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Serbian Monastery Trip 2009 |
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News -
Church
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What would be
more enjoyable on a 43°C day than sitting at home under the air
conditioner or going to the beach? How about a trip to the Serbian
Orthodox Monastery, located in the small town of Elaine between Geelong
and Ballarat? On Saturday 7th February, Father Jean and about 45
parishioners of all ages departed St George at 7.45am to visit the
Serbian Orthodox Monastery. Although a pit-stop for some water
(and manoush) was required to keep some of the parishioners awake.
We arrived around 10.00am and were immediately impressed by the sheer
size of the land (approx. 780 acres). Our first stop was the Monastery
church, named after Saint Olympius,where we attended liturgy. The
Deacon and Bishop were kind enough to incorporate a bit of English to
the Divine Liturgy so that we could follow. After the blessing, the
Deacon gave us a tour of the first church built on the Monastery, which
had seen four Bishops reside there from the 1970’s. We also saw the
Monastery’s expansion plans which included a museum, library,
apartments for visitors and an olive grove. The Deacon also pointed out
where they made candles, which was the Monastery’s main source of
income. We then had morning tea at the Monastery hall, where we openly
discussed the Monastery and the Orthodox religion with Bishop Nicolai,
Deacon and our Fr Jean. Overall it was a very enjoyable an deducational
day, finished off by lunch at a Werribee restaurant, and of course a
sing along on the bus ride home.
Hamid Diab.
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