During the weekend of the 28-31st of May, Memorial Day weekend in the United States, St. Dimitrios the New Monastery in Middletown, NY was once again the meeting place of youth from the Northeast region. This ROYA retreat, the first in-person retreat in some time, was intended to be a simple gathering, rekindling the joy of being youthful together.
We had hoped for warm, dry weather to allow us time and activities in the fresh air outside, but God had a different plan in mind. Our arrival on Friday was relatively late in the evening so we attended the Vespers service followed by dinner and introductions before going to rest, in anticipation of the following days.
Saturday began first with chanting the Liturgy in the morning. Then, after the agape meal, there was a brief pause in the downpour, so we took advantage of this opening and went on a nearby trail. When we returned, we began drawing icons on glass, and also had a question-and-answer discussion with Fr. Abbot Protosynghellos Ieremia. This gave us the opportunity to freely ask questions, which touched upon how to accept and recognize the will of God, practical steps for incorporating more time with Christ in our lives, and the attitude Christians should have in regard to nations that have persecuted our Holy Fathers in the past. After this, we prepared for Sunday liturgy with Vespers again. We prolonged the day a bit by playing games and rehearsing a few songs for Liturgy the following day. This time spent singing together both Saturday night in preparation and Sunday during Liturgy was by far the most comforting and joyful part of this weekend for me. In my eyes, it is one of the most classic ROYA activities that always has a mystical way of uniting us, perhaps because it reminds us of our roots, both Orthodox and Romanian.
We embraced the Romanian a bit following Liturgy with a live Zoom conference with Protosynghellos Hrisostom from Putna Monastery who had an empowering and comforting word for us. He urged us to not let anyone take away our most precious gift as youth- the ability to dream and simultaneously be planted in reality. This realization of our duality protects us from the fall into anxiety and depression and is the defining feature that characterizes youth. We let that ferment and organically give way to more discussions throughout the day and ended on a wholesome note; several people in the group spontaneously decided to learn Balada Brancovenilor and wanted that effort to be a surprise as a way to say thank you to the Monastery for hosting us.
On our final day, the clouds and cold front finally gave way and we rejoiced in thanksgiving, first with Matins and an Akathist to the patron saint Sf. Dimitrios the New and then by spending our final hours out in the sun, playing and wrapping up our discussions. As the long weekend came to a close, I reflected upon Fr. Ieremia’s word and wish to us on the first night- that we will gather and share the bit of Grace we each have with one another, and that by opening up we may rejoice in a larger accumulation of Grace- both delighting in it ourselves and offering it back to God.
Danielle Radu
