The Rocky Mountain deanery clergy and laity gathered for the annual “blessing of the Divide” atop Monarch Pass. 60 persons made the pilgrimage on a beautiful, sunny, “warm” (for 11,000ft.) Colorado day for the service of Blessing the Waters. Archpriest Joseph Hirsch spoke on the honor and responsibility to ever pray for our country as these waters melt to the east and west upon our lands.

The Great Blessing of Waters at the Pacific Ocean, St. Juvenaly Orthodox Mission, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

The Great Blessing of Waters at Lake Mead, Nevada on Theophany 2009

Converts to the Eastern Orthodox Church are drawn to the religion because when it comes to ritual, little has changed in a thousand years, says Father Christopher Swanson, who leads St. Elizabeth Orthodox Mission in Poulsbo.

With the Rocky Mountain Deanery, Monarch Pass, Colorado