In the past few weeks our online bookstore has experienced quite a burst of activity, akin to levels we normally see during the weeks before the feast of Christmas! For this we thank all who have purchased from us and supported us. However, as has been the case with most monasteries throughout the United States, we have closed our doors to both visitors as well as pilgrims for the time being, which means that our on-site bookstore has been receiving no foot traffic.

Nonetheless, there are still a good number of books and icons that are available, and we wanted to make them available to others as well. While our stock of each item is quite limited, we do have a fairly extensive collection of books and icons in stock. For those who are interested please feel free to EMAIL US and inquire after any book titles or icons we may have available, and we will see what we can do to facilitate your order if we do!

Please continue to pray to our Lord and Saviour for our small monastery, for one another, and for all those who are also experiencing these times of unrest and unease.

With the arrival of the understandable and necessary strictures put in place throughout much of the world and in our corner of it as well we have had to close the monastery down to visitors and guests for a while. However, we are still conducting our coffee business and our online store continues to operate as usual. Furthermore, we have a few new items available (once again, in limited supply) for purchase as well!

One of these items we are making available as a trial run is Beard Oil. Originally this was inspired by some young pilgrims to the monastery some months ago who liked the handmade scents we use in our soaps, and asked if we could offer it mixed with a traditional beard oil recipe. Here is our attempt!

Also, we have two new soaps we are pleased to make available – now more than ever washing one’s hands with soap and hot water is important! We have Lilac soap and White Magnolia now available.The lilac soap is a pastel lilac in color, and very authentic and rich in scent. It is a rich luxurious soap, with avocado oil and shea butter added for a rich and conditioning feel along with our usual trinity of oils: Olive, palm and coconut. It is handmade in small batches. Our white magnolia soap is a pure white with yellow mica swirls on top, it is extremely popular for it’s complex floral scent: notes of magnolia, lily of the valley, freesia, grapefruit, and plum. Made with our luxuriously conditioning combo of avocado oil and shea butter added to our usual trinity of oils: Olive, palm and coconut. It is handmade in small batches.

The city of Seattle and the Puget Sound area still remain one of the hot-spots of the covid-19 virus, though, and we feel that traveling to this area (or any other hotbed of cases of infection) should only be undertaken in great need. This especially applies for children (who are easily infected), the immuno-compromised, and the elderly (who are more likely to suffer from serious illness or worse).

For the moment we have decided to close the gates of the monastery to visitors for a short time, until further notice.

With this in mind, while on the one hand we will still close the gates to visitors in general, on the other we will still be available for people with pastoral needs, and we can be contacted about these. We will also be available to meet up on a case by case basis, as is needed.

Furthermore, we will still conduct our coffee business and our online store will continue to operate as usual.

Of course, if, God forbid, any of the monastics should contract the virus the monastery will be quarantined as a whole, and closed off to anyone else.

We ask for everyone’s continued prayers during these trying times for all, and remind everyone that while it is normal and right to take reasonable precautions in accord with one’s personal circumstances, it is equally important in such times of trial to live in accordance with the Gospel commandments and make oneself and one’s Saviour available to others. We are all in need of the Saviour, and sometimes God permits difficult times like this to draw both our and others’ attention to the “one thing needful”.

The icon of St. Paisios of Mt. Athos that was made available a few months ago sold out in a flash! So we have prepared another handful of icons by the same iconographer (John Swenson) to offer to those who are interested just in time for the Great Fast!

These icons are also available for a limited time and in very limited quantities.

They include an icon of the “Nevskaya Quick to Hear” Mother of God, an icon of St. John Maximovitch of Shanghai and San Francisco and an icon of the Hieromonk Seraphim Rose (of Platina) – the latter being one of the most requested of John’s icons to be made available.

These icons, as before with the icon of St. Paisios of Mt. Athos, have as their dimensions 5 x 6.25 inches, and are “desktop” icons, meaning they have a stand on the back of the icon that allows it to be propped up on a desk, table or similar surfaces.

Once again, there are very limited quantities available!