Planning for Nativity in 2014

This year Thanksgiving and Western Christmas

are close together and I can see that this 

Nativity Season is going to be very full!

*

My now annual Christmas Nativity Fast and Feast

planning is in it's second year.

Here's what I came up with...

November 27: Thanksgiving Day ~ go to prayers or liturgy for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving meal with friends and church family.

November 28: Fast begins! Make a joyful fasting meal to celebrate! Locate Christmas decorations.

November 29: order a Christmas ornament for our Christmas tree.  Find lights to put up in our kitchen and living room.

November 30: Sunday Liturgy.  

Begin reading Christmas book with Mr. Husband.

December 1 : This year I need to find an artificial Christmas tree for our home.

I am quite excited about this! 

Put out first of Christmas icons (the one of Christ).

December 2 : Change coffee table to Christmas Colours. 

December 3: Work on St. Nicholas Gifts.

December 4 ~ Thursday: Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God ~ Go to liturgy.  Remember my Oma and 

do something in her name for another person.  Fish day!

December 5: Put out two Nativity Icons.  Put up Christmas tree!

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

December 7: Sunday Liturgy ~ 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.  Fish Day! 

*

December 8: Christmas Knitting for tree ornaments done today. Put out Christmas plate and other decorations.  If we have our extra freezer by now in our new home, begin baking St. Nicholas Day cookies to 

carefully freeze for St. Nicolas Day. If do not have a freezer yet then

look at plans for December 16 and switch out activities (shopping) to this day.

December 9: Work on St. Nicholas and Christmas gifts, plan and shop for special meal for Kursk Root Icon.   Prepare and wrap gifts for friends and family.  

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. 

Plan, prepare and shop for Holy Supper and Christmas.

December 11:  Work more on Christmas gift plans.

 St. Nicholas Cookies baking continued DV with freezer ready.

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

Put wrapped gifts under Christmas tree.

December 13: Put out the Nativity Books.

December 14:  Sunday Liturgy

*

December 15: Plan special meal for St. Nicholas Day Dinner. Begin listening to Christmas music.   Bake for St. Nicholas Day.

December 16: Do grocery shopping for St. Barbara's Day, St. Nicholas Day, the Holy Supper and Christmas or bake St. Nicholas Day cookies. 

Best to do the last minute grocery Shopping for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day early! Buy a special wine for Holy Supper and the Christmas Season.

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.  

This year St. Barbara's day corresponds 

with Mr. Husband's 

work's holiday party so we will have 

a festive lunch instead.

December 18: St. Nicholas Eve ~ 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: Sunday Liturgy

December 22:  Christmas preparations and planning; plan for birthdays and names days in near future.  Prepare to make Christmas tea.

December 23: Special Baking and Knitting. Look at meal plan for Holy Supper on Christmas Eve, make list of what I will need

 in terms of last minute groceries & look at plans made on Dec. 16.

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: Sunday Liturgy.  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: Review list for Holy Supper! Enjoy the anticipation. 

January 4: Sunday before Nativity.

*

January 5: Pack things for Holy Supper including special table cloth, candles and candle holder. 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. 

Bake special Christmas cookies for this season to pass out to friends.

January 9: Third Day of Christmas. St. Stephen's day. Have a special Christmas Dinner with friends.

January 10: Fourth Day of Christmas. 

January 11: Sunday ~ Fifth Day of Christmas.  Church Christmas party!

*

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's Day ~ clean and honour his icon, read from a book on St. Seraphim,

 do prayers for his intercession. 

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. 

Married and it is Monday of Butter Week

I was reading a
new to me blog
and listening to what sounded to me
like rain gently falling outside...
except it was not raining.

Right.
Boiling tea that had gotten cold
on stove.
Waste not - want not!

So...
Mr. Husband came back yesterday
from our
far-away church
bursting with love, greetings and gifts
from my NJ church family.
I have not been there since the weekend
of the Florovsky conference in February
which will be a month ago this coming weekend.
(It feels like two months!)
So now Mr. Husband and I are enjoying the tin
of cookies that were sent along...
made in Denmark and full of butter.
Perfect for Butter Week!!

We have this chocolate bar to savour.

Many pots of tea to make.

Some encouragement for today.

Mr. Husband and I ordered this
very large metal funnel
for oil...
plastic does not fare well in the dishwasher
so we got this metal one.
It's hilariously huge
but perfect for pouring oil from the 1 Liter
containers into the cruet. 

Lamadas burning bright. 

Today is St. Photini's day! 
In Slavic languages, 
the name Svetlana is 
the translated name of Photini. 
I have many friends who
love this Saint.
One of my dear friends has her icon
in her kitchen; 
another friend has spoken to me about 
prayers to her regarding 
heart break and complicated relationships.
*
One of the most moving homilies I ever 
heard was when I was in library school
in London Ontario years ago
(the year before I began this blog).
*
The homilist spoke of 
the woman at the well, 
the Samaritan woman,
coming at the noon hour to draw water
and about the heat of the day
the heaviness of the water pot and 
the mere drudgery of the day,
the dustiness of it all.
I felt the weight behind the homilist's words,
that he knew of the day in and day out
drudgery of hard work and exhaustion.
*
And then
Jesus came to the well.
*
Told the woman she had 5 husbands
the one she was with now is not her husband
and led her higher and higher in 
spiritual understanding
until she realized that 
Jesus is the Messiah
and that 
she was speaking to Him
and her life was transformed forever.
She became St. Photoni
bearer of the light of Christ
and evangelized her city;
she met Christ and her 
life was changed 
forever.
She became known as equal to the Apostles. 
*
I remember how my heart rose
at hearing this homily.
How I wanted to meet Jesus too,
like this, 
how I wanted to love Christ.
*
Lord help!
*
So St. Photini is a Saint for us,
in our confused culture,
our complicated lives,
our often hectic wearying days.
*
So wonderful that today is 
St. Photini's day.

One of the lovely and heart-lifting gifts
I was given had this icon of the Theotokos
attached to it.
It reminds me of the Greek Monastery
in Quebec and I put it in my cozy corner
and there am quietly comforted....

My hand lotions in my cozy corner.
*
So I read this incredibly timely
section on Christ and loving Him
by Elder Porphyrios
So wonderful for us to read as we
prepare for Lent.
You can read it here 
*
I really recommend it
for it's beauty, instruction and encouragement.

One of the lovely gifts I was
given is the loaf of
Honey Oatmeal Bread.
*
The icon I was given was with this loaf.
*
Mr. Husband and I had some toasted
(we love toast)
last night with dinner.
Mr. Husband made a point to eat it with butter.
We often quote what one waiter said
to us on our honeymoon:
everything is better with butter.

Mr. Husband and I were given these
flowers as well.
They are so beautiful.
Purple: the colour of Lent.
They are Chrysanthemums and I love them.

 

Mr. Husband got me this rose plant
either the day we got home from our honeymoon
or the day after...
I think the day of.
I am still striving to keep it alive
and love that our kitchen window sill
has green growing plants...
*
One of my friends sent me this quote this morning
and I found it very deep and beautiful:
*
 "Before we enter the Lenten fast, we are reminded that there can be no true fast, no genuine repentance, no reconciliation with God, unless we are at the same time reconciled with one another. A fast without mutual love is the fast of demons. We do not travel the road of Lent as isolated individuals but as members of a family. Our asceticism and fasting should not separate us from others, but should link us to them with ever-stronger bonds." 

Whole article that this quote is from is found here.
*
Blessed Butter Week everyone!