Today is St. Basil of Ostrog’s Feast Day, (May 12/April 29) and he is very dear to many.
We are so blessed! God pours out His great, abundant mercy and miracles through His saints– the heavenly great cloud of witnesses!
Through the holy intercessions of St. Basil of Ostrog, may we continue to receive spiritual consolation and healing of physical and mental infirmities.
For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. ~ Luke 20:38
A bouquet of garden flowers await in a basket on the Eve of Pascha.
Christ is Risen!
You must strive to have peace in your homes. Peace starts with each one of us. When we have peace in us, we spread it around to others. You can see for yourself that there are very few humble and meek souls on the earth – but also that they are truly blessed. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica (Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives)
…To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth… ~ Jesus Christ (St. John 18:37)
On account of God’s great Love for us, and as any sin (small or great) is a spiritual sickness that separates us from God… our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, willingly took the sins (of everyone in the world who has ever been born) – onto Himself.
When Jesus died and was buried, all our sins and spiritual pain died and were buried too. We’re forgiven, and keenly remember this at our Baptism and through Repentance.
Because He is the Son of God – Christ arose victorious from the dead bearing witness to the truth! “Trampling down death, by death!”
We are forgiven because of what Jesus did for us on the cross! He Loves us so much! Nothing can keep us from the Love of God. Nothing. This is why we no longer fear death.
Death is a new beginning.
Death is Life… a New and Eternal Life with God.
For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. ~ St. Luke 20:38
For our Orthodox Pascha is not just a festival, but the Festival of all festivals, an event for exceeding all the events of this world. Pascha shakes the whole cosmos: the sun, by our faith, dances and becomes iridescent with every colour of the rainbow, and all of creation rejoices. Some observe a magnificent silence, lacking the strength to express the inexpressible feeling of Paschal joy which fills their souls. Others hasten to share their feeling of the Paschal triumph. All people and all things begin to move, the tedious vanities of this world are cast aside, and all are transfigured. Pascha is, first of all, in us ourselves, in our hearts. God’s gift of the feeling of love penetrates our whole being, and we love each person and all things. This relates not just to the animal kingdom, but to the whole of creation, extending to the smallest blade of grass and the smallest flower. Nothing escapes our loving attention. May the Lord help us all to keep ourselves like this, for as such did the Lord create us… ~Paschal Epistle excerpt of Metropolitan Vitaly – May, 2000; The Two Thousandth Pascha of Christ.
Voices of Faith Hope and Love: St. Sophia Orthodox Church Virtual Youth Choir sing *Son Rise* in 2021. This song is a Paschal Poem, written by an 8 year old youth choir student, many years ago.
