Christ is Risen!
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. ~ Psalm 85:10
Do not fight to expel the darkness from the chamber of your soul. Open a tiny aperture for light to enter, and the darkness will disappear. ~ St. Porphyrios
…man without God is but a firefly in the endless darkness of this universe. ~ St. Justin Popovich
Truly He is Risen!
Lantern Lights Exterior of Greek Church in Chios -2006
If from one burning lamp someone lights another, then another from that one, and so on in succession, he has light continuously. In the same way, through the Apostles ordaining their successors, and these successors ordaining others, and so on, the grace of the Holy Spirit is handed down through all generations and enlightens all who obey their shepherds and teachers. ~ St. Gregory Palamas
In the measure that we pay attention and take care to carry out what we hear, God will always enlighten us and make us understand His will. ~ St. Dorotheus of Gaza
Congratulations on your Saint’s Day Katherine, and Catherine! Memory Eternal Ekaterina.
Greetings on Great-Martyr Katherine’s feast day!
St. Katherine was the daughter of Constas, the governor of Alexandria in Egypt. She was a brilliant and avid scholar in philosophy, rhetoric, poetry, music, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine.
During a visit by the Roman emperor, a huge pagan festival was held in his honour. However, Katherine protested the Christian persecutions and refused to offer sacrifice to the gods, declaring herself a bride of Christ, the One True God. The emperor decided that due to young Katherine’s societal status, intelligence and strong spirit, she should be ridiculed, being made an entertaining, public example, and proven wrong. His plans backfired.
Fifty of the region’s top orators and philosophers were summoned to mockingly debate the superiority of paganism versus Christianity. With her face glowing Divine Grace, and moved through the Power and Wisdom of the Holy Spirit, young Katherine eloquently defended the Christian faith. She victoriously converted hundreds in the audience… including all 50 orators, the emperor’s own wife, the emperor’s imperial advisor, and 200 soldiers. She and the group of new Christians were imprisoned and martyred around the year 305 AD.
St. Katherine’s body was taken by Angels to the highest peak of Mount Sinai, near where God appeared to Moses in the Burning Bush. Her holy relics are enshrined in the world’s oldest and continuously inhabited Christian monastery, which is over seventeen hundred years old.
Pilgrims to St. Katherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai are given remembrance rings that have been reverently placed on her holy relics, as a blessing. They are copied from the ring she still has on her hand, from Christ.
St. Katherine is a patron saint of students, scholars, philosophers, teachers, public speakers and librarians.
By the prayers of the most wise martyr Katherine, O Christ, enlighten the darkened eye of my soul, granting me a ray of thy splendour… ~ Excerpt from Canon to Great-Martyr Katherine
Morning fog, on local beach – photo shared by Katherine
Keep looking up! Blue skies and Sunshine are above all those clouds!
For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. ~ Psalm 18:28
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: ~ Ephesians 5:8
I have passed my life ever in night, for the night of sin has been to me thick fog and darkness; but make me, O Saviour, a son of the day. ~ The Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete
Pray in peace and serenity, sing intelligently and in a good state – and you will be like a young eagle soaring high in the sky. ~ St. Nilus of Mt Sinai (The Philokalia)
Afflictions for God’s sake are dearer to Him than any prayer or sacrifice. ~ St. Issac the Syrian (Homily 58)
…Look at the sky as often as possible and your thoughts will become light and clear. Be quiet a lot, speak little – and silence will come in your heart, and your spirit will be calm and full of peace. ~ St. Seraphim of Sarov
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ~ St. John 1:5
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face… ~ 1 Corinthians 13:12
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. ~St. Matthew 5:5
Complete trust in God – that’s what holy humility is. Complete obedience to God, without protest, without reaction, even when some things seem difficult and unreasonable. Abandonment to the hands of God. ~ Elder Porphyrios
…your job is to work upon yourself: for this you are chosen; the rest is in the hands of God. He who humbles himself shall be exalted. ~St. Theophan the Recluse
The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who fills the whole universe, passes through all believing, meek, humble, good, and simple human souls, dwelling in them, vivifying and strengthening them. He becomes one spirit with them and everything to them – light, strength, peace, joy, success in their undertakings, especially in a pious life, and everything good … “We have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (I Corinthians 12:13). All pious people are filled with the Spirit of God similarly as a sponge is filled with water. ~ St. John of Kronstadt
In the mercy of God, the little thing done with humility will enable us to be found in the same place as the saints who have laboured much and been true servants of God. ~St. Dorotheos of Gaza
When pride retreats from a man, humility begins to dwell in him, and the more pride is diminished, so much more does humility grow. The one gives way to the other as to its opposite. Darkness departs and light appears. Pride is darkness, but humility is light. ~ St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
What a beautiful day God has provided for us!
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. ~ Isaiah 60:1
Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake. ~ Psalm 31:16
God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah. ~ Psalm 67:1
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. ~ Psalm 80:1
Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. ~ Psalm 80:3
Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes. ~ Psalm 119:135
But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. ~Proverbs 4:18
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. ~ James 1:17
Before the dawn, Mary and the women came and found the stone rolled away from the tomb. They heard the angelic voice: “Why do you seek among the dead as a man the One who is Everlasting Light? Behold the clothes in the grave! Go and proclaim to the world: The Lord is risen!” He has slain death, as He is the Son of God, saving the race of men. ~ Paschal Hypakoe
Shine! Shine! O New Jerusalem! The Glory of the Lord has shone on you! Exalt now and be glad, O Zion! Be radiant, O Pure Theotokos, in the Resurrection of your Son! ~ Paschal Hymn to the Theotokos
