Our Lady of Pochiev

Several months ago (August? September?) an icon of the Theotokos called Our Lady of Pochiev was brought to Canada, the first time in about 400 years it had come out of Ukraine. One of the stops was in Vancouver, BC and some friends of mine decided to go to venerate it, and I tagged along.

This is the church it was brougt to, Holy Trinity Cathedral

This is how packed it was, absolutly no way for one to move in and out of the church. There were people packed into the church, the nave, even out into the street! And many were young people, under 35 or 40, with their kids.

They had a balcony where the choir usually sat. I managed to force my way up and get this snapshot. Again, hardly even enough room in there for the priest to swing a censor.

Finally, some Christmas pictures

OK, so after almost a month of inactivity, I've finally decided to post some pictures of my Christmas Vacation to Alaska. And yes, I've finally figured out how to post pics.

Joachim, playing with his Star Wars toys.

Macrina, and the answer is no.

Mom, a little shocked about the extra kid that showed up at her door.

Just one pic from the drive up to Anchorage. Would have had tons more, but my camera ran out of batteries.

It's a good thing we stopped in Girdwood for batteries, because we ran into these at Potter's Marsh.

The Family Christmas Picture. I'm the good looking guy in the gray T.

I have to say, I had an absolute blast, from beginning to end. At the begining, Joe and Macrina didn't really know what to make of me, but they warmed up real quick. I got to beat Mom several times at scrabble, have some good talks with everyone, and got to eat Mom's cooking again. Also saw a bunch of friends I hadn't seen in years. The only bad thing about the trip was that it had to end so quickly.

I'll have to do it again sometime.