spiritual and physical nourishment – Page 3

Snapping Twigs

Icon of Great Martyr Barbara ~ shared by Anastasia

Congratulations, and Happy Feast on your Name’s Day… Samuel! God grant you many years!

There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. ~ 1 Samuel 2:2

When the twig on which it is perching breaks, the little bird, without being alarmed, opens its wings and flies away. Likewise, when the support under our feet collapses, Faith and Hope in God give us the strength and joy to fly away ~ Gerontissa (Elder) Gavrilia

Illness always brings spiritual experiences to the person who is ready to grasp their meaning. ~ Gerontissa Gavrilia

Once my mind “un-fuzzed” enough from COVID last month, I recuperated outside under the glorious sunshine amid fragrant patio flowers… and re-read this amazing book.

If you have an opportunity to borrow or buy The Ascetic of Love, DO! It’s such an uplifting, and spiritually practical book, by Nun Gavrilia.

I highly recommend it!!! Yes. Three exclamation marks! (But, if looking to buy online, the book is out of print, and may be super-expensive)

The Holy Prophet Samuel says… there is no other rock than our God. Indeed. So, when those other twigs in our life bend and snap (as they do and will)… May we be mindful enough to immediately embrace the Divine Action Plan, and joyfully fly away (unalarmed)… laying all our cares and burdens directly at the dear Lord’s Feet!

What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!

With love and gratitude in Christ.

Branches of Inner Stillness

Photo shared by Irena

…Silence fosters stillness; it is indispensable for stillness. Inner stillness, however, goes beyond silence insofar as its aim is to purify the heart and issue in pure prayer. That purification involves the body in its entirety, because body and soul, like mind and heart, are ultimately inseparable. In the words of St. Mark the Ascetic, “The intellect cannot be still unless the body is still also; and the wall between them cannot be demolished without stillness and prayer.” Silence is the prerequisite for inner stillness, and only inner stillness enables us truly to listen to God, to hear His voice, and to commune with Him in the depths of our being. Yet silence and stillness are, like prayer itself, gifts that God can and wants to bestow upon us. The greatest truth about us is that God has created us with a profound longing, a burning thirst for communion with Himself. We can easily pervert that longing into an idolatrous quest for something other than God. Yet God remains faithful even in our times of apostasy. Like the father of the Prodigal Son, He always awaits our return. Once we begin that journey homeward, through repentance and an ongoing struggle against our most destructive passions, God reaches out to embrace, to forgive and to heal all that is broken, wounded and wasted. He reaches into the very fabric of our life, to restore within us the sublime image in which we were made… ~ Fr. John Breck

It’s coming to that amazing time again of recharging our spiritual batteries together. With purpose, we prepare our own humble journeys home to the Greatest Christian Feast of Feasts, Holy Pascha (Easter), the Resurrection of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Travelling the quiet routes of the Great Lenten roads ahead, we choose to make bright efforts in good faith, and to the best of our abilities. Our dear Lord desires us to come to Him and fill us with good things… now and forever!

Tomorrow is an invitation of God’s Grace.

Tomorrow is Forgiveness Sunday.

However, today, I bow to you in spirit, bending the knees of my heart, and ask you to please forgive me.

God forgives!

Isn’t that beyond wonderful? God FORGIVES!

May your upcoming Lenten Journey be Peaceful… and may your Branches of Inner Stillness bear Good Fruit.

With Love in Christ.

Forgiving the Inexcusable

The cat is still annoyed with me.

To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. ~ C. S. Lewis

If you have the opportunity to acquire A Year with C. S. Lewis – Daily Readings from His Classic Works… do!

Each day of the year has a short reading… A veritable feast of Spiritual Yum Yums!

**Practical. Deep. Excellent.** **Never grows old.**

Easy to pick up. Hard to put down!

May God bless all our endeavours today!

Who Art Everywhere Present

Out for a breath of fresh air on yestereve’s walk… and reminded of God’s Glory!

O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of good things, and Giver of life: come and take up Thine abode in us, and cleanse us from every stain, and save our souls, O Good One! ~ Trisagion Prayers

God’s Providence controls the universe. It is present everywhere. Providence is the sovereign Logos of God, imprinting form on the unformed materiality of the world, making and fashioning all things. Matter could not have acquired an articulated structure were it not for the directing power of the Logos Who is the Image, Intellect, Wisdom, and Providence of God. ~ St. Anthony the Great (Philokalia, Vol. 1:156)

Holy Consolation

Recent Visit of the Ancient (1259 AD), Miraculous Kursk Root Icon

Detail of Icon Without Cover

The Icon depicts the Theotokos of the Sign with the Christ Child before her. Her arms are outstretched. Above her is the Lord of Hosts and on either side and below are 9 prophets who wrote about the birth of Christ (clockwise, starting in the top right): King Solomon, Prophets Daniel, Jeremiah, Elijah, Habakkuk, Judge Gideon, Prophets Isaiah, Moses, and King David. The wooden Icon is covered with an intricately worked [protective] cover of blue and gold. ~ OrthodoxWiki

Even if you just lean your head on an Icon, you will find consolation. ~ St. Paisios the Athonite

Shared by a dear friend: “I came to venerate this Holy Icon with certain petitions already in mind for both physical and spiritual healing. But when I approached the Icon, overwhelming thoughts of the heartbreaking Russian war in Ukraine (and resulting divisions in the Orthodox world) engulfed me instead. All I could pray was one single word ‘Help.’ I laid my head on the Icon, much as a grieving child would upon their own mother’s bosom… and although it seemed I was there for quite some time (in reality – only several seconds), a Warm Wave of Consolation washed over me… a Spiritual Embrace. The next one-word prayer I offered was ‘Thank you’… And I know that She’s sad too.”

Epilogue: I was also told a few days later, that a long-standing family issue my friend was going to especially pray for in front of the Icon (she had also been praying separately for), has miraculously been resolved!

Help and Thank You are two very simple, powerful, prayer words.

Our Most Holy Theotokos knows what we need even when words won’t suffice. When we turn to her with hope and faith, she always hears the wordless groaning of hearts.

O Most Holy Theotokos, thank you for your blessings – both known and unknown!

Marvellous in Our Eyes

The Cranesbill Geranium (we put ours in large patio pots) is a bushy summer perennial with small flowers that attract bees and butterflies. Even curious hummingbirds zoom in for visits! To inspire repeat blooming well into early fall, we prune them back when the initial blossoming period is over… and they provide a long lasting array of peaceful purple.

This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. ~ Psalm 118:23

From the creation, learn to admire the Lord! Indeed the magnitude and beauty of creation display a God who is artificer of the universe. He has made the mode of creation to be our best teacher. ~ St. John Chrysostom

It’s amazing. You’re out on a walk or tending the garden, and suddenly a simple flower rivets your gaze! The Echoes of Eden make everything new again. We see that nature is perfect, because God’s Love is perfect. God’s Gift of Nature nourishes us physically and spiritually. We feel the light and warmth of the sun on our face and skin. Summer breezes revive muddled thoughts. Spiritual Fragrance abounds. Through a single flower we remember all is God’s Handiwork, and that Creation’s Planter also lovingly made us. Nature is a Secret Gospel. It refreshes and renews our spirit. How fitting that our first job was to tend and dress the Garden of Eden! Glory to Thee O Lord!

Nourishing Hope

Cherry Blossom, Three-Leaf Clover, Raindrops

My God!
Your name is Love: do not abandon me, the erring.
Your name is Strength: strengthen me, the stumbling and falling.
Your name is Light: enlighten my soul, darkened by worldly passions.
Your name is Peace: console my restless soul. ~ St. John of Kronstadt

May your Lenten Journey be peaceful and fruitful.

Path of God

Ancient pathway Mystras, Greece – 2017

The path of God is a daily cross. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian

Make your one aim in life the doing of the will of Jesus in every circumstance, however important or trifling it may seem. ~ St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

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

We travel many paths in life. With God’s help we make our way along the right one. Sometimes distracting side trails appear, but if we aim to do God’s Will, we discern that most navigational “shortcuts” may trip us up. Meanwhile, God protects us, and our guardian angel is always present.

Speaking of paths, don’t forget to have a trip blessing before starting a new adventure… It’s the best travel insurance! I particularly remember a certain vacation of hiking with my family in the wilds (of B.C.). As I plodded along, my husband and children cavorted far ahead, chatting and laughing. Pretty soon they rounded a bend in the trail, and vanished from sight and sound.

I thirstily drank in the beauty and wonder of God’s nature amid tall fragrant forest firs and birdsong. Beside the path, leaf mould and damp mosses covered ancient nursing stumps sprouting new life… And I realized it was high time to catch up with my family, so I broke into a jog.

About 100 feet into my run, I “was stopped”.

I simply couldn’t move, and literally stood still. Frozen.

Within two seconds of wondering what was going on(?!?), a sudden great crack resounded, and a giant limb of a tree, fell directly across the path, about 10 feet in front of me! It was massive, and fell exactly where I would have been jogging, had my Guardian Angel not stopped me.

Able to move freely again, I was shaken with amazement and gratitude for a few minutes. Crossing myself, I thanked God and my Guardian Angel profusely. (I also remember waving an additional thumbs-up, air greeting of hello – to my Guardian Angel.)

Raucous ravens shook my reverie and I sighed, “Okay, okay, I get it, I’m going!” Adrenaline fuelled an easy straddle of the downed limb as I tore off to catch up to my family.

Grace and Protection abounded on that path… with God’s help ever before me, and my Guardian Angel always beside me. Amen!

But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ~ St. Matthew 10:30

Do not say, “this happened by chance, while this came to be of itself.” In all that exists there is nothing disorderly, nothing indefinite, nothing without purpose, nothing by chance … How many hairs are on your head? God will not forget one of them. Do you see how nothing, even the smallest thing, escapes the gaze of God? ~ St. Basil the Great

Multiplier of Wheat

The Multiplier of Wheat Icon of the Mother of God

(Also translated as She Who Ripens the Grain)

We are grateful to have this special icon in our home. My husband is a baker, and we delight in harvesting herbs and vegetables from our kitchen garden.

The Most Holy Theotokos intercedes for harvests, seasonable weather, and lifting of droughts. She is the Benefactress of farmers, gardeners, and others who work the soil for their daily bread.

The Mother of God is a helper for people in their labours for the acquiring of their daily bread… Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with You! Grant unto us unworthy ones the dew of Your grace and the showing forth of Your mercy! ~ St. Ambrose of Optina

Salutations to you forever, Virgin Mother of God, our unceasing joy, for to you do I turn again… You are the beginning of our feast; you are its middle and end; the pearl of great price that belongs to the kingdom; … the living altar of the Bread of Life (Jesus)… ~ St. Methodius

The Teacher of children became Himself a Child among children, that He might instruct the unwise. The Bread of heaven came down to earth to feed the hungry. ~ St. Cyril of Jerusalem

Give us this day, our daily bread. ~ St. Matthew 6:11

For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:17

Our Lord says: I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. ~ John 6:51

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: 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

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 for mankind. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

O Most Holy Theotokos, nourish and pray for us, that we may worthily become God’s wheat!

Through Attention

Beautiful Sunflower Church Bouquet with Lemons and Chestnuts, by Evguenia

It is impossible for anyone who stands in God’s holy Church collecting his thoughts, lifting his mind to God, occupying his understanding with the sacred singing from the beginning until the end, and waiting patiently, not to undergo a divine change, in accordance with his attention to God and His teachings. Through this attention a certain warmth is born in the heart which chases away evil like flies, creates a spiritual peace and comfort in the soul and bestows sanctification on the body, according to him who said, ‘My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned’ (Psalm 39:3)… ~ St. Gregory Palamas

The church has been planted as a paradise in this world. ~ St. Irenaeus of Lyons

A Christian should inscribe the Symbol of Faith upon the tablets of the heart... Your accumulated offences do not surpass the multitude of God’s mercies: our wounds do not surpass the great Physician’s skill. ~ St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315 – 386 AD)