Immersed in Scripture

Monday night as I listened to the Bridegroom Matins service being chanted I was struck. One principal objection protestants have with Orthodoxy is that we don't rely enough on scripture - "sola scriptura" - just the Bible ma'am. Of course, anyone who attends Bible study, reads a devotional book or listens to a pastor's sermon has violated sola scriptura - we all rely on something as a guide for interpretation - whether it be the holy fathers who lived at the time of the apostles, the fathers of the reformation, or modern day worship leaders and preachers. The thing that struck me was how completely immersed we really are in the scriptures. Bridegroom Orthros is just over an hour service. In that hour, we prayed 9 different Psalms, listened to one Old Testament reading, several summaries of parables Christ told, and 2 Gospel readings. In the morning at the Presanctified liturgy, there will be 22 Psalms read. The liturgy of the church is mostly a combination of Psalms, passages from the Old and New Testament, litanies requesting prayer for the church and the world, and ancient hymns that are typically based on the Psalms and other scripture passages. Nearly every word the priest utters comes from scripture. So while we may not have as many Bible studies, if we are immersed in the life of the church, if we attend the cycle of services regularly, we are singing and praying the scriptures constantly.

Holy Week in Color

In a style along the lines of the Days of Creation plans from St. Michael's School, I decided the kids could illustrate the readings from Matins this week. We all attended Bridegroom Orthros last evening, then this morning I asked the kids what they remembered about the service. Between them they managed to recall all the major parables and themes for the night. Then they set to work painting.

The little princess hard at work illustrating the vineyard parables.
Here is the finished product.

Here was her illustration of the Patriarch Joseph whom we remember on Holy Monday.

The crocodile hunter did his version of the parables of the vineyard.

and here is the Queen's illustration - those purple things sticking out are grapes growing from the tree (guess we need a botany lesson next :).

Hosanna!

Easy dresses for Palm Sunday? I just made new sashes in soft pink silk dupioni to replace the red ones from the anniversary party last fall!

Memory Eternal

As I roll the wheat berries around on a large sheet, I think about the way the church engages our senses. We were created to experience life on so many levels, sight, sound, taste, touch, smell - and I am always thankful for the way the Orthodox Church recognizes our need for all of these to be a part of worship. Five years ago, on Bright Tuesday (April 14) my beloved grandmother left us. She had been in and out of the hospital since January, and at times we were under the impression everything was fine. Then, a few weeks into Lent she took a turn for the worse. I was about 20 weeks pregnant with my third child, and much of Lent was consumed with visits to the hospital to see Grandma. She was my only surviving grandparent, my father's parents both died before I was born, and my maternal grandfather died when I was 8 from a painful battle with lung cancer. Grandma had always been there though, and she doted on her great-grandchildren - my two oldest - 3 and 5 at the time. We got through Pascha, and were saddened that she was not able to join us for services. I remember Agape Vespers thinking - I should go to the hospital, but we were so exhuasted, and she wouldn't know we were there (at least that is what everyone told me). I planned to go see her Tuesday, but the princess had gymnastics, and I just honestly forgot. Halfway through class I received the call from my husband - her battle was over, she was gone, and I had forgotten to go see her that morning. I grabbed my 3 year old out of class, buckled her into the car, and with tears running down my face hurriedly explained that great-grandma had died. My sweet precious girl looked at me and said, but mommy, why are you crying, Christ is risen from the dead, and then she sang at the top of her lungs "Christ is Risen from the Dead" as I drove home to meet my husband and get to the hospital. It was the middle of April, but it snowed that day - it snowed the entire drive home, and my sweet girl sang all the way.

If you have ever experienced a Bright Week funeral, you will understand when I say, the most beautiful death is to die during Bright Week. That night when we received her body at the church, the air was heavy with the fragrance of lilies. The church was still filled with beautiful flowers, and the funeral vigil recalled the vigil held just a few nights earlier for Christ. It is the only time of year when we sing the hymn Christ is risen at a funeral. There is an air of joy and anticipation that no other season allows. The scent still makes me think of her, the sound of Christ is Risen being sung, the feel of wheat berries rolled under my hand, the jewelled beauty of pomegranate purchased in season and then frozen for this special day, and the sight of purple flowers - her favorite. So, in honor of our beloved Joanna, so new to the Orthodox faith, so beloved of her church, so missed by her family - Memory Eternal.

Resurrection Garden

This idea came from Ann at Holy Experience and was a wonderful way to mark Lazarus Saturday. I went shopping this afternoon for the last few items for Holy Week and stopped at a local hardware store to find these lovely plants.
The crocodile hunter spent over an hour carving the hole in the rock to create our tomb, then we carefully placed our plants to create our garden. Ann suggests wrapping a clay caterpillar in linen for Holy Friday, then replacing it with a butterfly on Sunday morning. We will probably wrap a linen figure and place it within the tomb, and I have a set of figures which include the risen Christ and Mary Magdalene kneeling at his feet that I think would be perfect for Sunday morning. We are also planning to take the garden to church on Saturday evening and use it to decorate our table for the Paschal feast.

Spring Time Bluebirds, yummy!

What says spring time better than little nests of baby bluebirds? These cupcakes were for my nieces for their birthday party this year - here are the original cupcakes - I opted for icing nests in deference to the younger crowd, though aren't they darling in coconut?

skirty fun

In case there are some of you out there who have not yet discovered the wonderful "skirty", let me introduce you! The perfect solution for little girls who love to run and play, and not show the world their drawers :) My girls love to wear them and they look just darling under skirts and dresses.