A Good Start to the Week

On Saturday night we went to Confession and Vespers. On Sunday morning we went to Liturgy. Basil Wenceslas was very well behaved (Thank you, Lord.) and we were all able to be in the services from start to finish without interruption. I don't know what it was, but something said by the prist during his sermon struck Basil as funny and he just kept lauging at him. Several times after the service he said, "Wasn't he funny, Dad? He said funny things." Unfortunately, during the liturgy I began to have an occular migraine. It didn't bother me too much during the service, it merely made things I was trying to look at seem all shimmery and hard to see. But after the service a headache started that pretty much knocked me out all afternoon.

About 4 o'clock I was able to get up and be productive. Athanasia had already begun cooking the lamb shanks (recipe below), so I got started on the carrots (recipe below). While we cooking Anselm Samuel was working on spelling, and Basil was playing with Devon, my 20 year old son.

During dinner we talked about getting ready for Lent. We talked about the wise and foolish virgins. (Interestingly, both St. Leo the Great and Blessed Theophylact teach that the oil in those lamps was alms. The failure of the 5 foolish virgins was to delay doing good when they had the opportunity.) We talked about the Publican and the Pharisee and how God isn't impressed by fasting, how Satan is a much better faster than we can ever be. We talked about the upcoming Forgiveness Vespers, and how we will all prostrate and ask forgiveness of everyone else in the parish. At this point Devon began to look a little bit confused. He had never heard the word prostrate and thought we were saying prostate! It was very funny. Basil demonstrated a prostration for his older brother.

Today there have been many activities. Anselm had chess class. Athanasia had a dentist appointment. A plumber came and had to cut the ceiling out of a kitchen in one of the apartments. The bathroom upstairs had a major leak that could only be accessed from underneath. I have a fan on the exposed beams and joists right now. On Thursday I'll bring in someone to do sheet rock and painting.

Tonight is 2-for-1 night at the pizza parlour around the corner. After that there is a little school work for Anselm. Then we'll all practice our ukes.


Balsamic Glazed Carrots
1/2 cup butter
2 1/2 pounds peeled and chopped carrots
6 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1. Melt butter in pan over medium heat.
2. Sautee carrots for 5 minutes.
3. Add balsamic vinegar and sugar.
4. Stir so all carrots are coated.
5. Cover and cook for 7 minutes.
6. Uncover, stir, pour into serving bowl.


Braised Lamb Shanks
6 lamb shanks (trim off the excess fat)
salt and pepper
1 large yellow onion, maybe two.
5 cloves of garlic
1 bottle hearty red wine
1 pound dry egg noodles

1. Brown the lamb shanks in a large skillet over high heat, as they brown add the salt and pepper.
2. Pour yourself a glass of wine.
3. When shanks are browned reduce heat to medium. Add onions and garlic. Stir everything up so the onions and garlic are in the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring by moving the shanks around in the pan (it isn't perfect but that's okay). Do this until the onions are golden. Add 1/2 of the remaining wine to the pan.
4.When it starts to boil reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until lamb is tender enough to fall off the bone. This will take at least three hours maybe 4.
5. After two hours pour yourself another big glass of wine. Pour remainder of bottle into the pan.
6. When the shanks are fully cooked remove them from the pan. Remove all meat from bones. Keep meat warm.
7. Raise heat under skillet to medium and reduce liquid, scraping the bottleof the skillet to get all the yummy stuff into the liquid.
8. Once the juices are a nice thick sauce return the meat to the pan and give it a good stirring so the bigger pieces are broken up.
9. Cook the egg noodles according to directions.
10. Serve the yummy meaty sauce over the egg noodles.

Late night TV Talk Show moment

I think the first time I heard of the Orthodox Church was when Adrian Zmed (Grease II) was being interviewed on the Arsenio Hall Show. Not much was said about it, all I remember was a joke about married priests. Our brother Adrian's father has fallen asleep in Lord.

Posted 01/14

CHICAGO, IL [OCA] -- Archpriest George Zmed, 93, retired pastor of Holy Nativity Romanian Orthodox Church here, fell asleep in the Lord on Tuesday, January 12, 2010.

Father George was born in Chicago on April 24, 1916 to Nicolae and Paraschiva [Balan] Zmed, both of Comlosul Mare, Timis, Romania. At the age of five years, he and his family returned to Comlosul Mare, where he lived until returning to the US in November 1952.

He graduated from the Timisoara-Caransebes Theological Academy in 1942, after which he studied for one year at the Law School in Cluj.

He was ordained to the diaconate by His Eminence, Archbishop [later Metropolitan] Vasile [Lazarescu] in Pesac, Banat, Romania, on October 18, 1942, and to the priesthood the following week in Satchinez. He was awarded the right to wear the red sash by Metropolitan Vasile and elevated to the dignity of archpriest by the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America on March 19, 1996.

After his return to the US, he was received into the ranks of the clergy of the Romanian Episcopate in July 1958. He served Chicago's Holy Nativity parish until his retirement in 1983.

Father George served as spiritual advisor to the American-Romanian Orthodox Youth and administrative dean of the Episcopate's Chicago Deanery, contributed to the "SOLIA" newspaper, and participated in numerous other Episcopate actitivities. He was fluent in the Romanian and English languages and is well remembered as a musician with a fine voice, who organize many musical programs for his parish.

Married to the former Persida Golub of Cerneteaz, Romania in Timisoara on October 15, 1942, he and his wife are survived by three sons, Cornel, Walter, and Adrian, a well known actor.

Funeral services will be celebrated at Chicago's Holy Nativity Church on Wednesday evening and Thursday, January 20-21.

May Father George's memory be eternal!

Memory Eternal!

Who is Christianity for?

"The Christian faith isn't a white collar faith. It isn't even a faith for people in blue collars. If anything, it it a faith for people who don't even have shirts." ~ Fr. Patrick Reardon

I've often joked that Orthodox Christianity is Christianity for graduate students. We are an unusually highly educated bunch. We quote obscure writers in our conversations and sing unusual and ancient music in our services. Most of the Orthodox I know speak at least two languages. Most of the Orthodox Christians I know would be classed as white collar. So my question is, if Fr. Patrick is right, have we made a mistake? Why isn't our Church more attractive to the very poor and the uneducated, the dregs of society? What can I do to make the poor and uneducated feel at home in this faith?

Regret

"Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born. Thou shalt not withdraw thy hand from thy son, or from thy daughter, but from their infancy thou shalt teach them the fear of the Lord." ~Epistle of Barnabas: Chapter XIX

I never took part in an abortion but O, how terribly I failed my two oldest sons. Will the rest of my life spent in prayer be enough to help them?


UPDATE: My aunt Joann used my Aunt Nettie's facebook account to send me this message:

"Aunt Joann here....read your blog re your oldest boys, and didn't know how to send a comment, so I'll do it here. I heard someone say once "you do the best you can until you know better, then you do better". Parenting classes aren't required before we reproduce, so we just have to fly by the seat of our pants until we learn how to do it better. God is a Redeemer, so along with your praying, BELIEVE! Love you"

Traffic Planning

This film was made during a cble car ride up Market Street toward the Ferry Bldg, in the days just before the 1906 earthquake.



Here is the same trip in 2005, but this time on an electric street car. There are no more cable cars on Market Street.



The 1906 film looks like a lot more fun with much more energy, doesn't it? It is too bad planners try to streamline the flow of traffic, as though getting from A to B is the most important thing. The wonderful thing about city life is what happens between those points.

Obama = Carter

The President of the United States has many jobs. But one matters more than all others. He must so terrify any potential attacker that only the insane would dare attack us. Those few who do attack us he must hunt down and kill. Every time. No exceptions. If he does not protect us from foreign aggression or, failing that, destroy the aggressor who is not afraid to harm us, he violates the Social Contract that holds our all civilizations together. We obey governments because they protect us.

I have now read everything that has been made public about the attempted airliner bombing on Christmas. Presented with incontrovertible and unambiguous evidence of a foreign attack the government failed. The President failed.

Now the attacker is in the custody of the U.S. government. But instead of holding our enemy and trying him as an unlawful combatant in wartime, he is being treated like a civilian criminal in peacetime. He has been read his Miranda rights. Our enemy will be using a court-appointed and taxpayer-funded lawyer. Now every attacker knows that if they are captured alive they will receive the protection of the very laws they were trying to destroy. The President has indicated that our attackers do not need to fear us. They know the President is not going to kill them. This is the President's second failure. The President imperils the nation.

Has he been busy with health care reform, the economy, banking legislation, saving the auto industry? It doesn't matter. He sets the agenda, and the the first item on the Presidents agenda is supposed to be the physical security of the United States. It is his most important job and he failed. It is time for him to go. If he does not resign let the the people reject him in 2012.

Isn't it Amazing?

"For while all things were in quiet silence, and that night was in the midst of her swift course, Thine Almighty Word leaped down from heaven out of thy royal throne, as a fierce man of war into the midst of a land of destruction." (Wisdom of Solomon 18: 14-15)

The only thing I hate about the Orthodox Church

I just read this article about several Orthodox parishes in north Philadelphia that are dying. The reason they are dying is that they are failing to do what Ss. Cyril and Methodius did in the Balkan peninsula, what Ss. Herman and Innocent did in Alaska, what St. Paul did in the Roman Empire. Those famous missionaries preached the Gospel to the people so that the people could hear it. They didn't just put out the welcome mat (though it seems some of the parishes in this article don't even do that) they went out and found people to convert. St. Paul actually walked right into synagogues and said "Hey! Have you heard about Jesus? He's the Christ and he came to give you eternal life." They evangelized because they loved. I have one question. Where's the love?

So, from the other side of the country I have some advice for the bishops and priests Jesus put in charge of those parishes.

1. Do the services in English. This is a no-brainer.
2. Stop inviting people to church. (Some of you aren't even doing that.) The article says several times that people in the neighborhood do not want a religion or to join a church.
3. Offer people what they want as long as you can do it and remain true to the Gospel. They want 'spirituality' and meaning and some kind of higher purpose. So help them find it. Just don't cram the whole Orthodox tradition down their throats yet because, well, they aren't Orthodox yet.
4. Introduce them to Jesus in a form that is familiar to them: The classroom and the self-help industry.


A four part program built around the Jesus Prayer and executed by lay people (because clergy can be scary) to reach their neighbors.

Put a 5" x 7" flyer up on every bulletin board within 8 blocks of the church. The flyer should say something like this:

"Personal Transformation
and Global Change
through
Ancient Eastern Mysticism

Informal Class starting Saturday 9 a.m.

Basement of Ss. Sascha and Vascha church at the corner of...
Just show up."

Session 1
Have everyone sit in a circle on the floor and and give their names and ask them what they want to change about themselves. When everyone has done this say something like "Good. This is all stuff we can work on. Change is never be easy, and results are not instantaneous, but we'll work on it together."

Now there are several things they will need to be taught:

a. How to make the sign of the cross and say "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost." (explain this as like stepping through a mystical door where interaction between them and the Holy can take place.)

b. How to bow.

c. How to prostrate.

Do not explain any of this. It isn't important that they believe or even understand anything at this point. If they ask, just say "Right now, all I can tell you is this is this is how your body will interact with the Holy. Later, as you progress, I'll be able to tell you more."

You might think that they will object to this, but they probably won't. These are people who spend money to be put in uncomfortable positions by yogis, whacked on the head by Zen masters, and tortured by pilates instructors. They know instinctively that their bodies need this.

Then teach them the Jesus Prayer:

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

They might react to the idea of Jesus. If they do, simply say, "this is what we have seen that works, but if you don't believe it, that's okay for now. Just saying the words is useful." They might react to the idea of being a sinner. Say "think of a sinner not as being a bad person, but as a person who has room to improve. That's why we are here, to improve." They might think they have no need of mercy. Say "What mercy is is love given by one person to a second person, even when the second person needs improvement. What we are saying here is 'please, love me even though I am not perfect' but we are saying it in the ancient way, the way we have seen work for thousands of years."

Then, say : "We are ready to move onto the next step. I will light the incense and cense the Icon (there should be an icon of Jesus in the room but no others at this point) and then I'll cense you because you are images of God, too. Then once that is done it will be time for you to put what you've learned into practice."

Then, make the sign of the cross and do a prostration.
Then, cense the icon and the students.
Then, put the censor down and lead them in the forty slowly chanted repetitions of the Jesus Prayer, with a Cross and a bow after each one.

When that is done, invite them to to sit down and drink coffee or mineral water with you you. But don't pressure them to stay and chat. Just make it casual "Well that's the lesson for this week. If you're thirsty and tired after all that bowing and chanting, help yourself to a chair and the san pelegrino and Coffee." And let them know when the next class is. Say something like, "next time we'll build on this, but until then, try to say this prayer several times each day. In time we will see the transformations."

If someone has questions about Orthodoxy don't answer them. Remember, none of these people came to class to to join a church. They are not catechumens. They came to class to find the tools to change their lives. Instead say, "you know, you came here with some specific things about yourself you want to change. I don't you to get short circuited by jumping off into a lot of stuff that at this point would be more of a distraction to you. Let's keep working on that transformation you came here for."

After this first session what will have been accomplished:
1. you will have the names of a few people in your neighborhood to pray for.
2. they will have made a new friend (you).
3. they will have just asked Jesus to come to their aid.
4. they will have seen that the Church gave to them without asking anything in return.
5. they will have been taught how to pray as Orthodox Christians.
6. They will have put themselves under the power of the Cross

Session #2: Before starting praying ask everyone how their week is going. They might or might not have seen any improvement. No matter what they say affirm their efforts. Introduce "O Heavenly King" as the opening prayer for all classes, and hand out prayer ropes for the students to use during the week.

Session #3: Introduce the Icon of Mary holding Jesus and explain that the transformation the students are seeking is really just a way for the Divine to be born into the world through them, and as that occurs they will gain more and more control over the things in their life they want to change, and simultaneously improve the world. Again, it is not important for them to actually believe in Jesus or Mary at this point so don't press them. Every time they see the icons, every time they pray the prayers another copy of them is made in their brains. Eventually, they will believe and begin the struggle for transformation in earnest. But these sessions are not even baby steps. They are a baby trying to lift his head and look around for the first time. And as you pray for them you protect them from demons and help them see Jesus more clearly.

Session #4: For three sessions the students have been very "me" focused. This session is not me focused. It is about giving thanks. Tell them "One of the biggest obstacles to personal transformation is not seeing the good other people bring into our lives. In this session we will thank ever member of the class for something specific. I'll start." Then do it. Once everyone has gone do the Jesus prayer and end with sitting around drinking coffee and mineral water just like all the other sessions. Assign homework: "Every day thank one person for something specific and end the day with this prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, thank you."

During this week call all of the members of the group on the phone and let them know you think they are ready to move on to the next level, and explain that they can keep coming to the Saturday morning group but that you'd like them to meet with a priest to talk about going deeper. By this time they shouldn't be afraid of icons, praying, incense, receiving "spritual" instruction, the name of Jesus, giving thanks, asking for mercy, or being part of a group. That is, they will be acclimated enough to the Orthodox Church to become catechumens and begin walking down the path toward baptism.

What I do with the ham bone

After Christmas Dinner one often finds himself in possession of a large ham bone. Here is what we do with it in my house.

Ham and Lentil Soup

1 leftover smoked ham bone
1 pound of lentils
3 cups sliced mushrooms
3 chopped yellow onions
2 sliced carrots
2 sliced celery sticks
1 bay leaf
3 cups beef broth (I use "Better than Bullion")
1 cinnamon stick
2 quarts water

Put all ingredients in a big pot, bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cook until lentils are soft.
Eat with crusty french bread with fresh butter, and a robust red wine.
Very good for lunch on a cold winter day.

For This is All My Hope

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

"Since, therefore, all rejoice, I too desire to rejoice! I too wish to share the choral dance, to celebrate the festival! But I take my part, not plucking the harp nor with the music of the pipes nor holding a torch, but holding in my arms the cradle of Christ! For this is all my hope! This is my life! This is my salvation! This is my pipe, my harp! And bearing it I come, and having from its power received the gift of speech, I too, with the angels and shepherds, sing: Glory to God in the Highest! and on earth peace to men of good will!" - St. John Chrysostom

San Francisco At Christmastime

Gretchen Joanna reminds me why I love San Francisco.

St. Leo on Nativity and the Christian

"Although, therefore, that infancy, which the majesty of God’s Son did not disdain, reached mature manhood by the growth of years and, when the triumph of His passion and resurrection was completed, all the actions of humility which were undertaken for us ceased, yet today’s festival renews for us the holy childhood of Jesus born of the Virgin Mary: and in adoring the birth of our Savior, we find we are celebrating the commencement of our own life. For the birth of Christ is the source of life for Christian folk, and the birthday of the Head is the birthday of the body. Although every individual that is called has his own order, and all the sons of the Church are separated from one another by intervals of time, yet as the entire body of the faithful being born in the font of baptism is crucified with Christ in His passion, raised again in His resurrection, and placed at the Father’s right hand in His ascension, so with Him are they born in this nativity."

Getting ready

One of the things I try to do with my kids, and I am nt very good at it, is to prepare them for the services. It is really easy for them to go though the services and think they are all the same. One has to pay attention to hear what is going on. So I was really happy when I found this. I'm using it to help the boys get ready to hear what is different about the Nativity services. Maybe it will be useful to you, too.

---

Christmas hymns in the Orthodox Church
by Alexander A. Bogolepov

The observance of a special period of preparation before the Feast of the Nativity of Christ has long been an established part of Christian practice. In the Orthodox Church this period is made up of the Christmas Fast and the special days of preparation before Christmas itself, with the week of the Holy Forefathers and the week of the Holy Fathers. The Church services for these days of preparation commemorate the patriarchs, the prophets and all who had lived by faith in the Saviour who was to come and had prophesied about Him long before His coming. The hymns for the Feast of the Nativity are full of the original joyful excitement at the thought of God's appearance on earth. The Christmas canon1 begins with a joyous declaration, gradually swelling in volume, of the Saviour's birth:

"Christ is born! Glorify Him!
Christ descends from the heavens, welcome Him!
Christ is now on earth, O be jubilant!
Sing to the Lord, the whole earth,
And sing praises to Him with joy, O ye people,
For He has been exalted!" (1)

In her Christmas hymns, as in her other hymnody, the Orthodox Church does not limit her vision to earthly happenings alone. In these hymns she contemplates the events of Christ's life on earth from a dual perspective. Beyond the birth of a child in the poverty of a squalid cave, beyond the laying of the infant in a manger instead of a child's crib, beyond His poor mother's anxiety and alarm over His fate, supermundane events emerge -- events which are outside this world's natural order:

"Today doth Bethlehem receive Him
Who sitteth with the Father for ever". (2)

This was not the first birth of the One "who lay in a manger." First He was begotten of His Father "before all ages" as God; moreover He was begotten of the Father alone, without His Mother. In Bethlehem He was born as men are born, but in contrast to all the sons of earth He was born of His Mother alone, without an earthly father. Having proclaimed "Christ is born!" in the 1st Song of the Christmas canon, the Church next calls upon the faithful to praise

"...the Son who was born of the Father
Before all ages, and in this latter day
Was made incarnate of the Virgin
Without seed; Christ our God". (3)

In the last Song of the Christmas canon the feeling of the human mind's powerlessness to comprehend this union of Divine majesty and human insignificance, this glorious mystery, is expressed even more brilliantly and eloquently.

A dark cave had replaced the resplendent heavens; the earthly Virgin had taken the place of the Cherubim as the "throne" of the Lord of Glory; a little manger had become the receptacle of the omnipresent God Who could never be contained in space:

"I behold a strange but very glorious mystery:
Heaven -- the cave;
The throne of the Cherubim -- the Virgin.
The manger -- the receptacle in which Christ our God,
Whom nothing can contain, is lying". (4)

But nowhere does the attitude of reverence before this incomprehensible union of things heavenly and earthly find a more forceful expression than in the Kontakion for Christmas written by the greatest Greek hymn-writer, St. Romanos Melodus. Every word in it is full of meaning and one brilliant image follows another:

"Today the Virgin brings forth the Supersubstantial One
And the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One".

Mary gave birth but remained a virgin, and gave existence to the One who is above all that exists in the world. And in the cave the earth provided a sanctuary for the One whom, as a general rule, men may not even approach. Next, the second part of this kontakion gives us two pictures of events which unfolded simultaneously and harmoniously on earth and in heaven. In heaven the angels glorify God in unison with the shepherds on earth, and the Wise Men move across the earth according to the direction taken by the heavenly star. The meaning of all this is that the Child whose life on earth was as yet only a few hours old is at the same time God, who existed before time itself and yet was born now for our salvation:

"For for our sakes, God, Who is before all the ages, is born a little Child". (5)

What does the coming to earth of the Son of God really mean? Above all it means that people are illumined, that spiritual light is bestowed upon them. This idea is continually being put forward in the Christmas hymnody of the Orthodox Church. The Troparion for the Christmas Feast explains the basic meaning of the Feast, there is this direct statement:

"Thy Nativity, O Christ our God,
Has illumined the world like the Light of Wisdom".

God enlightens each of us in the way that is most accessible and understandable to the particular person. And when He wished to enlighten the Wise Men, whose custom it was to observe the stars and their movements, He sent them an unusual star which guided them to the Christ.

"... They who worshipped the stars were through a star,
Taught to worship Thee, the Sun of Righteousness,
And to know Thee, the Day-Spring from on high".

The star of Bethlehem gave the Wise Men an opportunity to see the rise of the Sun of Righteousness. But the light of Christ's righteousness is not an earthly light. Its motion was not from out of the earth towards the firmament of heaven, but from above downwards. Shining high above the earth, it descended thereon from the heights of heaven and illumined the world with Divine light. It was the Day-Spring from on high. And all who have sat in spiritual darkness and waited for the true light have, like the Wise Men, come to know this extraordinary Day-Spring of the Sun of Righteousness.

"Our Saviour hath visited us from on high...
And we who were plunged in darkness and shadows
Have found the truth,
For the Lord hath been born of the Virgin". (6)

The Church addresses this prayer of praise and thanksgiving to the Infant born in Bethlehem:

"Glory and praise to the One born on earth Who hath divinized earthly human nature." (7)

The gifts of grace in the Holy Mysteries which strengthen enfeebled humanity, cure men, and regenerate them to a Godlike life, were imparted by Christ in the final, culminating days of His earthly mission and are linked to His death on the cross and Resurrection. But these last things were prepared for by Christ's entire earthly life from Bethlehem to Golgotha. The Coming of Christ was the beginning of the salvation of mankind. And the Orthodox Church sings of Christ's Nativity as the morning of men's salvation, as the dawn after a long and anxious night -- the dawn with which the new, shining day in the life of the human race has already started.

The triumphal hymn of the Feast of Christmas is the "Gloria" sung by the angels to the Shepherds, to herald the coming of the Messiah.

"Glory in the Highest to God, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (Luke 2:14).

It is just as characteristic of Christmas as the hymn "Christ is Risen from the dead" is of Pascha (Easter).

According to the text of the second chapter of St. Luke's Gospel the "good tidings" proclaimed by the angels was not a repetition from the heavens of things that were well-known before. The innumerable heavenly host which appeared suddenly in the wake of the Angel who had stood before the shepherds of Bethlehem confirmed his "tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." (Luke2:10). They also sang of the new, marvelous act of God's goodwill, His sending the Saviour to this earth. This was the meaning of their good news: "Glory to God in the Highest; salvation had come to a sinful earth with the birth of the Christ Child, the loving-kindness of God had descended upon men."

The extraordinary and wondrous Birth from a Pure Virgin is one of the fundamental themes of Christmas hymnody; at the same time the Mother of God, whom the Orthodox Church venerates with such pious devotion, is given in this hymnody a special place of honour. A number of examples from sacred history are used in these hymns in order to glorify Her perpetual virginity, Her conception by the Holy Spirit and Her "supermundane act of giving birth to God." The most important of these are the prophet Jonah's sojourn in the belly of the sea-monster and the Babylonian fiery furnace." The fiery furnace of Babylon did not burn the young men, who were covered with its flames, likewise:

"The fire of the Godhead scorched not the Virgin,
When He entered into Her womb". (8)

Despite the birth Mary was preserved a virgin like the Burning Bush on Mt. Sinai which could not be consumed but remained green in the flames. (9) The Church sings praises to Mary alike for Her virginity and Her touching maternal love. Her tenderness as a mother toward Her wondrous Infant Child, whom as Her son She held in Her arms at Her breast, but before whom She bowed in worship as before "the Son of the Highest," is expressed in the following lullaby which Church hymnody assigns to the lips of the Lady Most Pure, calling upon us men "to magnify Her without ceasing":

"O my child, child of sweetness,
How is it that I hold Thee, Almighty?
And how that I feed Thee,
Who givest bread to all men?
How is it that I swaddle Thee,
Who with the clouds encompasseth the whole earth". (10)

She who "knew not a man" and yet gave birth to the Incorporeal God is for the Orthodox Church at once mother and virgin.

"Magnify, O my soul, the Virgin Most Pure,
The God-Bearer, who is more honourable
And more glorious than the heavenly hosts". (11)

The best and holiest of earthly creatures, exalted above the angels, the God-Bearer is the pride of this earth, a fitting gift from mankind to the Creator and Saviour:

"What shall we present unto Thee, O Christ,
For Thy coming to earth for us men?
Each of Thy creatures brings Thee a thank-offering:
The angels -- singing; the heavens -- a star;
The Wise Men -- treasures; the shepherds devotion;
The earth -- a cave; the desert -- a manger;
But we offer Thee the Virgin-Mother. O Eternal God, have mercy upon us". (12)

In rendering "maternal-virginal glory" to Mary Full-of-Grace the Church venerates Mary because, through Her unspotted purity, She was made worthy to bring the Saviour into this world and Herself became the door of salvation and deliverance from the curse of sin which had weighed upon men:

"Magnify, O my soul, Her who hath delivered us from the curse". (13)

Paradise is now once again opened to us. If sin entered the world through Eve, it is also through the New Eve (the Mother of our God) that victory over sin has come into the world.

The Church likewise summons us:

"Let us glorify in song the true God-Bearer
Through who sinners have been reconciled with God". (14)

The Mother of God represents the point at which the Godhead came into direct contact with Old Testament humanity. She is in this respect the living symbol of all the triumphant joy of Christmas, which is the celebration of God's reestablished union with men. God, who had driven our forefathers out of Paradise, had set them far apart from Himself. Now, with the birth of Christ, He has again come to men, just as He once came to them in Paradise. It has become possible again for men to be in communion with God. The barrier between,Heaven and earth has fallen and so we sing along with Adam and Eve:

"The wall of partition is destroyed,
The flaming sword is dropped,
The Cherubim withdraw from the Tree of Life,
And I partake of the fruits of Paradise,
Whence, for my disobedience, I was driven forth". (15)

The underlying feeling of the Christmas Feast is one of peace. This is a result of the reconciliation and new unity between heaven and earth:

"Heaven and earth now are united through Christ's Birth!
Now is God come down to earth
And man arisen to the heaven". (16)

This unity is the source of general exultation -- a note which resounds vigorously in the Christmas hymnody:

"Today Christ is born in Bethlehem of the Virgin.
Today He who is without a beginning begins,
And the Word is made flesh.
The powers of Heaven rejoice,
The earth and her people are jubilant;
The Wise Men bring gifts to the Lord,
The shepherds marvel at the One who is born;
And we sing without ceasing:
"Glory to God in the Highest, And on earth peace, (God's) good will toward men". (17)

There is one solitary note, however, which breaks into these hymns of general rejoicing like a forewarning of future lamentations. The Wise Men -- according to the Christmas Eve stichera -- came toworship the Incarnate God and devotedly offered Him their gifts -- gold, because He is the King of ages; frankincense, because He is the God of all men; but then they also brought Him myrrh, with which the Jews were accustomed to anoint their dead, because He was to "lie three days in death."

The heart of the Mother of God must have been seized by a premonition of that which awaited the innocent Child who was sleeping peacefully in the manger. This minor note of sadness is drowned, however, in the general chorus of exultation. Heaven and earth rejoice together and this does not mean simply that the angels' singing harmonises with that of the shepherds. The Church does not even view so-called "inanimate nature" as indifferent to the higher world. The Creator has willed the existence of a special link between them. At an earlier time man's sinfulness had brought general disorder into nature, but now all nature leaps for joy, rejoicing at the overcoming of this sin:

"Today the whole creation rejoices and is jubilant,
For Christ is born of the Virgin". (18)

In the Christmas hymnody the Star is not merely the voice which made known to the world the Saviour's appearance. It is also a sign, a symbol of this appearance, just as the Cross is the symbol of victory over the forces of darkness. Then, too, the Star is a symbol of Christ Himself, "the Star which rose from Jacob". (19)

For more than 19 centuries Christ has been shining down upon mankind as a guiding star, not as a myth or mirage, but as the living God, who has been on earth and spoken with men. There have been many subsequent attempts to obscure the pure silver light of the Star of Bethlehem in human consciousness. But the centuries of the Christian era have not passed by in vain. And if the Christmas hymns continue to resound each year in churches scattered all over the world and to be sung as they were sung many hundreds of years ago by the grandfathers and forbears of the present generation, this means that the light shed by the Christmas Star is deeply rooted in human hearts and shines on in them undimmed.

from Orthodox Hymns of Christmas, Holy Week and Easter,
published by the Russian Orthodox Theological Fund Inc

1. Christmas Canon, 1st Song, Irmos
2. Christmas Matins, stichera after the Gospel
3. Christmas Canon, 3rd Song, Irmos
4. Christmas Canon, 9th Song, Irmos
5. Kontakion
6. Christmas Matins, Protagogion
7. Christmas Matins, Sedalen
8. Christmas Canon, 8th song, Irmos
9. 2nd Christmas Canon, 1st song, Troparion
10. Pre-Christmas,, 9th song, Troparion
11. Christmas Canon, 9th song, verse
12. Stichera by Patriarch Anatolios on "O Lord, I have cried unto Thee"
13. Christmas Canon, 9th Song, verse
14. Christmas Canon, 5th Song, Troparion
15. Stichera by Patriarch Hermanos on "O Lord, I have cried unto Thee"
16. Stichera on the Litiya
17. Stichera before the great Doxology
18. Christmas Canon, 9th song, verse
19. Christmas Canon, 6th song, Troparion

Advent Activities

Life sure has been busy around here. I think it was Thursday night or maybe Friday night Devon, Anselm and I wen to see the Nutcracker. And then on Saturday Athanasia, Anselm, Basil, and I made salt dough Christmas Tree ornaments.


Sunday evening we made the sausage for Christmas morning. (We eat it after Divine Liturgy. Our parish has Liturgy in the morning instead of the middle of the night. I've experienced both and like it in the morning more. It's just so much easier than hauling the kids to church for a Great Vespers at 11 followed by Matins and Divine Liturgy sometime after Midnight. I can understand wanting to do it at Midnight, and if I didn't have kids I'd be totally into it.)

Well, yesterday was Sunday of the Forefathers, St. Herman's Day, St. Lucy's Day (if my last child had been a girl we were going to name her Lucy and have her do that whole candles on the head thing), and several other Saint's days. Because I was the only one on my family not sick, and had to deal with a flood I only popped into church long enough to light some candles for my sick family and then ran to the hardware store to buy hoses and a pump.

On Saturday night I read a childrens book about St. Herman of Alaska to the boys (It is one of the books on the Advent/Christmas shelf.) and we talked about St.Herman for a while. Even though he is sometimes called the first American Saint, that is not the case. There were some American martyrs before St. Herman was glorified. One thing that the boys were really curious about was the heavy iron cross St. Herman wore. Unfortunately, I do not know anything about it. I've seen it in icons, but I would like to know more. Why did he wear it? I've never seen other monks wear anything like that. Was it a penance? How heavy was it? How did he prevent pressure sores from developing on his shoulders and chest?

On Sunday evening, after a supper of salmon (last fish day before Nativity), rice, and green beans we read the Epistle and the Gospel for the day and talked about it. It was a pleasant. Then Athanasia left the house to do homework at her office and the boys and I made the Christmas Sausage.

The recipe is kind of ill-defined, but goessomething like this.

2 pork butt roasts chopped into 1" to 2" cubes. (Do not remove the fat!!!)
Zest of four large oranges
Juice of one orange
A couple of hand fulls of sea salt or kosher salt. (No iodized)
1 finely chopped fennel bulb
A healthy sprinkling of dried thyme (maybe a table spoon or 2?)
Same amount of dried fennel seed
A goodly number (10-15) of peeled and minced garlic cloves.
Sausage casings

1. Rinse all the salt off the the casings, running water over the outsides and through the insides of the casings. Set them aside on a paper towel or a paper plate until you need them.

2. Mix all non-casing ingredients together in a large bowl until all spices and herbs are evenly distributed through the pork.

3. Run the pork through the grinder. It is now sausage and can be cooked like this. But we like it in casings so we take the blade out of the grinder, ad the stuffing attachment, and stuff some sausages. Also, at this point you need to fry about a tablespoon of the sausage and taste it to make sure it is good before you go through the work of stuffing. Make any adjustments before stuffing because you can't after the sausage is stuffed.

4. Slide a whole casing over the stuffing tube. (This goes better it you rub some vegetable oil on the tube first.)

5. Tie a knot in the end of the casing and begin stuffing.

6. As one person cranks and feeds the machine another person has to monitor the sausage and twist the links. I always start with two twists away from me, then the next link gets two twists toward me. This way each link is separated from every other link by 4 twists. Any more than that is just showing off.

7. Then, when you reach the end of the casing, tie it off.

Repeat steps 4-7 until all sausage is cased.

The boys had a great time making the sausage. Here are my sons Devon, Anselm, and Basil posing with some of their finished product.

Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!

My oldest living son just moved in with me. He's 20 and is only here because the company he worked for lost a lot of clients so they downsized and he ran out of money. But I am so thankful that he is here. I have hardly seen him since he was 2. I am very happy.

Saturday Soundtrack: An Advent Song

I was wondering how I was going to fit the Saturday Soundtrack and Advent together, and I am happy to announce that I have done it. Soon and Very Soon by Andre Crouch belongs to Advent because it is about anticipating the arrival of Jesus, specifically his second coming, which is the main emphasis of Advent in the West.

In the 1960's the senior class of the Christian high school where my mother taught wanted to have Andre Crouch perform at a party but they didn't have enough money to pay Andre's fee. My mother wrote to him and offered what little money the students had. He came, brought his whole band, performed, and then refused any payment at all.

I remember seeing this album cover when I wasa boy. I can't remember hearing this song for the first time. It must have belonged to one of my siblings, who are all older than I am.

The Holy Prophet Habakkuk

Today we have another of the Holy Prophets to commemorate. I think many of us don't even think of him except on Pascha when we hear (Paschal Canon, Ode 4, Eirmos) the thrilling news that he is standing vigil with us to testify to the Resurrection. But here just 22 days from the Feast of the Nativity of Jesus we are supposed to commemorate him. Why? Three reasons:

He prophecied the coming Jesus with these words:
יצאת לישע עמך לישע את-משיחך
"You went out to save your people, to save (with) your Anointed."
(You should read Eric Jobe on this verse.)

Also Habakkuk's book's theme of theodicy, and God using evil invading empires (e.g. the Babylonians & Chaldeans) to work His indomitable will on the earth is in a complementary key to what would happen 600 years later. As we will hear during the Feast of Nativity, "When Agustus ruled the world" God, as unlikely as it seems to the natural eye, used the might of Rome as a tool to get a pregnant woman and her betrothed from Galilee to Bethlehem.

Finally, after talking about the total foolishness of worshiping idols in Chapter 2, the Holy Prophet says "God is in his temple, let the earth keep silent". This was expanded in the Liturgy of St. James...

Let all mortal flesh keep silent, and with fear and trembling stand. Ponder nothing earthly-minded, Let all mortal flesh keep silent, and with fear and trembling stand. Ponder nothing earthly-minded, for the King of kings and Lord of lords advances to be slain and given as food to the faithful. Before him go the choirs of Angels, with every rule and authority, the many-eyed Cherubim and the six-winged Seraphim, veiling their sight and crying out the hymn: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Interestingly, an early 19th Century English translation of this hymn has found its way into many Protestant hymnals, where it is usually classified as an Advent Hymn because of the line about the Lord advancing toward us, and is popular with choirs more than it is with congregations.

Reading to the boys

A big part of the life of my family is reading. When we were newlyweds we read the Gospel of Matthew, the Lord of the Rings, and all the then published Harry Potter books aloud to each other. We don't read to each other very often anymore, but we do read aloud to the boys and have since they were too young to understand language. I'll never forget the time, when Anselm Samuel was still a tiny baby, when we read to him A.A. Milne's Pooh stories. Athanasia and I wept at the end of it. (It is an interesting fact that the best children books are really for adults.) Our shelves are stuffed with books. But there is a part of our collection that is only read between the November 15 and January 5 of each year. Tonight from that special shelf I read (sang, really) The Friendly Beasts: An old English Christmas Carol by Tomie de Paola, and two selections from Richard Scarry's The Animals' Merry Christmas, which is a collection of poems.

The Holy Prophet Nahum

You know how the Holy Prophet Jeremiah is called "The Weeping Prophet?" Well, I've often thought Nahum should be called "The Angry Prophet of Doom." His little book is full of predictions of calamity. And, to bad for Nineveh and the Assyrians, those prophecies of destruction were fulfilled.

But today, just 23 days from the Feast of the Nativity of Jesus, the Church Fathers put this huge downer of a Prophet on the calendar. Why? Well, he has to go somewhere, doesn't he? After, St. Paul commanded us to give honor to whom honor is due. So we must honor Prophet Nahum sometime during the year. But I think there is more to it than the Fathers pulling a date out of a hat and assigning it to this Prophet. I think the Holy Prophet Nahum being commemorated during Advent is no accident of chance. Rather, it is because the Word of the Lord Nahum received bears directly on the the Incarnation and the ministry of Jesus. At the beginning of a long list of horrible pronouncements against Nineveh are these words:

Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off. (Nahum 1:15)

So, in a few weeks when we mourn again with the mothers of Bethlehem, or when we only a few days ago were aghast at the martyrdom of St. Daniil of Moscow we continue on. We can keep our vows, and we can keep the solemn feasts - Nativity, Theophany, Annunciation, Pascha and the others - because even in the face of death The Gospel has been preached. The good news has been spoken by the Prince of Peace, and though we might die, that death is gain. Death is cut off as surely as the line of the kings of Assyria, as surely as Goliath's head.

The same event Nahum saw was revealed to another prophet who tells us a little bit more than did Nahum. We shall not just keep the solemn feasts solemnly. They shall be kept with happiness! The Holy Prophet Isaiah wrote:

How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, "Your God reigns!" (Isaiah 52:7)

It is not just solemnity, but happiness. It is not just the defeat of the enemy, but the victory of God. It is not just the ability to keep vows, it is salvation! That is what the Prophets saw. Well, not Nahum. He didn't have a vision as complete as Isaiah's. But he knew good was coming. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born he saw Jesus preaching on the mountain sides of Judah. He didn't hear the whole message but he knew it was good. And he waited for it. And that is why he is commemorated during Advent.

Vasilopita

I didn't really like the vasilopita (That's Greek for Basil's bread) I made on last St. Basil the Great's day (Also known as the 8th day of Christmas/Feast of the Circumcision of Christ). In a month I'll be making this recipe given to me by Matuskha Angela Alesandroni. It looks really good.


1/2 c water
3/5 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. aniseeds
3/4 tsp fresh grate orange peel... See More
2 bay leaves
1/2 c milk
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp. salr
3/4 c butter, softened
1/2 c warm water (110 degrees)
2 T sugar
2pkgs. yeast
3 eggs. lightly beaten
sesame seeds
whole blanched almonds, walnut halves and/or maraschinos for top

Heat 1/2 c water to boiling. Add cinnamon, aniseeds, orange peel and bay leaves. Remove from heat and steep.

Scald milk. Add 3/4 c sugar, the salt, and 3/4 c butter. Cool.
Pour warm water into bowl. Stir in 2T sugar and years. Let stand until frothy ( perhaps 10 mins)

Pour milk/butter mixture into yeast mixture. Add lightly beaten eggs and mix well. Stir in spice liquid, removing bay leaves. stir in 3 c flour, alittle at a time and beat until smooth. Add only as much flour as needed to make a smooth, nonsticky dough.

Turn onto floured board and knead 15-20 mins until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, brush top with melted butter. Cover lightly and allow to rise in a draft free, but warm place until doubled - perhaps 2 hours.

Punch down, knead again briefly about 5 mins. Remove an orange sized piece from dough and form rest into one large round loaf. Insert coin. Place loaf on a lightly greased sheet or silpat covered baking sheet.

Divide reserved dough and form into numbers of the new year or a cross. set on bread pressing gently.

cover lightly and let bread rise again for about 1 1/2 hrs. or until almost doubled in bulk.

When risen.brush loaf with beaten egg and sprinkle w/sesame seeds. Decorate with almonds, walnuts or cherries, if you like. Bake at 350 for 45-60 mins. done when golden bronw and bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

For a more pronounced anise flavor, add 1 T ouzo when you add the spice liquid to the dough.