tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9021024605176708092024-03-13T05:03:04.990-05:00Fear Not Little Flockthoughts on family, home, & faith from a Byzantine Catholic priest's wifepriest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.comBlogger773125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-78166125177204384742022-03-02T06:00:00.021-06:002022-03-02T06:00:00.182-06:00First Wednesday of Great Lent- fasting, prayer, alms <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Let my prayer ascend to You like incense, and the lifting up of my hands like an evening sacrifice.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">o Lord, I have cried to You, now hear me; listen to my voice when I call to You.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">o Lord, set a guard before my mouth, and set a seal on the door of my lips.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Let not my heart be inclined to evil, nor make excuse for the sins I commit. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Psalm 141:1-4)</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfW4JjZiK6aU8NtVvgQenXL3FwelP5FghDS4fiYBVSgvG8h5DF0cpSshBjTWT7vFpyBNuvK4CvsNK6g_MMlqAqmoq34MSeGGJbh-x7BzLlc3AOULRGHHNyHfHPx4NeNOw1OXidfg11CizYzMYqXZNnBvb_fcXRvixieTtZZC74UMFgzakNGbrVLbl5gw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="640" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfW4JjZiK6aU8NtVvgQenXL3FwelP5FghDS4fiYBVSgvG8h5DF0cpSshBjTWT7vFpyBNuvK4CvsNK6g_MMlqAqmoq34MSeGGJbh-x7BzLlc3AOULRGHHNyHfHPx4NeNOw1OXidfg11CizYzMYqXZNnBvb_fcXRvixieTtZZC74UMFgzakNGbrVLbl5gw=w435-h283" width="435" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Now the Powers of heaven are serving with us invisibly, for behold the King of Glory enters ; the perfect, mystical sacrifice is brought forth. Let us approach with faith and love, so as to become partakers of everlasting life. Alleluia.</span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">o Almighty Lord , You have made all things in wisdom, and by Your ineffable Providence and great goodness You have brought us to these salutary days for the purification of our soul and body, for the control of our passions, and for the hope of our resurrection. During the period of forty days You have given to Your servant Moses the tablets of the Law, having inscribed them by Your own hands. Now also grant us, 0 Gracious One, that we be able to fight a good fight, to finish the course of Lent, to preserve our faith inviolable, to crush the heads of the invisible serpents, to become victorious over sin, and to blamelessly attain and worship at the holy Resurrection. For blessed and praiseworthy is Your most honorable and glorious name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen. (prayers of the PreSanctified Liturgy)</span></p>priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-817925965663884962022-03-01T00:00:00.001-06:002022-03-01T00:00:00.166-06:00repent like Saint Ephrem <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-EXobruCiPL_K4GdMIH9qc6CMWK2CeLMcVvjRu6sTv_jq_OyMmtOP-alIctjuN_efwpKsITATN686KVqM7rt1AJX33jZ1QHvrM5nY4WhMi4ajkaNuY4boCcEr5IiH9e4p2L5gErZc6LGfpLxosEo-Grb-brM4r_SJm9HEm2c56EEOyx9HqNykcaaTNQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="711" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-EXobruCiPL_K4GdMIH9qc6CMWK2CeLMcVvjRu6sTv_jq_OyMmtOP-alIctjuN_efwpKsITATN686KVqM7rt1AJX33jZ1QHvrM5nY4WhMi4ajkaNuY4boCcEr5IiH9e4p2L5gErZc6LGfpLxosEo-Grb-brM4r_SJm9HEm2c56EEOyx9HqNykcaaTNQ=w608-h462" width="608" /></a></div><br /><p></p>priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-34854462106253507662022-02-28T18:17:00.000-06:002022-02-28T18:17:03.118-06:00Great Lent begins... 2022 <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>God is ready and willing to forgive sinners</b>, but we sinners must be ready and willing to be forgiven. For the Lenten journey to be of any effect, we must be open to be forgiveness; if we cannot forgive others nor admit our faults and be forgiven by those we have offended, there is no room within us for God’s mercy. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6HiQUJ6TTU-7xlLg8F9D_qk4L24Xx2j0TiWgJPcW3ToZ8j2wB6Dz-rVkVp2zwrK39z4BXXs9Qbh2wCwvYfDBgs7ZJHrzzRh8VQk6c1oMLmUT_9MZrDvC4T15m__4k3y8YglF0A_uJnNWo48HazjRgWAufQh8JG8aPOqqP-hP321VAHEpxa0ln7n8uBA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="461" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6HiQUJ6TTU-7xlLg8F9D_qk4L24Xx2j0TiWgJPcW3ToZ8j2wB6Dz-rVkVp2zwrK39z4BXXs9Qbh2wCwvYfDBgs7ZJHrzzRh8VQk6c1oMLmUT_9MZrDvC4T15m__4k3y8YglF0A_uJnNWo48HazjRgWAufQh8JG8aPOqqP-hP321VAHEpxa0ln7n8uBA=w483-h214" width="483" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Father Alexander Schmemann writes in his book Great Lent: Journey to Pascha, “the triumph of sin, the main sign of its rule over the word, is division, opposition, separation, hatred. Therefore, the first break through this fortress of sin is forgiveness: the return to unity, solidarity, love. To forgive is to put between me and my “enemy” the radiant forgiveness of God Himself. . . . Forgiveness is truly a ‘breakthrough’ of the Kingdom into this sinful and fallen word.” God’s forgiveness is given to us via others, not alone; thus it is through mutual forgiveness that we truly begin the journey to the Resurrection. </span><a href="https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2018/02/forgiveness-sunday-in-byzantine-rite.html#.Yh1kXOjMKUk" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">from New Liturgical Movement </a><p></p>priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-89137056334859700162021-02-13T17:56:00.001-06:002021-02-13T17:56:31.293-06:00Cheesefare Sunday and Forgiveness Vespers --- wishing all a holy beginning to Great Lent 2021 <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Brethren- do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. (Letter to Romans) </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: courier;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNcz2eKO07iY4qMsOKMYJ9IgFP6oVHu8emlv8TbUbvt_nVyyCf3MfXPXQJexCFLZC-ZLt3IWLtNeBBguwxVJluHYEFI4fegGilyiw78puznbGkYQwXLOJQZyvsaQGQ5mb6SCSBSGnCOr5I/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="750" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNcz2eKO07iY4qMsOKMYJ9IgFP6oVHu8emlv8TbUbvt_nVyyCf3MfXPXQJexCFLZC-ZLt3IWLtNeBBguwxVJluHYEFI4fegGilyiw78puznbGkYQwXLOJQZyvsaQGQ5mb6SCSBSGnCOr5I/w640-h350/image.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; text-align: left;">For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.</span></div></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Gospel of Matthew) </span></p><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-47434068858756097542021-02-06T15:42:00.000-06:002021-02-06T15:41:59.997-06:00What books should I read for Lent 2021? <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>There's something about C. S. Lewis' fiction</b>- His Narnia books, I can re-read and I remember almost every word. I might experience Narnia differently, but I know the land very well. With <i>Til We Have Faces</i> and the Space Trilogy, it is as I have never read them. So I'll be re-reading them in 2021. It has been awhile in any case. I enjoyed <i>Out of the Silent Planet</i> last week- I think of it as a prose poem filled with hope and wisdom. </span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Planet-Space-Trilogy-Paperback/dp/0743234901?&linkCode=li3&tag=fearnotlittle-20&linkId=006ef915897c34ea15e9eee4639f6780&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_il" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0743234901&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US&l=li3&o=1&a=0743234901" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This past week, I (re) read Rumer Godden's<i> In This House Of Brede</i>. This book explores the lives of Benedictine nuns a bit before the Vatican II Council. The nuns are human, but most of them are holy. I would say that it is a very realistic, sympathetic view of the lives of religious. I have been blessed to know holy women and I even lived for a year in a convent in Slovakia when I was teaching there! There is a lot of truth in this book. But I don't know what God is telling me. Twice I have read this book in preparation for a book club, but I have not been able to go to the meeting because of family obligations. Ah- the life of a non-celibate!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/This-House-Brede-Rumer-Godden/dp/0829421289?&linkCode=li3&tag=fearnotlittle-20&linkId=c44c6ab1586627f0ce1cfbcf433be877&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_il" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0829421289&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US&l=li3&o=1&a=0829421289" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am continuing my daily Bible reading. Tomorrow, I begin the Book of Deuteronomy. Salvation history is quite a ride! And for Great Lent, I will add two books that I have read in past years, but I need to re-visit them- <a href="https://amzn.to/2LpRfRy" target="_blank">Thirty Steps to Heaven</a> and <a href="https://amzn.to/3oXtNsw" target="_blank">Lent and Easter- Wisdom from Fulton J Sheen-</a> ,reading every morning after my Bible. I highly recommend both of them. This year, I am going to read with a pen in my hand so that I can mark up the books. Both of these books are truly ones that should be read multiple times. Lent is coming soon; my soul needs this season and it comes just in time every year!</span> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Thirty-Steps-Heaven-Vassilios-Papavassiliou-ebook/dp/B00J8XP5XM?&linkCode=li3&tag=fearnotlittle-20&linkId=d00d09502e8f7e186b3b7f65864b62c9&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_il" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00J8XP5XM&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US&l=li3&o=1&a=B00J8XP5XM" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lent-Easter-Wisdom-Fulton-Sheen/dp/0764811118?&linkCode=li3&tag=fearnotlittle-20&linkId=4eb6878a067a12a97176119ca7edfaa3&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_il" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0764811118&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US&l=li3&o=1&a=0764811118" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></div>priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-82531095112733248662021-01-22T16:39:00.006-06:002021-01-22T16:43:06.011-06:002021 Goals- reading every day- the Bible & other books <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>My mother has read through the Bible</b> (a chapter or more every night before bed) multiple times. I have always admired her for that. But I never took my admiration and turned it into action. My knowledge of the Bible was limited to the readings in the Roman and Byzantine Catholic Churches- daily, feast days, and Sundays. I always get perfect scores on Bible knowledge quizzes. But that is not enough. For whatever reason, after watching a YouTube end-of-the-year <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/AshlynneEaton" target="_blank">video from minimalist and Christian Ashlynne Eaton</a> where she recommended the Read Scripture app, I pulled the trigger. I haven't missed a reading since December 14th. I'm just about finished with Leviticus. I'm using my Saint Joseph Edition of the New American Bible- I plan to fill in the gaps of the Read Scripture app with <a href="https://bibleinayear.fireside.fm/episodes" target="_blank">Fr Mike's Bible in a Year podcas</a>t when Catholic books are left out; I'll have to double my readings sometime! </span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/St-Joseph-New-Catholic-Bible/dp/1947070452/ref=as_li_ss_il?pd_rd_w=4OLf5&pf_rd_p=c52600a3-624a-4791-b4c4-3b112e19fbbc&pf_rd_r=7J4YDVQFCAMKY148MESQ&pd_rd_r=6df632e0-ffd0-4eab-8aba-e17dc976493a&pd_rd_wg=LVPbw&pd_rd_i=1947070452&psc=1&linkCode=li3&tag=fearnotlittle-20&linkId=786576a0352e8a72494bc1553e8a59e7&language=en_US" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1947070452&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US&l=li3&o=1&a=1947070452" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>I'm attempting to average reading a book every week </b>(in addition to the Bible) in 2021. We shall see. So far in 2021, I have read Agatha Christie's <i>Death Comes at the End</i>- ancient Egypt with no detective but 100% Christie! I recommend it</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Agatha-Christie-Mysteries-Collection-Paperback/dp/006207413X/ref=as_li_ss_il?&linkCode=li3&tag=fearnotlittle-20&linkId=2a551b25dc311e6a0fe118956eba51a8&language=en_US" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=006207413X&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US&l=li3&o=1&a=006207413X" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The 2nd book was short, sweet, and an old favorite. Finishing it again, I realized that I am like Helene in that I have never gotten to England even though I have planned to visit since I was 11. <i>84, Charing Cross Road</i> by Helene Hanff is a collection of letters to an English book shop. Just read it. And the newish film is good, too.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Charing-Cross-Road-Helene-Hanff/dp/0140143505/ref=as_li_ss_il?&linkCode=li3&tag=fearnotlittle-20&linkId=55e346a4bd38c536e08855e72a6f10d1&language=en_US" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0140143505&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US&l=li3&o=1&a=0140143505" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">My third book of the year is <i>Emma</i> by Jane Austen. My university-going daughters were shocked to learn that the only Austen I have read is, of course, <i>P & P</i>. All my life, I was the bookworm. This doesn't mean that I read a great quantity of books; it means that I re-read favorites again and again. I am going for variety with my one-book-a-week adventure. I need to pick up the pace with<i> Emma</i>. The language is very rich and not necessarily easy to read late at night after a busy day!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Emma-Jane-Austen/dp/1503261964/ref=as_li_ss_il?&linkCode=li3&tag=fearnotlittle-20&linkId=ead335722d6cca7de379cfbb601b11b3&language=en_US" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1503261964&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US&l=li3&o=1&a=1503261964" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Since January 4th, I've been using Wendy Speake's <i>The 40-Day Sugar Fast</i> every day after my Bible reading to help me re-set my taste buds. Because I am already sugar free (I eat 90% lowcarb/keto), I am fasting from sugar substitutes and alcohol. She is a gentle woman of God; reading her thoughts is a nice way to start the day! This fast ends Feb 13th- The Great Fast before Pascha (Lent) starts for new calendar Byzantine Catholics Monday, February 15th. So, I plan to take a break for one day and then use it again, adding fasting from meat for all days of the Great Fast (for health reasons, I do not usually go full vegan for fasting times... talk to your spiritual father and possibly your doctor about what is best for you). </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/40-Day-Sugar-Fast-Spiritual-Transformation/dp/0801094577/ref=as_li_ss_il?&linkCode=li3&tag=fearnotlittle-20&linkId=5d9efa464786701f8b7461e7969ddabc&language=en_US" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0801094577&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US&l=li3&o=1&a=0801094577" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.wordoftheyear.me/" target="_blank">My word of the year</a> is SPRING. Who knows what this means, but I have been trying to 'spring' out of bed at 5:45 so that I can get my Bible reading, etc done in the quiet of the early morning. Of course, once I turn a light on in the kitchen (must have coffee), the kitty cries from the garage. But it has been a great experience. Those who know me in real life are probably amazed. I'm getting old- going to hit the big 5-0 this summer. It is time to wake up early enough to see the sun rise. Even if I live another 50 years, I shouldn't take this beautiful world for granted. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>fyi- if you click on the book links and then make an amazon purchase, I might make a teeny bit of money. hasn't worked so far- but maybe...?</b></span> </span></div>priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-77937315637927441522021-01-11T14:18:00.003-06:002021-01-11T14:18:23.328-06:00may we have the courage to say "Death, where is your sting?" in 2021<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_izKqClPy5_VZlZuDC7nZ9oWOmZoiyoq62_Q052IWMeupg3fnwDlqUsuHkwnY6qbszTcDOBU49aR4GBOVRnXdWBQLw64YEWxv37F4HSnQGtkwWt38aJsF3n8vAEikuuMOj54Eb_vpS_V/s526/zaza+snow.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="526" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_izKqClPy5_VZlZuDC7nZ9oWOmZoiyoq62_Q052IWMeupg3fnwDlqUsuHkwnY6qbszTcDOBU49aR4GBOVRnXdWBQLw64YEWxv37F4HSnQGtkwWt38aJsF3n8vAEikuuMOj54Eb_vpS_V/w640-h640/zaza+snow.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Life is shadow and light.</i></b> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Last night, my father's older brother Foster died suddenly. Thank you for praying for Uncle Foster's soul and for the consolation of his family, especially my cousin S. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">This past year has been soul-crushing in many ways. Please pray for Rick H and the consolation of his wife. We are also mourning the losses of faithful priests, Father Frank and Father Mel. and there are others as well. <b><i>Lord, have mercy!</i></b></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">You who with wisdom profound mercifully orders all things, and gives unto all that which is useful, give rest, O Lord, to the soul of your servant who has fallen asleep, for he has placed his trust in You, our Maker and Fashioner and our God</span></i> (Troparion for funeral).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">With the saints give rest, O Christ, to the soul of Your servant where sickness and sorrow are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting</span></i> (Kontakion for funeral).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Where is the pleasure in life which is unmixed with sorrow? Where the glory which on earth has stood firm and unchanged? All things are weaker than shadow, all more illusive than dreams; comes one fell stroke, and Death in turn, prevails over all these vanities. Wherefore in the Light, O Christ, of Your countenance, the sweetness of Your beauty, to him (her) whom You have chosen grant repose, for You are the Friend of Mankind. </span></i>(St. John of Damascus)</span></div></div></div><p></p>priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-7060862739983391702021-01-01T16:07:00.001-06:002021-01-01T16:12:42.265-06:00remembering 2020 & praying for a peaceful, healthy, happy 2021<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>January</b>- enjoying the West coast during Christmas break </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij5N-TGXG3iBE1c1_Sfdpxsfy878pZEodLwM8uN5dnhZBWHdOEvZ6JQTgKIHPcii4JtcYWeqfRDGtAgOcECbB5F2AY4mb-4P2xBDNmgNeYzjO-FYyILgavCsNBglZGM4zuMwQ0u6N2Ax_f/s4160/0105201511b_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij5N-TGXG3iBE1c1_Sfdpxsfy878pZEodLwM8uN5dnhZBWHdOEvZ6JQTgKIHPcii4JtcYWeqfRDGtAgOcECbB5F2AY4mb-4P2xBDNmgNeYzjO-FYyILgavCsNBglZGM4zuMwQ0u6N2Ax_f/w300-h400/0105201511b_Film2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>February</b>- the older girls were back at university- the little kids were busy with homeschooling, Trail Life, AHG, Basketball, choir, cotillion, and of course church activities</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSf8wrTsBdRChJ5RddV0DHZGgDvv7K1jkJ2mNf_YFyNwkOrTL7BWCsPjHZjkvUfEWjpHDFT762Yrbv8yTxX7l2HF-QA05FKzWxlhbkB2BWjhpLViKA01IFooeMUakC7PlrY9FoMgLSzQn-/s4160/0126201703_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSf8wrTsBdRChJ5RddV0DHZGgDvv7K1jkJ2mNf_YFyNwkOrTL7BWCsPjHZjkvUfEWjpHDFT762Yrbv8yTxX7l2HF-QA05FKzWxlhbkB2BWjhpLViKA01IFooeMUakC7PlrY9FoMgLSzQn-/w300-h400/0126201703_Film2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWATcnhIs1qS-vt1w7-Nd4hkz6gNBvyTT78i1WkvdQVEtj1lFXhdLE-TqwRzMpZZxX-jfPDbrBDBBU-3SeteTvXEFGUZBEwV7qSkFXZapT-WFw-bDuMFUfoFK1mWxj8FOtKN5Q9BRWpoPs/s4160/0124201906_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWATcnhIs1qS-vt1w7-Nd4hkz6gNBvyTT78i1WkvdQVEtj1lFXhdLE-TqwRzMpZZxX-jfPDbrBDBBU-3SeteTvXEFGUZBEwV7qSkFXZapT-WFw-bDuMFUfoFK1mWxj8FOtKN5Q9BRWpoPs/w300-h400/0124201906_Film2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>March</b>- in the middle of the month, the world changed... we were grateful to have a small patio for our backyard during the long stay at home order. We were also grateful to continue to have the Divine Liturgy as a family, but were dismayed at the strict regulations. The children and I went frequently to an outdoor stations of the cross during Great Lent </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWq4brpxVO9vpmFZENYhUMz38QLSBf6m7WMPh5-_-JahMPhIiPl_fSF9wOq4Q0TvjbU9YSPYjDqnS9-f371ZCiP18s7ytb6W1lVOmq-trgXaRKyTyaFgrKebxQrp9OYfgNKRmp1609R_3R/s4160/0321201317_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWq4brpxVO9vpmFZENYhUMz38QLSBf6m7WMPh5-_-JahMPhIiPl_fSF9wOq4Q0TvjbU9YSPYjDqnS9-f371ZCiP18s7ytb6W1lVOmq-trgXaRKyTyaFgrKebxQrp9OYfgNKRmp1609R_3R/w300-h400/0321201317_Film2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWwSxozejxzw-rLJVI4SKucO5QjFv52YL-75W9987j08KJtawywmrLPuGLlw8YLm2ZOhsMVrhWVOLuWHtwXHhDA9NOZf8DGprL-XyEFMB-iGSEpmV7hXpPXdDUL3xN4BtQSHtQgpzc7tZ/s4160/0320201547_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWwSxozejxzw-rLJVI4SKucO5QjFv52YL-75W9987j08KJtawywmrLPuGLlw8YLm2ZOhsMVrhWVOLuWHtwXHhDA9NOZf8DGprL-XyEFMB-iGSEpmV7hXpPXdDUL3xN4BtQSHtQgpzc7tZ/w300-h400/0320201547_Film2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>April</b>- Easter Divine Liturgy was at home; the older girls' university went on-line and the dorms were closed. Thank God for the hospitality of friends and family who opened their doors to them! </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo3yA6QnvhMEtaLUkw3YZuDkCgR_zEOUmc8RN2FpoJ4-7U7NLFNhTUCtnBrDMmoiyD6RkS0NsZLi1lFtZC1K0E9Yf4hpHs8PekWlCENSjPfAdw88nIzKVev_8BTxoHVN4t8Z2VVY1Syriv/s4160/0412200629a_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo3yA6QnvhMEtaLUkw3YZuDkCgR_zEOUmc8RN2FpoJ4-7U7NLFNhTUCtnBrDMmoiyD6RkS0NsZLi1lFtZC1K0E9Yf4hpHs8PekWlCENSjPfAdw88nIzKVev_8BTxoHVN4t8Z2VVY1Syriv/w300-h400/0412200629a_Film2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNP9B7gf0oTuthpGljLm0wUfA7q4awLk638-uWHyLcDk9OZ9nOMIIOyRergbkDxT9bRe1X93M6JNo_pUPAQs9A0dORKczqfbuhuQeiSsnhDYy2KC1cIcSWfzlMHMEX0uneXQs735BU0N8X/s4160/0412200807_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNP9B7gf0oTuthpGljLm0wUfA7q4awLk638-uWHyLcDk9OZ9nOMIIOyRergbkDxT9bRe1X93M6JNo_pUPAQs9A0dORKczqfbuhuQeiSsnhDYy2KC1cIcSWfzlMHMEX0uneXQs735BU0N8X/w300-h400/0412200807_Film2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>May</b>- regulations in California became stricter. We had daily walks in our townhouse complex as all the parks and beaches were closed. The older girls' university continued to be on-line and we worked on getting them home from the Midwest</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2gx44owlQYQN3T7Nye7gtk_KijQ4Wb50J7y3wNJDljHXSdiKHDfXWSzLLpGdo5aj-AkFLHB3t5PuMbYPn39pTyFAi5R3s3tvg6fZjW4Qmq72E_b5cPfMk2u7UAJea0DTx6FbcHnqiItLb/s4160/0415201338_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2gx44owlQYQN3T7Nye7gtk_KijQ4Wb50J7y3wNJDljHXSdiKHDfXWSzLLpGdo5aj-AkFLHB3t5PuMbYPn39pTyFAi5R3s3tvg6fZjW4Qmq72E_b5cPfMk2u7UAJea0DTx6FbcHnqiItLb/w300-h400/0415201338_Film2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>June</b>- Priest-husband began the transfer of his ministry as he accepted a call to work in spiritual care/chaplaincy in a hospital out of state. We were preparing to leave California after almost 20 years in the middle of a pandemic- so we made repairs and painted our townhouse to sell it</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95eSHFryb_QQ30aj2-Xh97xMgepqht2lXnb2-lcuerWHccTMDvhHppbhCk8WF7rSpM-6P8Etr4wg8WA7np6MTOdD3IiR2_F1hWgooTBvLnt6Wqn4ADJ3-sIaBhbYzt6lU3U3EjbpllTwo/s4160/0627201418_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95eSHFryb_QQ30aj2-Xh97xMgepqht2lXnb2-lcuerWHccTMDvhHppbhCk8WF7rSpM-6P8Etr4wg8WA7np6MTOdD3IiR2_F1hWgooTBvLnt6Wqn4ADJ3-sIaBhbYzt6lU3U3EjbpllTwo/w300-h400/0627201418_Film2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>July </b>- we visited his hospital (just the patio) during his last day of ministry there- I do not think we will ever truly process the difficulty of leaving this life - little to no closure, no hugs, no parties- we tried to offer it up for those who were suffering from the illness. There were the small things- chalk drawing with great friends on the sidewalk, a few times eating out outside with friends, going to a friend's farm to see the animals, a few final Divine Liturgies celebrated outside of the church before the government made regulations strict again. I might be melancholy- but I know we were and are very blessed</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8nYeqfzL661EmAne_Kzf2aGkuw6M0QwcDTweLmGQGdPXJcWW3TTzb2JQ9J7g-dWs2hAfv7-ct9Ygt8S00xrYJR55C5_Crf9QOW8VTUd87VAzhno0My5o5lQJGoG7AlwfjdGU3Ho7ruj7/s4160/0731201238a_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8nYeqfzL661EmAne_Kzf2aGkuw6M0QwcDTweLmGQGdPXJcWW3TTzb2JQ9J7g-dWs2hAfv7-ct9Ygt8S00xrYJR55C5_Crf9QOW8VTUd87VAzhno0My5o5lQJGoG7AlwfjdGU3Ho7ruj7/w400-h300/0731201238a_Film2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>August</b> - we packed the Honda and a 16 foot moving van to make our way to the buckle of the Bible belt. We enjoyed the ubiquitous Western burger on the road, and when we arrived at our new city we had to try hot chicken (delicious)- Our oldest daughter had her BA graduation with social distancing measures in place. Sometimes it feels like the twilight zone </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjX_Ujoc_37ciwWrD5wEQsKFUEHlu5WECAU897GEakcfF0NFmPhRkJ-cTN_Kw-pfTzJ3qsl-0MkDtetdltWdjgnvWyoo7vmYSR_2Z0RptRUTKz98Di8o-_9SSlc9E9sv_8r3QOk2fz996/s4160/0809201211_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjX_Ujoc_37ciwWrD5wEQsKFUEHlu5WECAU897GEakcfF0NFmPhRkJ-cTN_Kw-pfTzJ3qsl-0MkDtetdltWdjgnvWyoo7vmYSR_2Z0RptRUTKz98Di8o-_9SSlc9E9sv_8r3QOk2fz996/w300-h400/0809201211_Film2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtXa3rcQNbtGQB6yXxMQamQKPt9wqjbercolawFYwFKi4scrDY1jITWRb_Csf28LusN-ObFhkR8DTwJ1W6svz4RxJ8hjGxXUuKbmxvj2GDHqqMgoGw1O7QZdp_eKt3XgkWN6nWsxKCUTD6/s4160/0813201347a_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtXa3rcQNbtGQB6yXxMQamQKPt9wqjbercolawFYwFKi4scrDY1jITWRb_Csf28LusN-ObFhkR8DTwJ1W6svz4RxJ8hjGxXUuKbmxvj2GDHqqMgoGw1O7QZdp_eKt3XgkWN6nWsxKCUTD6/w300-h400/0813201347a_Film2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_unVwTmTeJoXwRCoEXddOzmvljkTcttF_jjK_K0meOyyr115WkpvlMs1ZN5RAxELCq4Xs1ZWzvxSVlXSK9cEurbsveWKZE8frEpVYWKWVcR0QSdwyfqwL4wTEkcko7qN3DV5_fLbBw2p/s4160/0814201947_Film2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_unVwTmTeJoXwRCoEXddOzmvljkTcttF_jjK_K0meOyyr115WkpvlMs1ZN5RAxELCq4Xs1ZWzvxSVlXSK9cEurbsveWKZE8frEpVYWKWVcR0QSdwyfqwL4wTEkcko7qN3DV5_fLbBw2p/w400-h300/0814201947_Film2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>September</b> - the kids and I made a quick visit to the big girls' university (oldest started Masters); we are exploring the wonderful parks of our new stomping grounds </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvvX039tMbLTJpuJXSnkIGYcdkBXiEqTOh3qDI-I6RZR0FXxqBsrhGN9ggKkQ-S6fzlTMb9T9ifTB4Vz60SVO6wBbiBhKH0vM7ZNvHmHJQyVHrAty2onyKjEPROOO5bokKHpxqanwBNQ7/s4160/0912201710_Film4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvvX039tMbLTJpuJXSnkIGYcdkBXiEqTOh3qDI-I6RZR0FXxqBsrhGN9ggKkQ-S6fzlTMb9T9ifTB4Vz60SVO6wBbiBhKH0vM7ZNvHmHJQyVHrAty2onyKjEPROOO5bokKHpxqanwBNQ7/w300-h400/0912201710_Film4.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFa4OgM32fTUgDuVcskDYzwUUN2-NvpSTbdtu9CBbPUPIqyDkGqojFgVku2tctzGQ0ZfvZ3txZNkzrpNR5dAEW9YsbOYEzYyrJQ3AEwkAqpM25RPokUQhNXgJtjCGDrkyZMCnLMKQtGFR_/s2560/0907201543d_Film4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="2560" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFa4OgM32fTUgDuVcskDYzwUUN2-NvpSTbdtu9CBbPUPIqyDkGqojFgVku2tctzGQ0ZfvZ3txZNkzrpNR5dAEW9YsbOYEzYyrJQ3AEwkAqpM25RPokUQhNXgJtjCGDrkyZMCnLMKQtGFR_/w400-h300/0907201543d_Film4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTxS-cRZ3OKrI5ZBAchH3GUgzgOJDCcj3RKsJMTBJfjRkdPNSe7zMmKMf8KGMRISwlJvEeUoX6MbNb_9uOnG6MDAqUq4X03KAqAPjiwau-SNa1iI8tBPtWVjMN_LwMy3S_buix54tIXJGS/s4160/0907201541_Film4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTxS-cRZ3OKrI5ZBAchH3GUgzgOJDCcj3RKsJMTBJfjRkdPNSe7zMmKMf8KGMRISwlJvEeUoX6MbNb_9uOnG6MDAqUq4X03KAqAPjiwau-SNa1iI8tBPtWVjMN_LwMy3S_buix54tIXJGS/w300-h400/0907201541_Film4.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2sP-75JxPk5cjHQrhhvdpbCrNUqMjfGQj2fWTXELUAzFYIJyvZzNfS-gY0iQlU5UfI50Ltp9yGBg-hndfp0jQTVWxFENGWEmNlpZiC1uNa5L51OtPYuO82n4LyaOpSuxvOF3TBTy1o5Vb/s4160/0912201707_Film4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2sP-75JxPk5cjHQrhhvdpbCrNUqMjfGQj2fWTXELUAzFYIJyvZzNfS-gY0iQlU5UfI50Ltp9yGBg-hndfp0jQTVWxFENGWEmNlpZiC1uNa5L51OtPYuO82n4LyaOpSuxvOF3TBTy1o5Vb/w300-h400/0912201707_Film4.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>October</b>- we bought a house! & we were able to have some family visit </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-eodJbnzseN64vJg1Y8IJ3SRZr40cCxuWx1wjBHRre0HRPKuNiSYJ0xXywUq36sq4JnVXABDx1t9rsFIuMF3nZXxZQ3FNvrjbEIrUsKIVHgd9U_zuHkfcA7XNLwSq0Ia8TT3TdbxCBKe/s4160/0929201732_Film4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-eodJbnzseN64vJg1Y8IJ3SRZr40cCxuWx1wjBHRre0HRPKuNiSYJ0xXywUq36sq4JnVXABDx1t9rsFIuMF3nZXxZQ3FNvrjbEIrUsKIVHgd9U_zuHkfcA7XNLwSq0Ia8TT3TdbxCBKe/w300-h400/0929201732_Film4.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2jJBnujCxG3lbY7p5OQPVyBySu2f4WBkUvAxNTGDbhlMPbB4uEkCm0lYek3gqF3K25n21XxIYeqFQbR5R-i6s-uGd9XWn3YVLSVipq-T0hVAwM62F8HOOemJDugoAuz2hGf1ZOw6eweG/s4160/1016201318b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2jJBnujCxG3lbY7p5OQPVyBySu2f4WBkUvAxNTGDbhlMPbB4uEkCm0lYek3gqF3K25n21XxIYeqFQbR5R-i6s-uGd9XWn3YVLSVipq-T0hVAwM62F8HOOemJDugoAuz2hGf1ZOw6eweG/w300-h400/1016201318b.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>November</b>- The Nativity Fast began, and we enjoyed the chilly weather and the changing leaves of our new state</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMEMIIFSR1mvwFuaWydxBK6otUKdIrMh5v4LDY-lGg4PHiOw1nWCviRfeDvOgLoazwmvYqR3vOtzyJmk6R6TKNUMVjtXyWe5W2YHl8rx8tpDgwGzNJGD05qwevt-jkysTD0hjRjv_9-Tzk/s4160/1108200710c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMEMIIFSR1mvwFuaWydxBK6otUKdIrMh5v4LDY-lGg4PHiOw1nWCviRfeDvOgLoazwmvYqR3vOtzyJmk6R6TKNUMVjtXyWe5W2YHl8rx8tpDgwGzNJGD05qwevt-jkysTD0hjRjv_9-Tzk/w300-h400/1108200710c.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFU4AeOFanzPnBnT9or71N67cfuqxAGZmOfA2axUvFmhZPLdHENc-batchhchyphenhypheny4Yt1eR8IQcu0fHHQLPXo6CROWJpAgGnPKXgJgr1JVtfuyadgbZ0DOlOovGL9Xpu_6Th4_Cw4IizdI-/s4160/1107201600.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFU4AeOFanzPnBnT9or71N67cfuqxAGZmOfA2axUvFmhZPLdHENc-batchhchyphenhypheny4Yt1eR8IQcu0fHHQLPXo6CROWJpAgGnPKXgJgr1JVtfuyadgbZ0DOlOovGL9Xpu_6Th4_Cw4IizdI-/w300-h400/1107201600.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmGR3IoEh6pFAmbBBwVa8zCL_W5pza042REGPEomAZdX9FqGxzxGuxl6ukYFQXmRamExSggvE5jHcIY973sssC7bzG3j8tyD7GXWKTaxj7V1xi8kWoIpHrGWp7cq-IyVWEOntiQidnKMD/s4160/1115202137.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmGR3IoEh6pFAmbBBwVa8zCL_W5pza042REGPEomAZdX9FqGxzxGuxl6ukYFQXmRamExSggvE5jHcIY973sssC7bzG3j8tyD7GXWKTaxj7V1xi8kWoIpHrGWp7cq-IyVWEOntiQidnKMD/w300-h400/1115202137.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSOvzAvRvbOSqJiHCpZCC8XCCUOh1PV6a5OzDm08zsdAbyz-FC61TykymAU9RKk7Ke6N2piPeC1CBAu71IM4Eu7lNR5SE-3-1fH3VzxAlx-K_oNbrnevIolvYT66DEbgbtHCe5xCoV6b8e/s4160/1122201011.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSOvzAvRvbOSqJiHCpZCC8XCCUOh1PV6a5OzDm08zsdAbyz-FC61TykymAU9RKk7Ke6N2piPeC1CBAu71IM4Eu7lNR5SE-3-1fH3VzxAlx-K_oNbrnevIolvYT66DEbgbtHCe5xCoV6b8e/w300-h400/1122201011.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>December</b> - wishing you all a blessed Nativity season & a peaceful, healthy, happy new year!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHQZ5e-4-zAlNdmviJw5mJ2e1Zy4hInl5uLXiHra1Zl2LVxL4cyK6RR-2Mt8KwaD_x3a-bQENxkiFvuVurqMEayEklF3WKC-aup898CyQ_l1OsMEkAlPASdkH0rL-kZ0sYzAHc-X6rMLk/s4160/1211201412a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHQZ5e-4-zAlNdmviJw5mJ2e1Zy4hInl5uLXiHra1Zl2LVxL4cyK6RR-2Mt8KwaD_x3a-bQENxkiFvuVurqMEayEklF3WKC-aup898CyQ_l1OsMEkAlPASdkH0rL-kZ0sYzAHc-X6rMLk/w300-h400/1211201412a.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh255WYetyTA6ws-AH1b5s6TF9aKMyknMVumRazYUgjQfprwDPTK0wd5DtwUA5s2vAzleO9HxMeFQFKqjrtzakuQ1tNTTgWUO546Gais3gtqeH7_PTOj1QTE7_axzvESY_1oHlRNQ1URpVT/s4160/1206201050.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh255WYetyTA6ws-AH1b5s6TF9aKMyknMVumRazYUgjQfprwDPTK0wd5DtwUA5s2vAzleO9HxMeFQFKqjrtzakuQ1tNTTgWUO546Gais3gtqeH7_PTOj1QTE7_axzvESY_1oHlRNQ1URpVT/w300-h400/1206201050.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVz4KWIoosmCrC6NhXIymh7BAKVqHIkD7OLFaXValI5Brv3L6Yfit9PVulFqy6rAC94_PItw-ERiVpp1AwngTbkR2-z3yDqjKjqDG9kpLYdn32JiwTAgIKmLMLJcf9wqXBsA_P3SPmYpt/s2560/1212201311a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1920" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVz4KWIoosmCrC6NhXIymh7BAKVqHIkD7OLFaXValI5Brv3L6Yfit9PVulFqy6rAC94_PItw-ERiVpp1AwngTbkR2-z3yDqjKjqDG9kpLYdn32JiwTAgIKmLMLJcf9wqXBsA_P3SPmYpt/w300-h400/1212201311a.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-aF34GUrkJt0x_FY0psYXbpzgAY4sFHHAFgVrQlbqewfDD2Ia-xaI2JqrUMiA65mTIoycx9pLdh6BEyCAgQjMeS8Pa3v2NgxzAmOC2dNgkU2qWoTERu03tpoBdR0HQxGEB6-SLwN9ZAi4/s4160/1213201821a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-aF34GUrkJt0x_FY0psYXbpzgAY4sFHHAFgVrQlbqewfDD2Ia-xaI2JqrUMiA65mTIoycx9pLdh6BEyCAgQjMeS8Pa3v2NgxzAmOC2dNgkU2qWoTERu03tpoBdR0HQxGEB6-SLwN9ZAi4/w300-h400/1213201821a.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGU3zjxBlfNmzGQwNG2q38gtb52Fl_5_QnqqsbvqHp2jX9xTCBYbW6_HrcL9ZBkeqdX-UbzUpFLi9CJTakkHnRNOkvCTJeTtw_YGtkR2gFi4F9_YDyBiTMO_ZxsVlCOZ2T4-AZWcSyra_/s4160/1224202259b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGU3zjxBlfNmzGQwNG2q38gtb52Fl_5_QnqqsbvqHp2jX9xTCBYbW6_HrcL9ZBkeqdX-UbzUpFLi9CJTakkHnRNOkvCTJeTtw_YGtkR2gFi4F9_YDyBiTMO_ZxsVlCOZ2T4-AZWcSyra_/w300-h400/1224202259b.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-5485202577347404922020-11-30T12:58:00.004-06:002020-11-30T12:58:58.548-06:00a blessed Saint Philip's Fast to you and yours <p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1Rn-g0hCEULSTFzhX87RNJCXmVIvHbtzTMaH3IUrfRctCZVbVxwvMtwZn-2qOnDIzQtRWQZ8z8jmuj4okfVcAlCPoJJxR4HJuVFSu8YE2aPYLM8UI2Q6Xz1Wsz1XpD7kejc1qRhozpVZ/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="701" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1Rn-g0hCEULSTFzhX87RNJCXmVIvHbtzTMaH3IUrfRctCZVbVxwvMtwZn-2qOnDIzQtRWQZ8z8jmuj4okfVcAlCPoJJxR4HJuVFSu8YE2aPYLM8UI2Q6Xz1Wsz1XpD7kejc1qRhozpVZ/w597-h640/image.png" width="597" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-10159053206861509752020-03-03T15:33:00.000-06:002020-03-03T15:34:23.232-06:00Lent, Lent, It's time to repent (re-posting yet again just because) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(yes- I know the first photo is from Game of Thrones- even though I haven't seen it...just a bit of fun!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>click on the LENT label below for former fasting posts...</i></b></span></div>
priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-180489713940180672020-02-28T21:17:00.003-06:002020-02-28T21:30:36.316-06:00Read along with us this Great Lent: Reflections on Thirty Steps to Heaven <div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Thirty-Steps-Heaven-Vassilios-Papavassiliou/dp/1936270897/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&linkCode=li3&tag=fearnotlittle-20&linkId=4e36ef0fdfc11fff9935440494db99e6&language=en_US" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1936270897&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US" width="247" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=fearnotlittle-20&language=en_US&l=li3&o=1&a=1936270897" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Every Friday morning, some friends and I will be pre-reading and then discussing portions of <a href="https://amzn.to/39bGGYZ" target="_blank">the book Thirty Steps to Heaven: The Ladder of Divine Ascent for All Walks of Life</a>. I have owned the book for a few years, but I have not really read it. Flipping through pages and reading a paragraph or chapter here and there is not the proper way to read this book. So, a book club it is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This week, we will be pre-reading the steps on <b><u>renunciation, detachment, and exile</u></b>. The author states that these steps are quite different in practice for laypeople.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even the introduction is rich and ripe with meaning. My favorite lines might be the last two sentences- <b><i>"One final word of warning: very few people indeed will have climbed all thirty steps of the Ladder of Divine Ascent. If you think you have. you probably need to go back to the beginning." </i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://amzn.to/39bGGYZ" target="_blank">thank you for clicking on this affiliate link to support this blog</a></span></div>
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priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-46819654993926059672020-02-26T05:00:00.000-06:002020-02-26T09:05:59.526-06:00Orthodox & Byzantine Catholic guidelines for fasting & abstinence during Great Lent 'versus' Roman Catholic fasting rules <div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">image from Catholic Voice</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Eastern Christians</b> fast from animal products and even wine and olive oil in some traditions during all of the four fasting periods of the year. Wednesdays and Fridays through the year are vegan as well. We might indulge in fish on Sundays. But do we really?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Roman Catholics </b>barely fast at all, but if they fail at abstaining from meat on Fridays in Lent, they will go to Hell. But do they really?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>In reality,</b> Eastern Christians fast as well and as 'harshly' as they can and discuss their fasting plans with a spiritual father. The goal is 'more than last year and less than next year.' There is no 'letter of the law' because the ideal is no food at all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Perhaps the reason why</b> Roman Catholic fasting guidelines are so 'easy' is because there <i>seems</i> to be more of a philosophy of sticking to the letter of the law (even so- there are concessions made for age, health, etc)- the Church does not want to burden the people with sin, so the fasting/abstinence guidelines are very do-able for the majority of people. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>So- the guidelines for fasting</b> in the Eastern Christians churches are quite strict, but the personal responsibility to follow the ideal is potentially lax (when in conference with a spiritual father) and the guidelines for fasting/abstinence in the Roman church is quite relaxed while the personal responsibility is quite strict. Like so many parts of our faith, East and West are two sides of the same glass. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">image from St Sofia Ukrainian Catholic Church</span></div>
priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-71517604748801923552020-02-25T05:00:00.001-06:002020-11-30T13:06:01.031-06:00Orthodox & Catholic- Byzantine Lent: pray, fast, give alms during this tithe of the year <div style="text-align: center;">
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<span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif">ON FASTING: Father, make me poor before you. Grant me grace that through fasting I may understand how much I need you. Grant that through fasting my desire for You may grow, that my heart may long for you as the deer longs for the running waters and the desert for the clouds of rain. Father, I pray to you , grant that through this fast my understanding of the hungry and the thirsty, of those who do not have enough of material goods, may especially grow. help me see what I do not need but possess, that I may give it up for the benefit of my brothers and sisters. O Father, I especially pray to You. Grant me the grace to become aware that I am but a pilgrim on this earth, that, when passing away to the other world I shall not take anything with me but love and good deeds. Let the awareness grow within me that even when I possess something I cannot call it my own for I have only received it from You to manage it. Father, grant me grace that through fasting I may become humbler and more willing to do Your will. Cleanse me of my selfishness and haughtiness. Through this fast cleanse me of all bad habits and calm down my passions, and let virtue increase in me. Let the depth of my soul open to Your grace through this fast so that it may totally affect and cleanse me. Help me to be always like your Son in trials and temptations; to resist every temptation, so as to be able to serve You and see Your Word more and more, day after day. (Father Slavko Barbarič)</span></div>
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priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-39447006808800040802020-02-24T05:00:00.000-06:002020-02-24T05:00:01.886-06:00celebrating Clean Monday of the Great & Holy Fast --- Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner!<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="confession" src="https://byzantiumonbrew.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/confession.jpg?w=760" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>"O Lord and Master of my life, grant me not a spirit of sloth, despondency, love of power, and idle talk. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>But give to me, your servant, a spirit of sober-mindedness, humility, patience, and love. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>O Lord and King, grant me the grace of being aware of my sins and of not thinking evil of those of my brother. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>For you are blessed, now and ever, and forever. Amen</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">St Ephrem</span></div>
priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-88845018437152856152020-02-22T12:58:00.000-06:002020-02-22T17:20:42.491-06:00Forgiveness Sunday<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<img alt="Image result for icon adam eve paradise" height="259" src="https://www.thegoodshepherd.org.au/sites/default/files/styles/event_banner/public/Expulsion%20from%20Paradise%20Header_0.jpg?itok=Dsz7OCpt" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://byzantiumonbrew.wordpress.com/2014/03/02/forgiveness-sunday/" target="_blank">Today the Church remembers</a> the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. The Church also calls us to seek forgiveness as we enter the time of the Bright Sadness, the Great Fast, tomorrow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">God created Adam and Eve to live in communion with Him forever. They were given two commandments in the Garden, one positive and one negative. The first was to be fruitful and multiple (see Genesis 1:28) and the second was to fast from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. (see Genesis 2:16-17)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sadly, they did not obey and because of their disobedience, Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden and lost the life of blessedness, knowledge of God, and communion with Him, for which they were created. Both they and their descendants became heirs of death and corruption.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let us consider the benefits of fasting, the consequences of disobedience, and recall our fallen state. Today we are invited to cleanse ourselves of evil through fasting and obedience to God. Our fasting should not be a negative thing, a mere abstention from certain foods. <a href="https://byzantiumonbrew.wordpress.com/2014/03/02/forgiveness-sunday/" target="_blank">It is an opportunity to free ourselves from the sinful desires and urges of our fallen nature, and to nourish our souls with prayer, repentance, to participate in church services, and partake of the life-giving Mysteries of Christ.</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> (<a href="https://byzantiumonbrew.wordpress.com/2014/03/02/forgiveness-sunday/" target="_blank">taken from Byzantium on Brew</a>)</span></span></div>
priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-84837601274287144532019-11-14T05:00:00.000-06:002019-11-14T05:00:08.617-06:00Saint Philip's Fast, The Nativity Fast, Advent: Preparing our hearts for Jesus and Christmas <div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Image" height="480" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EH-rG18UUAAlKCm?format=jpg&name=medium" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Nativity Fast gifts us </b>Byzantine Catholics and other Christians with 40 days to prepare for the feast of the Nativity of Jesus Christ. The twelve days of Christmas begin then and continue with the feast of Jesus' Transfiguration. So, forty days of fasting, forty days of feasting. Every year, the Christian life is a roller coaster, a see-saw, a winding road</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>May Our Lord bless you this season of the Nativity Fast! </i></b></span></div>
priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-28878060610730146752019-11-01T19:58:00.001-05:002019-11-01T19:58:32.613-05:00A Simple Woman's Daybook for November <div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For Today</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCyC476306Ubq093g1S4xsVyo8MRFYHF9e2TSL6QRbv5v5xySMG_D87lWucxkT4sk2pN8URplV05MhGmPvpW_V6YF-B5YzHNa_KQzhfDY1Fp-f_F4r2ldE0w37JUfOGNnUVP39_TZ8RE3/s1600/small+simple+woman+icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="148" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBCyC476306Ubq093g1S4xsVyo8MRFYHF9e2TSL6QRbv5v5xySMG_D87lWucxkT4sk2pN8URplV05MhGmPvpW_V6YF-B5YzHNa_KQzhfDY1Fp-f_F4r2ldE0w37JUfOGNnUVP39_TZ8RE3/s320/small+simple+woman+icon.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Looking out my window...</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I wish I could say that I am enjoying the brightly colored leave of autumn, but alas- reality gets in the way. Ash is being blown about because of the latest fires. The closest fire is about one mile away. Lord, have mercy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>I am thinking and wondering... </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">why do politicians get away with spending $1 trillion on high speed rail which is no where complete when they could spend it on burying the electric wires that cause these yearly infernos? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>I am thankful...</b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for our safety, for health, for my children, for this month of thanksgiving after the month of 'spookiness.' My sensitive kiddos are just about done with all the gore and guts they would see in the neighborhood and at stores. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>One of my favorite things...</b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">my small mug collection for all day tea guzzling! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>I am creating... </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a few simple quilts to give as Christmas gifts for the youngest babies in the extended family. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>I am wearing.... </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nothing special. just my go-to at-home all-black ensemble. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>I just finished reading... </b></span>Agatha Christie's <i>Curtain</i>- Poirot's last case and <i>The Gift of Dyslexia</i>. I try to have a fiction and non-fiction going at the same time- that way I don't read too much non-fiction. In audio books with the kids, we are always listening to the <i>Chronicles of Narnia </i>on repeat or a new library find. We finished <i>From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler- </i>highly recommended. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>I am hoping... </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that my heart and the entire world are converted to Jesus</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>I am learning... </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that I really cannot satisfy everyone with my blog posts. Either I am too superficial or too cranky, too Eastern or too Western... that is why I don't blog. I need to get over that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>In my kitchen... </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am using my instant pot a lot! Usually I sear whatever meat I have, add onions and garlic, saute a bit, add more veggies and half a cup of broth (or more if I want it to be soup) and then pressure cook for 20-30 minutes, Easy! </span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>In the school room...</b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">our 7th grade son (!) is doing IEW Writing and Pre-algebra out side the house this year. Both classes are 1.5 hours long with about 8 students total. I think this will be a great benefit to him as he enters high school level work. Lots of homework and learning to figure out the instructor's expectations and dealing with other students in an academic environment instead of just 'fun' classes like art, theater, and sports. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>In my garden...</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> my (potted) vegetable are just about done. I have two beautiful eggplants that did not produce one fruit. Ah well... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Post Script</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone knows this blog, right? <a href="http://likemotherlikedaughter.org/">http://likemotherlikedaughter.org/</a> I am hoping that Leila will publish her home and family book soon...she hints... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Shared Quote</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It might be cliche, and I don't live in a place with nice Octobers, but I remember and I can dream.... "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>A moment</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: 11 years ago- but I couldn't resist!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">May November be blessed and joy-filled for us all! </span></div>
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<br />priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-40930745786622209612019-04-22T14:30:00.002-05:002019-04-22T14:30:47.142-05:00why I didn't receive the Holy Eucharist at our Easter Divine Liturgy <div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Christ is risen! Hristos a inviat! </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>We got home on Great and Holy Friday after midnight. </b>Saturday was filled with activity, baking, cleaning, preparing for Pascha; my priest husband left at 4 PM to drive 90 miles to replace a priest who moved back to Romania so that the community could have an Easter vigil. He got home after midnight. Of course, I did not sleep. We got up at 3:30 and arrived to set up our mission (the Roman Catholics allow us to have services there) at 4:30. Resurrection Matins and the Divine Liturgy started at 5 AM. A person who I did not recognize called Father away about 15 minutes before the services started. Confession perhaps? In any case, we weren't able to get the clergy, altar servers (a few guest servers), and cantors (me and my server/cantor son) together for a debriefing on the services. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At 4:55, a parishioner came up to me and asked how to help. I froze. I am sure I had a rude expression on my face. I can give excuses. I was exhausted. I was hungry. I was frustrated that the most important service of the year was 'hijacked' by a visitor who wanted to talk to my husband. I was also frustrated that he did not ask the person to wait until after the services. But then he didn't physically have time after our services because he had three more to celebrate Easter Sunday. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I decided not to receive Our Lord in the Eucharist until I could find some peace with the parishioner. I do not suffer from scrupulosity, but I 100% agree in making peace with your brother before you approach the altar. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.</i></b> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Matthew 5:23-24</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dear reader, you might be scandalized by this post, and I ask your forgiveness.</b> That is the main reason why I post almost never. I have been accused of being bitter, angry, anti-Roman, anti-Orthodox, a bad Christian. It is never my intention to bring scandal or to hurt anyone's feelings. I would love to share the entire truth of my life. In any case, I hope this post inspires you to be compassionate to the humanity in your clergy (celibate or not) and their families (if they have a family) and also to make their burdens a bit lighter. See if there is something you can do to help. They might be so busy keeping their heads above water that they will not have a good response to 'how can I help?' 5 minutes before a service begins. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>and yes- multiple people ask me why when I do not receive the Eucharist, I sometimes forgo because I am cantoring and my throat is very sensitive. If I swallow the wrong way, I will not be able to sing the responses. Luckily, we go to a second service as a family so I can receive then if my soul permits) - and yes- this is a doozy of a post after months away.... Christ is risen! </i></span></div>
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priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-3908861529289309652018-11-16T23:20:00.002-06:002018-11-16T23:20:36.563-06:00Byzimom's take on Advent- the Nativity Fast<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.byzimom.com/coffee-hour/november-15-observing-the-nativity-fast-abstaining-and-the-jesse-tree-devotion?fbclid=IwAR3NqqfxU-UlKMYpmB0vlbhxzcZsr-1QET_pZjgjet1-2o1PvYo1fxL-Qo8" target="_blank">"The Nativity Forty-day Fast represents the fast undertaken by Moses</a>, who — having fasted for forty days and forty nights — received the Commandments of God, written on stone tablets. And we, fasting for forty days, will reflect upon and receive from the Virgin the living Word — not written upon stone, but born, incarnate — and we will commune of His Divine Body." - St. Symeon of Thessalonika (1381-1429 AD)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is clear that the fast is designed to prepare us both physically and spiritually for the coming of the Savior at Christmas. We are asked to abstain from meat and dairy products, eggs and oil, just as we do during the Great Fast, but the rules are a bit less strict. We may eat fish and are allowed oil and wine on Tuesdays, Thursdays and weekends, and on feast days such as the Presentation of the Theotokos and St. Nicholas day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of us haven't given the Nativity Fast our full attention over the years, partly because we haven't been aware it existed in certain regions. Growing up, I didn't even realize it was a "thing"! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly, among my community here it has fallen into the category of "things the old people used to do", that is...until some of us decided to revive it. What a wonderful tool the practice of fasting an be! How well it aids us in growing closer to God! If only people would try it! That said, I challenge those of you who are new to the idea to come along with us and take a second look at fasting with the Church this season. Start slowly. Add on from year to year, one step at a time, and grow in your fasting practice. Its a good idea to begin together, as a family, building community with like-minded Christians who are striving right along with you." <a href="https://www.byzimom.com/coffee-hour/november-15-observing-the-nativity-fast-abstaining-and-the-jesse-tree-devotion?fbclid=IwAR3NqqfxU-UlKMYpmB0vlbhxzcZsr-1QET_pZjgjet1-2o1PvYo1fxL-Qo8" target="_blank">--- read Lynn's entire post at byzimom.com </a></span></div>
priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-19005925603657926022018-11-16T12:04:00.000-06:002019-04-22T14:31:58.668-05:00The Nativity Fast is here! <div style="text-align: center;">
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priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-22426322259471882402018-10-07T13:49:00.001-05:002018-11-16T12:20:53.588-06:00The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: a lovely movie for tens and adults <div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ah Netflix.... clicking through the shows and movies....blech...meh.... saw it....blech- and then ahh! Perhaps this selection will be worthwhile! yes- this priest's wife- raised on the British shows on PBS 30 years ago... it was satisfying- perhaps a bit predictable- but lovely!</span></div>
priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-41484502388914789702018-10-07T13:43:00.000-05:002018-10-07T13:43:45.146-05:00how to be a Christian in our nit-picky, negative world: a guest post by Judie Jolma <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>"I recently began studies</b> for a Masters of Theology and was surprised by my impressions after the first class. Introduction to Theology was almost entirely apologetic in nature. Instead of embarking on a study to delve deeper into an understanding of what our hearts love, it was a defense - an argument - to prove our position‘s validity for those who don’t believe. Are we insecure in our belief? Do we think that love can be inspired by arguments? (Don’t mistake these comments as relativistic slop that does not demand holiness. That is not my point.) </span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a place for apologetics, to be sure</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. But when so many encyclicals are specifically drafted for this cause it colors the nature of our faith. We have somehow abandoned our first love, abandoned the way of the lover in Song of Solomon who searches for the fairest of ten thousands, whose hands drip with myrrh. And this departure has come from the shepherds (hirelings) who lead us. Do our hearts faint being love-sick for our Lord, our bridegroom? Or do we live in a passionless faith where we choose sides like a political party? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Do our faces shine </b>because they reflect the light of the Father - like the moon reflecting the sun? Or do we live a cold, calculating faith inspecting the correctness of our brother’s beliefs? We worry about definitions and proper form. We check the boxes, and like the Pharisees thank God that we are not like that tax collector. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The whole church needs a course correction. </b>We are all guilty of the sin of the older brother in the story of the prodigal son. We need to abandon the notion that intimacy can be charted and measured. We need to stop running away from the negative and run toward the true, good and beautiful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Put away these petty arguments.</b> Pray like a lover. Reach out in the liturgy to touch the priest’s vestments and be healed of all that hurt that inspires you to fight and strive. Can’t we all see how much woundedness there is coming from each person around us? Hurting people hurt people. But only the lover sings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Go to liturgy and sing."</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">---Judie Jolma </span></div>
priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-8016512172823778242018-10-07T13:42:00.000-05:002018-10-07T13:42:59.959-05:00I saw satan laughing with delight- when a priest abandons his priesthood<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>Is there a just man in Israel?</strong> Is there any person who will die and be told straight away by God- Well done, my good and faithful servant? Or will we all have to be purified by the cleansing fires of purgatory or perhaps sadly, go to hell forever because of our rejection of God's love and law?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><strong>Who does</strong> satan hate the most? The devil is not a creature with god-like abilities; he is merely a fallen angel. The devil must conserve resources and perhaps focus on those that especially need his 'help' to fall. We might imagine that he hates Christians the most or perhaps all of God's creation because everyone, Christian or not, is made in the image of God. May I suggest that he hates consecrated people the most and- most of all- Catholic priests. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><strong>Evil cannot destroy</strong> or even damage God. Jesus gave Himself willingly to die on the cross for us; Jesus has destroyed death forever. So, if satan cannot kill Jesus, does he just resign himself to defeat? Of course not! Evil will go for the next best person- the Catholic priest, the person who <strong><em>IS</em></strong> Christ at the altar. If satan can encourage the priest to fall, it is a great triumph for evil. It is only 'small potatoes' if a teenager forgets his baptism and fornicates, but if the priest with promises of celibacy and chastity does the same, what a triumph for hell! What a scandal! What a disappointment! Many people will lose their faith because their priest was discovered to be the worst kind of hypocrite. Perhaps it would have been better if he had never been born than to scandalize God's children...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><strong>Why </strong>do so many priests seem to be forgetting their vocations these days? Why was it that I breathed a sigh of relief when the last four priests I know that left the priesthood <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Roman and Byzantine rite, all happened to be celibate priests)</span> got 'married' in Las Vegas-style marriages? They broke solemn promises to God and scandalized lay people and got 'married' irregularly after years of service so someone could serve them their breakfast cereal? Should I be happy that they weren't abusers and that they are finally living their God-given vocation? Or was the priesthood their true vocation and they gave it up for a warm body in bed?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><strong>You may be shocked</strong> at these words. I strongly advocate for married men being able to be ordained priest in the Eastern rites. I also have respect for those celibate priests who, with dignity and respect for the priesthood, ask for laicization because they have prayerfully determined that the priesthood was not their vocation and then later get married with dignity. I'm sorry; I see no room for quicky Vegas-style 'weddings' here <span style="font-size: x-small;">(yes, I know there are plenty of churches in Vegas- two Byzantine I believe. I am not down on Vegas, just Vegas-style. You know what I mean)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><strong><em>Why</em></strong> have there been so many scandals lately? I'm not going to do internet research and see if it is statisically more than earlier years. I understand that sexual scandals within the priesthood are less than other groups. I understand that financial scandals are less than other kinds of people as well. But one priest falling is equal to ten or perhaps one hundred, thousand or a million people falling (because of the 'scandal' factor). Priests are <strong><em>In Persona Christi</em></strong>. God expects more from them; I expect more from them. I will fulfill my obligations as a Catholic. I will say my prayers while I am scrubbing the floors. I will bear the pain of childbearing and childrearing which is my duty to my vocation. I will work out my salvation in fear and trembling as any Christian should. This is nothing compared to the spiritual duties of the priest. But my answer to 'why so many scandals' scares me- because I think the answer might be that these priests who fall don't really believe in Heaven or hell or final judgement. I pray that I am wrong and that these priests are able to make it right with their Creator.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><strong>I have posted</strong> before the prayer for priests from the blue 'Pieta' prayer book. It says to never talk badly about a priest- and I agree that one should never gossip about our priests. We lay people should also have mercy on our priests when it is not about sinful things. If he has a bad singing voice, never mention it to anyone. If the homily wasn't that interesting, never complain. If the religion classes are sub-par, see if you can help, but don't gossip. If he has spinach in his teeth, take him aside, but don't 'make fun' of him. All priests (celibate and married) can benefit from good clean fun with adult male parishoners especially. Don't get upset if you see a priest on a golf course. Maybe he put in a 60-hour week of service and a parishioner is providing the tee time. If you see a priest at a nice restaurant, assume that the people with him are footing the bill- not the collection basket. With all that said- priests <strong><em>must</em></strong> realize that they are risking their eternal souls when they fall into sin (as we all are).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">‘Son of man, prophesy against the pastors of Israel to pastor themselves. Should not the pastors feed the flock? You have been fed with milk, you have dressed yourselves with wool. You have not strengthened the weak lambs, cared for those who were sick, healed those who were injured. You have not restored those who have strayed, searched for those who were lost. But you have governed them with violence and hardness.’ (Ezekiel 34: 2-4)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am saying this to you and I am saving my soul. If I will have kept silent, I won’t be in great danger, I’ll be rather in utter ruin. But when I will have spoken, and when I will have fulfilled my duty, pay attention then to your own danger. What, after all, do I want? What do I desire? What do I long for? Why am I talking? Why am I sitting here? Why am I even alive, except for this intention: in order that we may live together with Christ. That’s my desire, that’s my honor, that’s my treasured possession, this is my joy, that’s my glory. But if you will not listen to me and if I haven’t been silent, I will save my soul. But I don’t want to be saved <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">without</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> you </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(</span>St Augustine)---<em>quotations found today at Fr Z's blog</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>.....but...no more excuses- our 'soul is our own' even if the cause has not been so honorable- from Henry V:</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="145"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>So, if a son that is by his father sent about</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="146"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>merchandise do sinfully miscarry upon the sea, the</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="147"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>imputation of his wickedness by your rule, should be</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="148"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>imposed upon his father that sent him: or if a</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="149"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>servant, under his master's command transporting a</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="150"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>sum of money, be assailed by robbers and die in</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="151"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>many irreconciled iniquities, you may call the</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="152"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>business of the master the author of the servant's</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="153"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>damnation: but this is not so: the king is not</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="154"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>bound to answer the particular endings of his</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="155"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>soldiers, the father of his son, nor the master of</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="156"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>his servant; for they purpose not their death, when</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="157"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>they purpose their services. Besides, there is no</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="158"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>king, be his cause never so spotless, if it come to</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="159"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>the arbitrement of swords, can try it out with all</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="160"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>unspotted soldiers: some peradventure have on them</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="161"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>the guilt of premeditated and contrived murder;</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="162"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>some, of beguiling virgins with the broken seals of</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="163"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>perjury; some, making the wars their bulwark, that</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="164"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>have before gored the gentle bosom of peace with</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="165"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>pillage and robbery. Now, if these men have</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="166"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>defeated the law and outrun native punishment,</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="167"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>though they can outstrip men, they have no wings to</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="168"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>fly from God: war is his beadle, war is vengeance;</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="169"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>so that here men are punished for before-breach of</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="170"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>the king's laws in now the king's quarrel: where</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="171"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>they feared the death, they have borne life away;</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="172"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>and where they would be safe, they perish: then if</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="173"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>they die unprovided, no more is the king guilty of</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="174"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>their damnation than he was before guilty of those</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="175"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>impieties for the which they are now visited. <strong>Every</strong></em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="176"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong><em>subject's duty is the king's; but every subject's</em></strong></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="177"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><strong>soul is his own.</strong> Therefore should every soldier in</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="178"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>the wars do as every sick man in his bed, wash every</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="179"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>mote out of his conscience: and dying so, death</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="180"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>is to him advantage; or not dying, the time was</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="181"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>blessedly lost wherein such preparation was gained:</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="182"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>and in him that escapes, it were not sin to think</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="183"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>that, making God so free an offer, He let him</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="184"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>outlive that day to see His greatness and to teach</em></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=902102460517670809" name="185"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>others how they should prepare.</em></span></a></span></span></blockquote>
priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-32892007417666405632018-08-29T11:33:00.003-05:002018-08-29T11:33:59.315-05:00† The Beheading of the Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Today is kept as a strict fast day, on whatever day of the week it falls. Because the holy Forerunner's head was brought to Herod on a platter, it is a pious custom not to eat anything from a plate or platter today.</span></div>
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<img alt="Image may contain: 3 people" height="640" src="https://scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/40219662_10160761471200297_5525195677904142336_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=0db40faf9c330cf0ab8cc9eddcdc9854&oe=5C3282EA" width="467" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Troparion of St. John the Baptist</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The memory of the just is celebrated with hymns of praise but the Lord's testimony is enough for thee, O Forerunner, for thou wast shown to be more wonderful than the Prophets since thou wast granted to baptize in the running waters Him Whom thou didst proclaim. Then having endured great suffering for the Truth, Thou didst rejoice to bring, even to those in hell the good tidings that God Who had appeared in the flesh takes away the sin of the world and grants us the great mercy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Kontakion of St. John the Baptist</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The beheading of the glorious Forerunner was a divine dispensation that the coming of the Savior might be preached to those in hell. Lament then, Herodias, that thou didst demand a murder despising the law of God and eternal life.</span></div>
priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-902102460517670809.post-82701239493771990692018-03-01T05:30:00.000-06:002018-03-01T05:30:05.784-06:00Melkite Musings: The problem with Catholics <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Let me tell you a small personal story.</b> For years my spiritual father was trying to make me understand that I had doubt in my heart, that I had fear and wasn’t showing real faith in God. Of course, being spiritually blind as a mole, I could not understand what he was saying. I mean, I was a Catholic! I went to Liturgy, prayed, went to Confession, occasionally gave a few dollars to homeless people, and got outraged about all the right things to be outraged about on social media. WHAT is my spiritual father talking about?!</span></div>
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<img alt="e" src="https://melkitemusings.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/e.jpg?w=620" /></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then it happened. Crisis of faith.</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The biggest one I’ve had in years, probably actually the biggest I EVER had. However, even there God was waiting to open my eyes. In doubting His existence so painfully and strongly, I finally started to understand what real faith should look like… and that for years I have had almost none!"</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://melkitemusings.wordpress.com/2018/02/26/the-problem-with-catholics/" target="_blank">... continue this post at the blog 'Melkite Musings</a>'</span></i></b></div>
priest's wife - S.T./ Anne Boyd http://www.blogger.com/profile/03792937108732259684noreply@blogger.com0