Our regatta with oak trees continues the journey and yesterday there was a stop at Valaam.

Valaam is already the Republic of Karelia, not the Leningrad Region. It is a great honor for us to plant a seedling in this holy place, and the local “inhabitants” were even glad.

On Trinity parental Saturday, all the brethren were engaged in obedience, so we were armed with a shovel and a bucket of water, and we began to dig … But very soon a volunteer came to our aid – a man came to the monastery as a pilgrim for a month. With his help, we managed the oak tree, probably twice as fast. And Father Ephraim gave his word to personally watch over the “Peter’s” oak and take care of it properly.