Wishing you a Blessed Feast tomorrow!
(July 12/June 29)
Previous 2023 Post:
Happy Sts. Peter & Paul Day!
Various beautiful sermons and homilies about The Apostles Peter and Paul! An edifying resource!
Happy Feast Day!
Tag: Harvest
Happy All Saints’ Day
A Thicket of Maiden-Hair Ferns Refreshed by Righteous Rain
Blessed Feast, and Happy Saint’s Day Emmanuelle!
Previous *All Saints’ Day* Blisswood Posts
God’s Garden ~ Posted June 14, 2020
Sunday of All Saints ~ Posted June 27, 2021
God Giveth the Increase ~ Posted June 19, 2022
Called to Be Saints ~ Posted July 11, 2023
In the New Testament we are called to be saints, and the Orthodox Church gives the title of saint to those who throughout history, have lived and died in Christ.
While Canonized (Glorified) Saints have their own feast days, there are countless multitudes of saints (since the time of Adam) who don’t have a feast day… and some of these are even nameless Saints – known only to God!
Since the 4th century, All Saints’ Day is celebrated the first Sunday after the Great Feast of Pentecost. Today we commemorate all saints from everywhere and from every time. 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.
As all are alive in Christ, the saints are our friends and alive in Heaven. They are venerated, but not worshipped.
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.
Every one of us is the painter of his own life. Our soul is like the canvas, and the virtues are the paint. Jesus Christ is the image we should copy. ~ St. Gregory of Nyssa
In God and in His Church there is no division between the living and the departed, but all are one in the love of the Father. Whether we are alive or whether we are dead, as members of the Church we still belong to the same family, and still have a duty to bear one another’s burdens. Therefore just as Orthodox Christians here on earth pray for one another and ask for one another’s prayers, so they pray for the faithful departed and ask the faithful departed to pray for them. Death cannot sever the bond of mutual love which links the members of the Church together. ~ Metropolitan Kallistos Ware
All the Saints are like fragrant flowers in God’s Heavenly Garden.
May we bloom where planted, and regardless of debris from life’s storms… offer unto Creation’s Planter a fruition of Spiritual Fragrance!
Happy Eve of the Holy Apostles Sts. Peter & Paul Fast!
Happy Sts. Peter & Paul Day!
July 12/June 29
Icon of Saints Peter (left) and Paul (right).
The long Apostles’ Fast is over!
Greetings on this ancient, joyful feast day, commemorating the Holy Apostles Saints Peter and Paul. They are celebrated together because of their great roles in the Church as fathers and guides to all Christians.
O first-enthroned among the apostles and teachers of the whole world: Entreat the Master of all, that He grant peace to the world: and great mercy to our souls. ~ Troparion of Apostles Peter & Paul (Tone 4)
With hymns of praise let us honour the true preachers of piety, the all-radiant stars of the Church: Peter, the rock of Faith, and Paul, the teacher of the truth and initiate of the mysteries of Christ. For both of them having sown the word of truth in the ears of the faithful beseech Christ God Who giveth fruitfulness unto all, that our souls be saved. ~ Stichera for Apostles Peter & Paul (Tone 6)
Remembering the Old English Poem associated with the tradition of harvesting lavender on (or around) this particular Feast Day, we added a small, fresh bouquet of Provence Lavender at the festal icon of Saints Peter and Paul. “If you wish lavender bushy and tall, then tend on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul.”
We have 4 lavender bushes that need “tending”. Their harvested stems are bundled securely into individual bouquets, (but not too tightly, and making sure they’re not damp) then hung upside down (flowers at bottom) to dry in the house, avoiding direct sunlight. It can take about 3 weeks for the stems and flowers to dry. Meanwhile, the house smells amazing! Lavender can easily be made into drawer/closet/car sachets, sleep pillows, or kept/shared as a dried floral wall decoration. If they dry straight enough, you can pop them into a dry vase to keep. I also strip some buds off several stems and put them in a lidded glass jar and stored in a dark kitchen cupboard- for use in… tea, lemonade, vinaigrettes, or baking. During winter use, it’s a joy to remember they were picked on a sunny summer Saints’ Day! Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, pray to God for us!
Culinary Lavender Summer Recipes…
Lavender-Rose Vegan Mini Mochi
Lavender Dream Cookies
Happy Saint’s Day – Reader Peter! May God grant you many years!
Memory Eternal – J. Paul T. 🐓 and Paul G.!
Then Will Come the 2nd Feast!
Detail of Parish Mosaic Icon – St. Bail the Great
…that will be St. Basil’s Feast; rejoice!
One of my favourite quotes from St. Basil the Great ~ 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.
May we all plant a Perennial Crop of Kindness and Share the Harvest from the Garden of God’s Love!
Happy St. Basil’s Day – January 14/1
Greetings on the Feast – with St. Basil the Great Quotes
St. Basil’s Day Cake Recipe
Sharing our parish choir’s (a cappella) 2014 recording of the Christmastide Carol – We Wish You Good Evening. We sing of the coming 3 feasts! Holy Nativity, St. Basil the Great’s Day, and Holy Theophany.
O rejoice all the world, the Son of God is born!
Reaping the Harvest
Scripture Art by Juliana
When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands ~ Deuteronomy 24:19
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
Steep and Thorny
Bristling Scotch Thistles
Steep and thorny is the path that leads to the Heavenly Kingdom… Self-love is the soil upon which grow passions, emptiness of life, and sorrow. ~ Archbishop Seraphim Sobolev
Loving only himself, a man loves neither God nor his fellow-men. He does not even love the man that is in himself; he loves only his thoughts about himself, his illusions about himself. Were he to love the man in himself, he would at the same time love God’s image in him, and would quickly become a lover of God and man, for he would be seeking man and God in other men, as objects of his love. Self-love is not love, but is rejection of God and contempt for men, whether open or concealed. Self-love is not love but sickness, a serious illness that inevitably brings other illnesses in its train. As pox inevitably produces fever throughout the body, so self-love produces the fire of envy and anger in the whole body. A man full of self-love is full of envy of those who are better than he is, or richer, more learned or more respected by men. With envy there always goes anger, like flame with fire; a concealed anger, that flares out at times and, in so doing, reveals all the ugliness of the man’s sick heart, that has been poisoned with the poison of self-love… ~ St. Nikolai Velimirovic
Take the example of the earth. Even though it is one, nevertheless, some earth is rocky, some quite fertile. And some is good for vines while other ground is suited for raising wheat and barley. So also are different types of human hearts and wills. Likewise also gifts from above are distributed differently. To one is given ministry of preaching, to another that of discernment, to another the gifts of healings (1 Corinthians 12:9). For God knows how a person is able to fulfill his stewardship and so He gives His various gifts accordingly. In a similar way to the interior battles, the enemy power is permitted to attack humans in the certain measure that each person is able to receive and withstand. ~ St. Macarius of Egypt (Fifty Spiritual Homilies)
Budding Promises
Rose from Pixabay ~SchneeKnirschen
Rosebuds contain mysterious layers of hidden beauty. Immature buds have no perfume until they mature and bloom. Upon fruition, they radiate a myriad of fragrances which correspond to their various transformations. All buds promise the possibility of flowers, and fill us with joy, hope, and reflections of Sonshine.
For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; ~ 2 Corinthians 2:15
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. ~Ephesians 5:1-2
Oil and perfume make the heart glad, So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend. ~ Proverbs 27:9
Your mind is the garden, your thoughts are the seeds, the harvest can either be flowers or weeds. ~ William Wordsworth
Secret Garden Secrets
Vibrant, Autumnal, Garden Nasturtiums
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ~ Genesis 2:15
There’s an inherent yearning deep within, to return to The Garden where God originally placed us.
Blossoming backyard gardens and bursting balcony flower boxes have become our private little gazebos for God. Surrounded by nature’s wondrous beauty, we can’t help but worship and extol Creation’s Planter!
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ~ Genesis 2:7-8
Preparing wild violet seeds to sprout in time for spring, I plunge bare fingers into rich, loamy soil. Earthy, delightful fragrances exude forth, and I’m reminded, For dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return… whither all we mortals are going... Alleluia!
Pondering these fleeting thoughts, I thirstily drink in the gardens’ sights, sounds, and myriad of scents. Even in autumn, it’s a living thing, both below and above the soil… organically connected through the roots and tendrils of past, present, and future.
What satisfaction there is living within the gentle furrow of the moment, garnering the herbs, vegetables, fruits and flowers that blossom forth!
What joy there is in giving oneself to the garden… To hear its secrets, to harvest its gift of contentment… To reap its sheaves of peace; and to glean and store its spiritual grains of abundance, within the silos of our hearts!
Sunday of All Saints
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.
Skylark Buns Tradition
Skylark buns are traditionally baked to celebrate the Holy 40 Martyrs of Sebaste.
Sebaste, an ancient Roman town, is now called Ayas in modern-day Turkey. The date of the Holy Forty Martyrs’ “heavenly birthday” falls on March 22/9 (320 AD) and always within Great Lent.
The Holy Forty Martyrs were soldiers in the Roman 12th Legion called Fulminata (the Lightning -Thundering Legion). As Christians, they refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, and were brought to trial before the commander. After enduring many sufferings, they attained the joyous reward reserved for those who give their lives for Christ. The unwavering fortitude of the Holy Forty Martyrs exemplifies great faith, and perseverance to the end.
The Holy Fathers of the Church refer to Great Lent as a fasting spring. During this period, the souls of the faithful are sown with seeds of divine grace, to yield a harvest of good deeds, throughout the year that follows.
Buns shaped like birds (also known as skylarks) are traditionally baked to celebrate the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste’s feast day. Skylark buns are also shared after church on the first Sunday closest to their feast day, which also occurs near the first day of spring.
The skylark buns remind us of the Forty Martyrs’ steadfastness… inspiring own our souls to soar heavenward like birds, upon the wings of divine love; looking unto Jesus, the Author and finisher of our lives.
To Make the Larks
Take a piece of risen yeasted bread dough, about the size of a medium egg, and roll it out into a long ropey piece, about 5 inches long.
Tie it loosely into a knot, with approximately equal length protruding from both ends.
Put on a lightly greased cookie sheet (or use parchment paper). With a pair of scissors, cut a “beak” on one end of the knot, and on the other end of the knot, cut a “tail” into about 3 or 4 feathered strands.
Push 2 peppercorns firmly into the head, as eyes.
Do not put birds on cookie sheet too closely together, as they spread a bit as they bake. Cover, let rise again for about half an hour.
Pop into a preheated 370* oven and bake about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
TIP: For tastier buns, use a bit of honey, a dash of cardamon, and lemon or orange zest in the dough.
Some people prefer to use currants for the eyes, although these can turn gooey.
Birds freeze very well if baking ahead of time. You may need to secure their eyes again, if they come loose in bag when thawing.