Santa Paula OCA Nuns

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Maria
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Santa Paula OCA Nuns

Post by Maria »

http://www.missionandstate.org/features ... as-finger/

An interesting story about four OCA nuns in Santa Paula.

These nuns apparently do not have a rule of silence, so one does not know what to expect.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.

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Barbara
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Re: Santa Paula OCA Nuns

Post by Barbara »

Yes ! The writer makes the 4 nuns sound positively juvenile, like boiserous gigglers.
I think that was what you were getting at, Maria ?!

I didn't think it was a very reverent article - and especially was repelled by the totally inappropriate
comparisons with rock musicians like the "Beatles" - the worst - and 'The Mamas and Papas" and "Beach Boys" !
Then, too, the reader is left assuming the quartet DID sing rock songs instead of Orthodox music.
That should have been clarified ; the fact that it wasn't seems a cheap way of pulling in the mass mentality to
be able to relate to these nuns.

The overall writing was corny.

But for me, since I was always wondering WHO Mother Victoria is [for I knew an elderly babushka who often referred to her
with respect and almost reverence.] I finally got a cameo glimpse from this article of her AND the convent.

For that, I am thankful to Maria for posting this writeup.

At first when I saw the subject matter, I thought it was some unknown convent, for I had never heard of
Santa Paula, let alone nuns there !

At least the article affords a glimpse into the life of that Santa Barbara convent.
I am glad Maria wrote OCA in the caption because I was never clear to which jurisdictionn they belong.

If the nuns were presented as undignified, I liked the St Barbara Icon, which seemed more regal than some depictions.

St Barbara's Day is only 10 days away for us ! [These OCA nuns may have celebrated it Dec 4th ? ]
The article does not specify which Calendar they are using !

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Barbara
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Re: Santa Paula OCA Nuns

Post by Barbara »

I meanwhile looked this up. They did celebrate Dec 4, with 'archbishop Benjamin [Peterson]".

Seems there are 14 nuns now, according to an orthodoxwiki entry ?

One positive I see about the convent is that they began raising Lavender !
But it's not Lavandula Angustofolia. But some other. Hopefully for their customers, it's a good quality.

I searched through the books in case of any interesting ones I hadn't come across and found one on Icons
during the Soviet era. Has anyone read that ?

At the end of the booklist appeared a number of herbal tinctures made by the nuns.
THAT''S admirable.

By the choice of some of the reading material, it appears that some of the nuns, or perhaps only this Mother Victoria, came from "the Platina Generation".

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Barbara
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Re: Santa Paula OCA Nuns

Post by Barbara »

Presumably everything is all right now, but this Convent had a narrow shave on the very evening of their New Calendar St Barbara's Day patronal feast celebration earlier this week.
Their Chapel, a 5 year long project, and dedicated to Sts Barbara and Eugene, had been finished 7 months ago.
The inclusion of St Eugene, I read on the website, is due to the sale of the original St Eugene's Hermitage in Pt. Reyes, California which was apparently given by the OCA Diocese of the West to the nuns for this project.

Image
Chapel of St Barbara and Eugene, consecrated May 6, 2017

"The nuns of Saint Barbara Monastery here were evacuated, along with their neighbors, after an explosive brush fire broke out late Monday, December 4, 2017. By early Tuesday morning, the rapidly moving blaze had spread from about 50 acres to an estimated 31,000 acres, forcing thousands of area residents to flee.

What has been named the “Thomas Fire” began in a canyon near Santa Paula, about 65 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. In a predawn announcement issued by local fire officials on Tuesday morning, December 5, it was reported that “the fire remains out of control and structures continue to be threatened throughout the fire area.”

“On Monday—the Feast of Saint Barbara—the patronal feast day Divine Liturgy was celebrated for the first time in the monastery’s recently consecrated chapel,” explained His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin of San Francisco and the West. “The 25th anniversary of the monastery’s establishment also was observed. A few hours later, as Mother Victoria and the sisters were sitting down to dinner, the fire, driven by high winds, broke out within a mile of the monastery, forcing evacuation to surrounding communities.

“It appears that the buildings survived,” Archbishop Benjamin reported on Tuesday morning. “But, as no one can actually go to the monastery due to evacuation efforts, we do not know for sure.”

https://oca.org/news/headline-news/fire ... -evacuated

An update from the Convent's website says that appears that little damage was done, though the neighboring St Thomas Aquinas College suffered the loss of a building. The nuns are still staying in neighboring cities to which they were evacuated along with their cats !

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Barbara
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Re: Santa Paula OCA Nuns

Post by Barbara »

The most recent update says that the Convent's buildings are reported fine, but the nuns lost their main Lavender field. That's too bad. Lavender can take time to establish. But it can be all replanted.

The nuns sell vials of Lavender Oil and Lavender Sachets, all discounted now for Christmas :

Image
5 ml and 15 ml sizes available of Lavender Essential Oil. Described as 100 % pure. Because most of today's Lavender Oil is wildly adulterated to maximize profits, this sounds like the real article : likely a good bet !

Image
5 Sachets selling for $ 4.99

Both of these are available here : http://www.stbarbaramonastery.org/books ... age_1219=9

Just watch out for Page 6, which sells the bio of Fake Saint luke of Simferopol and Fr Siluan the Athonite...

Back to the update, it seems the surrounding area is bleak due to the ravages of that fire.

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Barbara
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Re: Santa Paula OCA Nuns

Post by Barbara »

The Santa Paula nuns do mention that they took with them the relics the Chapel housed. One of them is believed to be of St Barbara :

"The sacred and wonderworking relics of St. Barbara were for a long time kept in Constantinople. Then in the 12th century, they were transferred to Kiev, when the daughter of the Byzantine Emporer [sic: Emperor] Alexius Comnenus, Barbara, was given in marriage to the Great Prince Sviatopolk of Kiev. The relic at St. Barbara Monastery, received in 1997, was taken from these principal relics in Kiev."

Perhaps St Barbara did not like commemoration on the New Calendar, as was done at the OCA monastery named in her honor. What about changing to the Old Calendar and celebrating St Barbara's Day instead on December 17 ?

For traditionally, at least in the West, St Barbara was invoked against FIRE and also lightning -- as well as, amazingly, against explosions [ see Maria's post about the recent ones in the region to be found in the Miscellaneous Forum ]. So the fact that the so-called Thomas Fire started only a mile away on the very evening of the New Calendar date does not seem indicative of St Barbara's favor.

Would it too forward to suggest that the Convent consider leaving the OCA and joining an Old Calendar jurisdiction ? Surely this message is clear enough that superiors and the general Orthodox world would understand the rationale for the change, thus avoiding embarrassment.

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Barbara
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Re: Santa Paula OCA Nuns

Post by Barbara »

Nuns report they are returning to their monastic home today.
I would say to give them some days to recover, and then think about ordering some of their homegrown Lavender Oil, for those who enjoy essential oils. Lavender works on burns [ hopefully not from full scale outdoor fires but only due to small cooking errors ! ], cuts, scrapes, even gashes. It heals right away and soothingly as opposed to other oils, even tea tree, which do sting.

This year, a youngish mother who works at a local automotive repair shop was lifting a bookcase at home and it fell on her big toe. Then her daughter went running across and ripped the toenail off completely. Horrible ! The mother said it was the most painful injury she had ever suffered in a life [ even as a Marine ! ] full of broken bones and sprains. Unfortunately, she only applied topically Neosporin.
I, unfortunately a frequent customer there, recommended Lavender Oil, but did not persuade her.

Probably Neosporin is full of bad ingredients which then go straight into the bloodstream. Lavender Oil, as well as other herbs, would have taken care of the dreadful wound much more efficiently and safely. It sounds like Neosporin is made to not sting. But that indicates only the masking of tons of chemicals in it. Lavender, though it must be an authentic type [ not labeled that way, but truly the real thing ] goes to work better than ANY manufactured ointment. It even gets rid of scars. Then, too, one is putting into the bloodstream a boosting agent for the entire immune system instead of toxic garbage.

Of course, prayers to St Barbara, St John Maximovitch, etc. for healing will hasten the process too !

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