delight – Blisswood

Hidden Humility of Beauty

Kauai Beach at Dawn

Make the most of beautiful moments. Beautiful moments predispose the soul to prayer; they make it refined, noble and poetic. Wake up in the morning and see the sun rising from out at sea as a king robed in regal purple. When a beautiful landscape, a picturesque chapel, or something beautiful inspires you, don’t leave things at that, but go beyond this to give glory for all beautiful things so that you experience Him who alone is ‘Comely in beauty.’ All things are holy… Take delight in them all. All things enrich us, all lead us to the great Love, all lead us to Christ. ~ St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia

Thank you for visiting Blisswood.

Tomorrow belongs to God, as did yesterday. Let’s strive to live today, and every precious moment of our lives with humble, grateful awareness of His Beautiful, Glorious Presence.

Wishing you Peace, Love and Joy in Jesus Christ.

They Speak to Us

Hornby Island Field of Miniature Wildflowers – Yarrow, Larkspur, Mouse-Ear Chickweed

Take delight in all things that surround us. All things teach us and lead us to God. All things around us are droplets of the love of God – both things animate and inanimate, the plants and the animals, the birds and the mountains, the sea and the sunset and the starry sky. They are little loves through which we attain to the great Love that is Christ. Flowers, for example, have their own grace: they teach us with their fragrance and with their magnificence. They speak to us of the love of God. They scatter their fragrance and their beauty on sinners and on the righteous. ~ St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia

Nature is a Secret Gospel – and its healing, spiritual balm, blasts away any clutter or cobwebs in the mind. A restoring walk by the ocean, a river, the hills, the mountains, or in the breezy, spicy forests of birdsong, remind us of God’s Love.

It’s everywhere! It fills everything!

Even the tiniest of wildflowers exude the salvific, spiritual fragrance of God’s Ineffable Greatness…

And our soul’s heartfelt gratitude, draws us ever closer to Creation’s Planter!

With love in Christ.

Rejoicing in His Creatures

Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay

When God, who is absolute fullness, brought creatures into existence, it was not done to fulfill any need but so that His creatures should be happy to share His likeness, and so that He himself might rejoice in the joy of His creatures as they draw inexhaustibly upon the Inexhaustible. ~ St. Maximus the Confessor

Love all God’s creation, the whole of it and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

I will never laugh at anyone for grieving over a loved beast. I think God wants us to love Him more, not to love creatures (even animals) less. We love everything in one way too much (i.e., at the expense of our love for Him), but in another way we love everything too little. No person, animal, flower, or even pebble has ever been loved too much – i.e., more than every one of God’s works deserves. ~ C. S. Lewis

Take delight in all things that surround us. All things teach us and lead us to God. All things around us are droplets of the love of God – both things animate and inanimate, the plants and the animals, the birds and the mountains, the sea and the sunset and the starry sky. They are little loves through which we attain to the great Love that is Christ. Flowers, for example, have their own grace; they teach us with their fragrance and with their magnificence. They speak to us of the love of God. They scatter their fragrance and their beauty on sinners and on the righteous. ~ Elder Porphyrios

…Animals can instinctively sense if you love them. The animals in Paradise felt the fragrance of Grace and served Adam. Since the transgression, nature groans together with man… My mind tells me that even the animals are better than me; so, I humble myself and obey them. Very early this morning, being tired from praying all night and exhausted because of my illness, I lay down to rest. After a while, I heard a kitten meowing outside my cell as if she needed something. I really wanted to rest, but I humbled myself and went against my own will. I obeyed the kitten and replied to her calling. I went to open the door. It had started to rain and I let her in so she wouldn’t get wet. What do you think then? Should I obey the animals or not? My thoughts tell me I should. ~ St. Paisios

With love and gratitude to my past creatures (dogs, rabbit, goldfish, birds and cats), who’ve made my life richer… Such a blessing to have been their human for a time!

Oh… and last but not least, cheers to the current grand-cat-by-default… who deigns to allow me to feed her treats.

Simplicity of Heart

Strolling through California Wildflowers ~ shared by Anastasia

Christ is Risen!

Today is also St. Basil of Ostrog’s Feast Day!

… You want to taste a moment of joy from God. What’s the secret here? Suppose you believe that, if you ask, you’ll receive the joy. ‘He can’t help but give it to me’. But He doesn’t. And you yourselves are the reason why. It’s not that God doesn’t want to give, but the secret is your own simplicity and gentleness. If you’re lacking in simplicity and you say: ‘I’ll do this and God will give me what I’m asking’, it won’t happen. Do everything simply, gently. Don’t do things with an eye on the outcome. Don’t say: ‘I’ll do this in order to get that result’. Just do it gently, without knowing you’re doing it. In other words, pray simply and don’t think about what God will give you in your soul. Don’t keep tabs. Don’t discuss it with yourself. When you say the Jesus Prayer, do so gently and simply and don’t think about anything else except the prayer. Let your heart be simple… let it be good… Everybody seeks a good and simple soul; they find solace in it; they approach it without fear, without suspicion. And that soul itself lives with inner peace, has good relations with other people and the rest of creation. ~ Saint Porphyrios of Kafsokalyvia

Love Christ and put nothing before His Love. He is Joy, He is Life, He is Light. Christ is Everything. He is the ultimate desire, He is everything. Everything Beautiful is in Christ. ~ St. Porphyrios

If you have the opportunity to read Wounded by Love: The Life and the Wisdom of Saint Porphyrios – please do, it’s amazing! The book is an anthology of his letters and writings.

Sharing this sweet old folk hymn on the beautiful Joys and Gifts of Simplicity…

‘Tis the gift to be simple,
‘Tis the gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we will not be ashamed,
To turn, turn, will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning, we come ’round right.

Striving to seek the Lord in simplicity of heart…
With love in Christ.

Truly He is Risen!

O Precious Paradise

Detail of parish Creation Mosaic with scenes from Genesis, and the Expulsion From Paradise ~ Genesis 3:23-24

…O ranks of angels, O beauty of Paradise and all the glory of the garden: weep for me, for in my misery I was led astray and rebelled against God. O blessed meadow, trees and flowers planted by God, O sweetness of Paradise: let your leaves, like eyes, shed tears on my behalf, for I am naked and a stranger to God’s glory. No longer do I see thee nor delight in thy joy and splendour, O precious Paradise…. ~ Canticle 4, Sunday of Forgiveness

…O Paradise, share in the sorrow of thy master who is brought to poverty, and with the sound of thy leaves pray to the Creator that He may not keep thy gate closed for ever. I am fallen, in Thy compassion have mercy on me… ~ Ikos, Canticle 6 – Sunday of Forgiveness

God Forgives and Blessings Abound!

Today is the day before Great Lent begins, and we celebrate with making Blini Crepes or Pancakes to use up the last of any dairy. If you’re already a plant-based person, these Vegan Blini are simply delicious, and easy to make!

Congratulations on your Saint’s Day Zoe! (Feb. 26/13) God grant you many years!

St. Basil’s Feast Day

St. Basil the Great’s Monastery, carved in soft, volcanic, Cappadocian, rock. Goreme – 2004

Happy St. Basil’s Day!

Born in 329 AD, his Heavenly Birthday is January 14/1 in the year 379 AD.

…the time for prayer is one’s whole life. ~ St. Basil the Great

St. Basil the Great’s 4th century monastic vision inspired the building of numerous church communities throughout the ancient region over the next five and a half centuries. The rock churches provided the bonus of cool respite amid the surrounding hot, dry, landscape.

Below is a festive Vasilopita – a St. Basil’s Day Cake, which commemorates a certain miracle of St. Basil the Great. My husband baked the celebratory cake using this traditional recipe.

The caramelized sugar and chopped almonds topping the festive cake are reminiscent of the sandy, rocky, Cappadocian countryside landscape.

Cutting the Cake: At home, after the Divine Liturgy, the cake is loosely covered with a napkin, and the sign of the cross is made. The undercover cutting commences, so nobody can see where the secret coin might be. The slices are distributed in this order: First piece cut is in honour of Christ, the second is cut in honour of the Virgin Mary, and the third is cut for St. Basil. These three pieces are saved and given the same day to the elderly, or the poor. The next pieces are cut for the most senior member of the household down to the youngest member. Whoever finds the coin in their piece of cake puts it toward something special!

Preserve gratitude like a precious deposit within your soul, and from it you will receive a double portion of delight. Remember the apostolic word, “Give thanks in all circumstances.” ~ St. Basil the Great

Lovely St. Basil’s Day & New Year Greek Carol – Duet

Old sheet music of St. Basil’s Day & New Year Carol with the verses being sung above (but arranged in a different order on pdf).

With love in Christ.

The Voice of Flowers

Fragrant Wild Sweet Pea and Lavender

Take delight in all things that surround us. All things teach us and lead us to God. All things around us are droplets of the love of God – both things animate and inanimate, the plants and the animals, the birds and the mountains, the sea and the sunset and the starry sky. They are little loves through which we attain to the great Love that is Christ. Flowers, for example, have their own grace; they teach us with their fragrance and with their magnificence. They speak to us of the love of God. They scatter their fragrance and their beauty on sinners and on the righteous. ~ St. Porphyrios

Rolling the Stone Away from Our Heart

Mosaic from the ancient cathedral Hagia Sophia, (Holy Wisdom) – Constantinople 2006

When we are coming to church what are we looking for? Fish in the desert? No, we are looking for that hidden “inward meditation” of the heart which unites us to Christ… The same thing happens in the church where you are mystically and sacramentally united with Christ. In and through your inner meditation on these things they will become a reality… In order to find Him strive to enter into that hidden, inner meditation and you’ll see that He’ll come of His own accord. You’ll see the heavy stone roll away from your heart and He Himself will rise! ~ Elder Aimilianos; The Way of the Spirit

For the first time, in a very long time, public church services resumed last weekend.

What delight!

What jubilation!

What indescribable JOY!

It felt like… Pascha.

Put on Love

Christ is Risen!

The Greek word for charity (love) is agape, and caritas in Latin. Charity is not just giving alms (impersonally) to the needy. Charitable love is possible only by uniting our own love of God with others, as Christ commanded.

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. ~St. John 13:34

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. ~ St. John 15:10-12

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13

With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ~ Ephesians 4:2-3

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ~ Colossians 3:14

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ~1 John 4:7-8

As the memory of fire does not warm the body, so faith without love does not bring about the illumination of knowledge in the soul. ~ St. Maximus the Confessor

Love of God loves always to give wings to the mind to speak of God and Divine things; and love of neighbour disposes it always to think well of him. ~ St. Maximus the Confessor

Love is a bomb the destroys all evil. ~ Gerontissa Gavrielia

If the face of a loved one clearly and completely changes us, and makes us cheerful, gay and carefree, what will the Face of the Lord do when He makes His Presence felt invisibly in a pure soul? ~ St. John Climacus

God is love. So he who wishes to define this tries with bleary eyes to measure the sand in the ocean. ~ St. John Climacus

Patience, forgiveness and joy are the three greatest characteristics of divine love. They are characteristics of all real love – if there is such a thing as real love outside divine love. Without these three characteristics, love is not love. If you give the name ‘love’ to anything else, it is as though you were giving the name ‘sheep’ to a goat or a pig. ~ St. Nikolai Velimirovic

Truly, He is Risen!

Into the Depths of the Sea

Thessaloniki, Greece – 2006

Christ is Risen!

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. ~ Micah 7:18,19

Truly He is Risen!