Golden Petals Glow at Dawn
…God created the sun and the eye. Man is free to receive the sun’s light or not. The same is true here. God sends the light of knowledge like rays to all, but He gave us faith like an eye. The one who wants to receive knowledge through faith, keeps it by his works, and so God gives him more willingness, knowledge, and power. ~ St. Peter the Damascene
Quietude at a Vigil Service
We all receive God’s blessings equally. But some of us, receiving God’s fire, that is, His word, become soft like beeswax, while the others like clay become hard as stone. And if we do not want Him, He does not force any of us, but like the sun He sends His rays and illuminates the whole world, and he who wants to see Him, sees Him, whereas the one who does not want to see Him, is not forced by Him. And no one is responsible for this privation of light except the one who does not want to have it… ~ St. Peter the Damascene
The blazing light of dawn reflects a living, luminescent beauty in nature… radiating the Gladsome Light of God’s Holy Glory!
Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration to paradise, our ascension into the kingdom of heaven, our return to the adoption of sons, our liberty to call God our Father, our being made partakers of the grace of Christ, our being called children of light, our sharing in eternal glory, and, in a word, our being brought into a state of all “fullness of blessing,” both in this world and in the world to come, of all the good gifts that are in store for us, by promise hereof, through faith, beholding the reflection of their grace as though they were already present, we await the full enjoyment. ~ St. Basil the Great
Memory Eternal Nikita!
Detail of the Holy Christ Child from parish’s Platyteria (Wider than the Heavens) Orans Icon
Perform everything attentively, as if it is being done before the face of God. Remember the Lord sees everything. ~ St. Nikon of Optina
A place cannot save you… Because there is no place where you can flee from yourself. ~ Saint Nikon of Optina
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ~ St. John 15:5
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
Parish Church Bouquet from the Transfiguration Feast Day
Our soul possesses the amazing ability to sense God. Although this awareness of the Divine Presence is weak and hazy in a person just beginning to grow spiritually, it gets stronger and becomes more and more conscious with a virtuous way of life. This, in turn, strengthens one’s faith in Him, so that the inner feeling of God grows to a strong religious conviction. In such a state, the omnipresence of God, His Infinite Love and Fatherly care are continuously felt and become a source of inner peace and strength. True faith cannot be satisfied with a cold recognition of God’s existence but strives to be in close communion with Him. The believing soul naturally reaches to God, as a sunflower turns toward the sun. In turn, an active relationship with God further strengthens the person’s faith, so that his faith becomes a spiritual guide, based on personal experience… ~ Bishop Alexander Mileant
“The circle of life is quite something.” Memory Eternal (non-Orthodox and avid gardener) friend Anthony, who was “given the call” and peacefully reposed upon the great Feast of the Transfiguration. May our merciful God grant you rest with the saints. Anthony had the brightest of smiles and the greenest of thumbs. He’d sow from seed and generously give to one and all – an abundance of the best cucumber, tomato, and basil garden plants. Quite recently he gifted us with an exotic Lipstick Plant, started from a treasured snipping. It sits on my windowsill, a blanket of brilliant blooms… reminiscent of his sunny smile. Good Paradise Anthony!
Image by falco from Pixabay
Glory, Light and Beauty are ineffably linked appellations – of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Greetings on this Glorious, Bright, and Beautiful Feast of The Transfiguration of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
May your day be filled with His Shining, Gladsome Light!
Memory Eternal dear godmother Eve. Good Paradise!
A Peaceful Morning Walk
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. ~ Jeremiah 33:3
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. ~ Psalm 91:4
…the wood of the Cross hath now put for flower, filling her (the church) with strength and steadfastness. ~ Ode 4, Katavasia of the Cross
Flowers (above) from the recent Procession of the Precious Cross were collected and removed from their oasis boards yesterday. All petals were pulled, separated, and spread out onto a large, hanging, mesh-dryer herb rack – purchased through Amazon a few years ago.
This foldable rack is used each summer to dry our organic herbs and edible flowers for teas, sachets and sleep pillows. It takes about 2 + weeks to dry properly and completely, before storing them in a sealed glass jar, or enclosing them in a sachet bag, or cotton pillow case.
I excluded the “inedible” anemones from this particular drying process, and put them in the compost bin.
If possible, one should never toss out flowers used to decorate icons or the Cross. Do try to compost or reuse them.
Old, blessed pussy willows or Palm Leaves from Palm Sunday, should either be composted, buried, or burned and buried.
Every flower is fragrant through the power of the Holy Spirit, in a delicate flow of aroma and tenderness of colour; the beauty of the Great contained in what is small. Praise and honour to God, Who gives life, Who spreads forth the meadows like a flowering carpet, Who crowns the fields with golden ears of wheat and azure basilisks, and the soul – with the joy of contemplation. Let us rejoice and sing to Him: Alleluia. ~ Akathist: Glory to God for All Things, Kontak. 3
May your day be noticeably Fragrant with the Holy Spirit!
Image by Joe from Pixabay
You send us mercy.
When waiting for Your thunder,
You send us a peaceful evening,
And when we expect darkness,
You give us sunshine.
You always rise above our sins
And are always great
In Your silent patience.
~ St. Nikolai Velimirovic
