Pascha Meal at Home this past Sunday evening

Pascha Table,

with Red and White Rushnyk,

Grandma's dishes, cheese, nuts, salad,

cheese Pascha, two pots of tea, Pascha bread,

water, chocolate chip cookies, 

candles and our best silver.

My Sister got me this wooden red egg from Romania

for this past Christmas.

 We had lots of wonderful goodies!

The Rum-Kokos are from a dear Romania friend 

in Ottawa that I saved for Pascha...

This was our candle from our Pascha basket last year.

I decided I will save each candle for one year

and then light it on Pascha/Sunday night at home

when we have our simple Paschal basket meal at home.

I used our wedding reception votive candles for 

icon lampadas...

It is so wonderful to continue the Paschal

celebrations at home!

*

Mr. Husband and I are looking forward to enjoying 

things from our basket over the coming weeks!

*

Christ is Risen!!

Truly, He is Risen!

Inspired to plan ~ Nativity through Theophany

Mat. Emily always delights with her lists for 

Nativity.

This year I realized it would do me good to make my own list

for my second Nativity Fast with Mr. Husband.

*

I am thinking a lot these days about how to incorporate 

the Fasts and Feasts into our lives.

Here's what I came up with from Nativity Fast-Theophany,

old calendar. 

*

November 28: Thanksgiving Day ~ go to prayers or liturgy for Thanksgiving. Special dispensation for a fish day when the fast starts on Thanksgiving (as it does in 2013).

November 29: Fun! Family visiting.

November 30: Fun! Family visiting.

*

December 1 : Sunday Liturgy.  Begin reading Christmas book with Mr. Husband.

December 2 : Change coffee table to Christmas Colours. 

December 3: Work on St. Nicholas Gifts.

December 4: Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God ~ Go to liturgy.  Remember my Oma and do something in her name for another person. 

December 5: Put out two Nativity Icons.

December 6: Prepare for St. Katherine’s Day (meal, find prayers, clean icon).

December 7: St. Katherine’s Day ~ honour her icon, light candles by it and pray for those esp with her name.  Pray prayers to her.  Make a special meal in her honour.  

*

December 8: Sunday Liturgy. 

December 9: Work on St. Nicholas and Christmas gifts, plan and shop for special meal for Kursk Root Icon. Start praying parts of Akathist for this icon in the evening.

December 10: Kursk Root Icon ~ Special meal for Kursk Root Icon and remembering the healing of St. Seraphim as a child. 

December 11:  Work more on Christmas gift plans.

December 12:  Christmas Gift shopping for the short people in our lives.

December 13: Put out the Nativity Books.

December 14:  Begin listening to Christmas music 

*

December 15: Sunday Liturgy. 

December 16: Plan special meal for St. Nicholas Day Dinner and do grocery shopping for meal and for St. Barbara Day also.

December 17: Great Martyr Barbara ~ put out icon of St. Barbara and pray for those with her name.  Read Chesterton's poem on St. Barbara.  Bake Saint Nicholas Cookies and prepare treats for shoes. Have a special dinner for St. Barbara.

December 18: Finish Preparing for St. Nicolas Day ~ if possible go to vigil for St. Nicolas Day or pray the Akathist to St. Nicholas, put out St. Nicholas Icon

December 19: Saint Nicholas Day ~ Go to liturgy and give out goodies ~ Sister’s Birthday

December 20: Begin listening to Christmas music and put out coffee table sized Christmas Tree.

December 21: Christmas preparations and planning; plan for birthdays and names days in near future.

*

December 22: Sunday Liturgy and Family Visiting. 

December 23: Special Baking and Knitting.

December 24: Special Baking and Knitting.  Planning special meal for St. Herman’s Day.

December 25: Saint Spyridon and Saint Herman ~ honour these Saints, put out their icons, pray special prayers to them.  Read books on these Saints.  

December 26: St. Lucia ~ Search for icon for her for next year and research books on her.

December 27: Have time spent with ones dear to us, Special baking.

December 28: Have time spent with ones dear to us, remembering to pray for those who are far.

*

December 29: My Birthday ~ special meal with loved ones near by.

December 30: Mr. Husband’s Name Day ~ special meal planned.

December 31: Enjoy civil holiday with Mr. Husband either at home or at a monastery.  If home make special lenten food.

January 1:  New Years Day.  If possible be at a monastery.  If not then spend special time with Mr. Husband and others; have a special meal. Do prayers of Thanksgiving for the new year (on the civil calendar).

January 2: St. John of Kronstadt’s Day ~ honour his icon, do prayers to him, read his book.  Plan Christmas Dinner for Second Day of Christmas.

January 3: Plan, prepare and shop for Holy Supper and Christmas.  Buy a special wine for Holy Supper and the Christmas Season.

January 4: Pack things for Holy Supper including special table cloth, candles and candle holder. Bake for Holy Supper.

*

January 5: Last minute grocery Shopping for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Print prayers for Holy Supper.  Bake. Prepare borsht for the Holy Supper.

January 6: Prepare Holy Supper ~ table cloth, candles and meal.  

Have Holy Supper and Christmas Eve Vigil.  

January 7: Christmas! Spent at church and with special friends. 

*

January 8: Second Day of Christmas. Special dinner and opening gifts if not opened on Christmas night.

January 9: Third Day of Christmas. Have a special Christmas Dinner with friends.

January 10: Fourth Day of Christmas. 

January 11: Fifth Day of Christmas.

*

January 12: Sixth Day of Christmas.

January 13: Seventh Day of Christmas.

January 14: Eighth Day of Christmas.  Circumcision of Christ and St. Basil’s Day ~ make cake for St. Basil and a special meal.

January 15: Ninth Day of Christmas. St. Seraphim ~ clean and honour his icon, read from a book on St. Seraphim, do prayers for him. Pray esp. for all those known whose name day it is.

January 16: Tenth Day of Christmas.

January 17: Eleventh Day of Christmas.

January 18: 12th Day of Christmas. Vigil for Theophany.

January 19: Theophany ~  Liturgy and Meal with friends. 

The Feast of Transfiguration: ways into our lives

Transfiguration of Christ:
my last post was on the songs and some verses of the Feast.



One of the blessings in Orthodoxy is found in
the words that uphold it ~
and that there are different translations that give us
various hints of what is really found there.
*
Here is another translation of the troparion of
this Feast:

You were transfigured on the mountain, O Christ God, 
 revealing Your glory to Your disciples as far as they could bear it.
 Let Your everlasting Light also shine upon us sinners, 
 through the prayers of the Theotokos.  
O Giver of Light, glory to You!
*
"as far as they could bear it"
*
I love the verses of this feast,
at vigil and at liturgy.
*
Mr. Husband and I were able to make a long weekend
so we could be at our far-away church for this feast.
*
It reminded me so much of what my
spiritual father in Ottawa would often say to us:
God's character is gentle,
so gentle and patient that He waits for us.
Unlike how many in the world act, 
wanting to force, manipulate or control
God is not like that.
He loves us.
He is gentle, He waits for us.
*
And so we see the verses and memory of the feast
and how it is linked to the revealing of God in the
Old Testament,
to Moses, to Elijah.
*
God is merciful.
God is not found in the violent winds,
terrible storms or earthquakes.
The voice of a still wind
is where God is found.
*
God who brings an Angel to Elijah when he
is exhausted and beyond strength.
*
A God who in Isaiah is said that
He will not snuff our a smoldering wick
or break a bruised reed.

A God who gives us the blessing of fruit
to remind us of how He can bring
our lives to fruition,
can transform everything.
 

Ultimately what we are really craving is
for Christ to be in us
to transfigure our lives.
*
God works with us where we are;
as much as we can bear or endure...
*
There are some ways to bring this feast into our homes to
remind us of what we are desire:

~putting icon of Transfiguration out for the Feast
~Going to church for vespers/vigil and liturgy for the Feast
~Bringing fruit to church to be blessed on the Feast
~Praying the Kontokion and Troparion at home
~Having a fish meal
~Inviting others to eat fish with us
~Decorating our house with beautiful things for the feast
~Wearing white to church to remember the brightness of this feast
*
But there is more.
And there I can't help you as much
as I am still wanting this more as well.
All I can tell you is that in God and in the Church
there are limitless depths of transformation,
of being transfigured in Christ,
taking part of Christ's life.
*
I know hints of it and how I try to open my life to it ~
and for this it is going to differ per person.
*
For me it was stopping
 reading mystery books and changing
the music I listen to
and getting used to more silence in my life.
It is for the first time going off FB for a fast
(the first day was hard but now not so bad).
It is trying to build discipline in life for prayer.
It is a constant effort and struggle
 that has to be renewed daily.
*
I struggle with it a lot.
God is waiting for us.
Waiting for us to turn to Him.
Waiting for us to desire Him more than all else.
We, I, are/am so distracted.
*
But God is Who we all must ultimately come back to.
*
I was struck so much by our trip to BC,
with leaving up North and seeing the land,
the beautiful verdant land and mountains
and then going towards Vancouver,
it was like going towards desolation and yet
Vancouver is one of the beautiful cities of the world.
Truly in all things
we are longing for God
who renews us,
who can renew creation
who can transfigure everything.
*
It is Christ's transfiguration that we must seek to find
ways to let it enter our lives.
As much as we can.
As much as we can endure,
As much as we can bear.
Christ is Transfigured.
Hope for the Future.
A reminder of when we are in our times of desolation.
A light for when we are facing the Cross and Confusion.
A Hope when all seems an uphill climb and perhaps
we are not sure we even got to the right mountain.
*
It is in the end this we are waiting for:
When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ

"And having risen early, Moses went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord told him. And the Lord descended in a cloud, and stood near him there, and called by the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before his face, and proclaimed: the Lord God, compassionate and merciful, long-suffering, greatly merciful and true. And Moses hastened, and bowed down to the earth, and worshipped the Lord."

~Exodus 34:4-6,8



"And he lay down, and slept there under the tree.
And behold, someone touched him, and said to him:
 “Arise, and eat!”
And Elijah looked, and, behold,
at his head there was a cake of meal and a cruse of water;
 and he arose, and ate and drank, and returned and lay down.
And the angel of the Lord returned again,
and said to him: “Arise, and eat, for the journey is far from thee.”
 And he arose, and ate and drank,
and went in the strength of that food
for forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb.
And he entered there into a cave, and rested there;
and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him,
 and said:
“Thou shalt go forth, and
shalt stand before the Lord in the mountain.
 Behold, the Lord will pass by.”

And, behold, there was a great and strong wind
rending the mountains, and crushing rocks before the Lord;
 but the Lord was not in the wind.
And after the wind an earthquake;
but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake a fire;
 but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire, the voice of a gentle breeze;
and the Lord was there.
 And it came to pass that when Elijah heard,
he wrapped his face in his mantle,
 and went forth and stood in the cave.

~from third book of Kings.

"The feast of the Transfiguration
....[the] summer celebration of the feast, however, has lent itself very well to the theme of transfiguration...." 

..."The blessing of grapes, as well as other fruits and vegetables on this day is the most beautiful and adequate sign of the final transfiguration of all things in Christ. It signifies the ultimate flowering and fruitfulness of all creation in the paradise of God’s unending Kingdom of Life where all will he transformed by the glory of the Lord."
(see here for more)

 

Troparion of the Transfiguration 

Thou wast transfigured on the mountain, O Christ our God, showing to Thy disciples Thy glory as each one could endure; shine forth Thou on us, who are sinners all, Thy light ever-unending through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Light-giver, glory to Thee!

Kontakion of the Transfiguration 

On the mount Thou wast transfigured,  and Thy disciples, as much as they could bear, beheld Thy glory, O Christ God; so that when they would see Thee crucified,  they would know Thy passion to be willing, and would preach to the world  that Thou, in truth, art the Effulgence of the Father.

The Feast of Pentecost

"The first time I saw trees in an Orthodox Church was at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in Pennsylvania, just after Pentecost Sunday. I was completely caught off guard. Though I had been in a number of different Churches over the years, I had never been in a parish of Russian background for the feast of Pentecost. Thus I had missed the Slavic practice of bringing trees into Church for the feast of Pentecost. It was wonderful – like going into Church only to find a forest." 
-- Fr. Stephen Freeman The Trees of Pentecost


Mr. Husband and I went to our
near-by church for Pentecost.

The green of Pentecost began
before we even entered the church.

How we long for this feast!
Truly,
we are longing for the Holy Spirit.
For the Strength to have our lives transformed
by Christ, to have Christ living in us.

The day of the Holy Trinity.
The day of the Holy Spirit coming
making all new, giving the hope that humanity
can truly always be with their loving Saviour
Jesus Christ. 

That in the midst of the brokenness of our
society, life is bursting forth. 

True life is here.

A woman yesterday told us that
in Russia her Grandmother
used to bring grass in the house everywhere
with flowers and the smell alone was
so beautiful.

 

Truly it is a day that everyone
is longing for
with a thirst for Christ's living water.
My {Ottawa} spiritual father used to talk about how
when people are dehydrated,
even dying of thirst,
that they do not know it,
they do not feel thirsty.
So it is for all of us,
not realizing how much of our longing for
beauty, for life, for stability, for peace,
is a longing for Christ's Holy Spirit.
*
Two prayers of Pentecost:

Troparion:

Blessed art You O Christ Our God

You have revealed the fishermen as most wise

By sending down upon them the Holy Spirit

Through them You drew the world into Your net

O Lover of Man, Glory to You!

Kontakion: 

When the most High came down and confused the tongues,

He divided the nations;

But when he distributed the tongues of fire

He called all to unity.

Therefore, with one voice, we glorify the All-holy Spirit!

*
Ways to keep Pentecost in our lives and in our homes:

*Praying the prayers of Pentecost at home from Pentecost to the
apodosis of Pentecost on the following Saturday (see above for prayers)
*Having the icon of Pentecost in our prayer corner
*Pentecost Sunday is also Trinity Sunday ~ having an icon of a Trinity
in your prayer corner is also very appropriate
*Putting flowers or other greenery in your prayer corner
*Adorning your Pentecost icons with flowers or greenery
*Decorating our homes with green (ideas could be flowers,
green in table clothes, dishes, etc.)
*Wearing green to church
*If possible go to liturgy on the Monday, Holy Spirit Day
*Having festive meal on Pentecost, Holy Spirit Day
 *
I would love to hear ways you bring the
celebration of Pentecost in your life and in your home!

Celebrating Ascension and the Apodosis of Ascension

 

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;  for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”  And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

~Acts 1:4-11 NKJV

*

Today is the Apodosis of the Feast of Ascension.

An Apodosis is the leave-taking 

(in other words, the last day of) 

of one of the 

great feasts of the Orthodox church.

*

For the last time today

we pray the prayers of Ascension:

Troparion

O Christ God, You have ascended in Glory,

Granting joy to Your disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit.

Through the blessing they were assured

That You are the Son of God,

The Redeemer of the world!

Kontakion 

When You did fulfill the dispensation for our sake,

And unite earth to Heaven:

You did ascend in glory, O Christ our God,

Not being parted from those who love You,

But remaining with them and crying:

I am with you and no one will be against you.

*

We are still not, for one day longer, praying the 

prayer to the Holy Spirit,

O Heavenly King

until Sunday, 

the Feast of Pentecost,

where we are celebrating the coming of the 

Holy Spirit.

Omitting this prayer demonstrates and reminds us of

our longing for the Holy Spirit and that

we are in a period of waiting.

*

Ascension is a Feast to be Celebrated!

It is a great joy, 

as Christ promises to always be with us

and to send us the Holy Spirit,

the Comforter and Spirit of Truth!

*

Ways to keep this feast at home:

~having the festal icon of Ascension in your home

~ A festive meal for the feast

~Going to liturgy on the Feast of Ascension

~Praying the prayers of Ascension (written above) 

before and after meals
~ Greeting others who are also celebrating with
Christ is ascended! 
Ascended in Glory!

~ on the Apodosis of Ascension have a fish meal 

(Today, Friday, for Orthodox Christians is a fast day

but the fast is lightened today to be what we 

call a fish day which means we can have

a festive meal of fish, wine and oil.)

*

As always,

would love to hear how this feast and it's leave-taking

is celebrated in your home!  

Our Faith @ Home

 

 I've been wanting to write
more on
celebrating the feasts and fasts
and bringing them into our homes.
*
So I am creating a series
for that purpose.
*
I have been blessed to have almost 10 years in the church
and have called 5 churches home in that time
(I started as a student and have moved many times, FYI).
One of the neat things of this is that
I have come to see how the
various ethnic traditions within
Orthodoxy have brought
the feasts and fasts to their homes.
*
I really love how Orthodoxy is flexible
and vast enough to
incorporate many cultures
and really meet these cultures,
respecting them and transforming them.
*
I have been very inspired by monasteries
 I have visited.
I wish my house was as orderly,
clean and prayerful as these!
(For me this will be a life-long effort!)
*
When I was dating Mr. Husband I had a very formative talk
with a very prayerful woman about a family she knew
who brought the feasts into their home
through various liturgical rhythms of the home,
including colours and what one brings to the dinner table.
I saw that in real practical ways we can seek
to bring our Orthodox faith into our homes.
*
I've also deeply loved being at the houses
of Orthodox friends and seen how they
have brought their faith into their home.
*
I have written before of the
couple in my Ottawa parish
whose home I visited a couple years ago
and how my vision of what an Orthodox home
can look like was solidified and
I saw a unity that I desire for my home
with Mr. Husband.
*
One of the things I love about the Orthodox blog
community is how we share our lives and
how we live them.
So I would love to hear from you how
you bring Orthodoxy into your home!
*
I hope my posts can be cheering and
above all that they can point back
to the reason we want to bring
our faith into our homes:
to love and seek our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. 

Icons, lunch, hobbling, Cleo ~ or a Wednesday in June

So one of my blog friends asked about 
icons and feast days.
*
This is a large topic and one of course
that I am really interested in.
*
I am going to write, God-willing,
some blog posts on the topic.
*
First I am going to point to a few places of information.
Go here, here, or here for more on the main feasts of the church.
*
The first thing that I am going to say on this topic is this:
all the feasts of the Orthodox Church are 
about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
*
I am going to do some more praying and thinking about
this topic as I am very committed to bringing
the Orthodox faith,
feasts and fasts,
into the home.
Meanwhile, for all my friends who also love this topic,
feel free to comment or email me about how you
see feasts and fast brought into the home.
*
I am really excited to write more, God-willing, about this
as it is something I care very deeply about!
So 'stay tuned' as they say...
*
Meanwhile,
Mr. Husband is home and we had a simple lunch.

Broccoli and guacamole, chips,
bananas, salad, nuts...  

The poor broken-handled love mug!

Toast for Mr. Husband. 

I am sad to say I am hobbling a bit these days.
Stubbed two toes on Monday
and they bruised up so nicely,
as you can see.
Not too much pain (worst at night)
so don't think they are broken...

Cleo the Cat is loving lounging! 

 

I finished off the green square for my
September School Blanket this morning!
*
So what have you been up to today?
Would love to hear!