June 25, 2012 East Setauket, NY: Elder
Pavlos of Mt. Sinai visited the Brotherhood of the Holy Cross
On
Tuesday, June 19, the
Brotherhood of the Holy Cross in East Setauket, NY welcomed
Elder Pavlos from St. Katherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai, Egypt.
The evening began with Vespers, led by monastery abbot Archimandrite
Maximos (Weimar), followed by a talk in the monastery hall. Elder
Pavlos spoke on the topic of the asceticism of non-judgment. He
exhorted everyone to "take great care" in refraining from judging
their brethren. He said that learning non-judgment would help us all
on our spiritual path. Then the Elder described life at St
Katherine’s, its extremely harsh conditions and the deep affection
that the local Bedouin people have for the monastery. Afterwards,
Elder Pavlos answered many questions posed to him by the people
attending the talk. Assisting the Elder with translation were
several Greek-speaking members of the community. Many people asked
for the Elder’s prayers and gave him long lists of names to take
with him.
After the talk, all stayed to partake in an agape meal, abundantly
supplied by the sisters of the community.
