Weekend Adventures

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:

"But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

***

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

here, here, here and here! 

***

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?

Dormition of the Mother of God

In birth, you preserved your virginity; 

in death, you did not abandon the world, O Theotokos. 

As mother of life, you departed to the source of life, 

delivering our souls from death by your intercessions.

~ here.

*

We celebrated the Feast of the Dormition on Friday

and our priest blessed flowers,

of which we have some at home,

on our table.

*

So beautiful.

*

I love that this Feast is so much about how in 

dying the Mother of God became nearer to us,

not abandoning the world.

Almost the Feast of Dormition

 

Been thinking of how to write...
blogs are tricky and I
worry more than often about
making my life seem what it is not
or what it has not attained to.
*
Anyway, just to say we were not able
to pray the service to the Mother of God
every day like some do during this fast.
{I wrote about this here}
*
I remain convinced that growth
takes time and that we often
wish we were or could do more
than we have the strength for.
*
But I take heart in what,
even if it is small,
we can do.
Like reading a little out of
Fr. John's book after dinner.
*
We are finding that this book
is best to be read very slowly
as it is so packed with
counsel and
spiritual thought.
*
So... I have a lot going on in the next few weeks
involving visits with family and friends.
Not sure that I will be able to do a
yarn along post in the next two or three weeks,
the visits are so wonderfully upon us!
*
I have a lot of things, some new,
for later in September that I look forward too,
nothing life-flipping like last year
{getting married that is}
but new things to do and people to meet.
Katherine wrote about new beginnings today
and I've been reading in many blogs
of all of us seeing the end of summer and
gearing up for a new year.
*
I know I've been on a cleaning spree and want
all to be organized!
This is one part of my and Mr. Husband's life that
we still have not fully figured out
or had the time to
(between church and home
we find our selves very busy)...
Any suggestions on how to use space better
are welcomed! :)
*
Wishing you all a wonderful week!
Soon Mr. Husband will be celebrating the
Dormition of the Mother of God
and having family visit!
It's going to be a full and beautiful week,
God willing! 

A bit better

 

Blogged here about some fun I have been having.
*
Cleo seems a bit better today.
Still need in prayer of course.
*
I had a great time with a good friend this morning
and am slowly working on getting stuff done.
*
Tomorrow I will God-willing go to liturgy
for the Feast of Dormition.
Then work on finishing things to be
printed for the wedding...
and dinner with a great friend!
*
Today an old friend came for my two
bookshelves.
My wall is bare now, but a beautiful blue.
She commented how calm I am.
I told her that many people are praying and
we talked about how that makes a real
difference.
I was overwhelmed yesterday and
let me tell you, my head is spinning
with all the new transitions that we are in
but God is also very merciful
and the prayers of His people
effective...
*
Thank you all for your prayers!
Truly I do not know what I would do without them!

Job Offer Accepted!

After prayer,

consulting with many others,

your prayers,

and God's mercy,

I have accepted the job

and have cancelled my Monday interview,

based on many factors that made

the job offer a better choice for me.

I signed and emailed my letter of offer today;

I signed it in one of my places of prayer,

dedicating this next step to God,

God's protection and the help of the Saints.

Yesterday was St. Herman's Day.

It was very moving when I realized that my chrismation day

(August 8) was a day before St. Herman's Day.

St. Herman is a large part of my Orthodox journey;

it was seeing his icon on the iconostasis at

his church out West

that continued to bring me to his church...

even though my chrismation was not as his church,

as I had moved back home by that point,

St. Herman was right there with me...

That I received the job offer on the anniversary

of my chrismation (7 years this past Monday),

prayerfully decide about this decision on

St Herman's day

and to accept the offer today,

the old calendar day of my Patron Saint Irene,

is a beautiful timing of events.

I start August 29.

Right after old calendar Dormition.

This will be a real change for me,

a change for the better we all pray

and I ask your prayers as I transition to a new

chapter in my life.

Glory to God for His goodness and mercy!

Thankful

Thanking God that I was able to

go both to the vigil last night

for the Feast

and today

for the festal liturgy

at the monastery.

*

Thank you for prayers for my rides;

it worked out.

*

Somethings are so multi-leveled in loveliness

that it is impossible to

take it all in

or

to articulate it.

*

I am thankful...

*

Gearing up for two days of more

concentrated job searching

before two days of family activities.

*

It is wonderful to be visiting with my family.