rose – Blisswood

Blossoming in the Next

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

When St. Gavrilia was asked if she feared death, she responded:

That’s what I don’t fear – not a bit! Every year till Ascension Day I love the Funeral Service to include the Hymn “Christ is Risen.” …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, Julia – who left today to go blossom in the Next… Where there is no more pain, sickness, sighing, nor sorrow, but Life Everlasting!

Icon of St. Juliana

Spiritual Fragrance

Roses of Spiritual Friendship from Olga

Today is the Feast Day of St. Xenia! (A very special Saint who has greatly helped our family) Congratulations also, to goddaughter Xenia on your Saint’s Day. May God grant you many years!

Yesterday, after service, our youth choir rehearsed It is Truly Meet to Bless Thee, O Theotokos… a hymn they’ll be singing for an upcoming liturgy. Sung from the heart, their pure, prayerful voices filled the air with spiritual fragrance – and arose like incense.

It is Truly Meet – Parish Youth Choir 2023

It is truly meet to bless thee, O Theotokos,
Ever blessed and most pure,
And the Mother of our God.
More honourable than the cherubim,
And more glorious beyond compare
Than the seraphim,
Who without corruption gavest birth
To God the Word,
True Theotokos we magnify thee.

May the Mother of God keep you and your family.

Faith, Hope, and Charity

Garden flowers surround this Cross on the Exaltation Feast Day (Sept. 27/14). Along with the traditional red roses and basil, are chrysanthemums, mint, tarragon, tiny sprigs of green olives, (our tree finally produced!) and Chinese lanterns.

Greetings on the Feast Day of Sts. Sophia, and her daughters – Faith, Hope and Love (Sept. 30/17).

Congratulations on your Names’ Day Vera, Sophie, and Esperanza! May God grant you many years of good health, peace and joy in our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Prayer to Sts. Sophia, and her daughters Faith, Hope and Love

O holy and most praiseworthy Martyrs, Faith, Hope and Love, and wise mother Sophia of these glorious daughters: To you do we now hasten in heartfelt prayer; for what better representation can we have before the Lord, than faith, hope and charity, the three cornerstone virtues, which, bearing their names, ye embodied in fact. Entreat the Lord to shield us, save us and keep us in every sorrow and trouble, as One Who is good and loveth mankind. Pray that His glory, like a sun that never setteth, and which ye now see as becometh Saints, be with us in our humble prayers; may the Lord God forgive our sins and iniquities, and have mercy on us sinners who are unworthy of His generosity towards us. Pray indeed for us, ye holy Martyrs, unto our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom we send up glory, together with His Father Who is from everlasting, and His All-holy, and Good, and Life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. ~ From “Polny Sbornik Molitv” p. 246

Memory Eternal Michael, Nadezhda, and Faith!

Budding Promises

Rose from Pixabay ~SchneeKnirschen

Rosebuds contain mysterious layers of hidden beauty. Immature buds have no perfume until they mature and bloom. Upon fruition, they radiate a myriad of fragrances which correspond to their various transformations. All buds promise the possibility of flowers, and fill us with joy, hope, and reflections of Sonshine.

For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; ~ 2 Corinthians 2:15

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. ~Ephesians 5:1-2

Oil and perfume make the heart glad, So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend. ~ Proverbs 27:9

Your mind is the garden, your thoughts are the seeds, the harvest can either be flowers or weeds. ~ William Wordsworth

Nature is the Secret Gospel

Scripture Art Photo by Juliana

I love seeing raindrops reflect like jewels on flowers and leaves. They’re mysterious, beautiful, and the centre of each drop contains a single speck of cloud dust.

Like the sphere of our own world, every raindrop is globe-shaped, and holds a microcosm of Earth’s history within. All water on Earth is – and always has been – continually recycled through the hydrosphere of our oceans, rivers, lakes and clouds.

Raindrops remind us everything’s connected.

Who knows… Perhaps a raindrop that falls on us today was once part of the Jordan River, surrounding Christ where He stood to be baptised?

Maybe that fluffy snowflake melting on our nose could have at one time, splashed against the bow of The Ark during the Great Flood?

Perchance this morning’s dew which sits serenely on a rose petal, once glistened in Eden’s Garden?

Raindrops are ancient and possess the numinous beauty of Creation. Water is life, and blessed water is Holy Water.

Let us keep looking up… for the heavens declare the glory of God!

…Accept the fountain of my tears, Thou who dost gather the waters of the sea to clouds... ~ Hymn of Kassiani

For when the ground soaks up rain that often falls on it and continues producing vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated, it receives a blessing from God. ~ Hebrews 6:7

…All things become opportunities for us to be joined more closely with everything and everyone. They become occasions for thanksgiving and prayer. Live in the midst of everything, nature and universe. Nature is the secret Gospel. But when one does not possess inner grace, nature is of no benefit. Nature awakens us, but it cannot bring us into Paradise. ~ St. Porphyrios (Wounded by Love)