St. Emmelia Homeschool Conference
By Zeke

My brothers and I went to an Orthodox homeschool conference in April in Pennsylvania. It’s called Saint Emmelia because she was the mother of five saints. On our way through West Virginia, we saw the largest single-span steel arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere, which goes over the third oldest river in the world, the New River.

We met Bishop Thomas and we saw St. Raphael of Brooklyn’s relics and his grave. We made a prayer book, a prayer rock, and a list of prayers at workshops. While we were in the workshops, my parents were watching lectures by famous educators and Orthodox priests.

We also hung out with with our Orthodox friends from our home church and visited St. Ignatius Church with them. We sang a beautiful Pascha hymn called “The Angel Cried” and we saw all different kinds of liturgy. We got myrrh from a myrrh-streaming icon called the Cardiotisa. It was amazing that I witnessed a miracle!