Good morning and welcome to Sunny Sunday! Each Sunday I write and post about Resurrection hymns we sing each Saturday evening and Sunday at Liturgy. I absolutely love being able to do this. It has truly been influential in my climbing out of the darkness. And as I was trying to come up with a …
Author: Susan
I am an Orthodox Christian, a deacon’s wife, a mother, and an aspiring Kindler of Joy.
Over the last year or so, I believe I’ve begun to understand, by the grace of God, where we can begin to find happiness. True happiness. My heart longs for a deeper connection to those around me and to creation. I want to feel joy not only in myself but to see it on the face of people I love and those that God brings my way.
Thus, begins my journey to become a Kindler of Joy. It is a journey, a path of learning and growing. So I’ve created my blog as a reminder to myself, daily, to open my eyes and find the beauty and joy around me.
Take Comfort
Earlier this week in my post Death is Overthrown I mentioned that I was reading Way of the Ascetic by Tito Colliander. I've been pondering on this very short section of his book, On Times of Darkness, all week. I shared how comforting it was to know that "even the saints have had their dark …
In the Name of the Lord
This is what I read this morning. Everything. In word or deed! Everything in the name of the Lord. I kind of see this as, would the Lord bless what it is that I am doing? Or am I doing this for my own selfish gain or is what I am doing glorifying God? This …
Death is Overthrown
The joyous message of the Resurrection is ours to hear, "Death is overthrown! Christ God is risen, granting the world great mercy!" It makes me happy to sing this. This sentence is so powerful! It peels away the heaviness that has been weighing me down. I feel as if I have been overcome by heavy …
Enlightened!
I have started taking early morning walks lately and it has been truly inspiring. It has become clearer to me, even more so, that all has been enlightened. All of creation that is. I will never tire of it's explicit beauty all around. Rich in colors. Intricate in detail. While walking I often find myself …
Worship in the house of the Lord!
Last night we sang this beautiful hymn of the Resurrection... This picture was taken yesterday as well, at a friends house. I just love the colors. And to me it is "the house of the Lord". May this day fill you with hope and joy as we worship Him Who rose from the dead.
A Morning Prayer
Many years ago I received a prayer card from a sweet friend of mine. This morning prayer was written by Elder Sophrony (+1993) of Essex, spiritual child of St Silouan the Athonite. I found this description of the prayer on AbbaMoses.com. "He gave this prayer to his own spiritual children, to be said ‘on rising …
Milestone Announcement
Milestones. Webster defines milestones as an event marking a significant change or stage in development. I’m entering a milestone year. It feels surreal. I look back over the last 49 years, about 45 of which I can remember. But admittedly probably less than half of that well. Of course, our early years we don’t remember. …
Resurrection Reminders
Today's Resurrection Reminders comes a tiny bit earlier than usual. In our services at Church we have a Vespers service each and every Saturday evening. This service is in preparation of the the Sunday Divine Liturgy and it is when we sing all the Resurrectional Stichera hymns. Tonight we sang a hymn that actually mentions …
Farewell to Maxim Mondays
Last week I posted the final of the 55 Maxims of Christian Living. Father Thomas Hopko created this list for a podcast he did in 2008. I decided early on when I created this website that I would do a focus on them each Monday. I did my first Maxim Monday on March 19, 2018. …
