And so this is Advent

Today begins the preparatory Season of Advent.

Advent wreath at table in Holy Trinity Kellia, St. Simeon Skete

The Gospel for 1st Sunday of Advent
St. Matthew xxi. 1.

WHEN they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name 'of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. 

Jesus tells His disciples to go into the city  AND He tells them to find a tethered colt that no one had ridden.   
Think about that image:  "a tethered colt which no one has ridden..."

Young mule of Denny & JoanE Markwell,  members of St. Simeon Skete

Of course the people are waiting for a dominative, powerful, substantive image - a King, A Ruler who is going to change everything from the outside (the surface).  

But Jesus says "I'm not going to come in on a horse, in triumph but ...as Zechariah 9:9 prophesied... I'm coming in on a donkey to redefine what power is, worth is, strength is, trust is...

This colt/donkey, THIS powerless image is a tethered colt, its been tied up in all of history.  No one's ever wanted to use it, no one's ridden this kind before but Jesus is going to ride it into the city to show the world a different way, a new way, the way of trust, the way of vulnerability, the way of powerlessness.  


When your generosity has been tied up, loosen it and when greed rises up and asks "what are you doing?", say, "The Lord has need of it"  When your humility is tied up, loosen it and when pride questions you, say "The Lord has need of it."  When your forgiveness is tied up, untie it and when mercilessness asks you "why?,  say "The Lord has need of it." 
As Jesus rides into the city in this "different way" the people wonder "Who is this?"  "What is this new way?"  Jesus upsets the system and says: "its prayer". 

Jeremy Lopez, in prayer before his Confirmation.  Nazareth House Apostolate, Athens, Georgia

Of all the battles that God has with human consciousness, the battle to get rid of those things (furniture) that keep us from making our souls a house of prayer must be God's most difficult battle.   Culture wants to rearrange the "furniture" by dominative power - the ability to influence others through coercion, hiring and firing, punishing, threatening, lawsuits, money, position.  This will rearrange the "furniture" and most will respond to it.  But at best, this is all we can do: re-arrange the "furniture".   But Jesus doesn't re-arrange the furniture, He pitches it - throws it out - opting for a House of Prayer!  Anything in your life that is keeping you from prayer needs to be pitched! 
As the Holiday Season approaches many will be re-arranging their living rooms to prepare for Holiday guests or give a new look but only PRAYER can change the living room into a LIVING room.  

Personal milagro of Seraphim, housed where he hangs his prayer beads

Advent Collect

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and ever. Amen. 

“My Way of the Cross”

Reprint of a previous NHA Blog Post: 

As we are in the middle of the Lenten Season,  St. Simeon Skete/Nazareth House Apostolate shares with you this journal writing of Seraphim's:  “My Way of the Cross”.   

I see you Jesus, I walk with you Jesus...

The Nails of the Cross.  Placed in the Chapel at St. Simeon Skete during Lenten Season.

“My Way of the Cross”  (Written by Seraphim, 5 April 2005, Louisville, KY.)

     Dropped in St. Martin de Tours Church to say my Rosary and found a group already praying so Im joining them.  Its been a strange journey today.   The bus driver was out of sorts and her spirit was throughout the bus.  Her job, her cross, and it hurts. Just now a man with Downs Syndrome in his 60’s left his pew after the Rosary finished.  He was carrying a bundle of well used devotional booklets and a prayer book bound together with rubber bands.  I could tell, sense, that a life time of devotion had just passed, a Simon of Cyrene, bearing His cross by bearing his.  Could this be another station in which the Lord is developing, “my personal way of the cross?”  Perhaps in all likelihood these stations are going on all the time and it is still Jesus, we’re passing and it is He that is passing us by in His way, His “personal Way of the Cross”. 

The Crown of Thorns, The Scourging.  Placed in the Chapel at St. Simeon Skete during Lent.

     I boarded the bus again and at the next stop a woman and her daughter got on.  She had been beaten by life; her ratted, worn polyester stretch-pants over a body long worn and pushed out of shape, her teeth missing on a face  that looked as if it had been beaten in from time to time.  And her daughter?  She was a teen, concerned about her looks as most naturally are. She had on trendy “gym shoes” and dressed nicely, a covering not only for her body, but also for what she didn’t want others to know.  When they boarded the bus the mother paid the fare for both of them.  The daughter went to the back of the bus while the mother sat at the front.  I could almost hear the thought of the daughter, “I hope no one thinks I’m with her”.  I watched the mother for response - none -  she sat with dignity, not energizing the stares and ignorance of her daughter. When the stop came for them to de-board the bus, the mother inconspicuously looked to the back to catch her daughter’s eye and gave a nod, she de-boarded from the back and the mother from the front of the bus.  I thought as the stops came and went, this mother who, as it were, had holes in her hands, feet and side, her face as if someone had struck her repeatedly and she was stooped as she walked, as if someone had beaten her back. Her loved one fleeing lest someone might associate her with this embarrassment.  The mother showed no sign of hurt over this, no resignation, as if at one time there was hope, expectation that she would be accepted, loved and not an embarrassment to others. Things were just as they were, nothing was to change, or for that matter, was able to change.  Again, could this be another station, another “bus stop” of the cross? ...my own stations of the cross that God, the Holy Spirit was bringing to me?  As I thought on these things I heard three beeps of a car horn that strangely sounded like a cock crowing.

As you walk through your own life be aware that Christ continues to carry his cross in others. 

The remaining ashes of Ash Wednesday are enthroned in the Chapel of St. Simeon Skete during the Lenten Season.

...and he went a little further...

The Wait of Advent

Here we are, well into the Advent Season.  A time of preparation of our hearts, a purging of our habitual transgressions.  A time of expectation of His arrival, Our Saviour.

This anticipation, this Advent, is intensified in Sierra Leone.  As people of faith, we know we can do nothing on our own, it is our Creator that guides us through.  The villagers of Sierra Leone see this in reality in their everyday life and they have no doubt that their existence is sustained by the Almighty. Day after day, I see from those Sierra Leoneans (who are able to find an internet connection) posts on Facebook of thanksgiving to God for seeing them through the night and enabling them to see the sunrise another day.  In the midst of the current 'plague', I see  and hear from them, far more prayers of thanksgiving than petitions.  This has been going on before Ebola was a word in their vocabulary or a reality in their life and it will continue long after the disease disappears.  The villagers for the most part live off the land, they know the origin of what they receive to provide them sustenance.  So when their needs require hospital beds, medicine and supplies they have no choice but to wait for its arrival.

So as we contemplate the Season of Advent, Christmas and the New Year; as we wait in anticipation of the celebration of the meaning of Christmastide; lets bear witness to the waiting and anticipation of those in the Ebola Hotspots of West Africa who must wait and hope for that which saves them.

To give towards the NHA Shipment of Hospital Beds and Equipment desperately needed in Kabala, please CLICK HERE.  And while you are at it, won't you consider making a recurring monthly donation through this link as well?

Our NHA School in Kabala has been forced closed by the Ebola Outbreak.  All schools in Sierra Leone have been ordered closed by the Government.

Last week, James noticed some of our boy students playing along the road, getting into mischief - a very normal activity for little boys.

So James took them to the local Automobile Mechanics in the town and had them provide a little "vocational" studies.  The students loved it.

NHA has been hiring locals for odd jobs to stimulate the work force in the area.  So many shops and companies have had to shut down due to ebola.

We've suffered an outbreak of snakes taking refuge in the rocks around the school and compound.  James hired some laborers to remove the rocks in order to keep the area safe.  These husbands and sons worked very hard for us. We are very thankful for their help and they are happy to receive good pay to provide for their families.

Here, There and Everywhere - The 18th Annual NHA Rosary Convocation and Pilgrimage

The Nazareth House Apostolate Rosary Convocation is held every year in May.  At St. Simeon Skete, The Feast of the Holy Rosary is always celebrated on the second Sunday in May.  The Convocation takes place on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday preceding the Rosary Feast Day. On the Saturday of the Convocation we make the Rosary Pilgrimage.  We've been doing this now at NHA for 18 years.  

This past Saturday, we again made the pilgrimage which entails a journey from various area shrines, saying the Rosary Mysteries at specific stops along the way.  

It is our wish that everyone could join us.  Although we've had people partaking of the event with us, sometimes large crowds, sometimes small, not everyone who wants to be here for the Convocation can make it to Taylorsville.  

And so, in solidarity with the NHA Convocation, people make their own pilgrimage from where they are.  Whether its a pilgrimage from one religious shrine to another,  from one serene spot to another in a park, from one icon to another in your home, or from one village landmark to another - the point is the journey - 

Glorianna strapped in her carseat, begins the journey 

...the journey made praying the Life of Christ in the Rosary.  

One of things that is so unique about Nazareth House Apostolate is the fellowship and unity that is such a big part of it.  People are together whether they are able to physically touch each other or not, there is a bound of love, peace and unity.  That monumental prayer of the beloved Pa Barrie - his unceasing prayer of Love, Peace and Unity thrives today in NHA.  ...and I believe he is still praying that prayer from paradise. 

On Saturday, Charles, Christina and Glorianna Lynn set out to be in unity with Nazareth House Apostolate, St. Simeon Skete by joining with us in the Rosary Pilgrimage from Chico, California. 

Together as a family, they prayed each Mystery of the Rosary at different spots of peaceful beauty at 

Mendocino National Forest.  

Christina and Glorianna Lynn.  NHA Rosary Pilgrimage, California 

The beauty witnessed by the Lynns as they made their NHA Rosary Pilgrimage

The beauty witnessed by the Lynns as they made their NHA Rosary Pilgrimage

Charles Lynn.  NHA Rosary Pilgrimage, California   

And while Jeff Lowry in Alabama prayed his rosary with us from his home, Geordy Geddings made his own journey in South Carolina - others were making a Rosary Pilgrimage in union with all of us throughout the USA and even from across the ocean.  

James in Kabala, Sierra Leone, with Albert and some of the NHA Students from our school made a journey, 

praying the Life of Jesus throughout their village neighborhood.  

They began at the front door of the school and journeyed from place to place 

Because of their joy in the abundant supply of food, they prayed the Joyous Mysteries under the mango tree 

 They prayed the Mysteries of Light around the well at the NHA Compound.

 (The revealing - Jn. 4:4-30; 1Cor. 10:4).

They prayed at area churches, 

they prayed the rosary on top of the mountain, 

they prayed on children's playground gyms,  

they prayed in war-torn abandoned buildings. 

 They continued the prayer, 

they continued the journey.  

NHA united in prayer, 

a continuous circle of love 

wherever we are, 

whatever the need, 

we are one body under One God.  

From St. Simeon Skete we began our intro prayers to the Rosary at the Ohio River, the divider between Kentucky and Indiana.

From the river we got back in our cars

and traveled through the woods

to our next stop along the way

Journeying over bridges

and through tranquil beauty.

Journeying over farmland

and vistas



Its the journey,

The journey is part of the prayer, its that journey that makes the pilgrimage.

Arriving at Leopold, we prepare for the first set of Mysteries.

The Joyous Mysteries are said in St. Augustine Parish of Leopold, Indiana.

A donation is left for the candle and it is used to begin the Mysteries.

Tomorrow I'll put up more about the 18th Annual Rosary Convocation with lots more photographs.