Reader Moses begins his life as a novice at Holy Cross Monastery

On January 19 – the feast of the Theophany of Christ according to the Julian calendar – our devoted brother in Christ, Reader Moses (Timothy) Traver, was blessed to begin his life as a novice at the monastery of the Holy Cross in Wayne, West Virginia. He will now labor there for a period of years before, if God wills it, being tonsured into the first rank of the monastic life, that of the ‘riassophore’.

Reader Moses was an integral part of our community, and he will be sorely missed. At the same time, we are reassured that: from within our parish family, God is working to call up monastic vocations; that Reader Moses is now fulfilling the plan God has set for him; and that he will now be praying constantly for us and for the whole world.

Prior to his departure, he spoke with Fr. John about his time in our parish community. This interview is included below.

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Christ is baptized! In the Jordan!

We greet you with great joy on the feast of Holy Theophany, the feast of Christ’s baptism, and the revelation of his divinity, as encapsulated in the troparion for the feast: “When You, O Lord were baptized in the Jordan / The worship of the Trinity was made manifest / For the voice of the Father bore witness to You / And called You His beloved Son. / And the Spirit, in the form of a dove, / Confirmed the truthfulness of His word. / O Christ, our God, You have revealed Yourself / And have enlightened the world, glory to You!”

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Services for the Nativity of Christ

Prepare, O Bethlehem, for Eden has been opened to all! Adorn yourself, O Ephratha, for the tree of life blossoms forth from the Virgin in the cave! Her womb is a spiritual paradise planted with the Divine Fruit: If we eat of it, we shall live forever and not die like Adam. Christ comes to restore the image which He made in the beginning!

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