May | 2006 | presvlisa's Xanga Site

Month: May 2006

Maria~Angelica is full member of the Church now! Our new little Orthodox Christian! Thank you all for your prayers; everything was really wonderful and I hope to post some pictures soon.

“As many of you as have been Baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia” (Gal 3:27)

~UPDATED~

Here is some video I took on my digital camera. Right before the baptism my video camera stopped working; so I only have video with no sound and for some reason the most important video clip, of Maria~Angelica actually being baptized, is turned the wrong way. Does anyone know how to fix that? I have tried to edit it but nothing works.
Just for fun we are signed with a talent agent; last night we were extras in a commercial for the Shark Central exhibit at the Newport Aquarium. It was a neat experience for the boys and Maria~Angelica too. She earned her first paycheck! Plus season passes to the aquarium. I took some pictures, I hope to post them eventually along with photos from Ancient Greek Day at school and our Church’s feast day.
I have an internet friend named Phyllis, who , along with her husband Will, is a Baptist Missionary to Russia. We have a great relationship and are enjoying a conversation about their presence (Protestant Missionaries in an Orthodox Country) on her blog and now on my message board. If anyone would like to follow it or add to the discussion , here is the link. www.Orthodoxchat.com .

My board is know for being a loving, supportive board, we are not confrontational. Please don’t post if you can’t be kind in your responses. Thank you.

Please remember us in prayer as we prepare for the Baptism of Maria~Angelica.
~Maria~Angelica is 7 months old today! ~

And already so talented.
~Being Greek~

By virtue of having grandparents on both  sides that immigrated from Greece and being married to a man, born , raised and educated in Athens, me, Basil’s mother, has been asked to bring the snack to school for “Greek Day”.

When your children go to a Classical and Christian School in the Reformed Protestant tradition, “Greek Day” means something entirely different than what it meant to me growing up as a second generation Greek American kid.

As an adult I am acutely aware of my place in the world as an Orthodox Christian. Being Greek is secondary but for the Greek Orthodox Christian they do go hand in hand. Tomorrow I will   introduce Basil’s second grade class to the foods of ancient Greece, and no I am not taking in gyros and baklava for the children to taste; if I am going bring in a snack for “ancient” Greek day it will be authentic fare ; figs, flat bread, chick peas, olives and grapes. I won’t be taking any fish or wine but I will treat the children to a modern Greek treat, kourambiedes.

I will also explain to the children that the ancient Greeks became Christians (if you are interested in this subject here’s a book for you, “Converted Hellenism:The transition from Antiquity to Christianity” ) and how the places they read about in their Bibles, the places where the Holy Apostles preached to the ancient Greece, still exist today, that the Churches the apostles planted still exist today that the Church traces it’s roots back to Pentecost and the apostles.  That 98% of the Greeks in the modern day country of Greece are Orthodox Christians, that we are proud of the achievements of the Ancient Greeks and their contributions to the world but even prouder to be followers of Christ and that hundreds of thousands of Greeks died for Christ , that the Greeks through the centuries were persecuted for being Christians and that to this day the Church is still alive and well in Greece and it has survived under occupations and persecution since the first century.

Pray for me that I am a good witness to my heritage both culturally and spiritually!

Say a prayer for Basil too! He is Zeus in the play the second grade will be performing tomorrow. But more importantly pray for Basil to always be a good Christian witness and apologists for the Greek Orthodox Church!

Glory be to God for all things!

MEMORY ETERNAL!

Dr Jaroslav Pelikan falls asleep in the Lord

CRESTWOOD, NY [OCA Communications] — Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan, world class Church historian and theologian, fell asleep in the Lord on Saturday afternoon, May 13, after a lengthy battle with cancer.

For decades, Dr. Pelikan served as an historian, theologian, professor, author, and ordained minister in the Lutheran Church. He and his wife were received into the Orthodox Christian Church in Three Hierarchs Chapel at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Crestwood, NY, in 1998.

Dr. Pelikan was recognized by many as the most noted Church historian of our times. Born in Akron, OH, the son of a Lutheran pastor, he joined the Yale faculty in 1962 as the Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History and in 1972 was appointed to the Sterling Professorship. In 1995, he was named Sterling Professor Emeritus. He served as acting dean and then dean of the Graduate School from 1973 until 1978 and was the William Clyde DeVane Lecturer from 1984 until 1986 and in the fall of 1995. His more than 30 books include the acclaimed five-volume work “The Christian Tradition.”

Dr. Pelikan’s numerous awards include the Graduate School’s 1979 Wilbur Cross Medal and the Medieval Academy of America’s 1985 Haskins Medal. In 1983 the National Endowment for the Humanities selected Professor Pelikan to deliver the 12th annual Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, the highest honor conferred by the federal government for outstanding achievement in the humanities. In 1992-93 he presented the Guifford Lectures in Scotland, an honor considered comparable to winning the Nobel Prize. He has been editor of the religion section of Encyclopedia Britannica, and in 1980 he founded the Council of Scholars at the Library of Congress. His numerous professional affiliations also includes the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of which he is president. During the administration of President Bill Clinton, he was appointed to serve on the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Dr. Pelikan was appointed chairperson for the Orthodox Church in America’s Department of History and Archives in 2002. His lifelong experience as a renowned historian served to guide and inspire the department’s work. In a presentation to the Holy Synod of Bishops in October 2003, he eloquently addressed the importance of history in Church life and the necessity of proper archival preservation in the Church at all levels.

In 2004, Dr. Pelikan received the John W. Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Human Sciences.

Among his countless activities, professional and personal, Dr. Pelikan served as a member of the seminary’s board of trustees. Three Hierarchs Chapel remained his “parish home” since the time of his reception into the Church.

Further information may be found on the seminary web site at www.svots.edu. A detailed personal reflection on Dr. Pelikan’s life and work written by the Rev. John Erickson, dean of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, may be found at www.svots.edu/Events/Summer-Institute/2003/readings/Pelikan-Legend.html.

~ANTHONY KEARNS~

Saturday night Basil and I went to hear Athony Kearns , one of The Irish Tenors. Here is a review of the evening, it was really lovely! Basil enjoyed himself a lot and was excited to get his Irish Tenors CDs signed. Basil was really cute and we had a good time! Hopefully the school raised lots of money too!

Basil and me with Anthony Kearns and Patrick Healy at the “meet and greet”

“The Real McCoys” , the Celtic band from school, played during the “meet and greet”. They are REALLY good; Basil and I enjoy them a lot!

Basil applauding “The Real McCoys” (Basil’s signed CDs and poster are on his lap he was so excited. )

Mothers in God’s Service

Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all called to serve God. Whatever talents He has given us, we should choose to use in the service of His glorification. One such talent is the ability of a woman to care for the children she bears. She takes care of their physical needs and also tries to promote what she herself perceives as a need to know God. To women, God has given the wonderful mission of raising children, of building little temples for Him, raising another generation inspired to praise God.

Orthodox Christians understand just how exalted motherhood is. Has God not willed to be incarnate of a woman – Mary, the blessed offspring of aged Joachim and Anna? She was found worthy to take part in the mystery of the incarnation, having perfected in her soul purity, humility, obedience, silence, simplicity and a gentle disposition. She knew that such is precious in the sight of God (I Pet. 3:4). And in the environment of her purity of mind and speech, as well as her quiet comportment, she raised her holy Son with gentle love and care. While she is unique in her holiness, she is absolutely beautiful in her humanity. Perhaps every woman cherishes the wish in her heart to have the special grace that renders the Mother of God the saint of saints and the model of purity and silence.

To all who are called by God to motherhood, may it be granted not only to be worthy servants of His chosen flock, but also to take part in raising that God-glorifying generation. While God entrusts the leading to spiritual growth and development of virtues to many people, including priests and godparents, He chooses women to serve Him in motherhood, and we ought to understand that it is a holy calling. A woman worthy of being called “mother” is also worthy of being deemed “martyr” because raising children is a great sacrifice of self. Do not underestimate the serious and holy service you render when you accept from God to raise the little ones He gives you.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Reprinted with permission from Life Transfigured: A Journal of Orthodox Nuns, Vol. 21, No. 2, Summer 1989, p.10. Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Ellwood City, PA.

© 1998 by Orthodox Family Life and the original author(s).
www.theologic.com
The love of God is not taught. No one has taught us to enjoy the light or to be attached to life more than anything else. And no one has taught us to love the two people who brought us into the world and educated us. Which is all the more reason to believe that we did not learn to love God as a result of outside instruction. In the very nature of every human being has been sown the seed of the ability to love. You and I ought to welcome this seed, cultivate it carefully, nourish it attentively and foster its growth by going to the school of God’s commandments with the help of His grace.

~ St. Basil the Great
~ The Patience of Job~

May God grant us all the patience and devotion of Job, whose feast day is celebrated today, May 6th, in the Orthodox Church.

Righteous Job the Long-Suffering

The righteous Job (whose name means “persecuted”), God’s faithful servant, was the perfect image of every virtue. The son of Zarah and Bossorha (Job 42), Job was a fifth-generation descendent of Abraham. He was a truthful, righteous, patient and pious man who abstained from every evil thing. Job was very rich and blessed by God in all things, as was no other son of Ausis (his country, which lay between Idoumea and Arabia). However, divine condescension permitted him to be tested.

Job lost his children, his wealth, his glory, and every consolation all at once. His entire body became a terrible wound covered with boils. Yet he remained steadfast and patient in the face of his misfortune for seven years, always giving thanks to God.

Later, God restored his former prosperity, and he had twice as much as before. Job lived for 170 years after his misfortune, completing his earthly life in 1350 B.C. at the age of 240. Some authorities say that Job’s afflictions lasted only one year, and that afterwards he lived for 140 years, reaching the age of 210.

Job’s explanations are among the most poetic writings in the Old Testament book which bears his name. It is one of the most edifying portions of Holy Scripture. Job teaches us that we must endure life’s adversities patiently and with trust in God. As St Anthony the Great (January 17) says, without temptations, it is impossible for the faithful to be saved.

The Orthodox Church reads the book of Job, the first of the seven wisdom books of the Old Testament, during Holy Week, drawing a parallel between Job and Christ as righteous men who suffered through no fault of their own. God allowed Satan to afflict Job so that his faithfulness would be proven. Christ, the only sinless one, suffered voluntarily for our sins. The Septuagint text of Job 42:17 says that Job “will rise again with those whom the Lord raises up.” This passage is read on Great and Holy Friday, when the composite Gospel at Vespers speaks of the tombs being opened at the moment the Savior died on the Cross, and the bodies of the saints were raised, and they appeared to many after Christ’s Resurrection (Mt.27:52)