Christ is risen!! This past Sunday, my hubby, Dn. James, gave the homily at our parish. There are parts of it that reminded me of my journey to joy I have been on. He touches on John 16:22, "...and no one will take your joy from you." He mentions courage and rejoicing. Many things I've… Continue reading A Homily To Share
Today's Resurrection reminder comes from last night's Vespers service. Today is the first Sunday of Great Lent. Each Sunday of Lent has a theme and today's theme is the Sunday of Orthodoxy because it commemorates the restoration of the Holy Icons and the triumph of the Orthodox Faith against the terrible heresy of the Iconoclasts,… Continue reading Glorify Thy Resurrection
As we, Orthodox Christians, come to the end of the first week of Great Lent, I thought I'd share something I recently read on battling extraneous thoughts during prayer. It doesn't matter what faith you follow, as Christians we are called to "pray without ceasing". We are called to follow the example of Christ and… Continue reading The Battle With Thoughts
I've been looking forward to this day for a many weeks, maybe even months. I sometimes ache for it. See, this day happens every single year within the liturgical calendar of the Orthodox Church. Today is what we call Forgiveness Sunday. Today is the day before Great Lent begins. During Liturgy today we read Matthew… Continue reading Today is a Big Day
We are delivered from the curse of death. We are reminded that He has enlightened the whole world. Be filled this day with that light and go forth into all the world to bring His light and joy and peace to those you meet. Christ is risen! Every day! Love, Susan
Today we are reminded once again of His glorious Resurrection. It truly never ceases to amaze me all the beautiful reminders each & every Saturday/Sunday while we sing our hymns at Church. And if I let it sink in, I take that home and get a glimpse of the reminders all around me in this… Continue reading Look Up & Be Reminded
As I was reading through Tone 1 Resurrectional hymns for this week I came across a hymn I have never noticed before. This isn't hard to do since there are copious numbers of hymns I have never heard before! But this one in particular was labeled "which is chanted every Sunday after the canon". So...one… Continue reading It is Truly Meet to Glorify Thee
It is a very crisp day here in Fargo, North Dakota. How crisp? What do you think about a -6 degrees? That is the current temperature. The high on the bright & sunny day was zero! When it is this cold we do not go outside much but we sure do enjoy the bright sunshine… Continue reading Today is Christ Risen
We traveled back to Western WA this week for a very special occasion. I am sitting here just two days (one really) before child number three of mine, my oldest boy, is united in holy matrimony to the love of his life. My boy…now a man…married. Or will be. Quite soon. It’s a bit surreal.… Continue reading The Cultivation of a Boy
As I sit to write I decide to reflect on the New Year. I wanted to write about this New Year ahead, new beginnings, another chance to start over, to do better, to grow, to do all things we promised to do last year but never did. But then I realized that in reality, we… Continue reading Begin Again
Kindler of Joy! 