For the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent, thirteen pilgrims from St. George Russian Orthodox Church in Cincinnati, Ohio travelled to Holy Trinity Monastery for the services dedicated to the Theotokos and to St. Mary of Egypt. The blessed monastery grounds combined with the wonderfully frescoed church and prayerful choir, made the Akathist a memorable services, just as the divine liturgy the next morning. The group enjoyed a tour of the monastery, a visit to the Russian Museum, a discussion with Archimandrite Theophylact (Bishop Luke was out of town) and an opportunity to assist with obediences. Two members of the community, archdeacon Paisios and novice Demetrius are former parishioners of St. George. Several parishioners are buried in the monastery cemeteries, including the former rector, archpriest Paul. During an afternoon snow squall, the group sang a pannykhida for Fr. Paul and several others, including Archbishop Peter. Confession, vigil and Sunday morning Divine Liturgy rounded out the visit (along with multiple purchases from the monastery bookstore), before everyone took their place in the 15-passenger van for the 10-hour drive home. Impressions were deep, many and varied!

A few pilgrims shared their impressions:

"The monastic life, as delivered to us in the many writings of the saints, was made manifest during our pilgrimage. To witness and partake in this solemn expression of the love of God was an invigorating and edifying experience." – A. R. “

Our parish pilgrimage to Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY was a gift I did not expect to receive so deeply. As a catechumen preparing for Holy Baptism, I came into Orthodoxy from a non-denominational Christian background, and the Monastery showed me the fullness of what I am entering. The cathedral itself is breathtaking — frescoes from floor to ceiling, hundreds of icons surrounding you in prayer — but what moved me most was the life behind it. Eating meals in silence while a monk read from the lives of the saints, praying services morning and evening with the brotherhood, and spending time helping Fr. Peter in the candle shop where the monks produce beeswax candles for churches throughout our faith — these things showed me that Orthodoxy is a faith lived with the hands as much as the heart. Six of us were able to give Fr. Peter about an hour and a half of help and accomplished what would have taken him nearly a week on his own. Beyond the monastery itself, traveling with my fellow parishioners from St. George deepened bonds that I know will carry us through the years ahead.” – N. J.

“Our pilgrimage to the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville revealed how deeply the laity need a moment set apart to find spiritual shelter in the steady, prayerful life of the monks, whose devotion anchors and renews all who come seeking refuge. There, the beauty of the Church was made visible as monks, clergy, and laity united as one body, lifting a single voice of prayer to God. Just as essential was the formation of close bonds with our fellow pilgrims, whose shared journey and newly formed friendships will undoubtedly strengthen and enrich the life of our parish.” R.G.

“When I arrived at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York, I had no idea what to expect. Three days later, I left a different person.

Jordanville is both a monastery and a seminary, and from the moment I arrived, watching the monks and seminarians live, work, and pray together was inspiring in a way I hadn’t prepared for. The services were longer, more layered, and more immersive than anything I had experienced at home, opening up dimensions of worship I didn’t know existed. The refectory meals were their own kind of liturgy: sitting beneath the frescoes, listening to the lives of the Saints read aloud, it felt like another world entirely. We helped in the candle shop, learning how the candles are made and recycled, and hearing the miracle stories from around the campus added to a sense that this place is saturated with grace.

What I didn’t expect was how many people connected to St. George I would meet there, all for the first time. Brother Demetrios, whom I met on the pilgrimage, was just days away from being tonsured as a monk, and learning he had come from our parish made the moment feel personally significant even though we had just met. Hearing his story and his wife’s journey was a gift I didn’t anticipate. Father Paisios, also from St. George, has been living in the United States for 19 years without seeing his parents, and meeting him for the first time put into sharp relief the kind of sacrifice these men make. The women from our parish on the pilgrimage loved and missed both of these men deeply, and watching that gave me a glimpse of something I hadn’t grasped before: Jordanville is not separate from St. George. It is an extension of it, a spiritual safe haven and extended family for the lay people of our church.

The winter church, filled with relics, stopped me cold. Seeing the relics of St. George himself, the same ones connected to the icon I venerate every Sunday, brought home the living thread between our parish and this monastery in a way nothing else could.

I could see that one day I would have years of relationships like the ones I witnessed all around me, people who truly knew and cared for one another across decades and across great distances. It was eye-opening in the best possible way, a vision of the life that awaits on the other side of the journey I am just beginning. As I drove home, one thing was clear: I had to bring my family back. Not to show them what I had seen, but so that they could experience their own changes, whatever Jordanville stirs in each person who walks through its gates. That, too, felt like part of what the monastery is for.” J. J.