The Mameluke Becomes a Marine

It's done. I'm a Marine officer now. I am currently attending The Basic School in Quantico, VA. For the last three months, this place has been my home:

I graduated Officer Candidates School and received my commission on March 20th. My parents and my brother drove down from Ithaca, NY to see me graduate, and my grandpa drove north from Charlottesville, VA to be there for me. It was good to see my family after three months of hard times, but as I look ahead to six months of TBS, I realize that there will be fewer opportunities to see them as my Marine Corps career continues. I am looking forward to a 4-day weekend coming up next month, at which time I will definitely head home to see everybody.

The Desert Fathers

I came across the writings of the Desert Fathers at Borders last weekend. I started reading it as part of my readings for Great Lent. More to come.

Death to the World

Take a look at this site and let me know what you think. Is the Last True Rebellion truly to be dead to this world? Given my calling, and realizing that my place is in the world, should I ever expect to be truly dead? Since the early fourth century, Orthodox Christians have been active members of society, participating in the functions of politics and government, serving in the military, and doing all other things in the world alongside their pagan counterparts. I guess this Rebellion isn't for everyone...

3rd Battalion 1st Marines

One of the best motivational Marine videos out there:

Theophany of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

I celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the Theophany today at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Rochester, where I was chrismated. I had to take care of some business in Rochester early today, so I decided to swing by the Annunciation and see my Godmother and Spiritual Father. I took home several bottles of holy water, which I will use to bless my icons.

Holy Transfiguration Monastery

I was blessed to be able to visit the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Brookline, Massachusetts yesterday while traveling
home from Boston after a visit with family friends. The monastics here are Old Calendar Greek Orthodox. One of the most impressive of the holy objects found inside the monastery was a stone from Golgotha, which has a distinct fragrance said to be a manifestation of the grace of God:













These bells were made from German bombs dropped during World War II:













The monastery gave me this icon as a blessing. This is St. Eustathius the Great Martyr:

Alternate History

I got into the genre of alternate history during my last semester of college. This is Code Guardian, a cool two-part movie made with computer-generated imagery:


Another cool film that is currently in production is Iron Sky, which bills itself as a "scifi comedy," but looks like another excellent alternate history story:

I also enjoyed Paolo Parente's Dust, of which there only appears to be one volume at this time:

St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church

My home parish.