Photo shared by Irena
Late tonight, and into the early morning hours of tomorrow (Friday, November 19), will be the longest partial lunar eclipse in almost 600 years! Wow!
Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. ~ Psalm 148:3
-and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. ~ St. Matthew 28:20
In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. ~ Psalm 72:7
What Wondrous Love in His Promise!
A Vantage View-Point in Mystras Greece – 2017
…The way of knowing God that is most worthy of Him is to know Him through unknowing, in a union that rises above all intellect. The intellect is first detached from all beings, then it goes out of itself and is united to rays more luminous than light itself. Thanks to these rays it shines in the unfathomable depths of Wisdom. It is no less true, however, as I have said, that this Wisdom can be known from every reality. ~ St. Dionysius the Areopagite
I’ve always been drawn to how even before St. Dionysius the Areopagite became a Christian, his numinous heart sensed why the sun hid its rays as if in shame, at the time of Christ’s Crucifixion.
Studying astronomy in Egypt, he witnessed the world-wide solar eclipse that occurred during our Lord’s death. So struck by this heavenly event, he exclaimed,“Either the Creator of all the world now suffers, or this visible world is coming to an end.”
Upon his return to Athens from Egypt, he was chosen as a member of the Areopagus Council, the Athenian high court, which would meet on the Hill of Ares (Mars)… across from the Acropolis.
St. Dionysius was present when Apostle Paul preached in the midst of the Areopagus, on Mars’ Hill, (Acts 17:16-34).
St. Paul’s sermon also described the supernatural darkness which occurred during our Lord’s Crucifixion, and St. Dionysius remembered what he witnessed in Egypt (which the other learned astronomers couldn’t explain). He became a Christian, was baptized by St. Paul, and is numbered among the Seventy Apostles.
The Areopagus in Athens on Mars’ Hill: 13 seconds into video shows the altar “To the Unknown God” as St. Paul saw and describes in Acts 17: 22-34
For three years St. Dionysius remained a companion of St. Paul in preaching the Word of God. St. Paul chose him as bishop of the city of Athens, and St. Dionysius later travelled to Jerusalem to meet the Virgin Mary. He was also present at her repose. There are four theological works attributed to St. Dionysius: The Divine Names, The Mystical Theology, The Celestial Hierarchy, and The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, as well as eleven letters.
Sometime after the death of the Apostle Paul, St. Dionysius set off with two others, to evangelize Germany, Spain and France. Eventually the three met martyrdom together. St. Dionysius’ Heavenly Birthday (Feast Day) is Oct. 16/3. He is the patron saint of Athens and venerated as the protector of the Judges and the Judiciary.
Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent. ~ St. Dionysius the Areopagite
Like finding buried treasure, this beautiful antique picture (from nearly 125 years ago), was found in the basement of our church during renovations.
Look Unto Me and Be Ye Saved. ~ Isaiah 45:22
Food for Thought
Quotes from 4th century St. Augustine of Hippo
Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.
God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.
The mind commands the body and is instantly obeyed. The mind commands itself and meets resistance.
God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.
And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought.
If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.
There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.
Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it
To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.
Open to Me the Doors of Repentance Orthodox Hymn
Greetings on the Great Feast Day of the Exaltation of the Cross!
Magnify, O my soul, the exaltation of the life-creating Cross of the Lord! …Let all the trees of the forests rejoice, for their nature hath been sanctified by Him Who planted them in the beginning – Christ Who was stretched out upon the Tree… Let us worship the power of the Cross; for a tree brought about death in paradise, but this Tree hath caused life to blossom forth, for the sinless Lord was nailed to it. …O Thou Who hast abolished death by the Cross and freed us, glory to Thee! ~ Excerpts from Service
Some sweet basil traditions.
Let us exalt the Most Precious Cross of the Lord together, and rejoice in His boundless Love!
Fragrant Wild Sweet Pea and Lavender
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. ~ St. Porphyrios
Moonlight and Starshine on water over Finlayson Arm BC, with hovering (turquoise green) luminescent moth – intent on its early morning rounds.
Enjoy the annual Perseid Meteor Shower which peaks August 11th to the 13th, from midnight until dawn. The waxing crescent moon will make the sky darker, and up to 40 meteors an hour will be visible.
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created. And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the Lord! ~ Psalm 148
Altar mosaic, St. Sophia Orthodox Church Canada – from 6th century church detail; St. Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.
Early Christianity frescoes and mosaics show the peacock… a bird of Paradise… a symbol of immortality. Sometimes it stands beside the Tree of Life. The eyes on the peacock’s tail feathers symbolise our all-seeing God. A peacock drinking from a vase signifies a Christian drinking the waters of eternal life. The peacock also represents the cosmos with its tail of many eyes as the vault of heaven, dotted by the sun, moon, and stars. Joyfully associated with the Resurrection of Christ, the peacock sheds its old feathers and grows newer and brighter ones each year.
What is dying? It is as if putting off a garment. For the body is about the soul as a garment; and after laying this aside for a short time by means of death, we shall resume it again with more splendour. ~ St. John Chrysostom
We see the water of a river flowing uninterruptedly and passing away, and all that floats on its surface, rubbish or beams of trees, all pass by. Christian! So does our life. I was an infant, and that time has gone. I was an adolescent, and that too has passed. I was a young man, and that too is far behind me. The strong and mature man that I was is no more. My hair turns white, I succumb to age, but that too passes; I approach the end and will go the way of all flesh. I was born in order to die. I die that I may live. Remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom! ~ St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
The agony of dying is the effort made by the soul to free herself and run towards the Lord. ~ Gerontissa Gavrielia
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery, And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace. For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality. And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself. As gold in the furnace hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering. And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble. They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever. They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his saints, and he hath care for his elect. ~ Wisdom of Solomon 3: 1-9
Camel rock in Goreme, Cappadocia, near St. Basil the Great’s carved rock monasteries and cave churches. ~2006
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. ~ Genesis 2:7
…for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. ~Genesis 3:19
For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. ~ Psalm 103:14
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill… ~ Psalm 113:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. ~ Ecclesiastes 12:7
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). He 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 – except once… when he saw someone stealing a clay pot. With an amused expression, he observed, “The clay steals the clay.”
And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight. ~ St. John 9:1-9
All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. ~1 Corinthians 15:39-49
Starry Cross from Dome – St. Sophia Church, Canada
Thy Will be Done!
Nativity scene painted on an oyster shell, from a dear friend.
Today the Creator of Time – the Timeless One – the Unoriginate – has a Beginning.
Today – the Word becomes Incarnate.
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Greetings on the Joyous Feast of the Holy Nativity of Jesus Christ !
He was a Baby,
He was a Child,
So that you might be a
Perfect person;
He was wrapped
In swaddling clothes,
That you might be
Loosed from the snares of death;
He was in a manger,
That you might be
In the altar;
He was on earth,
That you might be
Among the stars.
He had no place at the inn,
That you might have
Many mansions in the Heavens.
~ St. Ambrose of Milan 339-397 A.D.
This day He who Is, is Born; and He
who Is becomes what He was not.
~ St. John Chrysostom 347-407 A.D.
Christ is born; Glorify Him! Christ comes from heaven; meet ye Him! Christ is on earth; be ye exalted! O all the earth, sing unto the Lord! And sing praises in gladness, O ye people, for He hath been glorified! ~ An ancient hymn composed by St. Gregory the Theologian (329 AD – 390 AD)
Greetings on this first day of Christmastide!
