Brotherhood Celebrates Feast of the Port Arthur Icon & Clothing of a New Novice

On Sunday, May 26 the brotherhood of Holy Cross Monastery celebrated the Feast of the Port Arthur Icon of the Triumph of the Theotokos, the monastery’s patronal icon of the Mother of God.

The Theotokos has given much grace and bestowed many blessings on the brotherhood since the arrival of her Port Arthur Icon to the monastery in 2008. Prior to the icon's arrival, Holy Cross had remained small, lacked basic infrastructure, and in general had experienced many trials and temptations after moving to West Virginia in 2000. But as soon as the the Mother of God came, everything began to change. Bishop George, the brotherhood's long-time spiritual father, took up residence at Holy Cross following his episcopal consecration, and the number of pilgrims and visitors began to grow substantially. Permanent infrastructure and buildings rapidly began to be put into place.

As the crown jewel of this period of the monastery's growth, a magnificent new temple is now being built to accommodate all those who come seeking refuge under the protecting veil of the Heavenly Queen. The continued expansion of the brotherhood reflects this reality: at the end of the Vigil for the feast, another new novice was received into the community when Br. John was clothed in a cassock and given a blessing to begin his monastic life.

Following the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy on the day of the feast, Archimandrite Seraphim blessed for a festive moleben (supplicatory prayer service) to be served before the Holy Icon, with the brotherhood commemorating by name all those who have donated toward the construction of the new church. Truly, these benefactors can rightly be considered co-laborers with the Mother of God as she blesses and protects this humble little American monastery in the hills of West Virginia.

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