Serafima

 

The video has now both English and Romanian subtitles. In Romanian it is called: "Neobisnuita calatorie a Serafimei", or "Seraphima's strange journey".

The Song of the Three Holy Youths

And the Romanian variant:

Potato, Radish Greens Soup

Ingredients:

4 medium size potatoes, unpeeled, cut in quarters

1 onion, peeled, cut in half

6 garlic cloves

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp turmeric

5 cups of radish greens

3 tbsp olive oil

Salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil together in 4 cups of water, on low to medium heat (lid on) the first four ingredients (use only half of the garlic amount). When done, save 1 cup of the liquid, but blend the rest until smooth. Put the puree back in the pot.

Separately, blend together the spices, remaining garlic, the greens and olive oil (for extra protein and omega 3 fatty acids, one can add 3 tbsp. hemp seeds). Add the cup of the water in which the potatoes boiled and mix well. Combine with the potato puree and serve. May store in the fridge for 1 day.

 

There is Hope even Today

I am thankful for being able to listen to this great podcast called " Crazy days" by Fr. Josiah Trehnam. It provides great encouragement to go forward and not be ashamed or abandon The Church:
Fr. Josiah Trenham is the pastor of St. Andrew Orthodox Church in Riverside, California. He is also the founder and director of Patristic Nectar Publications, a non-profit corporation dedicated to the propagation of the inspired theology of the Church Fathers.

Crazy Days

Icon of St. Polycarp:
http://orthodoxpathway.blogspot.com/2012/09/polycarp-letter-to-philippians-8.html

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3)

Yesterday, the orthodox calendar commemorated among so many other saints, St. Euphrosinos The Cook (see my old post from 2014)- who is so dear to my heart! To me St. Euphrosinos  is such an amazing example of a soul who was indeed "poor in the spirit" and found the reaches of Heaven, while living. He was not smart, knowledgeable or achieved as we all think in the modern terms, but he was a true citizen of Heaven on Earth.

St. Euphrosinos please pray for us, the prideful souls living today.

 

The Venerable Euphrosynus the Cook of Alexandria was a monk of the ninth century at one of the monasteries in Palestine who had been translated to Paradise while fulfilling his obedience as a cook. His feast day is September 11.

 

https://orthodoxwiki.org/Euphrosynus_the_Cook
 

And since I started with the first Beatitude, what do the Holy Fathers say about the above bible verse?
https://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/the-beatitudes/poverty-in-spirit

more info here:

The Beatitudes
Fr. Josiah
"The Beatitudes, or the blessings, pronounced by our Lord Jesus Christ upon His faithful followers constitute the opening salvo in our Savior’s most famous teaching: The Sermon on the Mount. In these eight lectures each beatitude, one by one, is unveiled revealing the universal character of an authentic Christian. Those who inculcate these sacred dispositions manifest the face of Jesus Christ to the world. By incarnating the qualities of Jesus Christ our Savior, that is, poverty of spirit, mourning, gentleness, hunger and thirst for righteousness, mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking, and the joyful acceptance of persecution - believers become the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  We hope you will be greatly challenged and inspired by these lessons on authentic Christian character, the kind of character that manifests the presence of the Kingdom of God on the earth."

http://patristicnectar.org/free.html

and again:
“The Beatitudes” with Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain
 

Orthodox Cartoons

I am delighted that we have now quite a few orthodox cartoons for the children to enjoy. Some are now with English subtitles:

 This is my choice

 

 

The Battle of Kulikovo

 

 

 

for other cartoons see:

https://orthodoxchristianchildren.com/occ-tv-100002

..."the world through Jesus' eyes, and not our own"

"In all things, we, Orthodox Christians see the world through Jesus' eyes, and not our own....The spiritual world is the real world. This temporal world in which we live is fading fast, and one day will be no more."

(Thirsting for God in a land of shallow wells, by Matthew Gallatin).

"Blessed Art Thou Among Women"

"In the Orthodox Faith, we give Mary her just due when we venerate her with love and gratitude. She is not God. She is not our Savior. But she is that righteous, blessed woman through whom the Son of God entered the world, becoming Man. She is the one who willingly said "Yes!" to God, so that the rejecting "No!" that had resounded within the human race since the Fall might be forever silenced. She is the Mother of God. (Theotokos) He chose her to be the one who bore Him. In all the universe, in all of Heaven, there is none other like her.

Indeed, all generation shall call her Blessed!"

 

 

(Thirsting for God in a land of shallow wells, by Matthew Gallatin).

Saint Paisios the Athonite - An Interview from His Classmate Lady Beatrice Kailatzi

Let My Prayer Rise- The Censer

Suplicatory Canon to the Most Holy Theotokos and Evervirgin Mary

Suplicatory Canon to the Most Holy Theotokos and Evervirgin Mary in english. Ode 1 - 6 chanted by Eikona.

 

On the Icon of the Dormition of the Theotokos

"On August 15th, Orthodox Christians commemorate the Dormition, or “falling asleep”, of the Virgin Mary. The imagery and narrative of the icon of the Dormition comes from Holy Tradition as there is no scriptural account of her death. The icon is one through which we see gathered into a single frame and presented in a manner transcending time, the physical and spiritual events occurring during the time of the Virgin Mary’s death.

As the story goes, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary while she was praying at Golgotha. He foretold that in three days she would enter into rest. The Virgin Mary was overjoyed, and she prayed and gave thanks to God that soon she would be with her Son. The Lord heard her prayer and through it, He gathered far and wide all of the apostles and transported them through the clouds to her bedside.

After much bewilderment and joy at seeing each other again, the Apostles learned why they were brought together again. Each apostle approached for a blessing from the Virgin Mary while she praised them for their faith and endurance in preaching the Gospel of Christ. In a somber room thereafter, she peacefully gave up her soul.

This is the central moment in the icon. The grief stricken Apostles are crowded around the bed of the Virgin Mary. Paul’s disciples, Dionysius the Areopagite, Hierotheos, and Timothy can be seen in the background each holding the gospel. Mary’s maidservants, Sepphora, Abigail, and Jael are also present.

In the foreground, Paul bows reverently on the left while Peter bows and is censing on the right. John, the beloved apostle cared for Mary after Christ’s death, bows in mourning near the headrest.

At the moment of her passing, as heard in one of the hymns, all gazed fearfully at her body and were overcome with awe; causing Peter to cry out tearfully, “Oh Virgin, I see you clearly lying here supine, the life of all and I am struck with wonder, for in you did the delight of the life come to make his dwelling.”

The Virgin Mary’s soul thereafter passed over to the spiritual realm and was reunited with her Son. Christ is seen above her physical body and yet He is invisibly present, surrounded by the uncreated light, and unseen by those physically present. He holds an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, symbolizing the soul of the Virgin Mary being born into eternal life. A six-winged Seraphim hovers above, representing the bodiless host. In other versions of the icon, numerous angels are present and look on in wonder and awe at the entry into heaven of she who gave birth to God.

Later, the apostles sang spiritual hymns and followed the funeral procession to the tomb prepared in Gethsemane. By divine providence, the apostle Thomas arrived three days later and asked if he could reverence the Virgin Mary’s body once more. To the amazement of the Apostles, her body was nowhere to be seen when they opened her tomb. While this mysterious and miraculous matter has not been formally defined as a doctrine of the Church, it has long been part of Holy Tradition that the Virgin Mary’s body had been translated to heaven where she now resides with her Son.

St. Gregory Palamas offers a beautiful description of this translation, saying that the Virgin Mary was “taken up directly from the grave to the heavenly realm, from where she sends bright shafts of holy light and grace down to earth, illuminating all the space around the world and is venerated, admired, and hymned by all the faithful.” 1

The icon is usually being painted above the chief entrance to the nave, on the inner side, helping to remind us of our own death as we exit the sanctuary. But most of all, we are once more able to honor and admire the mother of the everlasting light, for it was she who through which life came into the world.

Video produced by Efstratios Papageorgiou

Written by Michael Gavalas"
from http://trisagionfilms.com/project/dormitionicon/

 

The Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God

 

Dormition of the Theotokos Icon and Fasting

http://trisagionfilms.com/project/dormitionicon/

The Icon of the Transfiguration of the Savior

  A view of Mount Tabor. On the bottom of the hill there are several Arab villages.

 

Gluten-free Banana Walnut Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups of gluten-free all-purpose baking flour (I used quinoa flour)

1 tsp baking soda

3 eggs

3 mashed bananas

¼ cup sugar

½ cup milk

1/3 cup duck fat

Dash of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

 

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, milk, fat, vanilla. Mash the bananas and add to mix and stir well. Pour in a pre-greased glass loaf pans. Sprinkle with the walnuts.

Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Yield: 1 loaf. Enjoy!

There are still Desert Monks today

At St. Anthony's Monastery in Arizona:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=gTqNx7nXJQI&app=desktop

The Pantocrator - The Ruler of All

" This video describes the history and symbolism of the icon of the Pantocrator when used in the dome of Eastern Orthodox churches. Παντοκράτωρ (pantocrator) is Greek for "the ruler of all." The iconic image of Christ Pantocrator was one of the first images of Christ developed in the Early Christian Church and remains a central icon of the Eastern Orthodox Church"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1a17zFbaPU

Purslane- pest or help?

Great salad recipe with purslanes:

http://amychaplin.com/2010/06/12/purslane-salad-with-flax-chive-dressing/

More about this weed:

"Our grocery store has a very limited diversity of the edible plants from our environment. Many plants that are deemed "weeds" and eradicated from landscapes are indeed very nutritious and can be produced cheaply, without pesticides, and eaten much fresher than salad from our local store. Purslane is one example."

http://blog.docbray.com/2016/02/omega-3-in-plants.html

Nasturtiums- are nice edible flowers

"Nasturtium /nəˈstɜːr.ʃəm/ is a genus of seven plant species in the family Brassicaceae (cabbage family), best known for the edible watercresses Nasturtium microphyllum (Rorippa microphylla) and Nasturtium officinale (R. nasturtium-aquaticum). Nasturtium was previously synonymised with Rorippa, but molecular evidence supports its maintenance as a distinct genus more closely related to Cardamine than to Rorippa sensu stricto (Al-Shehbaz & Price, 1998; Al-Shehbaz, Beilstein & Kellogg, 2006). Yellowcress is a common name for plants in this genus"

Simple Kale chickpea salad:

http://amychaplin.com/2014/05/11/simple-kale-chickpea-saladhappy-mothers-day/

Edible weed in your backyard- Sheep Sorrel

Rumex acetosella is a species of sorrel, bearing the common names sheep's sorrel, red sorrel, sour weed, and field sorrel. The plant and its subspecies are common perennial weeds.

Wikipedia points out that there are several uses of sheep sorrel in the preparation of food including a garnish, a tart flavoring agent, a salad green, and a curdling agent for cheese. The leaves have a lemony, tangy or nicely tart flavor. Try to collect leaves at the basal rosette stage. The leaves can be eaten from spring through autumn, but the leaves on the flowered plant are smaller than those of the basal rosette stage. These plants can contain quite high levels of oxalic acid, which is what gives the leaves of many members of this genus an acid-lemon flavor. Perfectly alright in small quantities, the leaves should not be eaten in large amounts since the oxalic acid can lock-up other nutrients in the food, especially calcium, thus causing mineral deficiencies. The oxalic acid content will be reduced if the plant is cooked. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet since it can aggravate their condition, when eaten daily.

The above text is meant for informational purposes only. It is not meant to diagnose or treat any illness or injury. Always consult with a physician or other qualified medical care provider concerning the diagnosis and treatment of any illness or injury.

"The true Christian is both glad to live and glad to die!" (St. Paisios)

Confrunting Death!

http://orthodoxinfo.com/death/be-ready-an-approach-to-the-mystery-of-death-by-hieromonk-gregorios.pdf

Gourmet Salad At Homé Restauranté

My husband came home from the farmers market with great food items. Here is the gourmet salad we will have for lunch at Home Restaurante. (lettuce, sunflower seeds, edible flowers- "peppery nose twister"-, green onions, olive oil and 2 tbsp. of sauerkraut juice, served with a piece of dark chocolate....). We did not buy the sauerkraut juice, I just had some left over from a sauerkraut jar.

The Conqueror of Death

"The Conqueror of Death is a documentary film that describes the days of the Passion Week
(the suffering Week, the week in which Christ suffered until death) and Sunday, the day that Christ has resurrected.
The film is designed so as to explain to a wider audience the implications of these events and the significance of the Resurrection of Christ.
The Divine Services and the Monastery life in the days of Passion Week and the Resurrection were recorded by Cinnamon production from Belgrade in Dečani Monastery between 2009-2012."

https://vimeo.com/95052830

Good morning!

I am looking forward for the Great Lent. Triodion is starting this Sunday. Can't believe!

In the meantime, I am experimenting with vegan breakfast options that I can use during the Lent.

This morning I decided to make this:
a plateful of colorful carrots, bok choy, cherry tomatoes, kiwi and organic peanut butter (almond butter is another option). I will have it with a cup of my homemade herbal tea (olive leaf, thyme, calendula, basil and lemongrass)! Lots of energy! Thank you God!

The fight against your own passions- New Russian Video

The theology students in Kazan, Russia were sending a powerful message:

Vesting of an Orthodox Priest

St. Ephrem The Syrian

Here is a short video about one of the great saints we have:
 

Carrot, Apple and Ginger Loaf

 

Here is a picture of a similar mixture of the carrot, apple and ginger pulp (and I added garlic, beet juice, corn flour and eggs, placed in a glass pan and baked it at 350 F for 30 minutes) to make a "vegan meatless loaf".

 

Carrot, Apple & Ginger Patties

Those patties are gluten-free.
 

Ingredients:

2 cups left over carrot, apple and ginger pulp from juicing (one can use this pulp and make other mixture combinations for patties with lentils, herbs, beans and quinoa, etc)

3 tbsp. coconut oil

3 tbsp. corn flour

Directions: Combine all ingredients and press with your hands to form the patties. Fry them in a stainless steel pan for 3-4 minutes on each side. Enjoy.

Father Gheorghe Calciu Center

For those of us interested in seeing this interesting movie I mentioned about, a while back, on this site (in October 2015), here is the website to order the DVD from:
http://7wordsmovie.com/

Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa (1925–2006) was a Romanian priest and dissident. He served 21 years in prison during the Communist regime. He was first imprisoned in 1948, but claimed his 1978 imprisonment was harsher. He had criticized Nicolae Ceauşescu's repressions and became seen as an "enemy of the state". Reportedly he suffered beatings and harassment in prison. He was released from prison due in part to pressure from supporters such as Ronald Reagan. He spent years in exile in Virginia and ultimately settled there permanently. In the mid-1980s he preached on the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe.  He was interred at the Petru Vodă Monastery in Poiana Teiului Commune, Neamţ County, Romania.

Exclusive movie distributor for North America: Saint Andrew Orthodox Church - Potomac, MD