Icon of Our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ
Your job is to work upon yourself: the rest is in the Hands of God. ~ St. Theophan the Recluse
Tag: Orthodox Christian
In His Glowing, Gladsome Light
In a little corner of a neighbouring Blisswood, trees seem to joyfully uplift their branches. Thank you Anysia for sharing this luminous nascent sunset from a recent walk!
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. ~ Psalm 96:12
Psalm 96:12 amplifies a poignant call to worship, from beyond humanity… and extending out to include the natural elements of our world – where even fields and trees express exultation in God’s Presence and anticipation of Christ’s Second Coming!
May we, traversing our many mosaicked paths of life, be like the fields and trees who in essence, remember to praise Him! For when we walk with appreciation in the Glowing, Gladsome Light of His Creation, we understand and recall that God is here. Now. Right beside us!
Anytime our spiritual batteries need recharging, take a walk outside.
Go to the ocean, forest, or park.
Go to your garden!
Just go!
Make the Most of Beautiful Moments!
Nature is indeed a Secret Gospel!
Nibicula Est, Transibit
Detail of our Saviour’s Feet from mosaic in Chora
Come and lay
all heartache care and worry
at His Feet!
(And LEAVE them there!)
Greetings on the Eve of Holy Theophany!
A friend recently shared an ancient and amazing Latin quote attributed to St. Athanasius the Great. Nibicula est, transibit which translates to “It is a small cloud; it will pass”.
Trials and tribulations are just for now, Nibicula Est, Transibit – are exactly like those fleeting clouds on the horizon!
Christ is our Siloam. He is our Bright Sun of Righteousness in a cloudless sky.
Come! Let us kiss His Precious Feet – those very same Feet which once trod Eden’s dusky paths, and are still fragrant with the Petals of Paradise!
…When a problem is acute…tell it to the Angels so they may place it at the Lord’s Feet, and pray the Lord for an Angel of Peace to calm your soul. How beautiful is the Mystery of Tomorrow! ~St. Gavrilia
Wishing you a Blessed Theophany!
With love in Christ.
Happy Eve of Nativity!
Past Orthodox Christmas Postings Resource ⭐️
On the Night of Nativity ~ 7th Century Homily
This Nativity night [Christ] bestowed peace on the whole world;
So let no one threaten;
This is the night of the Most Gentle One –
Let no one be cruel;
This is the night of the Humble One –
Let no one be proud.
Now is the day of joy –
Let us not revenge;
Now is the day of Good Will –
Let us not be mean.
In this Day of Peace –
Let us not be conquered by anger.
Today the Bountiful One impoverished Himself for our sake;
So, rich one, invite the poor to your table.
Today we receive a Gift for which we did not ask;
So let us give alms to those who implore and beg us.
This Day opens the heavenly doors to our prayers;
Let us open our door to those who ask our forgiveness.
Today the Divine One took upon Himself the seal of our humanity,
In order for humanity to be adorned by the Seal of Divinity.
~ by St. Isaac the Syrian, 7th century
Parish Youth Choir sang this short Nativity piece (virtually), back in 2020. Their merry voices rang out like silver trumpets, with the lyrics from St. Isaac the Syrian’s poem above, and put to my music.
Below, our Parish Choir (2014 recording) sing the ancient Nativity Kontakion composed by 6th century St. Romanos the Melodist:
2014 Parish Recording of Megalynarion, Ode 9, & Nativity Canon
Snowflakes are Dancing Little Pine Tree My Nativity Carol
Wishing you a Blessed Nativity Feast tomorrow, and a Joyous Twelve Days of Christmas… bursting with Light and Love!
Christ is Born!
Glorify Him!
Past Theophany Posts
Holy Theophany/Epiphany Feast Day is January 19th/6th
Theophany Greetings Jan. 19, 2021
Light Jan.21, 2021
Holy Theophany Jan. 19, 2022
In the Form of a Dove Jan. 19, 2023
Cloak of Humility Jan. 25, 2025
Blessed Nativity – Flourishing 2026
Feast Day January 7/December 25th
Christ is Born!
May your hearts and hearths be filled with a thriving, verdant joy these coming days, as we look ahead to the Light of our Saviour’s Nativity and His Holy Theophany.
May the Lord richly bless us throughout the year.
Glorify Him!
Possess Ye Your Souls!
Photo detail shared by Melania
The Little Snowdrop Flowers above, patiently persevere in a church garden. They struggle and successfully push up through the soil and debris, to bloom and thrive from the Feast of Christ’s Nativity to Candlemas! May we do the same on our journey!
You may have heard of Ukrainian Christmas or Orthodox Christmas, that’s celebrated on the civil calendar date of January 7th, and wonder what this means? 🤔 The history of the church calendar is complicated. During the past 100 years or so, for fixed feast days, some Orthodox jurisdictions and parishes follow the New (civil) Style Gregorian Calendar and some continue to use the Old Style Julian Calendar (which falls 13 days behind today’s civil date), appearing like it’s landing on January 7th New Style calendar… but its actually December 25th on the Old Calendar! All Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25th, and one calendar date is not “more Orthodox” than the other. There are simply two different calendars which tell us when December 25th happens! 🎄If you have family and friends who celebrate Christmas on a different calendar, be joyful with them! Celebrate and glorify Him, regardless! For, Christ is Born!
On December 25th according to the New Style Calendar (December 12 Old Style), St. Herman of Alaska and St. Spyridon of Tremithus are happily celebrated. While my husband and I are Old Calendar, and some of my family are New Calendar… we simply commingle this special date together.
I’ll always remember and treasure my husband’s and my very first visit to an Orthodox Christian Church Service. We arrived on what we thought was Christmas, but ended up learning about Saints Herman and Spyridon, and the TWO Church calendars. In the golden glow of candlelight, smokey tendrils of incense swirled like living halos about the holy icons of the saints adorning the walls… saints who lived holy lives and had a lesson for each one of us. As the incense wafted upwards like prayers to heaven, sunbeams pierced through a little window and lit the gold tessera on a mosaic, like fiery embers. And we knew we had “come home.”
In your patience possess ye your souls. ~ St. Luke 21:19
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
No matter how little you are, no matter how tired, you mustn’t give up. For, I repeat, no misfortune means anything. Nothing is lost as long as faith is established, the soul doesn’t surrender, and you must raise your head again!
~ Elder Arsenie
…For life is a continuous death. It is just a matter of our approach to it, for we must know how to die and to arise everyday. ~ Eternity in the Moment; The Life and Wisdom of Elder Arsenie Papacioc [page 257]
Highly recommend this book!
Eternity in the Moment
by Sorin Alpeti
(Published by the St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood)
To order in Canada:
From Monastere Vierge Marie La Consolatrice, Quebec
We have passed the winter equinox. Days are becoming longer, and there’s always Sonshine above those clouds!
With love in Christ.
To Thy Tranquil Haven
Feature Image background photo shared by Melania (Divine Florals Cards), who today (along with a daring river otter), braved high winds and darted across the road to escape the dramatic waves! ~ Storm Season, Victoria BC, Canada
Behold the sea of life, surging high with the tempest of temptations, I have fled to Thy tranquil haven and cry aloud unto Thee: Lead Thou my life forth from corruption, O most Merciful One. ~ Resurrectional Ode 6, Tone 6
We’re now halfway through our Advent Journey to Nativity, and on the home-stretch!
Wishing everyone a most Happy and Blessed St. Nicholas Feast Day tomorrow! (With or without a St. Nicholas Day Pie!)
To this very day, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker continues to help and protect us from misfortunes. He’s very close and attentive to the poor and destitute. St. Nicholas is only a prayer away.
More Modern Miracles of St. Nicholas.
Sheet Music our Youth Choir loves to sing- Hymn to St. Nicholas (unknown source)
With love in Christ.
And He Will Nourish Thee!
Icon of Our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ from ambo of our Church
Cast thy care care upon the Lord and he will nourish thee. ~ Psalm 55:22
Continue your path with courage, with much courage. Let your heart rejoice in the Lord, and He will grant it all nourishment and all energy that is needed so that it does not seem to collapse. Nothing should seem difficult to you. ~ St. Luke of Simferopol
You know how sometimes you may hear a familiar Scripture verse read aloud at church, and it suddenly jolts your soul awake? Like you’re hearing it for the very first time?!
Yesterday, while the Psalms were read aloud before Liturgy, the phrase: Cast thy care upon the Lord and He will nourish thee... kind of blew me away. It’s a reminder that not only does He amazingly care for me, – but He will also and lovingly NOURISH me!
Care suggests a broader action of attending someone/something, but NOURISH kicks it up a notch, zeroing in on a specific kind of care needed, focused on enriching/establishing one’s physical, mental, and spiritual well-being! Oh, what a Promise, oh, what a Joy!
O Lord Jesus Christ, open the eyes of my heart… ~ St. John Chrysostom
Help me, my God, to conquer the world within myself. ~ St. Nikolai Velimirovich
Wishing you a blessed Nativity Fast, precious RE-revelations of nourishing Scripture, and Courage, Comfort, and Joy in Christ’s Love.
Lo, How the Rose!
Happy St. Andrew’s Day! Blessed Feast!
I was thrilled to spy our own Christmas Rose (above) popping up in a patio planter during a very gray day last week. This hardy little white blossomed evergreen Hellebore is called a Lenten Rose (also known as Christmas Rose), and, in some areas of the world, blooms exuberantly during the Nativity Fast.
While not literally a rose in the true sense, it belongs to the Ranunculi family, and sports a beautiful profusion of long lasting snow white blossoms during Advent – the Nativity Fast. Also, and fittingly, there’s a pinky-purple version which flower during Springtime’s Great Lent season as we journey to the Great Feast of Pascha (Easter)!
There’s a sweet mediaeval Christmas Rose legend, stemming from when a little shepherdess who witnessed the multitude of angels singing to the shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks on the night of Christ’s Birth. She ran with wonder along with the others to the cave, and seeing Him laid in a manger, wept bitterly – for she had nothing to give to the Holy Heavenly Child. An angel saw her heartfelt love, and changed her fallen tears of woe into Christmas Roses. Overjoyed, the little shepherdess quickly stooped and gathered up the brilliant snow white blossoms and presented them to Baby Jesus’ Family.
What shall we give Him?
Lo, how the Rose,
Becometh thorn,
For, for which cause,
the Prince of Peace was born!
~ From 4th Verse of Little Pine Tree
I would like to share the ancient, historical Orthodox Tradition of the Glastonbury Rose, which St. Joseph of Arimathea himself planted on British soil (scroll further down the link) and which exists and flowers to this very day, blooming on the Old Calendar’s Christmas date.
To me, our little patio Christmas Rose symbolizes bright hope and purity, and thrives… no matter what stormy weather blows its way! Such an inspiration for any season!
Let us, looking upwards, offer our own small gifts of faith and hope as we prepare to present them to Him with pure love, whilst plodding the pilgrimage path towards the Feast of His Birth.
Wishing you a most Blessed Nativity Fast.
May it be Peaceful and Fruitful.
With love in Christ.