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Candles in the dark

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I do want to talk about Kairos more sometime when I can think more about it. Just a quick thought, stealing more from Standing at the Corner of East and Now from Frederica Mathewes-Green: Between the songs the lead singer urges listeners not to let the joy of the faith grow cold in their hearts. I hear several bands give messages like this between songs, which makes me wonder if cooling emotion is a recurrent problem. It doesn’t seem to be a concern that listeners will actually lose their faith, but rather that they’ll fail to experience a sufficiently vivid level of emotional engagement with it, that they may gradually grow numb or take it for granted. A liturgical church has an advantage over one where worship is relatively spontaneous, in that people powered by religious emotion simply do run out of steam. Where there is a liturgy you show up each week and merge into that stream, and allow the prayers to shape you. But where the test of successful worship is ho...
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Kairos

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During Christmas break, I noticed one day that AncientFaith ’s ebooks were on sale for $5 each! I bought five, and I have read three of them. I am currently reading the fourth. Darren and I have been talking recently about how during services at church, we frequently experience a phenomenon where it feels like we are transported somewhere else. Or maybe some time else. It’s like we enter the realm of heaven where the prayers are constantly occurring with the saints and angels. In two of the books I have read so far, I have encountered an explanation for why we experience this. It’s because of Kairos. Bear with me—their explanations of Kairos are better than I can paraphrase.  I have more I want to say about this, but I have been tired lately, so when I get time to write, I'm too tired. So, with perfect being the enemy of good enough, I'll just let these stand for now.  From Everyday Wonders by Michael Oleska [the bolding is mine, for emphasis]: “In the mode...
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Matushka Olga

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My saint found me! I can't wholesale steal information about her, so here is a link to some gems.
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Three Hermits

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I read a story last night around 2 am that I thought I'd share because I really liked it. It's a summary of a story by Tolstoy: "A bishop and several pilgrims are travelling on a fishing boat from Archangel to the Solovétsk Monastery. During the voyage, the bishop overhears a discussion about a remote island, nearby their course, where three old hermits live a spartan existence focused on seeking "salvation for their souls."  Inquiring about the hermits, the bishop finds that several of the fishermen claim to have seen the hermits once. The bishop then informs the captain that he wishes to visit the island. The captain seeks to dissuade him by saying, "the old men are not worth your pains. I have heard say that they are foolish old fellows, who understand nothing, and never speak a word." The bishop insists and the captain steers the ship toward the island.  The bishop subsequently sets off in a rowboat to visit. He is met ashore by the thr...
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Prayer as love

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Nov. 4, 2019 This weekend was a lot about prayer. After our neighbors left for the hospital for the baby's MRI on Saturday, we came in and lit candles and incense in the censer and said prayers for the sick. Afterwards, I was trying to open the censer so I could add more incense (it comes in bags and it looks like little tiny rocks)  to the hot coal, and the censer tipped over, because it's HOT and the lid is heavy, and the coal slid behind the bookcase. (By the way, when I light the charcoal for the incense and blow on it, I have to laugh that my years smoking hookah weren't a complete waste). So, we had to move the bookcase out, put the hot coal into a cup of water with a wet paper towel, and sweep up the sand and ashes that spilled. When we got everything put back, I lit the censer again. We have beeswax candles that burn super fast, so I need to start thinking about buying more. It's nice to be able to buy them from the church-- you can buy candles of all s...
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Saints Cyprian & Justina

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Nov. 1, 2019 Last night, we said an Akathist to Saints Cyprian & Justina . Father Justin wrote in an email: "(They are especially invoked for those under demonic influence, very important for us to pray for the world on this night)." I am not sure whether this was a Vespers? I guess I need to find out what an Akathist is. Spelling it correctly would be a good start-- I was omitting the end "t." An Akathist is a hymn dedicated to a saint, holy event, or one of the members of the Trinity. I guess it can still be considered Vespers, though, because of the time of the day (we go to Vespers on Saturday nights because in Orthodox time, the liturgical day starts the evening before). The prayers themselves tell the story of the saints. To paraphrase from the link above, Cyprian was a powerful Wiccan in 249AD, in Antioch. He was trained by sorcerers from a very young age, and dabbled in the Dark Arts, as we say in the 21st century. He commanded demons, and ...
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Lord Jesus Christ, Have Mercy on Me

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Father Paul also talked to us about praying. He admitted that up until a couple of years ago, he hated praying. He did it, but mostly to check off boxes. In Orthodoxy (and this is true also in Catholicism and the Episcopal church, to certain degrees-- I don't know about other traditions as much, but it's been a pretty new concept to us), you follow a Prayer "Rule." Usually given to you by your priest. But it usually involves saying prayers that are ancient, and that you either memorize or read from a prayer book. We say the same prayers every morning and every evening. I should probably say the Midday prayers somehow at work or at least on the weekends, but I don't. There are also prayers for grace, and we sort of do a modification of that. But you can also say the Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Have Mercy on Me. Variations of that are: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner. I learned, also, recently, that you you can use the Jesus Prayer to...
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