As I mentioned on the "I just" thread earlier today, I went by Virgil's church and house to see about interviewing him for the premier issue of Scrote-The Official Magazine of the Fr. Cassian Fan Club. I knocked on the door of the church, and after waiting for an answer to no avail, I crossed the street to his house, where I rang the doorbell. Again there was no response, although the sound of a barking dog and what appeared to be keys jangling did greet my ears. Hoping that the occupants weren't grabbing the keys to a gun cabinet, I knocked on the door, again to no response. I went back across the street to the church, and seeing no type of No Tresspassing signs posted, proceeded to knock on a few other doors. A sign on the door of the chapel, reading "Enter in silence for prayer and meditation" caught my eye, and I decided I would go in and pray for Virgil's painful death from Ebola, so I opened the unlocked door and went in. The chapel was rather small, decorated with lots of pictures of Orthodox saints and such, a few chairs, and a pulpit. I glanced around after praying to nonexistent gods and christs for Virgil's slow, painful demise, and I noticed a rack of literature, including a little brochure written by the great Fr. Cassian himself. I helped myself to a copy, along with some other Christ at the Sea propaganda brochures, a really neat-o couple of business card-sized pictures of a painting of Jesus and the Apostle Phillip (Orthodox trading cards, I guess---collect 'em and trade 'em with your friends, kids), and a photocopied prayer request sheet. I filled out the prayer request sheet, which had spaces provided for the people you want to be prayed for, one section for living, and one section for deceased, along with a section for my name and address. I filled out the "living" section with the following: "All survivors of the abusive treatment you facilitated at Straight, Inc. and KIDS of Bergen County & KIDS of North Jersey. Under the "deceased" section, I wrote, "All who have committed suicide as a result of the abusive treatment that you facilitated at Straight, Inc. and KIDS of Bergen County & KIDS of North Jersey." Then I filled out my name and address, in case Fr. Cassian would like to correspond. I walked across the street to his house and tucked it at head height in the crack of his door. When I drove by later after having a few beers, I noted his car in the driveway, and the prayer request sheet gone from where I had placed it.
I'll post some pics of the cool Orthodox propaganda I scored, along with a copy of the prayer request sheet in another post, but right now I just want to share a little excerpt from the pamphlet Virgil wrote: "Christ at the Sea isis a dream of Ruth Ann and I, and hopefully in time of a few others who will join us, and become a community committed to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in order to counteract the power of the secular world."
Gotta go now---I'm about to light a bowl with a votive candle from Virgil's sanctuary.
