The summer holidays are over. If students of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy from Indonesia had written an essay on “how I spent the summer”, then in addition to information about participation in divine services, it would have sounded something like this: “On Indonesia’s Independence Day, which is celebrated annually on August 17, we attended a concert in the Hermitage Garden, where we met with Indonesian Ambassador to Russia and Belarus Jose Tavares and Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Vorobyova. In August alone, we managed to visit the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery in Zvenigorod and the Holy Trinity Stephano-Mahrishch Stavropol Convent located on the Molokcha River in the ancient village of Mahra, 15 kilometers from the city of Alexandrov, Vladimir region. At the end of the holidays, we visited St. Catherine’s Stavropol Monastery in the city of Vidnoye, Moscow region.”

And SBPDA students from the Philippines spent all their free summer time on obediences in the Khanty-Mansi diocese with Metropolitan Paul of Manila and Hanoi. Students accompanied Vladyka on archpastoral trips, helped subdeacons at divine services, learned to bake prosphora and took part in the restoration of the Resurrection Cathedral in Khanty-Mansiysk. In the same place, the recently ordained hieromonk John (Gondayao) passed sorokoust and for the first time took confession.