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St. John the Baptist Skete (Kentlyn, New South Wales)

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Old age eventually forced Father Guri to move from his beloved isolation at the Skete to a small hut in the Convent grounds, and finally to the Saint Sergius Nursing Home, Cabramatta. He died in deep old age at 98 years on the 23rd of August 1992. This faithful monk is buried in Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney.
While the nearby Diocesan workshop and the candle factory continued to function, the unfinished Skete building was used for a time as a printing facility, finally being abandoned . Uninhabited for over a decade the building fell derelict, a nesting place for birds, a home for possums and vermin, damaged by vandals and in a serious state of disrepair.
 '''A New Beginning'''
In 1999 Hieromonk Joachim received a canonical release from the Serbian Orthodox Church to the ROCOR. He was invited by the current diocesan bishop, Archbishop Hilarion, to rebuild the Kentlyn Skete and restore coenobitic monastic life, as well as providing a base for missionary work amongst English speaking Australians.
With the help of a very small group of faithful volunteers, the past four and a half years have seen the neglected grounds cleared of decades of rubbish and undergrowth, the Skete building secured and made temporarily habitable and weatherproof. There is now modest accommodation, an office, dining room and, most importantly, a prayer room or chapel where the monastic labour of the Hours of prayer according to the typicon of the Orthodox Church are said daily.
'''Father Guri’s Cave Renewed'''
Father Guri’s small cave, scene of his many hidden vigils and spiritual struggles, has been cleaned of the dirt and rubbish accumulated since his departure. A floor has been laid, overhanging rock walls strengthened, and icons and a burning lampada installed. Sanctified by Father Guri’s prayers and tears, this sandstone cleft, the Skete’s first ’church’, has become a place of pilgrimage and quiet prayer for growing numbers of visitors to the Skete.
'''Following Father Guri’s Example'''
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