We have all heard of issues being either black or white.  Frankly I have been in many discussion during the thirty years of my priesthood which make me feel that most issues are usually gray in color.  This travel blog however is about two colors one black and the other green.  You will meet the Abott of the Holy Transfiguration Monastary the V. Rev. Archimandrite Spyridon who is always in black wearing the traditional black monastic garb but you will also see the color green at this Monastic community which he leads.  Green in the sense of an environmentally self contained community that should be the envy of all.

Cameron Thorp our official photographer and I spent two full days with the Abbot, the second monk in an administrative ladder who is Fr. Ieronymos  and the rest of the faithful dedicated monks of this monastic community based on the teachings of St. Basil and have captured some incredible audio interviews as well as outstanding photographs for you to hear and see.

Of course those of you who are regular visitors to our site have witnessed numerous Travel Blogs of OCN this year and we encourage you to join us on our trips as we share with you the best of Orthodox Christianity around the world.  You are going to be seeing more and more of these types of programs with different correspondents.

The first part of this interview is with Fr. Spryidon who speaks about monasticism, the founding of the monastery and its daily operations.  From my point of you I witnessed a city unto itself.  The monastery is completely self-sufficient being able to create its own water from thin air, food from their garden and dairy products and meat from the animals they keep and the use of solar energy to cook the food they consume.  Yes, the monks tend to the needs of the animals and work hard day and night. Usually on the weekends after their work is complete they go into the neighboring villages and minister to the faithful as preachers, confessors, instructors of the faith and for some time serving the elderly in an Adult Assistance Center for the indigent.  The last being in the words of Fr. Spyridon a true miracle to witness.

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Opening Comments and welcome by Fr. Spyridon the Abbott.

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Introduction to the work areas of the monastary

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The Life of a Monk

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 Fr. Irenaos explains the work of an iconographer

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 The Holy Relics Explained

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Solar Cooking

From here we proceeded to go down several flights of stairs to witness the fishing growing which was taking place in a room filled with large blue tanks.  You will hear me speak in the next audio interview with Fr. Palamas who is in charge of this vital area of the monastery.   Who ever heard of growing fish but that is exactly what the monks do.  Please realize that on the mountain this monastery is built there is no sea water so the monks have developed a system to cleanse and reuse the water over and over again to grow the fish.  Fr. Spyridon gave me a good lesson on the elaborate filtration system utilized likening it to the water systems of the sea.  A remarkable and very impressive production.

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Raising fish

A large radio station and media production center also exists in the monastery and we were privileged to meet Fr. Nicodemus who spoke to us about the purpose of the stations and why he felt it was so important for the church to participate in this type of evangelism.  Our listeners can expect a new international effort of evangelism from OCN in the fall with the radio programs from the monastic communities leading the way.  The studio is incredible and compared to many in the America it is state of the art.  They can produce audio programs, edit them, add special affects and music.  Their radio program streams on the Internet.

Well I believe it is time to say good by from this sacred place.  Our lives have been enriched and our faith strengthened by yet another pilgrimage, another Travel Blog of OCN.  Stay tuned for future coverage.  May our Lord strengthen Fr. Spyridon and all monastics who rightly hold to word of the truth.

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Final Words

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Fr. Spyridon shares some final comments with Father Chris and also reviews the Conference Facility at the monastary

Comments (5)

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downloading
written by Jack Liu, August 28, 2010

I love these recordings! Could you tell me how I can download them onto my iPod? Thank you very much

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download
written by Jack Liu, August 28, 2010

I love these recordings. Is there any way I can download them on my computer? Thanks!

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Unable to play any of these
written by heather stubbs, September 04, 2010

I'm blind, and I need Tagged labels or "buttons", so my screen reader can play these interviews. Even if they were "linked", I still need these buttons in order to listen to them, because my screen reader isn't able to interpret graphic symbols. This is an ongoing problem I'm having with myocn podcasts, and I'm getting quite annoyed with this situation. I would really appreciate it if this could be addressed with all nogoing and future podcasts, as there are other blind listeners of this network, and we've been addressing these concerns for the last few years. Please call me at (770) 908-9316 if you have any questions. Thank you very much. PS: Josh Lambert has also addressed this situation in the past, and he's come to the conclusion that it's no use contacting you anymore. I really hope you'll make this a top priority, because as you add more programming to these incredibly invaluable podcasts, we'll want to listen. Thank you so much. Heather

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Followup
written by heather stubbs, September 04, 2010

This is a followup to the last letter I wrote you concerning the ability of the blind to play this and other podcastts. Or should it be the inability to play? I've encountered this problem several times with myocn.net and asked that all future programs be formatted with "buttons" for blind people to use, since we can't use the mouse or locate the graphics with our screen readers or Braille displays. I believe having mentioned how important it was to include "Buttons", (links don't always work), and I get the impression that this request goes out the window whenever someone replaces the last web designer or administrator. Even my God Son, Josh Lambert feels it's no use continuing to contact you about this ongoing situation, and I can't help but agree with him but for one very real and vital reason: there are many blind people worldwide who listen to "Come Receive the Light" who would also like to have full access to this web site and many others. More and more web sites have become inaccessible for this reason, and it's unacceptable! Many of us can't hold down careers as a result of this, and I know Adobe Systems doesn't automatically make their Flash technology accessible. There are other players we can use to "listen" to these many audios and videos if only you would help us make use of them. I can do this with all your radio stations, so why do I and probably others have to keep contacting you about this situation? I'm very frustrated, and the only reason I keep bringing it up is for the benefit of the doubt. I'm writing you to hopefully make it clear that this problemisn't going to go away without your vigilance, or better yet, your ongoing efforts to make all future podcasts accessible by making sure all "buttons" or player options within reason be made available for each podcast. Personally, I dislike Flash, because it's the most neglected. Windowsmedia, Itunes, Winamp and Quiktime are all satisfactory players, and if you can make any of these available on a regular basis, I and others won't have to keep reminding you all about this situation. I would really appreciate a phone call to (770) 908-9316 so we can discuss this hopefully once and for all. One last thing, I'm not sure which player you use for "Come Receive the Light", but it works, because I can use the "link" to turn it on. Sometimes, I've found links that were broken in the past, too, so may I suggest you please test any links you do attach to those titles? The best way to do this is blind folded and with sleep shades on, but since I'm sure you don't want to do that, please pretend you're working at the computer with no mouse or moniter. You'd have to listen to the keyboard with a speech synthesizer, and if you have Apple with Voiceover, you can do this. You would hear the word "link" where the link is. After you press the enter button on the keyboard where that "link" is, you will want to wait to listen for the podcast to start playing. If it doesn't work, then the "link" is broken or the "Play", "Stop", "Rewind", etc. buttons would need to say their names followed by the word "button." Then you'd just have to be able to press the enter or space key to have it do the particular action you request. I urge you to make this happen; it's inexpensive, and you won't need any special software except whatever adobe systems gives you or the software included with other players. Just remember not to use your mouse, and if possible have someone sighted tell you when your cursor is on the link or button you want to press. Let me assure you that there's nothing I can do to make these podcasts available, and I use a desktop pc, and the only extra software I use is a screen reader. Most blind people use speech synthesizers, and others use Braille displays, but in either case, they're only able to read alpha-numeric characters and punctuation marks. Imbedded images and graphic symbols are unreadable. I look forward to hearing from you about this situation. Thank you very much. Heather

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Response to your concern
written by Fr. Christopher, October 13, 2010

Dear Heather,

Thank you for your email to us about the ability for those who are blind to access our programs. We are aware of your concern and believe it or not have discussed it many times and we are trying to do what you are requesting. I can however as much as it pains me to say make no promises. We will do our best for you and others who are having the same difficulty. For the travel blogs we unfortunately did not set things up that way from the start but we are planning to do so in the future. We haven't forgotten you just a bit unable to meet all of the needs we have at this time due to an increasing number of folks who are listening. Thank you for your support and words of encouragement. May our Lord bless you abundantly. Fr. Chris

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