Pascha – Blisswood

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

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.

Lazarus Saturday Blessings!

Icon of St. Lazarus (the Four Days Dead) of Bethany

Lazarus Saturday reminds us of a greater Saturday and of a dawn that shatters all dawns. ~ Fr. Stephen Freeman

Congratulations on your baptisms today, Hamish (James) and Jacob! God grant you MANY years!

Lazarus Saturday is a special day in the Orthodox Church, and celebrates the final, great miracle of Jesus Christ before His Resurrection. Today prefigures His own death and demonstrates His Authority over death.

Seeing that His good friend is already four days dead, Jesus sheds tears at the tomb where is friend is buried, and cries out: “Lazarus, come forth!” St. Lazarus (the Four Days Dead of Bethany) – was 30 years old when he first reposed and was raised again by Christ (St. John 11:1-45). Following His glorious miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, the people went out to meet the Lord with palms and branches. They welcomed Him with honour and shouts of praise.

After the Resurrection of Christ, St. Lazarus lived for another 30 years and became the first Bishop of Kition in Cyprus. An ancient tradition records that because of what St. Lazarus had seen in Hades before Christ raised him, St. Lazarus never smiled again – except once… when he saw someone stealing a clay pot. With an amused expression, he observed, “The clay steals the clay.”

In Orthodox countries, on Lazarus Saturday, children go house to house with decorated hand baskets, singing Lazarus Carols, and sharing Lazarakia. Sometimes coins are popped into the children’s baskets by parishioners, as a donation for the church. Some folks slip lenten treats to the children, which they take home and share with their families. It is also customary to collect wildflowers, palms, and pussy willow branches on this day to adorn homes, as tomorrow is the feast of Palm Sunday, the Day commemorating the Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem.

Another tradition for Lazarus Saturday has caviar served on bread at the noon meal. According to the typicon, the caviar, or fish eggs symbolize the foreshadowing of the Lord’s Resurrection, one week later.

It is with bittersweet joy that we anticipate the events to come during Holy Week, as we near the end of our own Journeys to Pascha.

Lazarus was raised from the dead. Christ is risen from the dead. The difference is everything. Our hope is not in being resuscitated to our present form, but a true transformation into the Life of Resurrection. ~ Father Stephen Freeman

From the earliest times, the Church has remembered the miracle of the Raising of Lazarus, and its celebration is closely tied to the Feast of the Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Marking the end of Great Lent, Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday are a two-day festal pause, prior to Holy Week.

In Constantinople, Lazarus Saturday was one of the four ancient baptismal days of the Church. We sing the Traditional Trisagion hymn at the Divine Liturgy for this day, As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ… Reminding us that we too, through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, have buried our old nature. By putting on Christ, we come forth reborn anew.

Lazarus Comes Forth! April 24, 2021 Post

Happy Lazarus Saturday (with the beautiful Lazarus Hymn sung in Tone 1 for Lazarus Saturday) April 27, 2024 Post

Lazarakia Bun Recipe (Traditionally baked for celebrating Lazarus Saturday and/or Palm Sunday)

Palm Sunday Greetings April 25, 2021 Post

Happy Palm Sunday April 28, 2024 Post

Past Posts from Holy Week

I remember when my nephew Andrew was seventeen years old, he said to me: “Ah!… Why don’t we have Holy Week four or five times a year? So that we may all get that into our head and assimilate everything!” Truly, Holy Week makes us meditate for hours and days… even permanently. It is something beyond this world… ~ St. Gavrilia (Ascetic of Love)

Onion Skin Pascha Egg Dye Recipe

Banquet of Faith

Great and Holy Monday

Great and Holy Tuesday

Hymn of Kassiani

Great and Holy Wednesday

Great and Holy Thursday

Great and Holy Friday

Do Not Lament Me O Mother

Great and Holy Saturday

Great and Holy Pascha

Christ is Risen!

Until we meet again… God-Willing, in Bright Week or beyond! With love in Christ.

Oblation

An Altar’s Table of Oblation

Remember that we are called to change and be transformed. Great Lent is like a tuning fork that aligns our soul with a spiritual melody. We must strive to maintain this harmony for as long as possible, even after the Holy Forty Days have ended. ~ Metropolitan Onuphry of Ukraine

Years are not needed for true repentance, and not days – but only a single instant. ~ St. Ambrose of Optina

Wishing you all the Bright Joys of the Fast!

Looking ahead (with hope and consolation) while catching small glimpses of the coming, Shining, and Bright Paschal Dawn!

To the Journey!

Memory Eternal

Greetings on the Forefeast of the Transfiguration… and today’s Feast Day of St. John James the Chozebite!

…It seems to me that when the time of my departure comes, it will be something very simple, because Death does not exist. It will be like closing one door and opening another! I remember a fine painting showing two rose gardens separated by a wall. A twig, from one of the rose bushes, had worked its way through a crack in a wall and a beautiful rose had bloomed on the other side. That’s how it is with our life. We leave this world and go to blossom in The Next. ~ St. Gavrilia (The Ascetic of Love)

Memory Eternal Archpriest John – a true vessel of the Holy Spirit, who gently left us to Blossom in The Next… Where there’s no more pain, sickness, sighing, nor sorrow, but Life Everlasting, an Eternal Pascha!

Thomas Sunday & Mothers’ Day Greetings!

Christ is Risen!

Happy Thomas Sunday and (coincidentally) Mother’s Day!

Today is also St. Basil of Ostrog’s day!

The feature image is our Pascha Basket. ☺️ We had so much fun decorating the iced Kulich with old-fashioned candied Pansies and Violets from our window boxes (done a few weeks before, to allow them time to cure). Evidently, one can also candy rose petals, carnations, borage and other edible flowers! The red eggs are made from a natural onion skin dye.

There are so many amazing traditions taking place today. This is also when the Artos Bread (which represents Jesus Christ, our Bread of Life, and always Invisibly Present with His Church) which stood all week in front of the opened Royal Doors, is blessed and distributed amongst the faithful. Like holy water, Artos possesses mystical properties. Eating the blessed Artos during the year, replenishes physical and spiritual energies of the Orthodox faithful. Like all other sacred objects, Artos is to be treated with respect and piety. For proper storage, Artos is cut into smaller pieces, dried, and put in a glass container and kept in one’s icon corner. A small piece of dried Artos may be eaten when needed for spiritual strength and consolation, preferably taken on an empty stomach, with a bit of holy water and prayer.

Today is also Radonitsa (Day of Rejoicing)… When we visit the cemetery to have the graves of loved ones blessed, and to sing Christ is Risen to them!

The first Sunday after Pascha, is dedicated to the Apostle Thomas who finally believed, when he was invited by the Risen Christ to touch Him. When we seek God, we touch Him, and we are touched by Him. He passes through the closed doors of our hearts and minds, and directs us towards the light of faith and understanding.

Jesus saith … blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. – St. John 20:29

That’s a direct message from our Risen Lord, to all Christians, throughout the ages! Christ bestows this verbal blessing and acknowledgment upon each of one us. Then. Now. Today. Saying… “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” That’s us!

Special, loving greetings and gratitude to all mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, and matushki! Whether our own mothers are still with us, or have already passed on… there is always the joyous consolation that our Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary is always close by!

We are never alone! God loves us more than father, mother, friend, or any else could love, and even more than we are able to love ourselves. ~ St. John Chrysostom

The Most Holy Mother of God prays for us ceaselessly. She is always visiting us. Whenever we turn to her in our heart, she is there. After the Lord, she is the greatest protection of mankind. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitnovica

The Angel Cried to the Lady
(Special Hymn to the Theotokos, sung at Pascha and during Pascha-tide)

Rejoice!

Exalt!

Be Radiant!

Truly He is Risen!

Christ is Risen!

About the Icon …showing that Christ’s redemption transcends time and space. This is an act that happened in the past, is happening right now, and will happen in the future. Christ is always in the state of redeeming and setting us free!

…Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. ~ St. John 18:37

For our Orthodox Pascha is not just a festival, but the Festival of all festivals, an event for exceeding all the events of this world. Pascha shakes the whole cosmos: the sun, by our faith, dances and becomes iridescent with every colour of the rainbow, and all of creation rejoices. Some observe a magnificent silence, lacking the strength to express the inexpressible feeling of Paschal joy which fills their souls. Others hasten to share their feeling of the Paschal triumph. All people and all things begin to move, the tedious vanities of this world are cast aside, and all are transfigured. Pascha is, first of all, in us ourselves, in our hearts. God’s gift of the feeling of love penetrates our whole being, and we love each person and all things. This relates not just to the animal kingdom, but to the whole of creation, extending to the smallest blade of grass and the smallest flower. Nothing escapes our loving attention. May the Lord help us all to keep ourselves like this, for as such did the Lord create us… ~ Paschal Epistle excerpt of Metropolitan Vitaly – May, 2000; The Two Thousandth Pascha of Christ.

🎵 Paschal Tropar English sung by Parish 2024 (1:17)

🎵 Paschal Tropar Greek sung by Parish 2024 (2:15)

🎵 Paschal Tropar Slavonic sung by Parish 2024 (0:35)

Truly He is Risen!

May our hearts overflow with the Shining Light of Christ’s Resurrection! Have a wonderful Bright Week & Pascha-tide!

Numinous Milestones of Holy Week

The Winding Sheet from Great and Holy Friday, 2023

On Holy Week: I remember that when my nephew Andrew was seventeen years old, he said to me: “Ah!… Why don’t we have Holy Week four or five times a year? So that we may all get that into our head and assimilate everything!” Truly, Holy Week makes us meditate for hours and days… even permanently. It is something beyond this world… ~ St. Gavrilia (Ascetic of Love)

Holy Week

Lovely to Listen To: St. Matthew’s Passion Music composed by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, takes us through the services in Holy Week, as recorded through the Gospel of St. Matthew. Music and Scripture are poignantly entwined.

Presanctified Liturgy: This service is partly like the service on Saturday evenings and partly like the usual Liturgy. At the Presanctified Liturgy, the Holy Communion is already consecrated from a previous usual Divine Liturgy.

Great and Holy Monday

Let My Prayer Arise

Services of the Bridegroom

Great and Holy Tuesday

Hymn of St. Kassiani
The Woman Who Had Fallen Into Many Sins

On Holy Tuesday: Listening to the Hymn of Kassiani, (sung on Holy Tuesday evening and Holy Wednesday morning): O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins… Have we not all fallen into many sins? But how else could we have felt the Miracle of His Pardon and Love? This is why all of us, who worship the Lord, are aware that without His help, His intervention, we would be wallowing in the mud permanently. O my God, I thank You! I thank You day and night, with my eyes open or closed, with or without words, alive or dead… ~ St. Gavrilia (The Ascetic of Love)

Great and Holy Wednesday

Great and Holy Thursday

Natural Onion Skin Brick- Red Dye for Pascha Eggs and Banquet of Faith

Great and Holy Friday

Do Not Lament Me O Mother One of my favourite hymns by St. Kassiani

Great and Holy Saturday

Let us open our arms and throw ourselves in Christ’s embrace. When Christ comes, we will have gained everything. Christ will alter everything within us. He will bring peace, joy, humility, love, prayer and the uplifting of our soul. The grace of Christ will renew us. ~ Elder Porphyrios, Wounded By Love

May your cup overflow with Holy Week’s multitude of blessings!

Looking forward to greeting you again on the other side of Great and Holy Pascha! May your Bright Week be radiant!

Paschal Sermon by St. John Chrysostom (347-407) Archbishop of Constantinople

…Orthodox Pascha is not just a festival, but the Festival of all festivals, an event for exceeding all the events of this world. Pascha shakes the whole cosmos: the sun, by our faith, dances and becomes iridescent with every colour of the rainbow, and all of creation rejoices. Some observe a magnificent silence, lacking the strength to express the inexpressible feeling of Paschal joy which fills their souls. Others hasten to share their feeling of the Paschal triumph. All people and all things begin to move, the tedious vanities of this world are cast aside, and all are transfigured. Pascha is, first of all, in us ourselves, in our hearts. God’s gift of the feeling of love penetrates our whole being, and we love each person and all things. This relates not just to the animal kingdom, but to the whole of creation, extending to the smallest blade of grass and the smallest flower. Nothing escapes our loving attention. May the Lord help us all to keep ourselves like this, for as such did the Lord create us. ~ Excerpt Paschal Epistle from Metropolitan Vitaly, May, 2000; The Two Thousandth Pascha of Christ

Thank you for visiting Blisswood!

Happy Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday Pussy Willows await blessing at last evening’s Vigil Service.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ~ Zechariah 9:9

God is the Lord, and hath appeared unto us; make ye a feast, and with gladness, come, let us magnify Christ with palms and branches, with hymns crying aloud: blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord our Saviour. ~ Ode 9 of the Feast

We celebrate Palm Sunday today with festive joy. Yesterday’s Lazarus Saturday and today’s Palm (and Flowers) Sunday are a bridge we cross over from Great Lent, into Holy Week.

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel! ~ St. John 12:13

Hosanna in the highest! Means: O be favourably inclined – in the highest heaven! O Lord, save! While Hosanna in the Highest initially seems like an enthusiastic cheer of welcome and joy, it’s also a deep invocation for protection and salvation from tribulations.

Tomorrow, we begin to wend our way throughout Holy Week’s poignant thoroughfares, until we reach the bright and shining shores of Holy Pascha. The Greatest Feast of all. Pascha… the dawn of the new and unending day… the Holy Resurrection of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

…the Lord is always sitting at the gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem waiting for us to allow Him to enter. He is patiently standing at the door of our heart… waiting for us to open it. ~ Unknown

May your Holy Week be Blessed, Glorious, Peaceful and Fruitful!

Practical Tip: Treat your blessed palm branches and pussy willows respectfully, because they have been blessed. Keep them carefully in your icon corner. If you currently have any old palms or willows that are deteriorating, either compost, bury or burn them, but never put them in the garbage.

Today’s Two Great Feasts!

From Vigil Service for Veneration of the Holy Cross and The Annunciation

Greetings on the Feasts!

Today we’ve reached the halfway point of Great Lent, and this year there are also two large Feast Days which unusually fall together! It’s quite exciting!

We celebrate the (movable) Sunday of the Holy Cross, also known as the Veneration of the Precious Cross and the (set) Great Feast of The Annunciation – the Announcement of Glad Tidings! (Apr. 7/Mar.25)

The troparia (hymn) for the Feast of the Annunciation is: Today is the fountainhead of our salvation, and the manifestation of the mystery which was from eternity. The Son of God becometh the Virgin’s Son, and Gabriel proclaimeth the good tidings of grace, wherefore, we also cry to the Theotokos with him: Rejoice, thou who art full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

During her life, the Virgin Mary (with discernment), actively participated and consistently said “yes” to God, and in St. Luke 1:26-38 we hear her humble response to the Archangel Gabriel, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.”

There’s an old custom on the Annunciation, of rising at dawn in order to watch the sun dance with joy. The only other time it does this, is at the Great Feast of Holy Pascha, the Resurrection of Christ! An old English name for the Feast of the Annunciation, was Lady Day, and nine months from today, is the Nativity of our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

On the Third Sunday of Great Lent, the Holy Cross comes out for veneration by the faithful, and the kontakion (hymn) is sung during the service: No longer doth the flaming sword guard the gate of Eden, for a strange extinction has come upon it, even the Tree of the Cross. The sting hath been taken from death, and the victory from hades. And Thou, my Saviour, didst appear unto those in hades, saying: Enter ye again into Paradise.

The Cross is a fountain of holiness and strength, reminding us that our Lenten journey is one of repentance and preparation to receive the Joy of the Resurrection. When we see an icon of Christ stretched out upon the Cross… His Arms are opened wide – embracing the whole world with His Divine Love.

Let us hold firm to the remainder of the course set before us, as we sail across the Great Sea of the Fast. Four weeks from today, we’ll arrive at our destination… that beautiful shore of the Bright Resurrection of Christ, at Pascha.