¹36 (199) August, 2005

THE ISLAND OF DIVINE LOVE
The Jordanville Paterikon

Inok Vsevolod (Filipiev)



1. The Path from the Monastery to the Cemetery

One of our monastery brethren, an old Jew who had endured sufferings from his kindred for confessing Christ, once told me that when he had come to Jordanville for the first time he became aware that love was all around there. Orthodox monasteries are indeed islands of Divine love. The fathers who first founded Jordanville in 1929, Archimandrite Panteleimon and Archimandrite Joseph, loved this area, which was still deserted then; and all those who for the sake of Christ have practiced asceticism in Jordanville after them shared that love. That breath of love can still be felt there today…
Some monastery churches resemble fortresses; some look like old Russian palaces; our Jordanville church resembles a ship. The elegantly elongated domes are similar to the masts of a ship, the high porch and the steep staircase - to a ship's ladder. It often seems that the ship will set off as soon as the sailors, that is the parishioners, will walk in. The church will be lifted off from this sinful earth and sail into the heavens.
No, the church building is motionless. And praise to God for that, since the church stands on American soil, which is in desperate need of Orthodox churches. May our church stand fast, like the stronghold of Orthodoxy; may suffering souls find solace in Christ within its walls, so that it is not so much the church itself, but the human souls that will soar upward, to the spiritual heavens…
Jordanville is unquestionably a miracle and a blessing of God to the American soil. Why is it a miracle? Well, at least one of the reasons is that dozens of people discovered Russia there. They touched upon the mystery of Holy Russia; they became aware that they were Russian Orthodox Christians. If truth be told, if you come to America, go to Jordanville straight from the airport, and, once there, spend at least one week there without leaving it, then you will get the impression that you are not in America, but still in Russia. Moreover, not in modern Russia, but in the old pre-Revolutionary Mother Russia…


Holy Trinity Monastery's brotherhood and seminarians, 1997

Let us now take a walk around the monastery grounds. The brothers' favorite route is the path from the monastery to the cemetery. There is a deep symbolism in that, since our life is nothing more than a path to the cemetery. No matter who we are, no matter where life takes us, all the same, the earthly wanderings of our body will end in the cemetery. These words may sound gloomy. Yet our monastery cemetery does not leave a gloomy impression. Let us then take a stroll along the road from the monastery to the cemetery.
We step out of the monastery. Archangel Michael himself is seeing us off. It is one of the last frescos of Archimandrite Cyprian, the founder of the Jordanville iconography school. The fresco represents the miracle of Archangel Michael in Honi. The fresco may be seen on the corner of the monastery building. The following caption would be appropriate beneath it, "If you come to us with peace, may an Angel welcome you. If you set out forth to do good, may an Angel help you on your way."
The Archangel stands there as if he were guarding the monastery, as if he were alive. I became deeply aware of it for the first time when father Cyprian who had been strolling around the monastery said to me, "Look, here stands an Angel." I was really taken aback. I looked around, yet I could not see anyone. Father Cyprian said, "Though the Angel is invisible, he is real." I pondered these words for a long time; then, finally it came to me, Father Cyprian was attracting my attention to the fresco of Archangel Michael; the Archangel was living, he was real to him, and I had not guessed it…
Well, let us walk on. We leave behind the seminary dormitory, which is comfortably located amidst greenery. The road leads uphill. On its sides, there are pines, behind them lie the monastery fields. There, on the left, behind the trees we see the apery.

To be continued.

(Translated from Russian by M. Nekipelov)

  



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