. Thus, Tabor took on the
image of the Church of god at the moment of the transfiguration of Jesus
Christ.
Behold what a great mystery was revealed on Tabor, for it was not long after
that when the Savior went to Jerusalem, to be captured, sold, beaten, mocked
and crucified and finally to rise from the dead.
This particular piece was translated by Mother
Cassiana (Petrow), the Abbess of the Protection
of the Holy Virgin Monastery. Mother Cassiana
is currently translating the collected works of Fr.
Cleopa which is due for release in the very near
future.
The Orthodox Vision
The Passion of the Lord
By Fr. Cleopa (Ilie)
Translated from “Ne Vorbeste Parintele Cleopa” Volume 7
I speak to groups of people, and to individuals. If, because of my words,
one hundred will turn to repentance, than I will be rewarded a hundred-
fold! If sixty or thirty will turn back, according to the Gospel, I will have a
great reward. If, from only a few in the church, only one will turn to God,
then that too holds a great reward, for a single soul is more precious than all
the world, than all which exists under heaven.
This knowledge is what has urged to speak to the few of you who are here,
who came with a great deal of effort, through all the rain and mud, climbing
up this hill and mountain, using all your strength to reach here. Those of you
who have gone through so much to get here will
have a greater reward than those who come only
when the weather is nice.
Whenever a good deed is accomplished through
much effort, the reward from God is that much
greater in proportion. When a good deed is ac-
complished with little effort it is rewarded to a lesser
extent. Whenever you do something with a great
deal of difficulty, expending all your energy, you
will receive an even greater reward from our all-
gracious God.
Eight days prior to going up Mt. Tabor, when Peter
declared to the Savior, “You are the Christ, the Son
of the living God,” the Lord praised him for this
confession which was both true and dogmatic,
saying, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah,
for it is not flesh and blood which revealed this to
you, and I say that you are Peter” which means rock, the rock of faith, “and
upon this rock will I build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail
against it.”
Here the Lord shows us that the Church of Christ is built upon the right
believing faith of Peter and those who believe as he did. The gates of hell, as
St. Athanasius says, are the mouths of the heterodox and heretics who blas-
pheme against the true Church, but they will not prevail.
Do not speak against the Church, for it is built upon Jesus Christ who is the
cornerstone.
At that same time, eight days before the Transfiguration, Peter, who had been
praised for his right faith, receives a rebuke from Christ. For the Savior had
begun to speak about His coming passion and His suffering which would
befall Him in Jerusalem, saying, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem and the
Son of Man will be given into the hands of sinful men; they will mock Him
and beat Him and spit upon Him and wound Him and will crucify Him,
putting Him to death, but on the third day, He will arise.”
Peter, out of his love for the Savior, wanted to halt Him, to keep Him from
going to His crucifixion. “Lord, this should not happen to Thee.” In other
words, “Protect Thyself, 0 Lord! Do not go up to Jerusalem. Stay here so
that Thou dost not die!”
16
FromtheFathers
Then the Savior turned to Peter and spoke to him angrily, “Get behind me,
Satan, for your thoughts are not from God but from man.” He calls Peter
“Satan”, for the word satan means ‘against’, and Peter was against Christ
fulfilling the plan of the salvation of man, he was against Him dying. That is
why the Lord calls him “satan.” It was as if he said, “You stop me from going
to death? If I do not go to death, all the generations of Adam that have been
in Hades for 5508 years will not be saved. If I do not go to Golgatha and
suffer death, death on the cross, then all mankind cannot be saved; for this
is why I have come into the world, to pour out
My blood and to die for the sake of mankind, out
of the love that I have for all.
“You want Me to stay on Tabor? Then who will
go to Golgotha? ‘If I stay on Tabor, Peter, and do
not carry the cross to Golgotha, how then will the
prophecy of Isaiah be fulfilled that says, ‘I gave
my back to beatings and my cheeks to spitting, I
did not turn my face from the shame of spittle.’?”
“If I stay on Tabor, Peter, how will the Scripture be
fulfilled that says, ‘without beauty, without maj-
esty we saw him, a man of sorrows and familiar
with sufferings ... on Him lies a punishment that
brings us peace, and through his wounds we are
healed.’?”
“If I stay on Tabor, Peter, how will the Scripture be
fulfilled that says, “‘he let himself be taken for a
sinner’, as one crucified between two thieves?”
“If I stay on Tabor, Peter, where is the fulfillment of Scripture which says,
‘they looked upon him whom they had pierced’ when they shall pierce my
side with the spear according to the prophecy of Zachariah?”
“If I stay on Tabor, Peter, how then will the prophecy of David be fulfilled
which says, “they gave me gall to eat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar
to drink’?”
“”If I stay on Tabor, Peter, where is the fulfillment of the Scripture, ‘they
divided my clothes among them and for my garment they cast lots’?”
“If I stay on Tabor, Peter, and do not go to pour out My blood on the Cross
so that I am bare bones, how with the prophecy of the Psalmist be fulfilled,
‘I can count every one of my bones, and there they glare at me, gloating’?”
“If I stay on Tabor, Peter, and you make a tent for Me, what about the proph-
ecy which says, ‘they pierced my hands and my feet’?”
“If I stay on Tabor, Peter, how will the Scripture be fulfilled that says, ‘He was
pierced through for our faults, and through his wounds we are healed.’?”
Cont. on p. 15
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