Awake and Elder Porphyrios on beauty

This morning I tried to sleep a little later, yet still woke up at 5:30.  Last night we attended the Great and Holy Friday services of Holy Week.
The kids went to Church at 11:00 in the morning for their annual retreat. They had a wonderful time and baked Prosphora bread
At 3:00 we came to get them and all went into the Church for thee Great Vespers and the Apokathelosis, and after we went to eat dinner. The children were very excited and talkative. 

When everyone finished eating we ran through the rain to get back to Church for the Great Saturday services of Lamentations and the Procession of the Epitatphios.   That finished after 10:30 and we got home after 11.  The kids headed straight to bed, and I wrapped my son's presents, because today is his 9th birthday.

I have to stop and say that my kids did amazingly well with the marathon of Church services we attended this week. Last night as I listened to my boys sing the Lamentations and watched the smiles on their faces as they explained the services to me (because they remember from previous years) and helping each other keep their places in the Holy Week books, my heart nearly burst.  

Tonight we go back to Church at 10:30 for the Paschal Liturgy and after the Liturgy and the Agape meal where we break our Lenten fast and eat meat (yay!!!!) we head back home. Usually we get home between 2 and 3 am.  This is why it is crazy that I only had 5 hours of sleep last night.
Naps will happen later today.
Please forgive all the grammatical errors within this post...I am rather foggy still.
Here is a quote from Elder Porphyrios that i came across yesterday and love.
“For a person to become a Christian he must have a poetic soul. He must become a poet. Christ does not wish insensitive souls in His company. A Christian, albeit only when he loves, is a poet and lives amid poetry. Poetic hearts embrace love and sense it deeply. Make the most of beautiful moments. Beautiful moments predispose the soul to prayer; they make it refined, noble, and poetic. Wake up in the morning to see the sun rising from out of the sea as a king robed in regal purple. [And then] go beyond this to give glory for all beautiful things so that you experience Him who alone is comely in beauty. All things are holy—the sea, swimming, and eating. Take delight in them all. All things enrich us, all lead us to the great Love, all lead us to Christ.”
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The Hymn of Kassiani and St. Mary Magdalene

O Lord God, the woman who had fallen into many sins having perceived Thy divinity received the rank of ointment-bearer offering Thee spices before Thy burial wailing and crying: Woe is me, for the love of adultery and sin hath given me a dark and lightless night; accept the fountains of my tears O Thou Who drawest the waters the waters of the sea by the clouds incline Thou to the sigh of my heart O Thou Who didst bend the heavens by Thine inapprehensible condescension; I will kiss Thy pure feet and I will wipe them with my tresses I will kiss Thy feet Whose tread when it fell on the ears of Eve in Paradise dismayed her so that she did hide herself because of fear; who then shall examine the multitude of my sin and the depth of Thy judgment? Wherefore, O my Saviour and the Deliverer of my soul turn not away from Thy handmaiden O Thou of boundless mercy.



 Hymn of Kassiani
According to tradition, during a dinner with the emperor Tiberius Caesar, Mary Magdalene was speaking about Christ's Resurrection. Caesar scoffed at her, saying that a man could rise from the dead no more than the egg in her hand could turn red. Immediately, the egg turned red. Because of this, icons of Mary Magdalene sometimes depict her holding an egg. from this comes the tradition of dyeing eggs red at Pascha/Easter.







 And here is the the Hymn of Kassiani which is incredibly moving.

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On Lent

One of the most anticipated parts of the year in our house is Lent. Being Eastern Orthodox our Lenten fast is rather strict with the dietary guidelines demanding no meat, dairy, oil or wine for the duration. There are a few days where the fast is not as strict and fish is allowed or wine. Every year I get excited when Meatfare week arrives and it is hard to eat the meat that we have on hand because I am so tired of meat, then there is Cheesefare week where we eat all the dairy in the house, then the fast begins in earnest, and Clean Monday happens.  Some hold to the tradition of not eating on Clean Monday, and some don't eat for the first three days of Lent (or so I have heard) this I have never done because I forget to not eat.  


The first couple of days my dedication to the fast is strong- but then thoughts of rare juicy steaks invade my thoughts during the day, and I notice how many commercials on the TV or in ads advertise restaurants with meat filled meals.


This where the other elements of fast and the WHY need to come into play.  Part of the fast is to increase prayer...something that literally takes minutes but is so hard. Also, the Lenten fast is to enable us to feel hunger and struggle with our body in its desires.  The struggle and hunger enable us to understand just a little better what the poor and hungry experience and to line up our human experience with theirs.
I came upon this quote tonight and found it to be helpful in keeping my perspective (after seeing 100 commercials for steak while watching The Middle)

For now, it seems that some fasting is the best way to remind myself of the millions who are hungry and to purify my heart and mind for a decision that does not exclude them. - Fr. Henri Nowen

I need this reminder. It is too easy to forget in our comfortable lives that people are starving and dying out there. My heart needs purification and softening towards those in need.  Lent serves to fix these things and adjust perspective and passions in order to be able to move past our inherent selfishness and sinfulness to serve and give and understand.  

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Easy Vegetable Soup

With Lent here I am looking for easy, simple, vegetarian recipes. I decided to make a huge pot of vegetable soup for my lunches throughout the week.  It turned out wonderfully and is very healthy. I did not measure anything, so forgive me for that...
Chop up two medium onions and toss in 2-3 minced garlic cloves (or more!)
saute until translucent and fragrant
Dump in a large can of organic diced fire roasted tomatoes (for extra flavor) with juice as well as a large can of organic chunky tomato sauce (I used Muir Glen)
Fill up can with water and add to pot...twice or three or four times if you don't like super tomato-y broth
Drain a can of kidney beans, rinse, add to pot
Add frozen vegetables...I used a soup blend of potatoes, carrots, green beans, okra and other things.
Add pepper, oregano and basil to taste, or whatever spices you like.
Let cook until done.
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