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Earth's Quiet Slumber
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onOctober Newsletter
Earth’s Quiet Slumber
The weather is changing and the landscape is heading toward dormancy. We see it all around us! The fall colors with their warm hues remind us that cooler seasons lie ahead leading us to winter and the earth’s quiet slumber.
This month we celebrate our beloved saint from the island of Kefalonia, St. Gerasimos. The beautiful monastery dedicated to his memory sits upon a lush, green island with foothills and a beach which hosts a sea turtle sanctuary. When I was young, I went to this monastery which has the incorrupt, blessed body of St. Gerasimos. There is a stairwell in the old church which leads down to the cave where St. Gerasimos lived and prayed in asceticism for six years. As I was going down the stairs, there were people coming up who were complaining of the stale air down in the cave. I was overcome with worry and started to feel a choking feeling myself and never descended to complete my pilgrimage to the monastery. Once back on top, they closed the door leading to the cave and that was that, I lost my opportunity to venerate. I was so sad that I didn't have the courage needed to enter the cave and shared my feeling with the Gerondissa (Abbess) who was seated calmly on a pew. She said to me, “Why were you worried, the Saint lived there for 6 years, nothing bad could happen to you.” She told me I would come again another time…. Really? Did she have any idea the chances of that really happening?
I had to wait almost a decade before I had the chance to revisit this Holy Monastery. This time with my daughter in hand, I told her that she needed to stay by my side to encourage me to descend to the cave. Once we made it to the bottom, which was far under the earth, I felt calm. The wise nun’s words had come true, and I was able to complete my pilgrimage and venerate the saint’s cave. There are two caves, the first one on the bottom which has a small passageway leading to a roomy second cave where the saint prayed. It is an amazing thing that you pass from one underground room into a secret hidden space, where St. Gerasimos grew in holiness, where he struggled, where he came to know and love Christ. Perhaps in this season where we are heading to a seemingly quiet time, we too can grow in our faith and practices, because what is not seen is the place where growth happens. Seemingly quiet times can give us the fortitude to gain strength, so we have something to offer the world when we come up for air!