Attending Divine Liturgy on the feast of St. Andrew — what a life-giving way for me to start the day. It was a long and busy day that had me driving back and forth and all over, which is why I am only now getting to the computer to tell about it, now that we are, liturgically, in the following day.
It was a chilly morning, in the middle of the week; the little church was cold in its bones and for the first half hour I stood so close I was almost touching the wall furnace. Who would come on such a morning for a relatively unimportant commemoration? The rector came, of course, with joy. The choir director led a choir of four singers, including a nun from the monastery in the next county.
Two men named Andrew and Andrei were there, because it is their saint’s day, and who would want to miss that? One mother of an Andrew came to remember her son’s saint.
Saint Andrew, the first of the men whom Christ called to be His disciples, eventually became the patron saint of Scotland, and Mrs. Anderson came in her tartan plaid skirt to remember that aspect. She also pointed out to me that her married name means Andrew’s Son.
I myself like to participate for the sake of the Scottish ancestors that both my late husband and I have; not only that, but two of my grandsons were born on this day, and that makes it special to me. Six or eight more people were present who weren’t obviously tied to this specific feast, but I’m sure all of us were happy to receive the Eucharist and be united to Christ in that way.
Mrs. Anderson had yet another reason to be there: She was very close to a very dear parishioner named Constantine, who died on this day more than ten years ago, and every time we celebrate the feast of the Resurrection with Divine Liturgy on November 30, we also sing memorial prayers for him. She made a small portion of the memorial dish of boiled wheat, called koliva, for us to eat together in his memory at the end of the service. You can’t see the wheat in this picture because she topped it with lots of dried fruit and fresh pomegranate seeds. It did make a good breakfast.
By then, the church was warmed up, but we could not linger as long as we might have liked. Out we went into the sunny day, and to all of our responsibilities. One of mine was going to the dentist, and I’m glad to get that out of the way. Afterward, I had the fun of shopping for special ingredients — and more butter– for baking Christmas cookies. The boys at the checkout stand got to talking about how they used to put out cookies for Santa. And here it isn’t even December yet! Although it likely will be before you read this.
So I wish you a December that is peaceful and bright.
(And don’t eat too many cookies before Christmas!)
Gladsome Lights 
Oh, I hope to not eat too many cookies before Christmas! I lost three pounds last month. May it continue.
I was also thinking I might post something about St. Andrew’s day, but I just couldn’t get to it. I’m glad you did! Two grandsons born on this day – that’s special!
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Our sons attended St. Andrew’s College in our town and one of them now lives in Scotland. You remind me that I must knuckle down to bake so that there are plenty of festive treats when my youngest grandchildren come – albeit after Christmas 🙂 🙂
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I figure if I start now I should be able to have two or three kinds of cookies in the freezer by Christmas. That’s how I used to do it back when — when I had more helpers. We’ll see how I do. So far I have mostly been reading cookie recipes for hours!
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They are great fun to read. I enjoy the planning – and the baking once I get down to it 🙂
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Cookies? Cookies! I never seek out new recipes now, but a few batches of the old favorites will be made. This year, I managed to purchase the candied fruit I need for one cookie before it disappeared from the stores. That’s the hardest part of the process!
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I still have the candied Orange peel I intended to use one other Christmas, and I am hoping it’s still good- but on this trip I was pleased to find the cranberry orange relish that is an essential ingredient for the “jellies” I like to make, and it’s not always available.
I still like to try a new kind at Christmas, as I did with your lovely black walnut cookies one year – but often end up using my time just reading lots of recipes.
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I’ve begun making a cranberry orange relish for holiday meals, rather than the more traditional cranberry sauce. Grind finely one bag of cranberries and one whole orange. Add as many chopped pecans as you like, but at least a half-cup, and 1/3 c. honey. Perfection! I like it stirred into yogurt or cottage cheese, too.
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I had completely forgotten about one of my favorite post- holiday treats: cottage cheese with leftover homemade cranberry sauce! Nothing like it…
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It sounds like it was very special.
I’m making lemon-ginger biscotti today for our Italian Cork Poppers tomorrow and have a few other cookies up my sleeve — but first I need to get the house looking jolly!
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Biscotti are a type of cookie I haven’t ever added to my Christmas platter – yet!
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All this talk about baking cookies has me planning on doing exactly that tomorrow. I would also like to make the cranberry/orange sauce but the oranges I have are mandarins and I’m not sure that would give the same texture.
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