The Angels and the Saints are also near to us in their names, as their names and our faith in them are near to our hearts; for they are nothing else but the breath of God, and are “one spirit with the Lord”. ~ St. John of Kronstadt
God does not interfere in our lives, but waits for us to ask Him to help us, for He respects our freedom. ~ St. Paisios the Athonite
Life is a Liturgy. It is not only in the church that the Liturgy takes place; the Liturgy is outside the church building too. The entirety of life should be a Liturgy – if you feel the existence of God… You never finish your prayer. The definition of prayer is this: the feeling of the presence of God in you. And if you have this feeling of the presence of God, you engage in a continual prayer. ~ Archimandrite Roman
Below is a new documentary filmed by the Saint Photios Orthodox Theological Seminary: The Little Convent.
The Holy Protection Convent in Bluffton, Alberta, is a place of precious spiritual beauty, which many (our family included), hold very dear and close in our hearts.
In this post-Christian world, we are so blessed there still aremonastics… as their daily prayers asking God’s help for the whole world, ripple and resound continually!
Although the Icon’s Feast Day is celebrated April 30 and on the sixth Sunday after Pascha(Sunday of the Blind Man), one can always reach out any time for Our Lady’s help and compassion – especially during topsy-turvy times of heartache, confusion, and disappointment.
About the Icon – approx 2 minutes
Here is the beautiful, ancient 6th century Akathist Hymn of prayer and praise (attributed to St. Romanos the Melodist) to Our Most Holy Theotokos.
The Most Holy Mother of God prays for us ceaselessly. She is always visiting us. Whenever we turn to her in our heart, she is there. After the Lord, she is the greatest protection for mankind. How many churches there are in the world that are dedicated to the Most Holy Mother of God! How many healing springs where people are cured of their ailments have sprung up in places where the Most Holy Theotokos appeared and blessed those springs to heal both the sick and the healthy! She is constantly, by our side, and all too often we forget her. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica (From Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives)
Today is also the Synaxis of the Holy Optina Elders, and I congratulate Abbess Amvrosia, and all the nuns of Holy Protection Convent, (including my goddaughter). May your community continue to grow and thrive under the protecting veil of our Most Holy Lady’s Precious Omophorion – and our dear Lord’s salvific love. Happy Feast Day to you all!
When you go forth, guard what you have gathered. When the cage is opened, the birds fly out. And then we shall find no further profit in stillness. ~ St. John Climacus (The Ladder of Divine Ascent)
Love of God proceeds from conversing with him; this conversation of prayer comes about through stillness, and stillness comes with the stripping away of the self. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian (The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual Life)
True wisdom is gazing at God. Gazing at God is silence of the thoughts. Stillness of mind is tranquillity which comes from discernment. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian (Homily 64)
Photo from the Feast Day of the Exaltation of the Cross
A week after celebrating the great Feast Day of the Exaltation of the Cross, I was reminded how amazingly preserved flowers that surround the Cross can be. They are protected from the usual quick wilt and deterioration other bouquets (placed in ordinary locations) can experience within two or three days.
The same holds true with flowers that grace icon corners or icon stands. I remember visiting a convent in the heat of summer, and one of my obediences was to clean and prepare the church for the Sts. Peter and Paul Liturgy. I had picked some wildflowers to put where the festal icon was to be placed, but it appeared someone had already done so. I took my new bunch of flowers back to the main house and was told the hot little church had been locked since Pentecost, as the air conditioned house chapel was being used instead. The last time flowers had been placed in the actual church was nearly 3.5 weeks previously! One “forgotten’ wildflower bouquet had remained at the foot of the analogian where the icon of the Holy Trinity sat. This is the same bouquet I saw when I unlocked the church to clean. It looked as fresh as could be! When I revealed this mini miracle, the nuns nodded their heads, crossed themselves, and stated matter-of-factly, “Oh yes, these kind of things can happen.”
Every flower is indeed fragrant through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the beauty of the Great is contained in the small!
…let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. ~ Psalm 96:12
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. ~ Isaiah 55:12
God does not create a cross for man. No matter how heavy a cross a man may carry in life, it is still just wood, from which man himself made, and it always grows from the soil of his heart. ~ St. Ambrose of Optina
Born in 451, St. Brigid (pronounced Bree-jyah in Gaelic) was the daughter of Dubtach, a pagan king. Brocca, her mother, was a Christian Pictish slave, baptized by St. Patrick himself.
Even as a child, Brigid noticed poverty and destitution. She responded by giving away her own and her family’s considerable possessions to people in need. This generosity did not meet with her father’s approval, who complained to a friend that his daughter was bankrupting the household. His friend answered, “Let her be… She has more virtue before God, than either you or I.”
She established a monastic community with several other young women, located under a large oak tree. It became known as the Church of the Oak (in Gaelic Cill-Dara)… sometimes she is called Brigid of Kildare.
The community grew in numbers, reputation and achievement. Brigid was the abbess, and continued her care for the poor, selling whatever she had to give them what they needed. People who lived in the area flocked to the monastery to receive medical help, food, and to pray with the nuns. They would often see the abbess out in the fields, tending to the community’s cattle. Brigid and the sisters cared for the local children and established schools for them. Others heard of these efforts, and before long, the abbess travelled Ireland to start schools, to oversee the building of hospitals, and encourage people in their faith… by her own steadfast, cheerful example.
Under Brigid’s direction, the monastery itself became an art school, where metal work and manuscript illumination (decoration of manuscript pages with coloured figures and designs) were taught. The products of this school included a Gospel book, famously beautiful for its harmony of colors and intricate designs. To some it almost seemed that this Book of Kildare must have been the work of angels… with humans merely copying the figures shown to them by the angels. Unfortunately, this book and many other Christian relics throughout the land were lost during King Henry VIII’s destruction and pillaging of holy sites.
When St. Brigid died in 525 AD, the nuns kept a fire burning in an enclosure at her Kildare convent. This fire burned for centuries, tended by the Sisters and did not burn out until 1220 AD. It was re-lit and burned for another 400 years.
St. Brigid’s association with fire and the closeness of her feast day to the Feast of the Meeting of our Lord in the Temple (also known as Candlemas), a day celebrating Christ as the Light Unto the Nations, links the two Feasts.
St. Brigid is also affectionately known as Bride, Bridey, or the Mary of the Gael. She is patroness of dairy maids, infants, midwives, blacksmiths, poets, nuns, and students.
Along with Saints Patrick and Columba (Columcille), she is also the patroness of Ireland. St. Brigid is usually depicted in icons as a nun with a Cross woven from rushes and with fire (a candle, lamp, or bowl of fire).
It is said the origin of the St. Brigid’s cross came when she was called to the bedside of a dying pagan chieftain. While sitting with the dying man, St. Brigid picked up some rushes from the floor and began to weave them into a cross. The sick man asked her what she was doing, and St. Brigid told him of Jesus Christ. Before he died, the chieftain become a Christian.
How to make a St. Brigid Cross, woven from rushes.
As Christians, we are called to help provide for the poor and needy (not just during spells of cold weather).
May we acquire the gift to see Christ in every person, as St. Brigid did.
Scientifically speaking, dew is water vapour in air that condenses and collects on cool surfaces such as plants, soil and other ground coverings. (Think of a mirror in a steamy bathroom.) Dew point is the temperature which water vapour in the air becomes saturated and the condensation begins. Many kinds of flora and fauna rely on dew for healthy hydration. In some fields of natural medicine, dew is esteemed with a surprising range of internal and external healing properties.
Dew only forms under a clear sky. It won’t come if there are clouds, wind, or stormy weather. Dew is a silent blessing… a humbler version of rain. It is gentle and nourishing. It sustains. It energizes. It is as refreshing as God’s unconditional love.
I am reminded of a particular trip to a convent visiting my goddaughter. Around day number three, and not feeling well, I was introduced to an unusual idea (new to me, but touted widely), that bare feet can absorb dew’s health benefits directly into the immune system. The abbess suggested whether or not that was indeed the case, I should just try Dew Walking, barefoot on the grass; for its reviving effects alone… plenty enough reason in itself.
Next morning I slipped out from the guesthouse and removed my sandals. Standing on the grassy green and savoring its coolness, the rising sun beamed through the trees, emblazoning the field as with millions of diamonds. A small choir of birds trilled. There was a whiff of fragrant incense. Was it breath from the pores of tiny wildflowers and grasses, ascending in morning praise to God? I slowly passed through the pearl and diamond droplets which clung to clover, wildflowers and grass. I paused. With sun on my face and feet gently planted on the grass – I felt a strong sense of connectedness, of being rooted together with God’s creation. In my heart, I joined my breath with theirs, in a silent prayer of praise, thankful for this peaceful blessing, for this Spiritual Dew.
Many Scripture passages refer to the importance, blessings and miracles of dew. During the Exodus to the Promised Land, God miraculously feeds the Israelites with manna from heaven and dew every morning (Exodus 16:13-14; Numbers 11:9). There are the two miracles (Judges 6:36-40) in which Righteous Gideon asks God regarding a fleece, first that it should be wet with dew in the morning while everything around is dry, and then that it should be dry in the morning while everything around is wet with dew.
Unexpected and tranquil blessings of Spiritual Dew are gifts from the Holy Spirit. There is strength and power in blessed silence.
I heartily encourage you to try barefoot Dew Walking on a summer’s morning!
May we, with God’s help, be refreshed with Spiritual Dew in all things, with each other, and to His glory.
May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. ~ Genesis 27:28
May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb ~ Deuteronomy 32:2
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. ~ Psalm 133: 1-3
