In Orthodox understanding, Great Lent is called the “spring of the soul.”  So once again, our All-Merciful Lord has granted us to arrive at this soul-saving time of the Church year.  With the passing of the first week, the monastery-seminary community has whole-heartedly turned its heart over to this special time of repentance and fasting with prayer.

This year, the feast of the Meeting of the Lord was special in that it was the first festal, pontifical liturgy served by His Grace, the newly consecrated Bishop Luke, abbot of our monastery.  Concelebrating with him were the monastery and seminary clergy.

On February 12, 2019, the seminary feast of the Three Hierarchs, a wondrous and historic event took place in the life of the monastery.  Our beloved abbot, Archimandrite Luke was consecrated to the episcopacy. Having been elected our abbot in May of 2008 to succeed the ever-memorable Metropolitan Laurus, the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, in their December 2018 session, elected Fr. Luke to become Bishop of Syracuse.  He will continue to be the abbot of the Holy Trinity Monastery as well as rector of the Holy Trinity Seminary.

The feast of the Theophany of the Lord is in many ways a twin of the feast of the Nativity.  Originally it was all one feast, the Theophany, with the emphasis put on the appearance of the Lord to the world for His ministry.  Only later did the feast split into two as it were, in order to combat the pagan feast of the winter solstice.