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[h=1]Macedonian Orthodox Christmas: St Prohor Pcinski celebrates with picnicks, peacocks and prayer Save[/h][h=2]By SUE HEWITT[/h]Jan. 14, 2013, midnight
MORE than 100 people celebrated the Macedonian Orthodox Christmas in Donnybrook last Monday.
They drove down an obscure gravel side road to a little-known piece of paradise, where they were greeted by members of a modern Noah's Ark - peacocks, ponies, alpacas, geese, parrots, pigeons, dogs, cats and more.
The faithful came to worship at St Prohor Pcinski, Australia's only Macedonian Orthodox "living" monastery and the only monastery in Australia where a monk-abbot and three novice monks reside and worship.
The abbot, Father Gavril (Gabriel) Galev, in long black robes with a flowing beard, hopes that once the church is finished, St Prohor will be a spiritual centre in Australia.
When he arrived from Macedonia in 2006, his presence attracted people who sought to follow his spiritual ways. "Just as angels are an example for monks, monks need to be examples for worldly people," he says.
"We had to erect a little church because more and more people started coming and all we had was a shed."
They built a small whitewashed church, filled with stunning icons and elaborate woodwork. Work is progressing on a large church based on a Byzantine design.
The new church, started in 2006, has domed ceilings and complex brickwork that includes bricks decorated with images such as lambs to represent Jesus Christ. It is being built on the site of Victoria's oldest known sparkling water spring and the spa nearest to Melbourne, in an area once known as Rocky Water Holes until renamed Donnybrook in 1853.
In the 1960s a German migrant, August Sattler, made the 12.5-hectare site a recreational area and used the mineral spring water for soft drinks.
The Macedonian Orthodox Church bought the property in 2002.
Father Gabriel says a community grew around the spring, which he says "is a gift from God and can cure physical illness".
He describes the monastery as an enlightening, cleansing place that is "the heart of spiritual life".
St Prohor is also a place where families, including those not associated with the church, picnic in the grounds and enjoy the monastery's menagerie.
Father Gabriel says animals are a welcome part of the monastery.
"Everything that breathes should celebrate God; it is a way of expressing love and glorifying God, which is why I want to create a children's farm."
Also on the site is an icon studio where artists such as Silvana Gorgiev, who trained under icon masters in Macedonia, work.
The graphic artist says iconography is an ancient art full of symbols, where even colours have meaning.
Gold represents the heavenly kingdom. "It glows and represents the presence of life and God in everyday existence," she says.
Like everything at St Prohor, things take time. A single icon may take months to complete, from selecting the wood, applying the canvas, preparing the canvas and painting, after which the icon has to cure for three years before a natural varnish is applied, and still there is more.
"You only get the glow of an icon after five years and because all the materials are natural, they keep changing, so in 70 years, 150 years, 200 years, the icon is totally transformed each time," Gorgiev says.
With this in mind, the building of St Prohor's new church doesn't seem to be taking so long at all.
St Prohor at 130 Springs Road, Donnybrook, is open to the public daily from 9am to 5pm except Tuesdays. Picnickers pay $10 per car; other visitors are welcome for free. Visitors must open a gate and close it to prevent the escape of animals.
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The Macedonian Orthodox monastery at Donnybrook is filled with animals, including peacocks. Photo Sue Hewitt
- Silvana Gorgiev is an artist who studied iconography in Macedonia and is painting new icons for the new church being built at Donnybrook. Photo Sue Hewitt
- Father Garvil (Gabriel) Galev is the abbot at Australia's only "living" Macedonian Orthodox monastery, St Prohor Pcinski. Photo Sue Hewitt
- St Prohor Pcinski is home to VIctoria's oldest mineral spring spa. Photo Sue Hewitt
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MORE than 100 people celebrated the Macedonian Orthodox Christmas in Donnybrook last Monday.
They drove down an obscure gravel side road to a little-known piece of paradise, where they were greeted by members of a modern Noah's Ark - peacocks, ponies, alpacas, geese, parrots, pigeons, dogs, cats and more.
The faithful came to worship at St Prohor Pcinski, Australia's only Macedonian Orthodox "living" monastery and the only monastery in Australia where a monk-abbot and three novice monks reside and worship.
The abbot, Father Gavril (Gabriel) Galev, in long black robes with a flowing beard, hopes that once the church is finished, St Prohor will be a spiritual centre in Australia.
When he arrived from Macedonia in 2006, his presence attracted people who sought to follow his spiritual ways. "Just as angels are an example for monks, monks need to be examples for worldly people," he says.
"We had to erect a little church because more and more people started coming and all we had was a shed."
They built a small whitewashed church, filled with stunning icons and elaborate woodwork. Work is progressing on a large church based on a Byzantine design.
The new church, started in 2006, has domed ceilings and complex brickwork that includes bricks decorated with images such as lambs to represent Jesus Christ. It is being built on the site of Victoria's oldest known sparkling water spring and the spa nearest to Melbourne, in an area once known as Rocky Water Holes until renamed Donnybrook in 1853.
In the 1960s a German migrant, August Sattler, made the 12.5-hectare site a recreational area and used the mineral spring water for soft drinks.
The Macedonian Orthodox Church bought the property in 2002.
Father Gabriel says a community grew around the spring, which he says "is a gift from God and can cure physical illness".
He describes the monastery as an enlightening, cleansing place that is "the heart of spiritual life".
St Prohor is also a place where families, including those not associated with the church, picnic in the grounds and enjoy the monastery's menagerie.
Father Gabriel says animals are a welcome part of the monastery.
"Everything that breathes should celebrate God; it is a way of expressing love and glorifying God, which is why I want to create a children's farm."
Also on the site is an icon studio where artists such as Silvana Gorgiev, who trained under icon masters in Macedonia, work.
The graphic artist says iconography is an ancient art full of symbols, where even colours have meaning.
Gold represents the heavenly kingdom. "It glows and represents the presence of life and God in everyday existence," she says.
Like everything at St Prohor, things take time. A single icon may take months to complete, from selecting the wood, applying the canvas, preparing the canvas and painting, after which the icon has to cure for three years before a natural varnish is applied, and still there is more.
"You only get the glow of an icon after five years and because all the materials are natural, they keep changing, so in 70 years, 150 years, 200 years, the icon is totally transformed each time," Gorgiev says.
With this in mind, the building of St Prohor's new church doesn't seem to be taking so long at all.
St Prohor at 130 Springs Road, Donnybrook, is open to the public daily from 9am to 5pm except Tuesdays. Picnickers pay $10 per car; other visitors are welcome for free. Visitors must open a gate and close it to prevent the escape of animals.
pred da stani kalugjer kako tebe bese, rocker.. samo metal go interessirase. dann hat er zur religion gefunden.