Visit and Divine Liturgy in Butte (MT)
September 22-24, 2007

The Montana State is the fourth largest state (Alaska being the largest, then Texas and California) in the United States (145,552 square miles or 376,978 square kilometers). Montana is well known for its mountainous region in the west, part of the northern Rocky Mountains. However, about 60% of the state is actually prairie, part of the northern Great Plains.
The Church life of the Serbian Orthodox people in Butte was organized at end of the XIX century (1897) and is connected to the apostolic mission activity of Archimandrite Sebastian Dabovich.
In 1905 the Serbian Orthodox people erected the church in the Russian style and dedicated it to the Holy Trinity. This church was used until 1964, when due to substantial structural damage caused by underground mining had to be torn down. The new church with the parish center and the parish rectory was built in only one year, with the consecration date on July 25, 1965, by His Grace Bishop Gregory, of blessed memory. Beloved Father Dositei (Obradovich) was a parish priest at the time. During the consecration of the newly built church His Grace Bishop Gregory elevated Fr. Dositei to archimandrite.
On September 22 – 24, 2007, the Butte parish welcomed His Grace Bishop Maxim of the western American diocese for his second archpastoral visit. The former Butte priest, Protopresbyter Bratislav Bratso Krsic, accompanied his Grace Bishop Maxim.
The newly appointed priest, presbyter Russell Radoicich, comes from Fresno, California. He is well received and highly respected by the Butte parishioners. Fr. Russell and his parishioners welcome his Grace Maxim on Saturday, served the Vespers and blessed the Kolach for the Circle of Serbian Sisters Slava.
On Sunday the matins started at nine o’clock in the morning with the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at ten o’clock. Archimandrite Sebastian Dabovich founded the Butte parish in 1897. The frescoes adorn the Holy Trinity Church in Butte.
Montana stretches to the pacific northwest and in the region of the great plains in the USA. The central and western third of the state have many mountain ranges (around 77 of them are known by name) of the northern Rocky mountains, hence, the state’s name, derived from the Spanish word Montana, meaning mountain. The state nickname is the “Treasure State”. Other nicknames include “Land of Shining Mountains,” “Big Sky Country,” and the slogan “the last best place.” The state ranks fourth in area, but forty- fourth in population, and therefore has the third lowest population density in the United States. The economy is primarily based on agriculture and significant lumber and mineral extraction. For Montana’s economy, tourism is also important; millions of visitors a year to Glacier National Park, the Battle of Little Bighorn site, and three of the five entrances to Yellowstone National Park. (More on Montana here, photogallery here).

On Sunday afternoon His Grace and the clergy visited Georgetown lake and Anaconda (a small town with county population of 7,000). Mountains around Anaconda are already covered with the first snow this year. On the bottom of mountains are trees dressed in their fall breathtaking colors: light green, brown, red, orange, and yellow.
On the way back to Butte His Grace and the clergy visited Thomas and Sylvia Tazzi. Tom is fisherman and hunter. His recently purchased house is a log home - a great example of Montana craftsmanship. Thomas and his wife Sylvia hold on to the American traditional values. Both of them were happy to welcome the guests, give them a tour of their beautiful Montana home, and offer Australian Merlot with appetizers.
Summa summarum, looking at the Montana's landscapes you are overwhelmed with the feeling of gratitude toward the Creator, a sensitivity which Rustaveli expressed instead of us and for us: "Celui qui créa l'Univers par Sa puissante volonté, Insufflant aux etres : des cieux, l'esprit divine et la bonté, Nous donna le monde aux couleurs multipliées à volonté. De Lui détient tout souverain Son image et Sa royauté…" (Rustaveli. « Le chevalier à la peau de panthère ») - "HE who created the firmament, by that mighty power made beings inspired from on high with souls celestial; to us men He has given the world, infinite in variety we possess it; from Him is every monarch in His likeness..."

У понедељак је посећен Јелоустонски национални парк. Yellowstone National Park је постао први светски национални парк, 1. марта 1872. г. Већим делом је смештен у држави Вајоминг, али се пружа у Монтану и Ајдахо. Парк је познат по дивљем животињском свету и геотермалним феноменима:  Old Faithful Geyser представља најпопуларније обележје у парку. Yellowstone је централни део већег јелоустонског екосистема (Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem), што је највећи преостали скоро нетакнути екосистем на земљиној северној умереној зони. Урођеници Американци су живели у области Јелоустона барем 11.000 година. Луисова и Кларкова експедиција је заобишла парк раних 1800. година.
Парк покрива површину од 3,472 скверних миља (8,987 km²), укључујући језера, кањоне, реке и планинске ланце. Језеро Јелоустон је највеће језеро са високом надморском висином у Северној Америци, и налази се у средини Јелоустон Калдере, највећег супервулкана на континенту. Калдеру сматрају активним вулканом; еруптирао је стравичном силином неколико пута у последња два милиона година. Половина светских геотермалних места налази се у Јелоустону. Лава и камење избачени вулканским ерупцијама покривају највећу земљану површину Јелоустона.
Хиљаде врста сисара, птица, риба и рептила су документоване, укључујући неколико угрожених врста.  Простране шуме и травнате површине укључују такође јединствене врсте стабљика. Гризли, вукови и слободна крда бизона и јелена живе у парку. Сваке године избијају шумски пожари; у великом пожару 1988. године изгорела је скоро трећина парка. Јелоустон пружа мноштво могућности за планинарење, камповање, сплаварење, риболов и разгледање. Пешачке стазе обезбеђују близак прилаз већини геотермалних области као и неким језерима и водопадима. Таком зиме посетиоци обично обилазе парк у организованим групама користећи снежне аутомобиле.