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.  

HE IS RISEN

HE IS RISEN...

18th Century Russian Icon housed at Holy Trinity Kellia, St. Simeon Skete

HE IS RISEN, INDEED! 

From the Sixth Hour to the Ninth Hour

"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness 

over all the land 

unto the ninth hour". Matthew 27:45

Today prior to noon, at St. Simeon Skete, we will walk and pray the first 11 Stations of the Cross.  

At noon, the time that Jesus is lifted up on the Cross we will remain in silence until 3 PM when we then complete the remaining Stations of the Cross.  

And when the sixth hour was come, 

there was darkness over the whole land 

until the ninth hour. Mark 15:33-34

The Stations are done this way every Friday at the Skete, not only during the Lenten Season but all year.  

We do this devotion a bit different than the standard way said at a church.  For us, it is called "The State of The Cross" rather than the Stations of the Cross. 

The word "state" is used rather than Station because every step, action and word as well as everything felt and done by those who took part in this tragic reality, continues to be present in its Stations. 

The Scriptures: "The son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. And He said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. for whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it." Luke 9:22-24

In encountering the Cross, people throughout the ages have always been confronted by the choice either of becoming Christ's followers or his executioners. 

"So from that day on they planned to put Him to death." John 11:53 

 It is a practice of the skete to continually study - a daily ongoing study - the Way of the Cross.    As we begin the weekly "State of the Cross" we invoke the help of the Holy Spirit.  Certain Greeks said to the Apostle Philip, "we would see Jesus" (John 12:21) and it is this prayer that we address to the Holy Spirit: 

 "Holy Spirit, I would see Jesus"

Then it is said:

I see you, Jesus...

you go it alone:

you drink the cup:

you are condemned to death:

you take up your cross:

you fall for the first time:

you meet your mother:

Simon carries your cross:

Veronica wipes your face:

you fall, the second time:

the women weep for you:

you fall, for the third time:

you are stripped:

your are nailed to the cross:

you die:

you are taken down from the cross:

you are placed in the tomb. 

I see you, Jesus

I walk with you Jesus

The Intro to each Station:

In the State of the Cross, I offer myself to the "insert first, second - whichever station you are on" Station of: "describe the action such as Meeting your Mother, etc" 

Before each Station: 

V. I see the O Lord Jesus, and I am saved

R. Because by the Holy Cross thou has redeemed the world. 

At this time a meditation can be read and then 

After each Station:

Eleven Jesus Prayers

"And He went a little further" Matthew 26:39

Stabat Mater 

At the Closing: (the following are said)

The Offering 

The Poorer Means

"I go in the Name of the Lord, IAM sends me as a chosen vessel to bear His Name and you shall call His Name, Jesus" 

Since we say The Stations every Friday and our practice is the ongoing study of the Way of the Cross,  as we stand before each station what we have studied, what we have internalized, the versions we have read over the years come forth as we say the eleven Jesus Prayers.  

And it was about the sixth hour, 

and there was a darkness 

over all the earth 

until the ninth hour. Luke:23:44

We use different versions of the stations, most recently a wonderful Way of the Cross written by the author,  Susan Prudhomme.  We've worked through it this Lent and now it is part of rumination of the collective stations we've taken into our hearts and recollect as we pray the Jesus Prayers at each Station. 

For further reading on the Stations of the Cross we recommend the following links: 

MY WAY OF THE CROSS (click here)

Sierra Leone Way of the Cross (click here)

Happy Faces

Deer Hunting Season in Kentucky brings joy not only to the hunters 

but clear across the ocean to the West African Nation of Sierra Leone.  

These little girls had never tasted the tasty snack...

the consistency and the flavor are strange to them

but ole' so good ... and filled with protein (something they rarely get).

Thank you to Denny and Joan 

...and thank you to all the NHA supporters 

who make possible the help 

these children and their parents so desperately need.  

Its time for Jerky in Sierra Leone

A few weeks ago Denny Markwell came to the Kellia and brought with him several boxes filled with deer jerky for Sierra Leone.  Denny and JoanE have been sending this jerky to Sierra Leone for several years now, it has become an annual event.

We packed the jerky in several boxes along with medications and supplies - eleven boxes all together.  

Taped up and secured the boxes were shipped off to James in Freetown via USPS Flat Rate Priority (the cheapest way to ship).  

Nine days later, five boxes arrived.  Yet another two days and James receives notice that the remaining six boxes had completed their journey to Freetown safely.   

Little Miss Vicki helps open the boxes shipped from Taylorsville, KY 

As the NHA Board Members were meeting on Saturday of last week, James was able to report that everything was intact.  The solar lights were not broken, everything came in just as it was shipped especially the jerky.  

Miss Vicki poses in front of some of the jerky packages 

James has now begun to distribute the jerky to many people in Kabala, the villages and in Freetown who are eagerly waiting its arrival.  

What a treat the jerky is....