Post 320 Chaplain
Brother David
St. Demetrios Orthodox Christian Monastery
Chaplain’s Corner:
Since being appointed as Chaplain by our dear Commander David I have been blessed exceedingly by the love, and brotherhood of all the members of Post 320. In addition to this, I have had the opportunity to serve all of the members of our Post both past, and present in my prayers. In addition to this, the Brotherhood of St. Demetrios Monastery has been praying for you all, and Father Alexei (a member of the Auxiliary) along with myself had the great blessing to do hospital ministry for Commander David last month.
He was anointed with Holy Oil from the Church where the Tunic of Jesus is located (Mtskheta, Nation of Georgia) along with Holy Myrrh that came from a miraculous icon that streams myrrh. His recovery has been beyond our expectations by the great grace of God, and I am exceedingly happy to see him involved in Post activities again! I was very happy to also be involved in the Christmas gift giveaway for the local community, and look forward to doing again this much needed outreach to the impoverished members of Spotsylvania. On December 25 as well, I was able to bring hot coffee, and food to a Marine friend of mine (Sergeant Seraphim) on duty at Quantico, which was much appreciated by him as all of the base facilities were closed.
Recently, the monastery had its Christmas and Theophany celebrations that brought great joy to all of those who came. On Theophany, that is, the Day of the Lord's Baptism, every year a great miracle is performed. The Holy Spirit, coming down upon the water, changes its natural properties. It becomes incorrupt, that is it does not spoil, remains transparent and fresh for many years, receives the grace to heal illnesses, to drive away demons and every evil power, to preserve people and their dwellings from every danger, to sanctify various objects whether for church or home use.
For our local community, we did our annual outdoor blessing of the waters at a tributary to the Ni River and now all of the waters in our community are sanctified. For those wishing to have Holy Water I will provide bottles for those wanting it at our Post in the front entrance, and feel free to contact me if you would like to have your home blessed.
Sadly, for myself my ability to participate in Post activities has been hindered by my three (unexpected) surgeries on my foot at the end of December, and only in the past two weeks have I been able to walk again. Forgive me for the inconveniences this caused for those who needed support from a Chaplain.
Lastly, a member from my Church has deployed to the Gulf of Aden (near Yemen) on the Dwight D. Eisenhower Aircraft Carrier, and has asked for letters to be sent to him to help boost his morale especially in such a dangerous assignment. It would be wonderful if the members of our Post send a letter or two to him to help support him during this difficult time!
Aon Shuttleworth, Eric
Dwight D. Eisenhower CVN69
Unit 100236 Box 7130
FPO AE 09532
Email:
eric.shuttleworth@cvn69.navy.
May God bless you all in this New Year!
In Christ,
Chaplain David
Chaplain David is available @ miazgatyler@gmail.com
