Rugged Beauty of Church Floor Mosaics in Mystra, Greece – 2017
The Lord lives! Blessed and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation ~ 2 Samuel 22:47
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. ~ Deuteronomy 31:8
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. ~ St. Matthew 24:13
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. ~Philippians 4:13
Today is the ancient and joyful Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple!
St. Gregory Palamas shares a beautiful contemplation:
When the Mother of God entered into the Holy of Holies, the time of preparation and testing of the old Covenant came to an end, and today we keep the feast of the betrothal of God to human nature. When the Church rejoices and exhorts all the friends of God for their part to enter into the temple of their heart, there to make ready for the coming of the Lord by silence and prayer, withdrawing from the pleasures and cares of this world.
Wishing you a most blessed day…
Today is the Prelude of God’s Good Will!
For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. ~ Psalm 36:9
In a world where seeing is believing, it is through Faith we understand that believing is seeing.
Faith opens our spiritual eyes and ears. With awe and reverence, Faith is the beginning of wisdom, and it often comes before a miracle.
After the Resurrection of Christ, the (doubting) Apostle Thomas, absent at Christ’s previous visit to the other Apostles said, “Except I see in his hands the prints of the nails… I will not believe.” When Jesus came again, He invites Thomas to “reach hither and touch” and reproaches Thomas, “be not faithless, but believing.” (John 20:27)
My favourite part comes next. It’s powerful. It surpasses time. It’s a direct consolation from Christ to us, right here and right now… in today’s world, where seeing is believing.
Jesus blesses those who believe before they see: “blessed art they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” ~ C. S. Lewis
We slip.
We fall.
We pull ourselves up again.
We persevere.
We keep walking toward God.
We focus forward.
We don’t look back.
May your path today be fruitful, peaceful, hopeful and joyful!
What has happened has happened, it is in the past. Just keep on going, all the while asking for help from God. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
Photo circa 2002, St. Sophia old chapel, on the Great Feast of Pentecost
When thoughts are choking me like so many thorns, I enter the church, the hospital of souls. The beauty of the icons delight my vision like a verdant meadow, and without my noticing, it stirs my soul to praise God.
Cemetery – Rome, Italy 2006
Penitential tears are like a second baptism. They wash away the stains on our soul, enlighten our mind, and cleanse our conscience.
For much as after a violent burst of rain, there is a clear open sky; so likewise when tears are pouring down, a calm arises, and serenity, and the darkness that ensues on our sins quite disappears. ~ St. John Chrysostom, late 3rd century
If our thoughts are kind, peaceful, and quiet, turned only to the good, then we also influence ourselves and radiate peace all around us – in our family, the whole country, everywhere. This is true not only here on earth, but in the cosmos as well. When we labour in the fields of the Lord, we create harmony. Divine harmony, peace, and quiet spread everywhere.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ~ Lamentations 3:22-23
…But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
~ 2 Corinthians 4: 16 – 18
Mystras, Greece – 2017
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. ~ Psalm 34:8
