Pom Pom had asked a question recently that I have been meaning to answer....
She wanted to know about the fast that we are in right now.
It's a great little summer fast; it is for the Mother of God;
I know that some of my readers may not understand this term;
it was established by the 4th Century AD in an effort to show
both the humanity and divinity of Christ;
the Virgin Mary gave birth to Christ as fully God and fully man;
the Church at the time was dealing with the Nestorian heresy
which was trying to take a way the name of the Virgin Mary,
which in Greek is Theotokos
Theo = God
Tokos = bearer
Theotokos = God-bearer
(if you want to know more, see here).
***
Of course the Church was getting this also right from the Holy Gospel.
when St. Elizabeth, the Mother of St. John the Baptist,
asks the Virgin Mary:
***
Now that this is clear,
the little summer fast is for the Mother of God,
and is specifically about her death.
While this event is not in the Gospels itself, it is in very
early Church documents and Church tradition;
you can read more here on this, to see how she was already
being written about by the 1st Century and by very early Christians.
If you want to know more, some places to look are
***
So the Dormition fast for the "New Calendar" Orthodox Christians
(they have Christmas on Dec 25) is from August 1-14, with August 15
being the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God;
the "Old Calendar" Orthodox Christians (who have Christmas on Jan 7),
Dormition fast is from August 14-August 27, with Dormition being August 28th.
It's too bad in a lot of ways that we Orthodox are on 2 calendars,
but these decisions were made in the 1920's in some but not all
ethnically Orthodox Countries; so we are stuck with the calendar
split now; the time that the Orthodox calendar is still 'one' is from
Lent-Pentecost...
***
Anyway, there's a bit about the fast!
If you are fasting fully (We fast according to our health needs)
this means that you would be abstaining from meat and dairy products.
***
It's really a lovely fast and a favourite of mine!
And the Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ is right in the middles of it!
But that's for another post... :)
We are praying for one of my Husband's Uncles who is in his last hours now,
after a very long valiant struggle with cancer; he is a very Christian man and
I had the honour of meeting him a few summers ago.
His immediate family is with him, as well as others...and the rest of us are
surrounding him with prayer....
I got some new books recently!
I am reading some incredible ones right now,
including Donald Sheehan's Grace of Incorruption
that in time I hope to write on; it's a book one needs to read
slowly or one misses a lot of what is being said; it's a beautiful,
riveting and thought-provoking book.
We stayed local today for church...not the original plan,
but our AC stopped cooling on Saturday and we had to be nearby for
the hydro company to come and check it out...
only to find out that it had froze up so much that a copper pipe was
totally white with frost!
So we are carefully defrosting it and trying to make sure that it does not leak into our
neighbour's unit below us (this has happened before!).... sadly! ...
So we have been having no-bake cold meals...
but it's summer, so lots of wonderful fruit to enjoy!
***
The AC person comes back tomorrow, hopefully everything will be put aright!
***
And that's the latest here!
What's going on in your neck of the woods?
10 comments:
Thank you for explaining, sweet E!
The book Almost Orthodox looks intriguing.
I hope your ac is all fixed soon!
I hope all goes well w the AC repair and you don't have a repeat of the leaks. Lord have mercy on your husband's uncle and family at this time.
Thanks Nancy! Appreciated!!!
You are welcome Pom Pom! I have a lot of books on the go right now, so the A.O. book I have not started yet, but I hope to report back here when I do read it! Liked what I saw of it online! :) Thanks for everything dear friend!
Ah, so you are living like me -hot and refusing to turn on the oven :) Yesterday and today have been beautiful. A bit of a cold front went through and took the humidity (for now). Hope the AC is back soon.
Beautiful pictures of church, Elizabeth. I've thought I've left more comments lately on your blog, but scrolling through (to see what I've missed since last here) I'm afraid I may have only imagined leaving comments. I have loved popping in and seeing what you have to share with us and have meant many times to let you know when a particular post touches me somehow.
Thank you for explaining the Dormition Fast, Elizabeth :-) That is the first time I have heard it called a "great little summer fast" and it made me laugh. But you show by those words a thankful attitude, which is inspiring.
The Grace of Incorruption is on my shelf waiting for me to have more of a brain with which to read it carefully and soak it up. I tried a year ago and could not settle down to it. Several people have told me how wonderful they are finding it to be. One man at church comes in the bookstore when I am there, and we talk about what we are reading, and I think he has been reading it for several months. He always asks me if I have read it, and I always have to say, "No, I started it, but...." I can't wait to read your response to the book!
I hope your AC is better by now - but we have had a beautiful, breezy and almost cool day today! Welcome, too. Maybe you also did.
Prayers for your husband's uncle!
A lovely post, Elizabeth, and beautiful explanation of the Dormition Fast. Your new books look intriguing. I have read the Reardon book and loved it. He has a unique way with words and can make things really come alive, or so it seems to me. All prayers for your husband's uncle, and for you and your family.
I do love Mother Mary and any focus on her blessedness is beautiful to me. What a bummer about the AC, but you seem to have a fantastic way of thinking on your feet for meals :)
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