On Monday August 19 Holy Trinity Monastery celebrated the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord. Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada led the services and ordained Deacon Matthew Penney to the Priesthood. Fr Matthew Penney is a native of Saint John, New Brunswick, on Canada's east coast. He and his Matushka, Catherine, were baptized into holy Orthodoxy from a background in Roman Catholicism and traditional Anglicanism in 2006. Fr Matthew and Matushka broadened their experience of Orthodoxy while teaching for the next two years in South Korea, worshiping regularly in Korean, Slavonic, and Greek. In 2009, they followed his recently converted sister and brother-in-law to study dogmatic theology at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. On July 4/17th of 2012, Fr Matthew was ordained to the sacred Diaconate by His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada at Holy Trinity monastery in Jordanville, New York. He returned to Thessaloniki for a final year to finish his Master's degree and to serve as a deacon at the church of Ypapanti and St. Anthony's. In June 2013, he completed his Master's degree in dogmatic theology, defending his thesis: "Academic Theology according to Archimandrite Sophrony of Essex", while Matushka Catherine will complete hers in October of 2013. Father Matthew and Matushka will, with God's help, be beginning a mission in Canada's Maritimes dedicated to our Holy Father among the Saints, Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki. Contact Info: father.matthew.p@gmail.com