St. Simeon Skete, Taylorsville Kentucky USA

With St. Simeon, the God receiver, as our patron, the skete seeks to practice the ideals found in our Rule, The Thousand Day Nazareth. In simplicity and poverty, the skete embraces the struggle of inner life through the practice of the Prayer Rope.

See our website at www.nazarethhouseap.org

Donations should be addressed to: Nazareth House Apostolate, 185 Captains Cove Drive, Taylorsville, Kentucky 40071.

Important Notice: All writings, posts, graphics & photographs in this blog are the copyrighted property of (unless otherwise indicated) Nazareth House Media, a division of Nazareth House Apostolate and cannot be copied, printed or used without written permission from NHA Media, Taylorsville, KY.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

2013 NHA Emmaus Day Journey: Sham El Nessim




As the sun was rising in the east; The moon began its descent in the western sky.  The NHA Easter Monday Emmaus Day (Sham El Nessim) was going to be the perfect day for a picnic and "sniffing the breeze".   

After preparing the specific ingredients (salted fish, boiled eggs, spring onions) for the picnic lunch



We were ready to make the journey off St. Simeon Skete grounds towards the trappist monastery, the Abbey of Gethsemani.



St. Simeon Skete 
The weather cooperated beautifully.  As we journeyed we passed a section of Taylorsville Lake State Park,

Taylorsville Lake State Park 

passed the farms and homesteads of the area,




and through the quaint town of Bloomfield.





We took time to stop by the St. Thomas Parish


 near Bardstown, Kentucky.  


From there we traveled onto the Abbey of Gethsemani.  


We arrived in time to browse the Gift Shop before entering the Chapel for the noon office of Sext.




Following Christ under a rule and an abbot, the Trappist monks lead lives of prayer, work, and sacred reading, steeped in the heart and mystery of the Church.






The Noon Prayer Office:  Sext.




The Trappist Monks of Gethsemani at the Office of Sext on Easter Monday.





A glance at the monks and you see them exhausted.


A feeling we know well at St. Simeon Skete.   Yawning... a by-product of Many Prayer Offices that start in the middle of the night and last throughout the day blended with hard work maintaining the monastery.  Yawning... a good sign that these monks have been keeping the rule of prayer.


Tired or not, the prayers continue, the Offices are without interruption


and have been uninterrupted since the monastery's beginning.







Window at Gethemani (seen from Balcony) 



After the Prayer Office, we made our way to the little park area where we had our Emmaus Day picnic.




Public Graveyard on Monastery grounds 

Spring is showing, the buds are sprouting. 













Retreatants and their luggage.  

And once again, the tradition of a journey on Emmaus Day - sniffing the breeze - was a meaningful and relaxing experience.  We look forward to next years journey.