Today we celebrate my second favorite Great Feast of the Church...the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross! Absolutely beautiful! We honor the Cross, for by it Joy has come into all the world! I am going to do a kind of "guest post" today by taking the essay from the OCA.org website on The Universal Exaltation… Continue reading The Cross
Tag: joy
Maxim Week 51
The count down to completion begins! Four more after today! Whatever shall we do with our Mondays? For now let us lean in to what Fr. Thomas Hopko has to say today in Maxim 51. It is a good one! Really good! Have no expectations, except to be fiercely tempted to your very last breath.… Continue reading Maxim Week 51
Resurrection Reminder
Beauty and joy are found in these Sundays when we get to sing about His enlightening the whole world. When we get to sing about all of creation rejoicing in Him. About Him bringing joy into all the world. For us! Today we also celebrate one of the Great Feasts, The Nativity of the Theotokos.… Continue reading Resurrection Reminder
Psalm 33/34
This Psalm has been on my mind quite a bit over the last couple of weeks. Two weeks ago on Sunday it suddenly hit me, the words that I was singing. I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth. One of my goals...to continually be focused on… Continue reading Psalm 33/34
The Cause of Joy
I have this fascination with the word "Joy". Being that is the life blood of my prayers and goals for myself, whenever I see the word "joy" in a song or verse or, well, just about anywhere, I perk up and pay attention. I might learn something that will help me on my path, on… Continue reading The Cause of Joy
The Joy of the Kingdom
My dear husband, sent me an email to share with me an amazing find from Fr. Alexander Schmemann. He knew I would be thrilled to read this. The joy of the Kingdom: it always worries me that, in the multi-volume systems of dogmatic theology that we have inherited, almost every term is explained and discussed… Continue reading The Joy of the Kingdom
Life-Creating Cross of the Lord
The Cross of our Lord! There is no debate, or there shouldn't be, that the Cross is by far the most recognized symbol of Christianity. Because, through the Cross, salvation has come into all the world. Joy has come into all the world! Without the Cross, we have nothing. This day, in the Orthodox Church,… Continue reading Life-Creating Cross of the Lord
Abound in Hope
Today's scripture reading grabbed my attention. Some days are hard. Really hard. We get discouraged. We lose hope and we despair. The world feels like it is closing in and we are overwhelmed. It is on days like this that I really need my reminders. There are so many reminders to call upon. (And I… Continue reading Abound in Hope
Joy is Thankfulness
One year ago today (and I didn't do that on purpose), I wrote a post about the book “Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica”. It is the sort of book that you will read on and off for the rest of your life because there is so… Continue reading Joy is Thankfulness
Joy Filled Children
Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom… Continue reading Joy Filled Children
Kindler of Joy! 