During his visit to our convent in June, Metropolitan Cyprian had intended to lay the foundation stone for the new monastic cells. Since we had not even begun digging then, however, he simply read the special foundation prayers while performing the Blessing of the Waters, and instructed us, in accordance with an old Greek tradition, to place bottles of this Holy Water, along with small Crosses, in the four corners of the foundation in such a way that they would not get crushed.
At first we were uncertain as to how to fulfill this obedience. But then as the foundation progressed (see our photo gallery), we saw that there was in fact a very simple solution: bury them in the styrofoam!
We received a blessing from Metropolitan Cyprian to "bury" two more items in the foundation: a small stone taken from the chapel where St. Philothei reposed, and a list with the names of all of the generous people who sent donations for the new wing. The plan is to pour the concrete slab at the end of the coming week!