This past Friday two amazing firsts happened at St Nicholas in Narol. We hosted our first ever women's retreat, and our youth group took on the responsibility of cleaning the Church for Holy Week and Pascha.

Women's Retreat

The women's retreat was held at the Women Refreshed at the Well Retreat Centre just down from St Nicholas. Matushka Taesia Scratch was the guest speaker and lead a insightful discussion on life in the Church. There was time for quiet contemplation, as well they spent some time together doing psyanky.

As an Orthodox priest for the last 45 years, a recognized elder with the Alaskan Federation of Natives, the husband of his Yupik wife Matushka Xenia, speaker of Alaskan traditional indigenous languages, an author of many books and articles and a widely acclaimed PBS series, and a doctor of cross-cultural communication, Fr Michael Oleksa visited St Aidan of Lindisfarne in Cranbrook, BC and presented an engaging analysis of indigenous spirituality and the connections with the Orthodox church.

The four sessions were:

St Aidan of Lindisfarne Orthodox Church in Cranbrook, BC, is very excited to be able to announce that Rev. Dr. Michael Oleksa will visit and deliver a series of lectures for the Annual Lenten Retreat this year.

Fr Michael was the spellbinding storyteller who was our headline speaker at the “Healing Earth” seminar held at the Royal Alexandra Hall in October 2016. A collection to help pay for Fr. Michael’s trip and honorarium will be made, so please do pass the word around.

Photos from the funeral service for the beloved Archimandrite Philip Speranza at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Toronto on 13 February 2019.