The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all of us who are bowed down. ~ Psalm 145:14
It’s been said that sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but Faith looks up!
We glimpse this in our own gardens, with flowers blooming – regardless of debris from past storms.
For even when it’s raining, the Sun is shining above those clouds!
The fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth. ~ Ephesians 5:9
Greetings on Clean Wednesday.
These profound silence quotes are by the 7th century St. Isaac of Syria
If you love truth, be a lover of silence. In the beginning we have to force ourselves to be silent. But then, something is born that draws us to silence. May God give you the experience of this something that is born in silence.
Silence is the mystery of the world to come.
Humility collects the soul into a single point by the power of silence. A truly humble man has no desire to be known or admired by others, but wishes to plunge from himself into himself, to become nothing, as if he had never been born. When he is completely hidden to himself in himself, he is completely with God.
Above anything, welcome silence, for it brings fruits that no tongue can speak of, neither can it be explained.
Silence is a mystery of the age to come, but words are instruments of this world.
Not every quiet man is humble, but every humble man is quiet.
May your Lenten Journey be peaceful and fruitful.
Image by Nhân Nguyễn from Pixabay
As the Holy Trinity, our God is One Being, although Three Persons, so, likewise, we ourselves must be one. As our God is indivisible, we also must be indivisible, as though we were one man, one mind, one will, one heart, one goodness, without the smallest admixture of malice – in a word, one pure love, as God is Love. “That they may be one, even as We are One.” (St. John 17:22) ~ St. John of Kronstadt.
…we shall begin… by applying identical expressions to the Three. ‘He was the true light that enlightens every man coming into the world’ (St. John 1:9) – yes, the Father. ‘He was the true light that enlightens every man coming into the world’ -yes, the Son. ‘He was the true light that enlightens every man coming into the world’ -yes, the Comforter. These are the three subjects and three verbs – He was and He was and He was. But a single reality was. There are three predicates – light and light and light. But the light is one, God is one. This is the beginning of David’s prophetic vision: ‘In Your light shall we see light’ (Psalm 36:9). We receive the Son’s light from the Father’s light in the light of the Spirit: that is what we ourselves have seen and what we now proclaim – it is the plain and simple explanation of the Trinity. ~St. Gregory Nazianzus (On Christ and God, Oration 31:3)
The three-leafed shamrock on a single stem, was used by 5th century St. Patrick to illustrate the Holy Trinity – our One God in Three Persons. St. Patrick wrote many hymns. Here is a short excerpt from a longer, beautiful hymn. “I bind unto myself today, the Strong Name of the Trinity! By Invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three!”
Floral Petal Confetti on Marble Mosaic Floor
…They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If a man has something, he gives freely to the man who has nothing. If they see a stranger, Christians take him home and are happy, as though he were a real brother. They don’t consider themselves brothers in the usual sense, but brothers instead through the Spirit of God. And if they hear that one of them is in jail, or persecuted for professing the name of their redeemer, they all give him what he needs. If it is possible, they bail him out. If one of them is poor and there isn’t enough food to go around, they fast for several days to give him the food he needs. This is really a new kind of person. There is something divine in them… ~ Excerpt from Section XV , The Apology of St. Aristides from around the year 125, when Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD) visited Athens, and was seeking justification to outlaw Christianity
Christian Love St. Matthew 22:37-39; St. John 13:34; St. John 13:35; St. John 15:12; St. John 15:17; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:11
Japanese Anemone flower, a lovely and vigorous perennial that blooms late summer until first frost, providing a welcome splash of garden colour.
Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. ~ Proverbs 16:24
A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love. ~ St. Basil the Great
Out and about on errands recently, we pulled into a shopping mall and parked outside a coffee shop. To save time, I nabbed the groceries while my husband picked up wine for dinner. When I returned to the car, my husband related how a street person gently approached him asking for spare change. He actually found several dollars worth of coin, handed it to the street person and asked him to accept it in memory of his deceased brother. The man nodded, took the coin, walked around the corner of the building – and returned several seconds later. A forgotten purse sat on an empty bistro table outside the cafe. He picked up the purse, took it into the coffee shop, handed it over to the barista, then quickly exited and continued on his way. May God help that honest man and reward his good deeds!
Excerpts from Everyman a late-15th-century English morality play. Called by Death, Everyman can persuade none of his friends – Beauty, Kindred, Worldly Goods – to go with him, except Good Deeds.
Good Deeds: …Everyman, I will bide with thee, I will not forsake thee indeed; Thou shalt find me a good friend at need.
Everyman: I see my time is nigh spent away. Take example, all ye that do hear or see, How they that I loved best do forsake me, Except my Good-Deeds that bideth truly.
Good-Deeds: All earthly things are but vanity: Beauty, Strength, and Discretion, do man forsake, Foolish friends and kinsmen, that fair spake, All fleeth save Good-Deeds, and that am I.
Everyman: Heaven have mercy upon me, and stand by me!
Good-Deeds: Fear not, I will speak for thee. Short our end, and minish our pain; Let us go and never come again.
It’s not an abundance of words that supplicate God, but a pure soul which manifests good deeds. ~ St John Chrysostom
The Multiplier of Wheat Icon of the Mother of God
(Also translated as She Who Ripens the Grain)
We are grateful to have this special icon in our home. My husband is a baker, and we delight in harvesting herbs and vegetables from our kitchen garden.
The Most Holy Theotokos intercedes for harvests, seasonable weather, and lifting of droughts. She is the Benefactress of farmers, gardeners, and others who work the soil for their daily bread.
The Mother of God is a helper for people in their labours for the acquiring of their daily bread… Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with You! Grant unto us unworthy ones the dew of Your grace and the showing forth of Your mercy! ~ St. Ambrose of Optina
Salutations to you forever, Virgin Mother of God, our unceasing joy, for to you do I turn again… You are the beginning of our feast; you are its middle and end; the pearl of great price that belongs to the kingdom; … the living altar of the Bread of Life (Jesus)… ~ St. Methodius
The Teacher of children became Himself a Child among children, that He might instruct the unwise. The Bread of heaven came down to earth to feed the hungry. ~ St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Give us this day, our daily bread. ~ St. Matthew 6:11
For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:17
Our Lord says: I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. ~ John 6:51
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. ~ St. John 12:24
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. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
O Most Holy Theotokos, nourish and pray for us, that we may worthily become God’s wheat!
He who asks to receive his daily bread does not automatically receive it in its fullness as it is in itself: he receives it according to his own capacity as recipient. The Bread of Life (cf. St. John 6:35) gives Himself in His love to all who ask, but not in the same way to all; for He gives Himself more fully to those who have performed great acts of righteousness, and in smaller measure to those who have not achieved so much. He gives Himself to each person according to that person’s spiritual ability to receive Him. ~St. Maximos the Confessor
The Lord promised to send the Comforter. (St. John 16:7), Who should join us to God. For as a compacted lump of dough cannot be formed of dry wheat without fluid matter, nor can a loaf possess unity, so, in like manner, neither could we, being many, be made one in Christ Jesus without the water from heaven. And as dry earth does not bring forth unless it receives moisture, in like manner we also, being originally a dry tree, could never have brought forth fruit unto life without the voluntary rain from above. For our bodies have received unity among themselves by means of that laver which leads to incorruption; but our souls, by means of the Spirit. Wherefore, both are necessary, since both contribute towards the life of God. ~ St. Irenaeus of Lyons
Before the Blessing – Zoe’s Transfiguration Fruit Basket with beautiful handwoven cloth (08-19-2021)
…with the choicest fruits of the sun and the rich yield of the months, with the finest produce of the ancient mountains and the abundance of the everlasting hills, with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness… ~ Deuteronomy 33:14 – 16
The Light of the Lord’s Transfiguration does not come into being or cease to be, nor is it circumscribed or perceptible to the senses, even though for a short time on the narrow mountain top it was seen by human eyes. Rather, at that moment the initiated disciples of the Lord ‘passed’, as we have been taught, ‘from flesh to spirit’ by the transformation of their senses, which the Spirit wrought in them, and so they saw that ineffable light, when and as much as the Holy Spirit’s power granted them to do so. ~ St. Gregory Palamas
Memory Eternal, Nathalia on your Name Day! One of her many wise quotes… “We must be practical my dear, and accept what God gives us.”
Travel Icon on Dining Table -Hawaii 2014
A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him. ~ Proverbs 12:14
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. ~ St. Matthew 12:33
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ~ St. John 12:24
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes*, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.. ~ St. John 15:1-5 (The Greek word for “prunes” also means “cleans”)
He planted us on this earth not for our own sakes, but for His glory; we can only glorify Him by the spiritual fruits that grow in our souls. ~ St. John Chrysostom
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. ~ Hebrews 12:1-2
Since the 4th century All Saints’ Day is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Great Feast of Pentecost. Today we commemorate all saints from everywhere… from the time of Adam until the end of the world. We honour the known and unknown… Whether they be men, women or children… these shining clouds of witnesses have lived to the fruition of Holiness.
All the Saints are like fragrant flowers in God’s Heavenly Garden.
Kontakion (a little hymn) of All Saints: The universe offers to Thee, O Lord, as the Planter of Creation, the God-bearing martyrs as the first-fruits of nature. By their prayers, O Most Merciful One, through the Mother of God keep Thy Church, Thy estate, in deep peace.
Sermon on Sunday of All Saints ~ Igumen Zacchaeus Wood
Alleluia!
Alleluia was inherited by the first Christians from Hebrew worship. It means Praise God.
The Polyeleos is the most festive part of the Matins service. The word comes from the Greek polys (much), and eleos (mercy). The Polyeleos Hymn consists of parts from Psalms 134 (Praise the name of the Lord, Alleluia) and Psalm 135 (Give thanks to the Lord, Alleluia) The Polyeleos singing is accompanied by multiple repetitions of For His mercy endures forever. During this part of service all the vigil lamps in the church are lit and blaze joyously.
