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Greetings on the Feast Day of St. Geneviève of Paris!
In peace, let us pray to the Lord. For the peace from above and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord. For the peace of the whole world, for the welfare of the holy churches of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord. That we may live out our lives in peace and repentance, let us pray to the Lord… ~ From the Great Litany
December 19/6
Happy St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Feast Day!
Children, I beseech you to correct your hearts and thoughts, so that you may be pleasing to God. Consider that although we may reckon ourselves to be righteous and frequently succeed in deceiving men, we can conceal nothing from God. Let us therefore strive to preserve the holiness of our souls and to guard the purity of our bodies with all fervor… ~ St. Nicholas of Myra (From the Great Collection of the Lives of the Saints, Vol. 4: by St. Demetrius of Rostov)
Today we’re also half way through the joyous Nativity Fast, in anticipation and preparation for the Birth of Christ!
Sung by the GG’s after Liturgy, on a past St. Nicholas Day… before heading home and tucking into a slice of our family’s traditional lenten St. Nicholas Day Pie recipe!
Wishing a most blessed and happy St. Nicholas feast day, to you and yours!
Image by Cheryl Holt from Pixabay
A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he that has found one has found a treasure. There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend, and no scales can measure his excellence. A faithful friend is an elixir of life; and those who fear the Lord will find him. ~ Sirach 6:14-16
Spiritual Friendship means we are deeply rooted by heart and soul- with each other through Jesus Christ, the Theotokos, and all the Saints.
Faithful Friends cultivate a mutually thriving, inner stillness of soul, as we walk along Life’s Path together. They are Dearer Than the Light of Heaven!
With Love and Gratitude to my precious Friends in Christ. Thank you for your prayers and good wishes on my Saint’s Day today!
A hearty congratulations in Spirit, to Julia on our shared Saints’ Day. May God grant all your petitions according to your salvation!
Cave Church by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay
Congratulations on your Saint’s Day Anastasia!
Words are instruments of this world, but silence is the mystery of the age to come. ~ St. Isaac of Syria
Silence is the cross on which we must crucify our ego. ~ St. Seraphim of Sarov
Our most vulnerable spot is found in many words and discussions. What we say remains to eternity. Be still and know… There is no greater school than this kind of stillness of the mind. The language of God is silence. ~ Gerontissa Gavrielia
Image by Iryna Bakurskaya from Pixabay
Happy Saint’s Day fr. dcn. Gordian – may God grant you many years!
I remember attending an adult baptism service years ago, and afterwards a non-Orthodox visitor went over and peered into the huge font. Looking perplexed, he came over and asked, “Where did all those lights go?” I wasn’t sure what he meant, and he explained further. “During the service the inside of that font was suddenly full of bright lights which came up and out of the water. I went over expecting to see light bulbs like hot tubs have, but there’s nothing!?” I told him that although I’d never seen this, he was obviously meant to…. and what he saw was holy… the hallowing of the water by the descent of the Holy Spirit.
It must have been beautiful!
Grant unto me the robe of Light, O Thou Who coverest Thyself with Light as with a garment, Christ our God, plenteous in mercy! ~ Irmos from Baptism Service
Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain. ~ Psalm 104:1-2
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. ~ St. John 8:12
While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light… ~ St. John 12:36
We have seen the True Light, we have received the heavenly Spirit, we have found the True Faith, worshipping the undivided Trinity: who hath saved us. ~Hymn at Divine Liturgy
…having approached Light itself, the soul is transfigured into light. ~ St. Gregory of Nyssa
…O Giver of Light, enlighten the vesture of my soul and save me. ~ Exapostilarion Matins, Great and Holy Tuesday.
Christians, have we understood the great responsibility that we have taken on before God through baptism? Have we come to know that we must conduct ourselves as children of God, that we must align our will with the will of God, that we must remain free from sin, that we must love God with all our hearts and always patiently await union with Him? Have we thought about the fact that our heart should be so filled with love that it should overflow to our neighbour? Do we have the feeling that we must become holy and perfect, children of God and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven? We must struggle for this, so that we may not be shown unworthy and rejected. Let none of us lose our boldness, nor neglect our duties, nor be afraid of the difficulties of spiritual struggle. For we have God as a helper, who strengthens us in the difficult path of virtue. ~ St. Nektarios of Aegina, The Path to Happiness
A Harris Hawk, seeking her food from God.
Greetings on the Feast of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon! To this very day, and through his holy prayers and healings, he’s been very helpful with family and friends!
When God, who is absolute fullness, brought creatures into existence, it was not done to fulfill any need but so that his creatures should be happy to share his likeness, and so that he himself might rejoice in the joy of his creatures as they draw inexhaustibly upon the Inexhaustible. ~ St. Maximus the Confessor
He will cover you under his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge. ~ Psalm 91:4
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? … St. Matthew 6: 25-34
My rejoicing heart has taken flight!
One of my most favourite birds in the world – a falcon, flew to – and landed on my gloved arm (several times)!
My wonder-cup brims and runneth over with spiritual delight and gratitude to God – for allowing me the honour and privilege of interacting with these wild and majestic creatures… A day I’ll always treasure and remember.
Thank you God, for your Gift of Nature!
Image by cocoparisienne from Pixabay
“...Our place in God’s garden may be a very humble and sheltered spot; but, like the saints, we may keep our faces ever turned upward, and learn to grow, as they grew, like their Master, pure and straight and strong – fit flowers to blossom in the Garden of God...
Saints are like roses when they flush rarest,
Saints are like lilies when they bloom fairest,
Saints are like violets, sweetest of their kind.”
~ In God’s Garden Original Copyright 1907 by Amy Steedman; distributed by Heritage History 2009
Today is the special feast commemorating the 10th Century Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (Axion Estin) and its Ancient Hymn, that’s so special.
Congratulations on your Saint’s Day Nathaniel… Remembering how you were baptised in a beautiful garden, beneath the warm summer sky! May God grant you many years!
In Old English, the word sky was heofan, from which we get the modern word heaven.
A Monastery Wall – Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay
Towards the end of evening vigil services, and after the Anaphora at Divine Liturgy, we sing a short, compelling, ancient hymn. Its history is amazing, for it was revealed by the Archangel Gabriel himself, posing as a monk while visiting a monastery on Mt. Athos during the 10th century!
When he began to sing before the Panagia Eleousa (Merciful) Icon of the Virgin Mary, it shone brilliantly. He then was asked by the brethren to write down this unknown beautiful hymn, but there was no paper available. Taking a piece of slate, and inscribing the words on it with his finger, as if the rock was as soft as wax, he vanished. The phrase it it truly meet (meet is old English), meaning it is truly fitting, proper and suitable.
This miracle is celebrated on June 24/11.
Ancient Hymn to the Theotokos
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 beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word. True Theotokos we magnify thee! ~ Axion Esti
There are many melodies to this hymn, and below are two English tunes from Youtube. The first part has women singing and the second part has men singing another melody of this hymn.
Listen time total – a short 2 minutes, 21 seconds.
Congratulations on your Saint’s Day,
Helena and Eleanor!
May God grant you many years!
Bleeding Hearts are surrounded by the comforting starry cosmos of Sweet Woodruff’s white flowers.
Greetings on:
The (movable) Feast of Mid–Pentecost!
The annual feast of the Wonderworking Icon of the Inexhaustible Cup (Chalice)!
The Icon’s Akathist to the Theotokos for help with the struggle of various addictions is here.
Congratulations to my dear friend Irena on her Saint’s Day!
In Christianity, the Bleeding Heart flower represents the suffering that Christ endured for our sins, and the Theotokos’ grief seeing her Son on the Cross.
Tiny white stars of Sweet Woodruff flowers are symbolic of hope and humility. This perennial ground cover spreads its cheer where other herbaceous plants may find it difficult to thrive. It bursts into burgeoning blooms come early spring, then quietly seems to diminish in the summer. Its fragrant fresh flowers (mildly reminiscent of vanilla) and leaves were used for everything from air fresheners to bed-straw stuffing. Its flowers flavoured wine and jellies, and were used for other medicinal purposes. (Of course, one should always check with a doctor before using any medical herb they’re not familiar with.) Last, but not least – marauding deer abhor sweet woodruff in gardens… and that alone makes it extra sweet to me!
That being said, and setting rascally deer aside…. the many blessings in our lives are unavoidably peppered with banes, but it’s the banes that make each new blessing a heartfelt consolation!
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ~ Romans 7:15. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. ~ Romans 7:19-20
Like St. Paul in his epistle to the Romans, we find ourselves in spiritual battles. We want to do what’s right, yet sometimes we do the very things we hate… even when knowing we’re wrong.
Granted, we can look back on the past – but don’t stare. Staring backwards can make one disheartened, overwhelmed and anxious. Everyone has a heartache, and we’re all dealing with struggles of some sort. Focus Forward!
Anxiety about ourselves means lack of faith; anxiety about our neighbour means pain. Feeling the intensity of other’s pain from within is accompanied by prayer and then comes the divine consolation. Therefore, you should pray as much as you can and then leave everything in the hands of God and calm yourself. Does God hurt His creatures less than you? Why worry? God gives a lot of comfort to anyone who is in spiritual pain and suffering for others because otherwise, one could not bear this burden… But from this pain comes true joy. ~ St. Paisios
Let the heavens rejoice; let earthly things be glad; for the Lord hath wrought might with His arm. He hath trampled down death by death; the first-born of the dead hath He become. From the belly of Hades hath He delivered us, and hath granted to the world great mercy. ~ Troparion of the Resurrection (Tone 3)
Image by PhotoMix Company Pixabay
I remember my young Baptist mind being astounded there were actually two Saints from “forever ago” with real names! But why only two (St. Valentine and St. Patrick) I wondered, when we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses!?
In secular society, “Valentine’s Day” is given the nod – but mostly to a cupid logo substitution, removal of the saint title, and the “V” changed to small case. Peddling Festivities is not a new thing either. Sales and Marketing in the Retail World quietly sweep holy days under a generic blanket of holiday commercialism.
For Orthodox Christians, St. Valentine’s Day and all the saints’ days every day of the year, are glorious opportunities to learn more of our heavenly friends. By celebrating their summits of virtue, their struggles, courage, and pure love of God… we too, learn how to emulate them.
Children are instinctively drawn to the sweet essence of kindness and love remembering St. Valentine. Like St. Patrick’s Day, St. Valentine’s Day can open a wonderful lead into sharing the lives of other daily saints. God’s Love is true Love. His Perfect Love strengthens and blesses the bonds of spouses, families, friends, and neighbours.
The Saviour knocks on the Door of our Heart. He waits patiently for us to hear Him, to open the door, and to let Him in.
When we give our whole heart to Christ, He in turn refills it with so much Love, that it overflows with Joy!
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ~ Matthew 6:21
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13
With Love in Christ.
