Category Archives: saints

Virtue is not a pear.

church, icons, quotes, saints

seraphim fresco lightsToday we commemorate the repose of St. Seraphim of Sarov, of whom I have written before. He is the patron saint of my Orthodox parish. What a wonderful man! And what a blessed day we had, in spite of cold and even a broken heater in the church. Sometimes lately, when I am cold, I pretend that I am a monastic – and what would a monastic do? Pray, and be warmed by the Holy Spirit. I can’t say that I instantly become a prayer warrior when I think this way, but somehow it helps me to relax, and to at least offer up some kind of plea.

This icon of Father Seraphim is a fresco in our church, a picture I took sometime in the past when the light was falling in patches on him. Today, as I stood bundled in scarf and gloves, the sunshine came through an arched window high above the altar and blinded me for a few minutes until the angle changed enough to pass beyond my face. I didn’t want to change my position to escape it – whenever this happens to me I feel it as an extra gift from God, that He is giving me Himself in the warm light.

seraphim letter to

I want to pass on this quote from St. Seraphim, which came from a letter (pictured in its original form) that he wrote to Hieromonk Anthony in the first half of the 19th Century; it captured my imagination and heart from the first time I read it many years ago. The words have been translated in various clunky forms, but I like this version for the way it expresses the tone that he conveyed by his life. And it seems a good word for the new year, as well. Happy New Year to all of you, and may we all be drawn closer to His Kingdom in 2015.
 

Whatever you do, do it gently and unhurriedly,
because virtue is not a pear to be eaten in one bite.

–Saint Seraphim of Sarov

 

Prophet Elijah

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Elijah ss fresco

“The name Elijah (the Lord’s strength) given to the infant defined his whole life. From the years of his youth he dedicated himself to the One God, settled in the wilderness and spent his whole life in strict fasting, meditation and prayer. Called to prophetic service, which put him in conflict with the Israelite king Ahab, the prophet became a fiery zealot of true faith and piety.”

From this site, where you can read his whole story.

The Prophet Elijah is commemorated on July 20.

Tuning my heart with St. Joanna.

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The robin outside my window this morning had his priorities straight. Before there was light enough to see by, before he even thought of going about his necessary business of sustaining himself by eating, he spent an hour and more in praise and song. I was unusually awake and he helped to me to tune my heart to the same frequency. Robin+vintage+graphic--graphicsfairy009bsm

That happy hour I spent with him was like a special gift I opened first thing on the occasion of my name day. In addition to Myrrhbearers Sunday, which is a movable feast, St. Joanna is commemorated on June 27 every year. It’s a good day to head over to church and do a little garden work along with some celebrations in the church.

This blog post contains a good overview of what we know of St. Joanna. It is from a man who was planning to name his daughter Joanna, though he admits she is a “relatively minor saint.”

I had my own reasons for choosing Joanna as my patron saint when I converted to the Orthodox Church in 2007, which were not exactly the same as the following that an anonymous Christian listed in a comment on that blog in the same year, but I am grateful for her thoughts and have added them to my personal list:

1. She did what she could. She couldn’t stop the beheading of John the Baptist, but she could give his head a decent burial, and she did that.

2. She went where Christ was–the cross and the tomb. She didn’t go alone–she was part of a group. I want to go where Christ is, and I need to go with the Church.

3. She had a name we can pronounce in English.

4. She died peacefully.myrrhbearers st joanna

One thing I can definitely relate to in Joanna is that she needed the angels to tell her not to seek the living among the dead. These lines from a hymn for Myrrhbearers Sunday will be good for me to sing all day:

The angel came to the myrrhbearing women at the tomb and said:
Myrrh is meet for the dead;
But Christ has shown Himself a stranger to corruption!
So proclaim: the Lord is risen,
Granting the world great mercy!