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
One of my favorite books is Acquiring the Mind of Christ by Archimandrite Sergius of St. Tikhon's Monastery in Pennsylvania. I heard him give a talk many years ago and it was incredibly inspiring. I wrote a post nearly two years ago and shared a section of this book on prayer. I love this book.… Continue reading Hymns
We’ve come to the end of a long challenging day! We left on our trip to move my mom back to MN today. When we drove out of the driveway at 815 am I thought we’d be at our first night’s rest before dinner. Drive time should have been eight and a half hours plus… Continue reading Day One of a Move
Today marks the middle of the Feast of Feasts! Pascha is a 40 day feast! So wonderfully full of joy and excitement, celebrating the victory over death! I love that Pascha is 40 days long! Mostly because I need time to come out of the "Bright Week Blues". Have you ever heard of that term,… Continue reading Midfeast-Christ is risen!
Yesterday, just before the Gospel reading in the Divine Liturgy we heard the choir sing Alleluia and the Reader read "Come let us rejoice in the Lord! Let us make a joyful noise to God our Savior!" The choir sings again, "Alelluia" and the Reader responds with "Let us come before His face with thanksgiving;… Continue reading The End and the Beginning
Mom and I are back from our three week, whirlwind adventure across the USA! Wow! What trip! It was truly amazing to see so many people we love and so much of God's amazing creation! We put on nearly 5000 miles in our travels. Here is a glimpse of the beauty of our travels! These… Continue reading Home Again in WA
Last Friday, September 3rd, I left home to begin a 3 week adventure. James and I had a nice dinner together and then early Saturday morning I boarded a plane. Our view at dinner the night before my flight. Normandy Park, WA. I took off bright and early Saturday morning and landed in St. Paul,… Continue reading Going “Home”
I was going through an old pile of notes and letters and came across one from my husband's godson who is now a monk at the Monastery of the Holy Archangel Michael in New Mexico. It is postmarked June of 2018. I don't remember reading it. But possibly it was meant for me to read… Continue reading The Fruit of Joy
Do you read the book of James often? We started reading James this week in the assigned lectionary. The prescribed reading this week takes us through Chapter 1 and the first part of Chapter 2. The Orthodox Study Bible says that the major theme of James is “the harmony of faith and works.” I love… Continue reading The Book of James
Have you ever heard of the Lenten Triodion, the book? This is a book that holds all the hymns and special verses for all services from the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee (four Sundays before Lent begins) all the way through Holy Saturday, the day before the Resurrection of Christ. Mostly it just… Continue reading Lenten Triodion
Kindler of Joy! 