Icon – Page 3 – Blisswood

Angelic Efforts

Progress on Altar Angel by Parish Mosaicists based on detail from background angels of a 6th century icon at the ancient St. Catherine’s Monastery of Mt. Sinai.

When we once begin to form good resolutions, God gives us every opportunity of carrying them out. ~ St. John Chrysostom

You can set up an altar to God in your minds by means of prayer. And so it is fitting to pray at your trade, on a journey, standing at a counter or sitting at your handicraft. ~ St. John Chrysostom

Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. And assuredly, the angel who guards you will honour your patience. ~ St. John Chrysostom

We all do nearly nothing – some a little more, some a little less. When Christ sees our little effort, He gives us an analogous [matching] token; and so our “nearly nothing” becomes valuable, and we can see a little progress. For this reason we must not despair, but hope in God. ~ Elder Paisios of Mount Athos

Droplets of Love

St. John the Baptist and Forerunner Icon behind sunflower bouquet on Transfiguration Feast Day

Take delight in all things that surround us. All things teach us and lead us to God. All things around us are droplets of the love of God – both things animate and inanimate, the plants and the animals, the birds and the mountains, the sea and the sunset and the starry sky. They are little loves through which we attain to the great Love that is Christ. Flowers, for example, have their own grace; they teach us with their fragrance and with their magnificence. They speak to us of the love of God. They scatter their fragrance and their beauty on sinners and on the righteous. ~ Elder Porphyrios

He Always Hears Us!

This is my favourite icon of Our Lord Jesus Christ! It’s from the ancient St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai and dated mid 6th century. The medium of Encaustic/Wax was used, and it’s the earliest remaining Byzantine-style icon of Christ the Pantocrator… which means Christ: the All Powerful, the Lord of Hosts, God Almighty, and Ruler of All.

God loves us more than a father, mother, friend, or any else could love, and even more than we are able to love ourselves. ~ St. John Chrysostom

Prayer unites one with God, being a divine conversation and spiritual communion with the Being that is most beautiful and highest. Prayer is forgetting earthly things, and ascent to heaven. Through Prayer we flee to God. ~ St. Nektarios of Aegina

Do not think that you have a right to complain when your prayers are not answered. God fulfills your desires in a manner that you do not know. ~ St. Nektarios of Aegina

If God is slow in answering your request, or if you ask but do not promptly receive anything, do not be upset, for you are not wiser than God. ~ St. Isaac of Syria

Do you know what a great gift it is that God gave us the right to speak to Him every hour and moment, wherever we are? He always listens to us. This is the greatest honour we have. For this reason we must love God. ~ St. Porphyrios

Have Icon, Will Travel

“Travelling” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and our Lord Jesus Christ, on cabin’s dining room table. It is diptych style, with two icons hinged together and a latch door to shut during transit. This beautiful Icon was a gift from our dear friend Elizabeth.

Icons in churches and houses are necessary because they remind us of the immortality of saints; that they live unto Him, (St. Luke 20:38) that in God they see, hear, and help us. ~ St. John of Kronstadt.

Whether camping, glamping, going on a road or business trip, besides having a pre-trip blessing, a portable icon is also important to bring on our travels. (Or to have during a hospital stay.) For years we carefully brought and used a small, blessed, paper Icon when going/staying anywhere.

Upon reaching the destination, place your travelling icon either facing east in your room, or where you will most easily see it for prayer, and to help bring one’s vacationing attention back to God.

If possible, do also bring a small container of Holy Water on your trip for daily use and to also bless your cabin or hotel room, etc. upon arrival. Sprinkle the walls, windows and doorways with it, using the sign of the Cross… each time saying, “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.”

May the dear Lord bless you on your travels, and bring you back from your journey again in peace, health and safety.

St. Basil of Ostrog

Parish icon of St. Basil of Ostrog

Today is St. Basil of Ostrog’s Feast Day, (May 12/April 29) and he is very dear to many.

We are so blessed! God pours out His great, abundant mercy and miracles through His saints– the heavenly great cloud of witnesses!

Through the holy intercessions of St. Basil of Ostrog, may we continue to receive spiritual consolation and healing of physical and mental infirmities.

For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. ~ Luke 20:38

Holy St. Basil pray to God for us!

Blessings of Harmonious Union

Parish icons lit during an Evening Vigil.

Christ is Risen!

Greetings on Thomas Sunday!

Nothing elevates the soul, nothing gives it wings as a liturgical hymn does. A holy hymn gives birth to piety of soul, creates a good conscience, and is accepted by God in the treasuries of the heavens. ~ St. John Chrysostom

Bis orat qui cantat. (Means) He who chants prays twice. ~ Ancient Proverb

Psalmody – bringing about choral singing, a bond, as it were, toward unity, and joining people into a harmonious union of one choir – produces also the greatest of blessings: love. ~ St. Basil the Great

When you worship God with hymns, you should be worshipping Him with your entire being: your voice should sing; your heart should also sing; and your life should also sing. Everything should sing! ~ Blessed Augustine

Music is unique among the liturgical arts in that it’s something we have to do every time we come to church. Iconography, architecture, church furnishings, liturgical books, all these are things an artist can produce once and be done with. But music is never finished. As soon as you sing a note it vanishes forever. As soon as the service is over, whatever beauty you achieved during it has to be produced all over again in the next service. ~ Rowan Benedict Sheehan

Truly He is Risen!

Fire of Divine Grace

May the kindling of Divine Grace blaze brightly in all our hearts!

The grace of the Holy Spirit which is given mystically to every Christian when he is baptised acts and is manifested in proportion to our obedience to the commandments of the Lord. That is, if a Christian obeys the commandments of the Lord more, grace acts with him more, while if he obeys them less, grace acts within him less. Just as a spark, when covered in the ashes of fire becomes increasingly manifest as one removes the ashes, and the more fire wood you put the more the fire burns, so the grace that has been given to every Christian through Holy Baptism is hidden in the heart and covered up by the passions and sins, and the more a man acts in accordance with the commandments of Christ, the more he is cleansed of the passions and the more the fire of Divine grace lights in his heart, illumines and deifies him. ~ St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain

The Splendour of Icons

Beaded droplets of Holy Water grace a newly blessed icon of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Note the ancient lettering style inscriptions. Icons are venerated and not worshipped. They are beautiful, spiritual, windows into heaven.

– I venerate the Creator… who came down to his creation without being lowered or weakened, that He might glorify my nature and bring about communion with the divine nature. …Therefore I am emboldened to depict the invisible God, not as invisible, but as He became visible for our sake, by participation in flesh and blood. I do not depict the invisible divinity, but I depict God made visible in the Flesh. ~ St. John Damascene

The Church, through the temple and Divine service, acts upon the entire man, educates him wholly; acts upon his sight, hearing, smelling, feeling, taste, imagination, mind, and will, by the splendour of icons and of the whole temple, by the ringing of bells, by the singing of the choir, by the fragrance of the incense, the kissing of the Gospel, of the cross and the holy icons, by the prosphoras, the singing, and sweet sound of the readings of Scripture. ~ St. John of Kronstadt (My Life in Christ)

Icons in churches and houses are necessary because they remind us of the immortality of the saints; that they live unto Him, that in God they see, hear, and help us. ~ St. John of Kronstadt

Church services, that is, all the daily services, together with the entire arrangement of the church’s icons, candles, censing, singing, chanting, movements of the clergy, as well as the services for various needs (e.g., Molebens, Pannikhidas, etc.); then services in the home, also using ecclesiastical objects such as sanctified icons, holy oil, candles, holy water, the Cross, and incense – all of these holy things together acting upon all the senses – sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste – are the cloths that wipe clean the senses of a deadened soul. They are the strongest and only reliable way to do it… The entire structure of our Church services, with their tone, meaning, power of faith, and especially the grace concealed within them, have an invincible power to drive away the spirit of the world. ~ St. Theophan the Recluse (The Path to Salvation)

Finding the Beauty

Parish Mosaic Before Completion

We are but the small shards of Creation’s Grand and Beautiful Mosaic!

Christ manifested Himself to the world; He filled it with light and joy; He sanctified the waters and diffused His light in the souls of men. ~ St. Proclus

Unless we look at a person and see the beauty there is in this person, we can contribute nothing to him. One does not help a person by discerning what is wrong, what is ugly, what is distorted. Christ looked at everyone he met, at the prostitute, at the thief, and saw the beauty hidden there. Perhaps it was distorted, perhaps damaged, but it was beauty nonetheless, and what he did was to call out this beauty. ~ Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

Every one of us is in the image of God, and every one of us is like a damaged icon. But if we were given an icon damaged by time, damaged by circumstances, or desecrated by human hatred, we would treat it with reverence, with tenderness, with broken-heartedness. We would not pay attention primarily to the fact that it is damaged, but to the tragedy of its being damaged. We would concentrate on what is left of its beauty, and not on what is lost of its beauty. And this is what we must learn to do with regard to each person as an individual, but also – and this is not always as easy – with regard to groups of people, whether it be a parish or a denomination, or a nation. We must learn to look, and look until we have seen the underlying beauty of this group of people. Only then can we even begin to do something to call out all the beauty that is there. Listen to other people, and whenever you discern something which sounds true, which is a revelation of harmony and beauty, emphasize it and help it to flower. Strengthen it and encourage it to live. ~ Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

Faith, Hope and Love

Beautiful (almost life size) ambo-iconostas mosaic of St. Sophia and her three daughters, Faith, Hope and Love.

These saints from the second century AD are the epitome of their virtuous names: Sophia (Wisdom), Faith, Hope and Love, and they continue to shine forth as steadfast beacons of spiritual strength!

Today is our parish sisterhood’s feast day, and some cherished friends’ Saint’s Day as well! Congratulations on your Name’s Day, Vera, Sophie, Lu and Esperanza! May God grant you many years and blessings!

Memory Eternal Nadezhda, Faith, and Michael!

The purpose of a parish sisterhood is to engage Christ’s loving kindness, in service to our parish, our Church, each other, and our local community. We strive to emulate the great faith reflected in the life or lives of our name’s-sake(s).

Faith, hope, and love are interconnected. There can’t be one without the other two. In this life we have three great lasting qualities – faith, hope and love. And the greatest of them is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Our soul is a Divine Breath. Our body is His Creation. In the whole of us we are the icon of God… Three things are needful. First Love, second Love, third Love… How beautiful is the Mystery of Tomorrow! ~ Gerontissa Gavrielia

Greeting you with Faith, Hope and Love.