Update on women monastics in Antiochian Archdiocese

I would be very surprised if many women from the Antiochian Archdiocese didn't flock to this monastery in short order.

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(Antiochian.org) - His Eminence Metropolitan Philip has announced the following three appointments for the Convent of St. Thekla in Glenville, PA. The Convent of St. Thekla is a monastic community of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.

Effective immediately, Mother Eisodia (pictured right) is appointed the Acting Abbess of the convent, and Sister Kathrina will join the community. Effective September 1, 2014, Very Rev. Mark Sahady is appointed the Chaplain of the Convent following his retirement from the Air Force.

Mother Eisodia is a native of Los Angeles, California, and she attended college in Portland, Oregon. She has worked in the secular world as an engineer, and was raised in the Presbyterian faith. Her journey to Orthodoxy was fulfilled with her reception into the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. She received her monastic formation in Greece, and later moved to the U.S. She has travelled to Orthodox monasteries in Romania, Greece, Great Britain, France, and Mexico.

Sister Kathrina is a native of Homs, Syria, and received her education in Syria. She received her monastic formation at the Convent of St. Thekla in Maaloula, Syria, where she was in residence for more than 10 years. We welcome her to the U.S. as she comes here for the first time.

Father Mark Sahady is currently a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force and holds the rank of Lt. Col. He is a native of Waynesburg, PA, and is a graduate of St. Vladimir Orthodox Seminary in Crestwood, NY in the class of 1989. He has served as the pastor of St. Mary Church in Wilkes Barre, PA, and initially was a chaplain in the Air Force Reserves. He became a full-time active duty chaplain in the Air Force in 1994. In addition to his service at various bases in the U.S., Fr. Mark has served in Ramstein, Germany and Tokyo, Japan. He will assume his duties as chaplain to the convent in September 2014, after his retirement from the Air Force.

We rejoice in these appointments, and thank God for the blessings that he has bestowed upon our newly formed monastic community in Glenville, PA. May the work of this community be always blessed.