Our labors in the earth here our Farm, which we have sought to purify (USDA Certified Organic since 2016) are carried out in Her Name to Whom the Church sings:
| "You are the Root of Virginity and the Unfading Flower of Purity." |
Even our trademark was inspired by these holy words:
| Purity. Protected earth. Healing foods. |
Our journeys of theoisis are just not possible until we have freed ourselves from personal pollution. Our Master had made this unambiguously clear:
| "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Mt 5:8) |
And later:
| If your light is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Mt 6:23) |
We must practice purity, for it is purity alone that permits the body and soul and mind to be flooded with Heaven's light, which alone if truly pure.
We must guard ourselves against the world, for St. John the Theologian that "if you love the things of the world, love of the Father is just not in you" (1 John 2:15). Certainly, our monastery is free of all worldliness. Even our the good earth is protected!
Removing all polluting influences, we may begin the long process of leaching out toxins and healing. The earth itself provides healing balms if only we will nourish ourselves with them.
But our labors in prayer and personal purity and organic farming are in vain unless they are all done beneath the mantle and safe place of the Most Holy Theotokos. In the shadow of Her wing do we find our wholeness, our sanctity, and our salvation.