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Mother Christophora and the Sisterhood of the Monastery of the Transfiguration provided a warm welcome to clergy and faithful at their Founders’ Day celebration, which marked the 50th Anniversary of the community’s establishment.
The celebration, which was held on Saturday, April 28, 2018, provided an occasion to remember the monastery’s founders, donors and benefactors. Especially remembered in prayer during the Paschal Divine Liturgy was the monastery’s foundress, Mother Alexandra. Concelebrating the Liturgy were Archpriests Michael Hatrak, Paisius McGrath, George Treff and Jason Vansuch. Worshippers filled the monastery church as Mother Christophora spoke about significant departed founders and contributors to the monastery’s history, after which eight priests gathered in the middle of the nave to offer memorial prayers. After the energetic singing of “Memory Eternal,” all sang a heartfelt “Christ is Risen.”
After the Divine Liturgy, pilgrims filled the refectory, where they enjoyed a buffet lunch and fellowship as the celebration drew to a close.
The Monastery of the Transfiguration was established as the fulfillment of Mother Alexandra’s dream to provide a place where Orthodox Christian women from all backgrounds could live the monastic life and benefit from the liturgical cycle in the English language. She fell asleep in the Lord on January 21, 1991. Mother Christophora, the current Abbess, was elected in 1987, and since then the monastery has continued to develop, both spiritually and physically.
The monastery will host two additional 50th Anniversary celebrations later this year. The annual Pilgrimage will be held in conjunction with the Great Feast of the Transfiguration August 5-6, while a celebration marking the 50th Anniversary of the consecration of the monastery’s altar is slated to take place September 28-29. Updates and additional information may be found on the monastery website, together with a photo gallery of the Founders’ Day celebration.
