Veneration of the Cross, Third Sunday in Great Lent, coincided this year with the set Feast of the Annunciation, on April 7th. The Precious Cross was decorated in traditional red colours… using roses and carnations. However, and alas, even after scouring the grocery store, there was no fresh basil (also traditional to use when decorating the Cross) to be found. So, from our garden, fragrant pink pieris japonica and white viburnum were added.
Yesterday, the morning sun danced and blazed brightly on my face. I closed my eyes to bask in its warmth.
Antiphonal chirps and trills of birdsong resounded. At the raucous cry of a seagull overhead, I opened my eyes and smiled at the added ambience.
Not to be outdone, budding catkins nodded vehemently over the top of the pergola, each fuzzy leaflet highlighted with a tiny halo of luminous, Gladsome Light. I desperately wanted to run and grab my phone camera to catch this breathtaking beauty… but knew the special light would change in a second or two, and I would forever lose the moment – without being in the moment. I took a picture instead… with my mind’s eye, and can see this sight even now as I type. I hope to remember it forever.
From the porch roof, remnants of raindrops stubbornly clung as lustrous, pearly, stalactites, until they chose to let go. Their occasional drips echoed as muffled percussion on the patio flagstones below, perfectly complimenting the surrounding avian symphony.
And the trees! With branches lifted skyward as if in supplication, they swayed and danced with expressive abandon (as only trees can in a festal morning wind)… kicking up their rooty heels with joy!
Stop. Look. Listen with your heart. Let it dance with the trees, in joy and gratitude at God’s Creation!
Let all the trees of the forest dance and sing, as they behold their fellow-tree, the Cross, today receiving veneration: for Christ, as holy David prophesied, has exalted it on high. I died through a tree, but I have found in thee a Tree of Life, O Cross of Christ. ~ Sunday of the Cross, 8th Ode
God is everywhere present and fills all things! The Three-Branched Cross of Christ is Life!
The Cross, is wood which lifts us up and makes us great… The Cross uprooted us from the depths of evil and elevated us to the summit of virtue. ~ St. John Chrysostom
For the Christian, the cross gradually becomes lighter and more joyful, while for the nonbeliever it becomes heavier and more burdensome. Why is this so? Because where one carries their cross with faith and devotion to God, the other carries it with grumbling and anger. ~ St. Innocent of Alaska (The Way Into the Kingdom of Heaven)
When you pass beside a hospital make the sign of the cross three times: Once for the patients; once for their relatives; and once for yourself, because you aren’t there. ~ St. Paisios the New of Mt. Athos
The feature photo is a detail of one of our Church’s outdoor mosaic pathways. Its many individual shapes, and patterns point and intersect in different directions… yet as a whole, it forms a unique and beautiful design.
Such a heavenly morning! There was golden peach of a sunrise to the east, infusing all with a Gladsome light. To the west, a robin egg blue sky was backdrop to a full and splendid rainbow… God’s Beautiful Promise in the sky. Even the gentle raindrops seemed joyful!
Today is a reflection on childhood paths and dreams.
The first Sunday School Scripture I learned as a child was, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. ~ Psalm 119:105
Accompanying this verse was a delightful felt-board illustration, with a glowing Lantern illuminating a winding path with golden Light. My younger self imagined the many future adventures along life’s byways, while keeping close within the Lantern’s safe circumference.
It was around this same age (of 8), I decided that when I was all grown up, one of my paths would be to lead a scientific expedition to rediscover the location of the Garden of Eden.
Having studied Eden’s bearings in the book of Genesis, and after researching the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in my World Atlas… I was pretty pumped at the possibility of meeting the Cherubim Sentries, who wielded a flaming sword, and guarded the Tree of Life.
Preparing for all contingencies, and in a youthful, journalistic haze, I remember drafting vague questions one might ask of Cherubim. However, Backup Plan “B” was also set, as theymight just kinda stand there sternly, and silently, doing angel-stuff. It was possible they might even not want to talk to me at all! In that case, the quest would be deemed solely a photoshoot… equipped with my beloved new Polaroid Instant Camera (pictures ready in 60 seconds) for officialdocumentation, and asproof, to some of my friends who didn’t believe in angels.
Logic set my sights on funding needed for Eden, and my paltry allowance of 5 cents per week was futile. It had taken 5 whole months to save up for a 99 cent Troll Doll with fuzzy pink hair, and another whole 5 minutes for it to be stolen during school recess.But…. maybe I could flip our family’s backyard garage into an eatery, and call it the Spaghetti and Garlic Bread OnlyRestaurant?
Although its only existing entrance was a small crawl space, the redeeming structural solution of course, would be distracting decor. Pretty red and white checkered tablecloths were to be draped over splintered, wooden crate tables, to which the patrons could drag themselves. It was a no brainer, as they would be sitting on the floor anyway at their reserved crates. I made a mental note it might be good to pay attention to the dirt, broken glass, and rusty nails littering the floors.
At the venerable age of 9, I abruptly abandoned becoming a restauranteur, and strategized instead on becoming a secret agent.
It was absolutely crucial to acquire an ivory trench coat, and my enabling mother somehow found a child-sized one at the local Kmart – but not of the coveted colour. I stoically wore the khaki, while my best friend (the analyst) wore a bright kerchief (tied tightly at the nape of her neck) like some Hollywood diva. We spoke in clipped gibberish code to each other. Together, we practiced how to walk surreptitiously – as spies do – when accompanied with the blaring strains of the Pink Panther Theme. Annoyingly, the old record skipped sometimes, which compromised any graceful serpentining around front room furniture. A clandestine drop off (of a copper penny) transpired, and our brilliant asset successfully weighed down the stylus’ needle enough to arrest further hiccups.
Although I never led that wild child’s expedition to re-discover Eden’s geographical location, the interior of our church dome doescontain the Tigris, Euphrates, Pison, and Gihon Rivers… depicted as water mosaics! They’re conveniently located above the mosaic lettering from Isaiah 25:9 (in English, ancient Greek, and Slavonic) Behold our God in Whom we hope and rejoice in our Salvation. That He may grant rest to this House.
We make our path by travelling it, and in hindsight, the paths worth travelling are bathed in the golden glow of the Great Artificer’s Light.
All treks and correctional detours have led me right here. Right now. Right where I should be.
Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. ~Psalm 25:4
The soul that loves God has its rest in God and in God alone. In all the paths that men walk in in the world, they do not attain peace until they draw nigh to hope in God. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian (Homily 56, 89)
It’s a blessing how everyone has access to the saints – which, of course include the Holy Unmercenaries! Over the ages, and through their heavenly intercessions, countless people have been healed by God.
We are also very blessed to have the earthly aid of medical professionals! What a special calling it is to do what they do! On both sides of my family there have been doctors and nurses, and as they tended to the needs of others, I’ve seen how much they loved their work.
During recent personal observation of other dedicated specialists and doctors, I’ve had a renewed, and deeper appreciation of how God guides the medical profession.
It’s a joy to see these amazing people who especially shine their brightest during exhausting, trying times of overwork and short staffing… to save and make such positive differences in people’s lives. May God reward all their efforts!
The Lord created medicines from the earth, and a sensible person will not hesitate to use them. Didn’t a tree once make bitter water fit to drink, so that the Lord’s power might be known? He gave medical knowledge to human beings, so that we would praise him for the miracles he performs. The druggist mixes these medicines, and the doctor will use them to cure diseases and ease pain. There is no end to the activities of the Lord, who gives health to the people of the world. ~ Wisdom of Sirach 38:4-8
Having placed all their hope in the heavens, the saints laid up for themselves a treasure which cannot be stolen away; they freely received, and freely give healing to the infirm. Following the Gospel, they acquired neither silver nor gold, but bestowed benefactions upon both men and beasts, that, obedient to Christ, they might pray with boldness in behalf of our souls… – Boundless is the grace of the saints, which they have received from Christ. Wherefore, their relics continually work miracles by the power of God, and their names, when invoked with faith, heal incurable illnesses. Through them, O Lord, free us also from the passions of soul and body, in that Thou lovest mankind... – Ever having Christ working within you, O holy unmercenaries, ye work wonders in the world and heal the sick. For your healing is an inexhaustible wellspring: drawn from, it floweth in abundance; and poured out, it gusheth forth, flowing every day in great quantity, granting healing to all, yet remaineth undrained. And those who draw forth from it are filled with healing, yet it remaineth full… Curers of incurable sufferings who heal all and have received this gift from Christ the Saviour, Who granteth great mercy unto us. ~ From the Services to Holy Physicians
Prayer for Help and Healing (shared by a friend – from their priest):
O Lord, Thou lovest (name) more than I do, And Thou canst help (name) better than I, And Thou knowest better than I what is profitable for (him)(her). So do for (name) what is best- only save (him)(her).
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
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
