To set the tone for Lent’s solemnity, the monastics and seminarians of Holy Trinity began the season with a week of intensive prayer and fasting. The community awoke together at 4:30 in the morning to start its labor of participating in 10 hours of services. Midnight office, matins, hours, vespers, and compline, punctuated throughout with spiritual readings and councils, ensured that the day was dedicated to the glory of God and to promoting the rigorous self-examination that develops into true repentance. To reinforce this prayer schedule, the trapeza served one meal daily, the first two days offering only potatoes and pickled cabbage.

This kind of asceticism is essential to develop spiritual strength in the future leaders of our church. Training his body according to reason, the seminarian clears and focuses his mind, growing in spiritual discernment and intellectual acuity. These young men also loosen themselves from the bonds of the world, reorient their passions, and experience the fullness of Orthodox prayer. Not only does this help them cultivate habits that will remain with them throughout their lives, but it also nurtures the characteristics of a successful priest. This is why we believe that integrating a seminary education with a monastic environment is crucial to the students.

We invite anyone in the area to celebrate this season of repentance with us. Click here for a calendar of services. For more information call us at 315-858- 0945 or e-mail us at info@hts.edu.