Let us go early to the vineyards, and see if the vines are in bloom, If the buds have opened, if the pomegranates have blossomed; There will I give you my love.

Song of Songs 7:13

Fruits of Our Monastic Garden Christ the Bridegroom Monastery

Burton, Ohio

T his summer, July 6-18, we were given the great blessing to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land—the place our Bridegroom lived, died and resurrected. A generous benefactor sponsored our trip with the Melkite Eparchy of Newton’s Jubilee Pilgrimage. It was a special gift to journey and pray with a Byzantine Catholic group, singing the troparia (hymns) of the feasts of our Church in the place they happened and hearing the Gospel proclaimed. Fr. Sebastian Carnazzo led us in Bible studies, and Bishop Nicholas Samra shared wisdom and stories. Throughout Galilee, Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, we walked in Jesus’ footsteps, waded (or swam) in the

In the Homeland of the Summer/Fall 2017 Volume 7 Issue 2

A pomegranate tree near the Sea

of Galilee

water upon which He walked, prayed in the cave where He went to pray in solitude to the Father, venerated the place where He was crucified, and sang “Christ is Risen” inside the very tomb where He resurrected. Hearing and reading the Gospel will never be the same for us, because in our memory we can experience, with all of our senses, the places where all of the events of Christ’s life occurred. But by the end, we learned in various ways that what is more important than being in the place where Jesus lived is that He lives in us. We hope you enjoy these reflections from our pilgrimage. We have also shared others, and will continue to do so, on our blog.

Bridegroom

Living at the Wall

providential crossing-of-paths took place in Rome in April 2014 as we were on pilgrimage for the canonizations of St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII. Outside the church of St. Peter in Chains, we met two nuns who “looked like us.” We learned that these Melkite Catholic nuns were on pilgrimage in thanksgiving to St. John Paul II for answering their monastery’s prayer for vocations. The nuns were from Emmanuel Monastery in Bethlehem, and they invited us to visit them if we were ever in the Holy Land. When we received the opportunity to make a pilgrimage this year, we excitedly contacted the nuns and planned a visit. On a Saturday evening while we were staying in Jerusalem, we hired a driver to take us to Bethlehem to visit the monastery. Bethlehem is only a few miles from

Jerusalem, but it is on the opposite side of the wall separating Israel and Palestine. The nuns live right by the wall. I loved the monastery. I was attracted to everything about it. The nuns showed us their beautiful, terraced gardens with olive trees, grape vines, peach trees and more. The view of the surrounding land and mountains is gorgeous. There is a small cave on the property where a hermit used to live. She spent her days in prayer and lived on a very small amount of bread and oil. We joined the nuns for Great Vespers in their beautiful chapel, covered with fresco-style icons. It was the first time I had ever sung in French (well, attempted to sing in French). The singing was heavenly. I cried. Then the nuns took us to the refectory and provided refreshments, including fruits of their garden. We learned a little about their history and life and shared about ourselves. Before we departed, a few of us walked over to the separation wall where the nuns had commissioned a mural with an icon of the Mother of God. Part of the nuns’ mural had been defaced by graffiti, but not the icon. One of the nuns explained that the Christians, Muslims and Jews all respect the Mother of God and will not hurt the icon. People of different religions come to pray by the icon on the wall. The nuns wrote a prayer, “To Our Lady Who Brings Down Walls,” and we put our hands on the icon and prayed the prayer out loud. I couldn’t make it through the prayer; I wept instead. I felt the pain of the nuns and of the people who live near the wall and experience the agony of division and violence. I also felt hope in crying out to the Mother of God. That night we were signed up to be “locked in” the Church of the Resurrection overnight. Thirty people are allowed to do this each night—15 Catholics and 15 Orthodox. This church includes both the place of the crucifixion and the tomb where Christ was buried and resurrected. When we arrived inside the church shortly before it was locked at 9:00 p.m., we were instructed to gather near the door and to check in. Near the door is the anointing stone—the stone on which Christ’s body was laid before He was buried. The

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“To suffer and to be happy although suffering…to walk on the dirty and rough paths of this earth and yet to be enthroned with Christ at the Father’s right hand: …this is the life of the Christian until the morning of eternity breaks forth” (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross).

By Mother Cecilia

Orthodox lined up on one side of the anointing stone and the Catholics on the other. Being in the Catholic Communion, we checked in on the Catholic side, but were questioned, since we live the Eastern tradition and therefore look Orthodox. My heart broke at the sight of all of this. I didn’t want to be on one side of the anointing stone or the other. I didn’t want this division. I felt that as Eastern Catholics, we were, in spirit, standing in between the two lines of people; we were standing by the invisible wall that rose up between the two groups. I could hardly bear the pain in my heart while we waited for the door to be locked. This was one of several experiences in the Church of the Resurrection in which I painfully felt the division in the Church. The very place where Christ died for our sins and brought about our salvation was the place where I felt the most division. When we were free to go off and pray silently in the church, most of the people headed to the tomb, but I walked up the steps to the place of the crucifixion. I sat there for a long time, just letting myself feel the pain, uniting it to Jesus’ pain on the cross. I offered myself to Him for the healing of this division. I remembered the nuns we had visited only a few hours before, and I thought about their life at the wall. I now understood that I was so attracted to their monastery because my

vocation is very similar: to live a life of prayer and sacrifice at the wall of division. This, it seems to me, is part of the vocation of every Eastern Catholic. Emmanuel Monastery is not only a monastery beside a wall, but it is also a beautiful garden where all are welcome and embraced. At Christ the Bridegroom Monastery, we have also been given the grace to embrace all who come, and even to witness at our table the coming together of Orthodox, Roman Catholics and Eastern Catholics, all enjoying a meal together. In St. John Paul II’s apostolic letter Orientale Lumen (Light of the East), he wrote, “The strong common traits uniting the monastic experience of the East and the West make it a wonderful bridge of fellowship, where unity as it is lived shines even more brightly than may appear in the dialogue between the Churches (9).” May we each ask God to purify and cultivate our hearts, that they may become luscious gardens where all may be embraced and walk with Him, and with each other, in unity and love.

Prayer to Our Lady Who Brings Down Walls

Most Holy Mother of God, we pray to you as mother of the Church, mother of all Christians who suffer. We beg you, through your ardent intercession, to bring down this wall, the walls of our hearts, and all the walls that generate hatred, violence, fear, and indifference between people and between nations. You who crushed the ancient Serpent by your Fiat, gather and unite us under your virginal cloak, protect us from all evil and open forever in our lives the gate of Hope. Bring to birth in us and in our world the civilization of Love that sprang forth from the Cross and Resurrection of your divine Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever. Amen.

Icon of the Mother of the Church (Rev 12),

on the separation wall between Bethlehem

and Jerusalem

bus pass by below and said, "We have to leave now!" "WAIT!"…I thought..."I want to go in!" Seeing the dismay and reluctance on my face, she reassured me that there would be other opportunities to return. We had to catch up with the rest of the group. The next morning I was overjoyed to visit the cave with another small group, led by Fr. Sebastian. I can't explain the attraction, but my heart ached to be there alone, and I asked if I could remain behind. I felt no fear in the solitude and delighted in a sense of familiarity even though I had never been there before. For a moment it seemed surreal—this gift to rest quietly in prayer in the same cave where Jesus sought solitude for Himself and His disciples. I was very aware of my being, my senses, breathing the air and absorbing the grace of the moment. As I prayed, filled with awe, a momentary thought of skepticism arose (a flaw in my character with which I often struggle), so I asked Jesus if the cave was authentic. He immediately spoke to my heart and gently

responded, "My love for you is authentic." I smiled and nodded my head in silence, and with a grateful heart I regained the reality of His loving presence and allowed Him to find rest with me in the cave. At one point, I looked out—speechless at the panoramic beauty from within the cave overlooking the Sea of Galilee. I wondered and imagined how often Jesus saw this same view. I recalled the various passages of Sacred Scripture, Matthew

By Mother Theodora ome aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while" (Mk 9:31). Throughout the Gospels, Jesus sought solitude to find rest and be one with His Father. He invited and taught His disciples to get away from the distractions and demands of the crowds and find solace and refreshment in prayerful solitude. Today, Jesus continues to invite us to get away from the crowds, the demands of productivity and the myriad of distractions that consume our thoughts. He encourages us to seek Him and allow Him to rest in the silence of our hearts, to experience His peace and the refreshment for which our hearts yearn. While in the region of Galilee, I walked down the Mount of Beatitudes with a handful of pilgrims who decided not to take the bus to the next site. As we neared the end of the mountainous trek, we came upon a cave that intrigued me, but I didn't know why. Our leader, Monica, informed me that it was the only cave in the area and that it was the place where Jesus often sought solitude. As she spoke, she saw the

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Come & Rest a While

The view from inside the cave

in particular, when Jesus, after feeding the five thousand, sent his disciples out on a boat before Him while He dismissed the crowd, then went up on the mountain by Himself to pray (Mt 14:22-33). I imagined Him, watching His disciples at night from the cave, struggling in the boat amidst the storm. He walks down the mountain, onto the shore, and walks undisturbed on the waves to the boat filled with water and fearful men. After His encounter with Peter on the water, He enters the boat, and as Master of all Creation, calms the storm. It was time for me to go, but I did not want to leave the cave and the encounter and beauty I experienced, but I had to return to the hotel so as not to miss the bus. Though I am back home, I revisit and enjoy the cave in Galilee, not only through the remembrance in pictures, but especially in the silent cave of my heart where I encounter my Bridegroom's loving presence in the prayerful solitude.

The deserted place and the gift to which solitude and prayer gives birth, is extolled by St. John Cassian in his second conference of Abbot Isaac:

"If we too wish to approach God with a pure and spotless affection of heart, we should also retire from all the disturbance and confusion of crowds, so that while still living in the body we may manage in some degree to adapt ourselves to some likeness of

Mother Cecilia gave a talk for women, titled, “Two Marys at the Feet of Jesus,” at St. Mary Catholic Church in Hudson, Ohio.

The kindergarten class from St. Helen school in Newbury, Ohio, visited the monastery for a tour, questions and answers, prayer and lunch.

Mother Gabriella spoke on the topic of “Living the Virtue of Generosity” on a panel at a YCP (Young Catholic Professionals) event in Cleveland.

A group of young women from the Northeast Ohio area spent a day at our monastery during their “nun run.”

Sr. Iliana gave a talk at Theology on Tap, in Cleveland Heights, on God’s providence in her life.

A moms group from the Cleveland area enjoyed a morning at the monastery with their kids.

that bliss which is promised hereafter to the saints, and that 'God may be' to us 'all in all' (1 Cor 15:23)...when God will be all our love, and every desire and wish and effort, every thought of ours, and all our life and words and breath, and that unity which already exists between the Father and the Son has been shed abroad in our hearts and minds, so that we also may be joined to Him by a lasting and inseparable affection...to possess even in the body an image of future bliss, and that we may begin in this world to have a foretaste...of that celestial life and glory until the whole life and all thoughts of the heart become one continuous prayer."

The cave of life-giving solitude resides in your heart. May you listen and respond to Jesus' invitation to come often to that place of solitude and rest a while with Him, basking in His life-giving love, joy and peace that He graciously and untiringly offers.

Two Empty Tombs By Sr. Iliana uring our trip to the Holy Land we visited the Synagogue Church in Nazareth. It is built on the foundation of the synagogue in which Jesus states that He is the fulfillment of the Scriptures (Luke 4:16-21). This synagogue is now a Melkite Church, and we had the great privilege of celebrating the Divine Liturgy there. I glanced up at the clergy just before the consecration of the Eucharist and heard these words in my heart: “Calvary is here.” I had been so overwhelmed during the pilgrimage at being able to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, yet in an instant I understood that Jesus is even more

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present to me when I receive the Eucharist than He was in this Synagogue 2,000 years before! When I returned to the monastery, the Annunciation would be there, the Transfiguration would be there, my resurrected Lord would be there for me to worship, adore, and consume. He unites Himself to me and makes His home in me. Earlier that day, as we walked through Nazareth, I kept asking our guide at the

different sites, “But where did Jesus live? In Mary’s house? In Joseph’s house?” The guide replied, “In Nazareth.” During Liturgy I finally understood: Nazareth, His home, was actually my heart. As the pilgrimage continued, I became aware of a great desire within me to enter the tomb of His resurrection. We had made arrangements to spend the night at the Church of the Resurrection, and I greatly desired to remain within the tomb for a long time to pray. Yet once we arrived, it became apparent that it would be more difficult to enter the tomb than I had expected, and the time I was allowed inside was very short. I was disappointed, yet God was not constrained by time limits, and when I closed my eyes to pray I heard these words: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, He is living in your heart.” I found that I desired what I already had—I did not need to be in the tomb to be in His presence, He was alive within me. On the last day of the pilgrimage, we visited Mary’s tomb. I again found myself having a great desire to remain in the tomb to pray. I was there for only 30 seconds, however, before a monk came and drove me away and chastised me for lingering. In the few moments I had been there, I felt as though I was in Mary’s heart. Yet after the monk drove me away, I found that he had not. How can I be driven away from the heart of my Mother? Then I smiled, and my smile was genuine, because I knew that I was alive at this moment in the heart of my Mother. As I sat there, I realized that we had seen here two empty tombs. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living!

Mother Theodora in the tomb of the Mother of God

Entering the tomb of Christ

A record number of teen girls (30) traveled from seven different states (Arizona, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia) for Girls Camp, June 22-26, sponsored by the Eparchy of Parma Office of Vocations. Our theme this year was "He must increase, I must decrease" (Jn 3:30).

A visit from the kindergarten class of St. Helen School, Newbury, Ohio

A visit from Fr. Abel and Fr. Csaba of Mariapoch, Hungary, who brought a replica icon to the shrine

Spring work day

“Nun obstacle course!”

Below: Trip to Fr. Cyril Pinchak’s ordination in Parma

Enjoy more photos and reflections on our blog

Bible study near the birthplace of St. John the Baptist

Confession in the Sea of Galilee

Boat ride on the Sea of Galilee

Venerating the miraculous icon before

which St. Mary of Egypt prayed

St. Joseph’s cave

Bethlehem

Christ the Bridegroom Monastery

17485 Mumford Road

Burton, OH 44021

440-834-0290

christthebridegroom@gmail.com

www.christthebridegroom.org

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PERMIT NO. 498

“The world needs you every bit as much as a sailor on the high seas needs a beacon to guide him to a safe haven. Be beacons to those near to you and, above all, to those far away. Be to guide men and women along their journey through the dark night of time.”

—Pope Francis Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei Quaerere

on Women’s Contemplative Life

torches Draw me in your footsteps

You’re invited to the “Bridegroom’s Banquet” on Saturday, November 11, at St. Joseph Byzantine Catholic Church in Brecksville, Ohio. There is no cost to attend the dinner, but registration is required (by October 30,

on our website). Adults 21 and older may attend. Enjoy a buffet dinner, improv comedy (similar to the show "Whose Line is it Anyway?") by Fr. Ryan Mann (St. Charles Borromeo, Parma) and Fr. Jacob Bearer (St. Francis de Sales, Akron) and an evening with us and our guests. Learn more about us and our life of prayer and hospitality. Donations, up to a total of $75,000, will be doubled by matching donors!

Song of Songs 1:4

The Southern Steps of the Temple, upon which Jesus walked

Your donation will still be doubled! Just mark “Bridegroom’s Banquet” on your donation and send it in before the event. Thank you!