Food for Thought – Page 32

Bon Voyage ’til Bright Week!

Good morning! What a wonderful day the Lord has provided!

Scooting along the remainder of this Lenten Journey, I’m reminded that every Lent is uniquely different, with its own flavour of adventures and distractions.

So, I’m attempting to take a wee posting break until (God-Willing), Bright Week… and greet you now, in advance, on tomorrow’s most beautiful, shining Feast of the Annunciation!

Below, is a Ladybird’s-eye view of past Postings to take you to Pascha!

Lazarakia Buns Recipe for Lazarus Saturday

Lazarus Comes Forth

Natural Onion Skin Brick- Red Dye for Pascha Eggs

May your Lenten Journey continue in peace, and may you be filled to the brim with the blessings of Palm Sunday and Holy Week.

St. Matthew’s Passion Music composed by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, takes us through the services in Holy Week, as recorded through the Gospel of St. Matthew. Music and Scripture are poignantly entwined.

Great and Holy Monday

Great and Holy Tuesday
Hymn of St. Kassiani The Woman Who Had Fallen Into Many Sins

Great and Holy Wednesday

Great and Holy Thursday

Great and Holy Friday
Do Not Lament Me O Mother One of my favourite hymns by St. Kassiani

Great and Holy Saturday

I’m truly looking forward to greeting you again and “on the other side” of Great and Holy Pascha!

Let us open our arms and throw ourselves in Christ’s embrace. When Christ comes, we will have gained everything. Christ will alter everything within us. He will bring peace, joy, humility, love, prayer and the uplifting of our soul. The grace of Christ will renew us. ~ Elder Porphyrios, Wounded By Love

Here’s a short and edifying Youtube Orthodox Movie with a Trio of Good Proverbs (English Subtitles). My favourites are #2 and #3.

Thank you for visiting Blisswood!

Clinging to the Lord

Golden, Lenten Lillies (Daffodils), peep out through the shelter of a neighbour’s fence.

Only the poor in spirit who cling to the Lord by prayer on account of the constant sense of their poverty and need are capable of discovering within themselves the greatness of the name of Jesus. ~ St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), Bishop of the Caucasus and the Black Sea

May your Lenten Journey be peaceful and fruitful.

All the Blessings

Thank you God, for the joyful blessings of spring flowers!

Try, then, to remember unceasingly all the blessings that have been given to you by God. ~ St. Mark the Ascetic

It’s been said, somewhere… what if we woke up today, with only the things that we thanked God for yesterday?

May your Lenten Journey be peaceful and fruitful.

Memory Eternal Ekaterina… 25 years now seem but as yesterday.

Rock-Steady

Local Neighbourhood Stone Garage with Grass and Floral Roof

As powerful ocean waves smooth and polish sharp edges of rock and stone, so does the Holy Spirit with our souls. It surrounds us. It strengthens us. It refines and completes us. And… bit by bit, with less and less, we become more.

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. ~ Matthew 7:24-27

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. ~ Psalm 18:2

May your Lenten Journey be steady, peaceful, and fruitful.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

March 30/17

I just received this joyful golden Lenten Lily (Daffodil) photo from a dear (anonymous) friend this morning, along with beautiful heart-warming greetings, which I’m allowed to share.

May you be Protected and Inspired by Real Gold – God’s Promises, and the Mystical Enlightenment of St. Patrick – today and always.

Another friend has sent me this about St. Patrick, written by the 7th century monk Muirchú from the Royal Irish Academy.

Today, St. Patrick’s Day March 30/17 (Julian), is also the second anniversary of the beginning of my Blisswood “Posts” section.

Thank you so much for visiting!

Through the holy prayers of St. Patrick may this day of your Lenten Journey, be particularly peaceful and fruitful.

With love in Christ.

Be Still

Camellias Bloom by Church Wall

In floral language, the Camellia Japonica is considered a symbol of purity.

I want creation to penetrate you with so much admiration that everywhere, wherever you may be, the least plant may bring to you the clear remembrance of the Creator. If you see the grass of the fields, think of human nature, and remember the comparison of the wise Isaiah. “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.” ~ St. Basil the Great

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. ~ Isaiah 40:8

Be still, and know that I am God… ~ Psalm 46:10

Silence is the mystery of the age to come. ~ St Isaac of Syria

May your Lenten Journey be quiet, peaceful, and fruitful.

Let My Prayer Arise

Image by Matthias Grießhammer

The beautiful Lenten hymn below is from Psalm 141, and sung only at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

By opening the noetic eyes and ears of our hearts during these special services, we are imbued with the timeless, heavenly beauty of the Presanctified Liturgy.

May your Lenten Journey be peaceful and fruitful.

As the Warmth of the Sun

Roses and beeswax candles beside icon of St. Gregory Palamas – from Second Sunday of Great Lent.

We know that prayer in and of itself cannot save us, but carrying it out before God can. For when the Lord’s eyes are upon us He sanctifies us, as the sun warms everything upon which it shines. ~ St. Gregory Palamas

May your Lenten Journey be peaceful and fruitful.

It’s the New Growth

It’s the new growth… that bears the blooms!

The Lily of the Valley Shrub, also known as Pieris Japonica, is a lovely evergreen shrub and early bloomer, belonging to the Heath family. It’s a joy to see and smell these pendulous, sweet, fragrant bells, especially during Lent.

From of old…. the teardrop shape flowers of both the Lily of the Valley bulb plant, and the Pieris Japonica shrub, are said to poignantly symbolize the tears that Eve shed upon leaving the Garden of Eden, and the Virgin Mary’s tears shed at the cross of Christ.

She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. ~ St. Augustine

Sometimes, a glimpse of Paradise is right outside our back door!

Happy Lenten Spring!

Sakura

Japanese Cherry Blossoms Represent Renewal and Optimism

Happy Saint’s Day Owen! March 4/17

Billowing clouds of pink and white Sakura flowers herald winter’s end… And we are as enriched, and as delighted, as our gardens!

Without winter there would be no spring, and without spring there would be no summer. So it is also in the spiritual life: a little consolation, and then a little grief – and thus little by little we work out our salvation. Let us accept everything from the hand of God. If He comforts us, let us thank Him. And if He doesn’t comfort us – let us thank Him. ~ St. Anatoly of Optina

May your Lenten Journey be peaceful and fruitful.