From Sunday

Here, I made the acquaintance of Fr. Mark-Arsenios Wyatt. Our first meeting was on the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos. The man is Canadian. He was raised ecclesiastically under Fr. Maximos Saikali who counseled him to study theology at St. John of Damascus Institute, in Balamand (Northern Lebanon). Besides studying, Fr. Mark was skillful in the Arabic language, as well as in choosing a wife for himself and in building lasting friendships. Yesterday, Sunday, I had the pleasure of celebrating the Divine Liturgy with him in the Church of St Nicholas, who watches over him, as he is pastoring it. I was taken along to the Church by my brother Deacon Nicholas (Ghassan Naous) who had left us to come to this country, following his blessed labor in spreading the regeneration awareness in Mount Lebanon. I was greatly delighted with this fellowship that sent me decades backwards, and also with visiting a new Church that granted me to meet brethren some of whom I seemed to know. After the Liturgy, we were hosted by my friends Fadi and Amale Azar. One of the gifts of worship is it’s sending us out towards friends’ faces.