Monday, June 4, 2012

Monday, June 4, 2012

Breakfast was at 10:30 and prayers at 11:00. I don’t remember if we had quiet time or not. This is why I should journal the same day, but I like to go into so much detail that almost every day I was too tired! We left the Tabor Center a little after 12:00 and drove literally the exact same roads as the previous night. We were going to Korça, and in order to drive five hours to Korça the first hour was the exact same scary, imposing mountainous ride, right past the exit for the monastery. If I had known I would have inquired about staying at the monastery and meeting up with the group as they passed the exit. A lot of seminarians from Shen Vlash were staying there and I’m sure there were a few square meters on the floor for me to stretch out. Oh well.

After passing St. John Vladimir Monastery we went down to the town of Elbasan, through it and along the shore of Lake Ochrid. We stopped for “lunch” (at 5pm!) at a lakeside restaurant and ate outside over the water. It’s a big lake but it’s not huge. On the other side is the territory that you either call Macedonia or FYROM, depending on if you’re Macedonian or Greek. Usually there is a lot of mist on the lake but it was the clearest day that Nathan had ever seen. We were able to see the city of Ochrid on the other side, as well as the Monastery of St. Nahum, which Nathan told me has been converted into a spot for “religious tourism.” The Monastery of St. Nahum is where St. Nikolai Velimirovich wrote his famous and beautiful Prayers By the Lake. That is definitely somewhere I want to go because they have the relics of St. Nahum so if nothing else I want to see the church and venerate the relics.

We all ordered Koran, a fish with a very high reputation that only lives in Lake Ochrid. It was approximately 2000 lek per person for the entire meal, if I remember correctly (about $18). I had to pay Fr. Luke in dollars, though, with the $14 I had left, and run up a tab on him to pay him back the rest when I got it. The fish was very good! We also had nice wine and, of course, bread, and a lot of good appetizers. Oscar, being from Alaska, is very picky when it comes to cooked fish. He mainly likes salted or smoked. He had a few bites and was going to leave it. I ate most of his because I still had room and didn’t want it to not be eaten!

We finished “lunch” at 6:30 pm. They eat late in Albania but not that late! We had gotten a late start and eaten a late breakfast so by the time we got to “lunch” it was very late. Needless to say we didn’t need to eat dinner that day! I gathered up the leftover olive oil-spice toast from the table and asked for a bag to take it in. They wouldn’t be able to reuse it, and I knew that since it was an early dinner some of us might get hungry later, or in the morning before our hike. It came in handy on several occasions!

We got to Korça a bit later (I don’t remember the time), we hung out at the Metropolis for ten minutes while the professors met His Eminence. We then said goodbye to one professor and his wife, who were off to Thessaloniki, and we piled in the van again for a really, really bumpy ride up to the Monastery of the Nativity of the Forerunner outside the village of Voskopoja. The guard named Elias let us in, and a very annoying tick-tock alarm started going off, presumably because we had “invaded” the premises.

 

We went first into the very old, small and beautiful church. Fr. Luke went into the Altar and opened the Beautiful Gate. His Eminence entered, took off his kalimafi and knelt down in front of the Altar Table for a little while. It was very moving. We then went just outside the monastery complex for a campfire. His Eminence said so many things that night. Anthony told me afterwards that “that beat any camp campfire I’ve ever been to. He was divinely inspired” when His Eminence was saying what he was saying.

The Greek recorded the whole campfire which I want to listen to multiple times. Among other things His Eminence said were some of the following: 1) The monastic life should not be one of many choices. If it is one of many, don’t choose it. It’s not for you. Choose the monastic life when you have no other choice. 2) Truly serving God in whatever capacity is very difficult and entails much struggle, but it brings innumerable and unparalleled rewards and great joy. BUT, don’t serve God in order to have joy. Serve God to serve Him, and the joy will come to you.  3) Nowadays everyone complains. Especially in America, but all over, there is a culture of complaint. The demon of complaint never ceases. Someone has a car; he complains about the car. He has a house; he complains about the house. He has food; he complains about the food. The more people have the more they complain. We are never to complain – always to be grateful for whatever we have.

We talked for a very long time. Almost every time His Eminence said something I felt like he was addressing me personally. Afterwards when I asked someone else, he said he also felt the same way. He made eye contact with me quite a few times, and more than just briefly. I was several meters away from him, about 1/5 of the way around the fire. When we were about to leave and go to bed His Eminence concluded by saying that these accommodations are rustic, they are not the best, they are humble. The monastery isn’t completely finished being renovated. However, don’t complain. At least we have beds :) We went to bed around midnight.