April 9, 2013
Wayne, WV: The First Day of the Southern Lenten Retreat at Holy
Cross Monastery
On
Tuesday, April 9, the Southern Lenten Retreat of the Eastern
American Diocese and Patriarchal Parishes in the USA officially
began at
Holy Cross Monastery in Wayne, WV. Because of the increasing
popularity of Lenten clergy retreats and the large size of the
Diocese, it was decided to organize two retreats this year – one in
the North and one in the South. Over 100 clergy and matushkas
participated in the Northern retreat, and over 50 have gathered for
the Southern Retreat, participation in which was capped due only to
housing limitations.
The day began at 6:00 AM with the daily order of Lenten services,
followed by a light breakfast in the monastery refectory. A moleben
before the beginning of any good work was served by monastery dean
Hieromonk Alexander (Frizzell), followed by a welcoming address by
the First Hierarch of the Russian Church His Eminence Hilarion,
Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York. His Eminence noted:
"By
God’s grace, we have reached the second half of Great Lent, which is
a grace-filled, holy, and salutatory part of the Church year. This
past Sunday we brought out the Cross in order to strengthen us in
our struggles during Great Lent – struggles of repentance and
purification. The Cross reminds us to always be mindful of our
crucified Savior, and this is further reinforced by our gathering in
a monastic community, which is named in honor of the Holy Cross. I
am grateful to [diocesan vicar – ed.] Bishop George and the
brotherhood of this monastery for opening their doors to welcome us
who are in desperate need of repentance. I wish you all of God’s
blessings as we begin our Lenten retreat."
Participants were then welcomed by the monastery’s abbot – His Grace
George, Bishop of Mayfield.
The main speaker of the conference was Archimandrite Irenei
(Steenberg – Dean of Monastics for the Western American Diocese of
ROCOR), who delivered two lectures with valuable advice for clerics
on how to improve the spiritual health of their parishes. Fr. Irenei
is the author of several books, including his latest,
The Beginnings of a Life of
Prayer (available for sale on the Holy Cross website
here).
Afterwards followed a question-and-answer session with Fr. Irenei
and Fr. Seraphim (Voepel; the monastery’s deputy abbot) about the
sacrament of Holy Confession. The discussion drew the enthusiastic
involvement of all those in attendance, who posed dozens of
questions to the speakers regarding the many possible ways to
attract people to sincere repentance.
Prior to the beginning of evening services, a tour was offered of
the monastery grounds.
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