A Peaceful Morning Walk
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. ~ Jeremiah 33:3
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. ~ Psalm 91:4
Christ is Born!
Today we celebrate Righteous Joseph the Betrothed, protector of the Virgin Mary, as well as the Feast of St. Stephen the Archdeacon and Protomartyr.
St. Stephen was one of the seven original deacons of the Church, ordained by the Apostles to care for widows and the poor.
The eastern church observes St. Stephen’s Day on the third day of Nativity, and not on the second day, as western churches do. Since times of antiquity, on this day the Church Collection Boxes, of cash, food and clothing hampers were opened and given to the poor and needy... the Original meaning of Boxing Day!
Of course, it’s spiritually beneficial to distribute alms in the memory of a loved one, not only at Christmas, but on any day of the year. …Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing! Many have heard about the “Feast of St. Stephen” from “Good King Wenceslas” (Prince of Czechs), a carol set to a 13th century melody. (St. Wenceslas’s grandmother was St. Ludmilla)
An Everyday Carol below – by 9th century St. Joseph the Hymnographer… can be sung to the 13th century melody we know as Good King Wenceslas!
Christian friends, your voices raise, wake the day with gladness.
God Himself to joy and praise, turns our human sadness:
Joy that martyrs won their crown, opened heaven’s portal,
When they laid the mortal down, for the Life Immortal.
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Like finding buried treasure, this beautiful antique picture (from nearly 125 years ago), was found in the basement of our church during renovations.
Look Unto Me and Be Ye Saved. ~ Isaiah 45:22
Food for Thought
Quotes from 4th century St. Augustine of Hippo
Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.
God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.
The mind commands the body and is instantly obeyed. The mind commands itself and meets resistance.
God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.
And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought.
If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.
There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.
Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it
To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.
Open to Me the Doors of Repentance Orthodox Hymn
Pears-pixaBay
Whatever you do, do it gently and unhurriedly, because virtue is not a pear to be eaten in one bite. ~ St. Seraphim of Sarov
Prayer is food for the soul. Do not starve the soul, it is better to let the body go hungry… ~ St. Joseph of Optina
You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body. ~C. S. Lewis
Through greed we underwent the first stripping, overcome by the bitter tasting of the fruit, and we became exiles from God. But let us turn back to repentance and, fasting from the food that gives us pleasure, let us cleanse our senses on which the enemy makes war. Let us strengthen our hearts with the hope of grace, and not with foods which brought no benefit to those who trusted in them. Our food shall be the Lamb of God, on the holy and radiant night of His Awakening: the Victim offered for us, given in communion to the disciples on the evening of the Mystery, who disperses the darkness of ignorance by the Light of His Resurrection. ~ Aposticha, Vespers – evening of Sunday of the Last Judgement
Do that which is good, and no evil shall touch you. Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with unrighteousness. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold: For alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that exercise alms and righteousness shall be filled with life: But they that sin are enemies to their own life. ~ Archangel Raphael, Tobit 12:7-10
One should not think about the doings of God when one’s stomach is full; on a full stomach there can be no vision of the Divine mysteries. ~St. Seraphim of Sarov
It is necessary for a Christian to fast, in order to clear his mind, to rouse and develop his feelings, and to stimulate his will to useful activity. These three human capabilities we darken and stifle above all by ‘surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life’ (Lk. 21:34). ~ St. John of Kronstadt
Many human activities, good in themselves, are not good because of the motive for which they are done. For example, fasting and vigils, prayer and psalmody, acts of charity and hospitality are by nature good, but when performed for the sake of self-esteem they are not good. ~ St. Maximos the Confessor
Devils take great delight in fullness, and drunkenness and bodily comfort. Fasting possesses great power and it works glorious things. To fast is to banquet with angels. ~ St. Athanasius the Great
Let the mouth also fast from disgraceful speeches and railings. For what does it profit if we abstain from fish and fowl and yet bite and devour our brothers and sisters? The evil speaker eats the flesh of his brother and bites the body of his neighbour. ~St. John Chrysostom
