https://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/short letters from a deacon on Cathedral Hill · the liturgy, the seasons, the parish Kündölük 3.4.2enhttps://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2026/10/the-north-quarter.html Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:30:00 +0600Parishhttps://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2026/10/the-north-quarter.html A short letter on the news that the whole hill has been waiting for. After the autumn Council the rector read the announcement after Ramsha: from Easter 2027 the north quarter of the dome will be retiled, tile by tile, by the village kiln and the old masons. Scaffolding, a fence around the north…https://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2026/08/the-feast-once-more.html Mon, 24 Aug 2026 22:40:00 +0600Seasonshttps://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2026/08/the-feast-once-more.html Heat, bells, a hundred and fifty thousand, they say. And one candle that went out three times. This Feast I walked the whole procession with the cross in the front, and my arms did not hurt. I mention it because five years ago they hurt after one lane. Some things change by simply continuing to do…https://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2026/05/a-tile-baking-in-the-old-kiln.html Sun, 17 May 2026 19:20:00 +0600Parishhttps://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2026/05/a-tile-baking-in-the-old-kiln.html The first new tiles for the dome, fired in a village kiln below the Chatkal. My father's brother runs a kiln in a village two days' walk from where I was born. The cathedral asked the old potter if he could make tiles to match the dome: ribbed, turquoise, the same glaze. The first dozen came up…https://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2025/12/yalda-eve.html Wed, 24 Dec 2025 22:45:00 +0600Seasonshttps://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2025/12/yalda-eve.html Five years of letters, and this is the first one I have written in snow. Today I counted: this is the sixth Yalda I serve at the altar, counting the first, which I do not remember. The north door is lighter than in 2020 and the cups of kümöch are back on the tray. The old woman's chair stands…https://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2025/08/pilgrims-a-count.html Sun, 24 Aug 2025 23:30:00 +0600Seasonshttps://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2025/08/pilgrims-a-count.html Not a prediction, only a few numbers from this year's Feast. In the cathedral's book: three bishops' candles, two thousand six hundred and some baptisms, one lost child (found at the crypt door eating a honey cake), one fainting priest (the heat), three lost wallets, four brides. The guest houses…https://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2025/06/what-the-archbishop-said-to-me.html Sun, 08 Jun 2025 21:10:00 +0600Parishhttps://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2025/06/what-the-archbishop-said-to-me.html I had expected a longer speech. The Council met after Easter, and the Archbishop saw the deacons of my year in the sacristy, one by one. I expected the priesthood to be set for this summer. He said: "Denha, you read well. You are not ready. Stay at the book another year, and walk more in the…https://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2025/03/silence-in-fast.html Sun, 23 Mar 2025 20:30:00 +0600Seasonshttps://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2025/03/silence-in-fast.html A letter about what happens when the choir stops. In the middle of the Fast we have a Sunday with no instruments and no choir. Only the priest's voice, the deacon's call, and the people's answers, without a note to help. At first it sounds poor, and it frightens the young. By the end it is the…https://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2024/10/the-season-of-moses.html Fri, 04 Oct 2024 19:00:00 +0600Seasonshttps://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2024/10/the-season-of-moses.html The Archbishop's yearly letter was read in every parish this morning. In our calendar the autumn is the Season of Moses: the readings go through the long road in the desert. The Archbishop writes a letter each year on this day, short, hand-signed, and the deacon reads it after the Gospel. It…https://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2024/06/why-the-lamps-are-brass.html Sun, 30 Jun 2024 21:00:00 +0600Parishhttps://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2024/06/why-the-lamps-are-brass.html A small question from a visitor, and what the sacristan answered. A visitor from Talas asked the sacristan why the sanctuary lamps are brass and not silver. He said silver was taken in 1937, and when the church was returned, the people brought what they had. A brass kettle, a samovar tap, a pair…https://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2024/02/fasting-food-a-shopping-list.html Sun, 18 Feb 2024 19:40:00 +0600Parishhttps://blog.attelkom.net/diakon/2024/02/fasting-food-a-shopping-list.html A practical letter for the first week of the Fast. Lentils, walnuts, dried apricots, short-grain rice, pumpkin, beans, sunflower oil. The market stalls on the bazaar street put up the Savma boards the week before: a handwritten list of everything that is allowed. A good seller will also tell you…