Sunset on the Strait of Juan de Fuca
If but ten among us lead a holy life, we shall kindle a fire which shall light up the entire city. ~ St. John Chrysostom
We must become enlightened bearers of the light within us, the Light of God, the very spark… of God’s divinity. ~ St. Gregory of Nyssa
Kayaking Into Diamonds – Strait of Juan de Fuca
I have consciousness of my sinfulness, but I live with hope. It is bad to despair, because someone who despairs becomes embittered and loses his willingness and strength. Someone who has hope, on the contrary, advances forward. ~ St. Porphyrios
On a recent holiday we watched a kayaker glide rapidly along a sea of glass, seemingly unaware of having passed through a brilliant, sparkling corridor of sunbeams. Suddenly, they reversed course and came to a contemplative standstill, drinking in the glittering vista. Then they paddled forward, into the Golden Avenue of dazzling diamonds dancing on the water… and were swathed in Light.
Image from Pixabay
…My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. ~ Philippians 4:13
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.
Wedding Bread Gift represents Marriage Crowns for Michael and Laura. May God grant them Many Years!
Garden Flowers Bouquet: Golden Celebration Rose, Spirea Bridal Wreath, and Lady’s Mantle which is affiliated with the Virgin Mary.
Wedding Prokeimenon sung in Eighth Tone:
Thou hast set upon their heads crowns of precious stones. They asked life of thee, and thou gavest it them. ~Psalm 21: 3-4
Greetings on the Beginning of the Apostles’ Fast!
The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. ~ Exodus 16:31
(God Can Fill Us)
And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly. ~ Exodus 25:30.
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart. ~ Psalm 104:14-15
Jesus answered, It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ~ Matthew 4:4
Give us this day our daily bread. ~ Matthew 6:11
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. ~ John 6:35
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. ~ John 6:47-51
Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. ~ 1 Cor. 5:8
May your Journey through the Apostle’s Fast be Peaceful and Fruitful!
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.
Greetings on Forgiveness Sunday!
Great Lent begins Tomorrow.
There is nothing on earth higher, greater or more holy than the Divine Liturgy; nothing more solemn, nothing more life-giving. ~ St. John of Kronstadt
The Church is your hope, the Church is your salvation, the Church is your refuge. ~ St. John Chrysostom
May your Lenten Journey be a peaceful, fruitful preparation for the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter) – Sunday, April 24th, 2022.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. ~ St. Matthew 18:20
Set our hearts on fire with love for You, O Christ our God, so that in its flame we may love You with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul and with all our strength, and our neighbours as ourselves, so that by keeping Your commandments we may glorify You, the giver of all good gifts. ~ A Prayer For Lighting a Candle
Sunrise on Hawaiian Beach – 2014
Grant unto me, my Lord, that with peace in mind I may face all that this new day is to bring. Grant unto me grace to surrender myself completely to Thy holy will. Instruct and prepare me in all things for every hour of this day. Whatsoever tidings I may receive during the day, do Thou teach me to accept them calmly, in the firm conviction that all eventualities fulfill Thy holy will. ~ Excerpt from Morning Prayer of the Optina Elders
…the greatest prayer you can make for someone is to be able to say to the Lord truthfully, “I love this person. Thy will be done in his or her life…” ~ Gerontissa Gavrielia
When a bad or gloomy thought, fear of temptation threatens to afflict you, don’t fight it to try to get rid of it. Open your arms to Christ’s love and He will embrace you, then it will vanish by itself. ~ St. Porphyrios
Happy Saint’s Day to my goddaughter Cecilia.
Cecilia-strong in faith, rich in faith – Her faith more beautiful than the stars, more precious than gold… ~ St. Nikolai Velimirovich
Greetings on St. Cecilia’s Feast Day! (December 5/November 22)
The two featured photos are from a visit to Rome in 2009. Below the main floor is the Church’s Chapel of Relics. The altar with the candlesticks is situated in front of the crypt. Behind the altar’s screened gate is the repository of the second century martyrs, St. Cecilia and her husband St. Valerian.
The Church of St. Cecilia in Trastevere (a Roman neighbourhood), was originally established in the 3rd century, and built on the site of her home after her martyrdom. At the time of her death, St. Cecilia’s body was interred for five centuries in the Catacomb Cemetery of St. Callixtus. However, in the early 800’s, the Pope returned her “home” again, to her own Basilica.
On the upper floor of the main church and in front of the main altar, is the later addition (commissioned in the 16th century), of a glass case enclosing the white marble statue of St. Cecilia. A marble slab on the floor in front of it, quotes the Italian sculptor Stefano Maderno’s sworn statement, recording her miraculously incorrupt body was positioned as seen, and seemingly asleep when the tomb was reopened during the renovations in 1599.
St. Cecilia is considered a patron saint of music in the west. During her undesired earthly wedding; she heard heavenly music, and sang hymns in her heart to Christ. (In the east, St. Romanos the Melodist is a patron saint of music.)
Here is a beautiful, short, 2 minute YouTube video, with detail of St. Cecilia’s Chapel Crypt.
Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. ~ Psalm 42:8
Kontakion in the 4th Tone
Let us in Godly wise, the hosts of the faithful, / sing hymns to her wedded to Christ of her own will, Cecilia, / whose pure heart with virtues was adorned; / for she wholly put to shame the conceit of Almachius, / and she shone bright as the sun amidst them that pursued her / and then appeared to those upon the earth as a divine staff // that strengthened the holy Faith.
St. Cecilia’s radiant prayers continue to God for us, and are as ever-shining as stars in the heavens.
