Today our brotherhood celebrates the Patronal Feast of our monastery. Thirty-three years ago the beloved and ever memorable Archimandrite Dimitri (Egoroff) of Santa Rosa, CA tonsured Father Paul and me as Orthodox monks, having embraced Orthodoxy after many years as monks in the Eastern Catholic Church. Guided and inspired by Father Dimitri’s kind and prayerful spirit, and a wisdom and holiness gained through his many years of monastic struggle, our brotherhood was planted on the firm ground of the Russian monastic tradition.

It was thirty-three years ago we chose to place ourselves under the banner of the All-Merciful Saviour, and the protection of the Holy Virgin. We chose Saint John the Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco, as our patron, seeing in him the sanctity, simplicity, and holiness that we’d found in our blessed Father Dimitry of Santa Rosa, California.

It was thirty-three years ago that All-Merciful Saviour Monastery was founded, and thirty-one years ago that, after a six month search, we moved the monastery from a working class neighborhood in Richmond, CA., to Vashon Island, with the blessing of our bishop.

It has been a journey filled with poverty, suffering, and persecution, yet because of these experiences, the monastery has risen like a phoenix. Planted like a garden in the midst of a beautiful forest, on an island, in the Salish Sea of the Puget Sound region of the State of Washington, we look in wonder at all God has given us.

For all this we offer our heartfelt thanks, and “to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen (I Timothy 1:17).”

The actual Feast Day of the monastery was this past Wednesday, but because I was in Alaska, we chose to commute the celebration to Saturday, August 17th. To our friends and benefactors, we want you to know how grateful we are for your financial and prayerful support.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/…/2…/08/our-patronal-feast-3/

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