Today, Monday the 27th, is my last full day at the Holy Hut of St. John the Theologian, New Skete (ΙΕΡΑ ΚΑΛΥΒΗ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΘΕΟΛΟΓΟΥ, ΝΕΑ ΣΚΗΤΗ). Tomorrow morning, if the Lord wills, I will live and will serve The Divine Liturgy here in the hut’s chapel for the fourth time during my stay, share a final breakfast with my gracious hosts, and then catch a boat, a bus (or, even better, a car), and a van to make my way to Vatopedi for my final night on the Holy Mountain.
I look forward to returning home; it’s time. But I don’t look forward to leaving here. I will miss the brotherhood, and the simple way of life they have shared with me. Mostly, however, I will miss being in a community that has such a humble and continuous devotion to my patron saint. I have never been very good at sustaining this devotion on my own, but here it is effortless.
So, in a way, I feel as if I’m saying goodbye to St. John. I know that’s silly; feelings often are silly—but we have them nonetheless. So I am sad about leaving. But I rejoice in the nearly two weeks we had together, and I live in hope that—by his prayers—I will carry a few seeds of his presence with me, they will take root, and bring forth a little fruit.
