These Homely Graces

  "You who are in the monastery, when you approach your brother; you who are married, when you approach your spouse; you who are a father or a mother, when you approach your child: 'Let words of consolation leap forward before the rest of your speech'. Whatever you say, whatever you think of saying, say it only after you've said a word or two which will give the others joy, consolation, a breath of life. Make them say 'I feel relief, I feel joy'. Make others proud of you, love you, dance for joy when they see you. Because everybody in their life, in their home, in their body, and in their soul, has pain, illness, difficulties, torments, and everybody hides them within the secret purse of his heart and home, so that others won't know about it. I don't know what sort of pain you're in, and you don't know what pain I'm in. I may laugh, shout, and appear happy, but deep down, I'm in pain, and I laugh to cover up my sorrow. And so before a...

  Our Embden geese are laying!!! They hid their nest carefully under a pile of leaves, but one of the kids was watching. We're hoping for some goslings later this spring, but maybe a few of these massive eggs we'll save to decorate for Easter....

On September 11 we remember St Euphrosynos the cook. St Euphrosynos was a young boy who loved the lord with all his heart. As he grew up he one day left his parents and went to Mount Athos, where he served in a monastery as a cook. He was often reproached and mocked, but received all with humility and patience. He was obedient in everything, for he knew that the first duty of a monk is obedience.  One day a monk in the monastery asked the Lord to show him the blessings saved for the righteous in the age to come. The priest dreamed that night that he was in paradise, standing in a beautiful garden. To his surprise, he saw there another monk of his monastery--St. Euphrosynos the cook!! Amazed, he asked the cook how he came to be there? St Euphrosynos replied that he was there by the mercy of God. The priest asked if St. Euphrosynos could give him something of the garden, and he replied that the priest could take anything he wished. The priest requested three apples, and St....

 Today is the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, or as I tell my children--the Theotokos' birthday!! This is the first feast of the liturgical year (which begins in September).   I love how our church year begins with the birth of the woman who God used to bring Christ, our Salvation, into the world. Theotokos means "God bearer" or mother of God in Greek. Mary the Theotokos becomes the prime example of motherhood, humility, and reverence as she accepts the difficult role God gave her.  I love the story of her birth. Her parents, Joachim and Anna, were a pious Jewish couple. They chose to live simple lives and give most of their wealth away to the church and in Alms to the poor. Though God had blessed them greatly, they had not been able to have a child. Barrenness was viewed as a curse from God, and one day when Joachim went to give an offering at the Temple it was refused by the high priest due to the couple's barrenness. Heartbroken, Joachim retreated into the...