Platina, California, August 4, 2021
St. Herman's Monastery. Photo: flickr.com
Monks and nuns are asking for urgent prayers as Orthodox monasteries are again under threat, with fires racing throughout Trinity and Shasta Counties in northern California.
The fires, started by dry lightning, are spreading quickly thanks to the long drought in the area. The Trinity County fire is right next to St. Xenia’s Skete in Wildwood, and the nuns had to be evacuated on Sunday. The event is called the McFarland Fire and is at the current time spread over 20,000 acres, situated in Wildwood.
Firefighters are working round the clock to contain the flames, but the fire is also headed for St. Herman’s Monastery in Platina, the brotherhood informed OrthoChristian.
St. Xenia Skete, Wildwood, California.
The nuns are currently at a guest house in Platina, but if the fires cannot be contained, the monks and nuns will all have to evacuate to Redding, 40 miles to the northeast.
St. Herman’s Monastery was founded by Blessed Seraphim (Rose) and Fr. Herman (Podmoshensky) in the late 1960s, and is now home to the grave of Fr. Seraphim, who died at the age of 48 in 1982. The monastery has been threatened by wildfire numerous times, though it has thus far been preserved by God’s grace.
OrthoChristian reported earlier today that wildfires also threaten St. David of Evia Monastery in Greece.
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