I believe

Layers of Lent

Strolling through a verdant Blisswood Grove in Costa Rica~ Pura Vida!

…You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. ~ Romans 13:11-12

Wishing you a Blessed Clean Monday! Let us Spring Clean our souls, Grow in God’s Grace… and Bloom in His Sonshine!

As we sail across the Great Sea of the Fast may our Great Lenten Journeys be Peaceful, and Fruitful – helping us to see Christ in others, and preparing us to joyously reach those Shining Shores of Great and Holy Pascha – the Feast of Feasts… the reason why Christ was Born!

Wishing you all the Bright Joys of the Fast!

Clean Monday, Great Lent, Holy Week – Past Blisswood Posts Resource

The Whys and Hows

Icon of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ

Christ is Risen! Greetings on Thomas Sunday!

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. ~St. John 20:29

I do love hearing that passage and the Lord Himself saying with timeless inclusiveness… blessed are those who have believed without seeing! He’s also referring to us! Right now!

Today, weather permitting, our parish will visit two cemeteries after Liturgy, and the priest will bless the graves of parishioners who’ve fallen asleep in the Lord. These Radonitsa Prayers are short, beautiful, and concluded with the Bright and Joyous singing of Paschal hymns at each grave site.

Another sweet consolation…

After our death, when we come face to face with Christ, we will understand the why and how of our lives and we will be told everything we went through in this world. Then, with all the power of our existence, we will say to Him, “Thank you my God, for allowing these for me!” ~ St. Paisios the Athonite

Truly He is Risen!

A bouquet from Pentecost, with Peony… whose old English name was Pentecost Rose.

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man. And He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. In one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed was formally drawn up at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicea (325 AD) and at the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople (381 AD).