meadow – Blisswood

They Speak to Us

Hornby Island Field of Miniature Wildflowers – Yarrow, Larkspur, Mouse-Ear Chickweed

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. ~ St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia

Nature is a Secret Gospel – and its healing, spiritual balm, blasts away any clutter or cobwebs in the mind. A restoring walk by the ocean, a river, the hills, the mountains, or in the breezy, spicy forests of birdsong, remind us of God’s Love.

It’s everywhere! It fills everything!

Even the tiniest of wildflowers exude the salvific, spiritual fragrance of God’s Ineffable Greatness…

And our soul’s heartfelt gratitude, draws us ever closer to Creation’s Planter!

With love in Christ.

O Precious Paradise

Detail of parish Creation Mosaic with scenes from Genesis, and the Expulsion From Paradise ~ Genesis 3:23-24

…O ranks of angels, O beauty of Paradise and all the glory of the garden: weep for me, for in my misery I was led astray and rebelled against God. O blessed meadow, trees and flowers planted by God, O sweetness of Paradise: let your leaves, like eyes, shed tears on my behalf, for I am naked and a stranger to God’s glory. No longer do I see thee nor delight in thy joy and splendour, O precious Paradise…. ~ Canticle 4, Sunday of Forgiveness

…O Paradise, share in the sorrow of thy master who is brought to poverty, and with the sound of thy leaves pray to the Creator that He may not keep thy gate closed for ever. I am fallen, in Thy compassion have mercy on me… ~ Ikos, Canticle 6 – Sunday of Forgiveness

God Forgives and Blessings Abound!

Today is the day before Great Lent begins, and we celebrate with making Blini Crepes or Pancakes to use up the last of any dairy. If you’re already a plant-based person, these Vegan Blini are simply delicious, and easy to make!

Congratulations on your Saint’s Day Zoe! (Feb. 26/13) God grant you many years!

Be the Bee

…if you ask a fly, “Are there any flowers in this area?” it will say, “I don’t know about flowers, but over there in that heap of rubbish you can find all the filth you want.” And it will go on to list all the unclean things it has been to. Now, if you ask a honeybee, “Have you seen any unclean things in this area?” it will reply, “Unclean things? No, I have not seen any; the place here is full of the most fragrant flowers.” And it will go on to name all the flowers of the garden or the meadow. You see, the fly only knows where the unclean things are, while the honeybee knows where the beautiful iris or hyacinth is. As I have come to understand, some people resemble the honeybee and some resemble the fly. Those who resemble the fly seek to find evil in every circumstance and are preoccupied with it; they see no good anywhere. But those who resemble the honeybee only see the good in everything they see. The stupid person thinks stupidly and takes everything in the wrong way, whereas the person who has good thoughts, no matter what he sees, no matter what you tell him, maintains a positive and good thought. ~ St. Paisios of Mt. Athos

The bee is more honoured than other animals, not because she labours, but because she labours for others. ~ St. John Chrysostom

The bee is small among flying creatures, but what it produces is the best of sweet things. ~ Wisdom of Sirach 11:3

Blessing of Bees and Beehives Prayers

Father Innocent, the Beekeeper

Like So Many Thorns

Photo circa 2002, St. Sophia old chapel, on the Great Feast of Pentecost

When thoughts are choking me like so many thorns, I enter the church, the hospital of souls. The beauty of the icons delight my vision like a verdant meadow, and without my noticing, it stirs my soul to praise God.

~ St. John of Damascus