Dear Friends,
I would like to congratulate you on this day of the Feast of St Silouan, our patron saint. To have a patron saint, whether personal or collective, is not a formality. Certainly they watch over us and pray for us, and if we will take the trouble to pray and develop a relationship with them, blessings will follow. I feel strongly that the establishment and development of our community over the last five years owe a lot to the intercession of St Silouan. As we contemplate his icon, his gentle gaze seems to draw us away from sinful passions and from all purely earthly preoccupations and encourage us to focus on the one thing needful, to know Christ in the Holy Spirit.
Our parish was represented at the celebrations at the Monastery of St John the Baptist today by a small delegation. You were all prayed for at the moleben to St Silouan. We are grateful for the generous hospitality of the monastic community.
I would like to do what we can in honour of our patronal festival by singing the Akathist to St Silouan after Vespers on Sat. Oct 3rd, so please come if you can. Meanwhile, if you would like to read it yourself, you can find it here in English, and here in Slavonic.
May God bless you all,
Fr Joseph