Thank you all for all your sweet comments for Maria~Angelica. Here are a few pictures of her . She was all bundled up the other day, it is FREEZING here. The kids at school, especially the girls, really enjoy Maria~Angelica. They are so polite when they ask me to hold her and then they line up to take turns. Nicholas’ name day celebration went really well. We are so grateful to have the children at a Christian school that not only respects our Christian tradition as Orthodox Christians, but is also very interested to learn more! The teachers were all very excited and the children too. They all sung, “Happy NAMEDAY to you”, to Nicholas.  I had a big basket filled with bags of chocolate gold coins, wooden St. Nicholas icons and photocopied books of the one I read to the class. The children enjoyed coloring the books.  After we left the school. Jonah, Maria~Angelica and I met up with my parents for lunch. Jonah was so cute. The minute he sat down across from my dad he said, “So Papou, are you having a good name day?”

I prepared a note to send home to the parents and gave each child a bag of chocolate coins and an icon from Nicholas’ baptism. Nicholas was so pleased to be able to pass out the icons to all his friends. They learn about iconography in art and in the 4th grade they make icons in art class. History and art are taught in tandem.

Here is my letter to the parents. I printed it on pretty Christmas paper. I regret not taking a picture of the basket with everything: the icons, coins, books, all lined up and ready to go.

Here is the book I read to them. The Life of St. Nicholas

We copied it in black and white from the original colored so the children were able to color the pictures.

 the icon

and the bag of gold coins

(Thank you Mom for finding these for me and buying them too! )

Nicholas’ class coloring their  books and holding up their St. Nicholas icons.

At lunch time with Maria~Angelica.

The “two Angelicas”,  my Goddaughter, Angelica, holding her Godsister.

On the way home…. It’s exhausting being cute!

I added more photos to the photo section of my blog. Click on “photos” in the upper left hand corner, it is a bit hard to read the word “photos”.

Random thoughts…

Today is HUGE! I am thrilled that I will never again have to smell smoke in a restaurant or any other public place. Whoohoo! No more smoking in public! I will never have again have an asthma attack, stinky hair or stinky clothes due to second hand smoke and the best of all our children will never again have to smell that stinking stuff and their little lungs will be protected. YAY!! Glory be to God and the voters of Ohio!

In Maria~Angelica news…she is walking like crazy and it is just the cutest thing. Some nights she doesn’t want to go to bed, she just wants to walk circles around the house, in one room and out of another. She says “dis” (this), mainly when she wakes up and is tugging at my shirt to nurse, again just the cutest thing ever. She says, “Mom“, just like the boys do and she loves to blow kisses, and sing, most of her lyrics consist of variations of “weeeeee”. She also likes to click her tongue in affirmation of something. I haven’t quite figured this one out, but it is sweet the way she  communicates and looks you straight in the eye while clicking her little tongue, she is clearly trying to tell me something. She also loves to eat and enjoys, scrambled eggs, peanut butter sandwiches, cheese, soup, just about anything you offer her. She is a lot like Jonah that way.

Nicholas’ name day went really well at school yesterday. More on that later, with pictures. Today is a snow day and I am taking the boys for haircuts and new shoes in preparation for their Christmas program at school  and their first piano recital on  Saturday.

Today, December 6th, is St. Nicholas Day and Nicholas’ name day.  It is also my father’s name day! Happy Name day Dad!

Who was St. Nicholas? Read his amazing story below. Our children are fond of  saying, “Santa Claus isn’t real, but St. Nicholas is!”.

 Happy Feast day everyone!

May God Grant our little Nicholas and his Papou Nicholas, Many Years!

St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archbishop of Myra in Lycia Saint Nicholas, the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia is famed as a great saint pleasing unto God. He was born in the city of Patara in the region of Lycia (on the south coast of the Asia Minor peninsula), and was the only son of pious parents Theophanes and Nonna, who had vowed to dedicate him to God. As the fruit of the prayer of his childless parents, the infant Nicholas from the very day of his birth revealed to people the light of his future glory as a wonderworker. His mother, Nonna, after giving birth was immediately healed from illness. The newborn infant, while still in the baptismal font, stood on his feet three hours, without support from anyone, thereby honoring the Most Holy Trinity. St. Nicholas from his infancy began a life of fasting, and on Wednesdays and Fridays he would not accept milk from his mother until after his parents had finished their evening prayers. From his childhood Nicholas thrived on the study of Divine Scripture; by day he would not leave church, and by night he prayed and read books, making himself a worthy dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Bishop Nicholas of Patara rejoiced at the spiritual success and deep piety of his nephew. He ordained him a reader, and then elevated Nicholas to the priesthood, making him his assistant and entrusting him to instruct the flock. In serving the Lord the youth was fervent of spirit, and in his proficiency with questions of faith he was like an Elder, who aroused the wonder and deep respect of believers. Constantly at work and vivacious, in unceasing prayer, the priest Nicholas displayed great kind-heartedness towards the flock, and towards the afflicted who came to him for help, and he distributed all his inheritance to the poor. There was a certain formerly rich inhabitant of Patara, whom St. Nicholas saved from great sin. The man had three grown daughters, and in desparation he planned to sell their bodies so they would have money for food. The saint, learning of the man’s poverty and of his wicked intention, secretly visited him one night and threw a sack of gold through the window. With the money the man arranged an honorable marriage for his daughter. St. Nicholas also provided gold for the other daughters, thereby saving the family from falling into spiritual destruction. In bestowing charity, St. Nicholas always strove to do this secretly and to conceal his good deeds. The Bishop of Patara decided to go on pilgrimage to the holy places at Jerusalem, and entrusted the guidance of his flock to St. Nicholas, who fulfilled this obedience carefully and with love. When the bishop returned, Nicholas asked his blessing for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Along the way the saint predicted a storm would arise and threaten the ship. St. Nicholas saw the devil get on the ship, intending to sink it and kill all the passengers. At the entreaty of the despairing pilgrims, he calmed the waves of the sea by his prayers. Through his prayer a certain sailor of the ship, who had fallen from the mast and was mortally injured was also restored to health. When he reached the ancient city of Jerusalem and came to Golgotha, St. Nicholas gave thanks to the Savior. He went to all the holy places, worshiping at each one. One night on Mount Sion, the closed doors of the church opened by themselves for the great pilgrim. Going round the holy places connected with the earthly service of the Son of God, St. Nicholas decided to withdraw into the desert, but he was stopped by a divine voice urging him to return to his native country. He returned to Lycia, and yearning for a life of quietude, the saint entered into the brotherhood of a monastery named Holy Sion, which had been founded by his uncle. But the Lord again indicated another path for him, “Nicholas, this is not the vineyard where you shall bear fruit for Me. Return to the world, and glorify My Name there.” So he left Patara and went to Myra in Lycia. Upon the death of Archbishop John, Nicholas was chosen as Bishop of Myra after one of the bishops of the Council said that a new archbishop should be revealed by God, not chosen by men. One of the elder bishops had a vision of a radiant Man, Who told him that the one who came to the church that night and was first to enter should be made archbishop. He would be named Nicholas. The bishop went to the church at night to await Nicholas. The saint, always the first to arrive at church, was stopped by the bishop. “What is your name, child?” he asked. God’s chosen one replied, “My name is Nicholas, Master, and I am your servant.” After his consecration as archbishop, St. Nicholas remained a great ascetic, appearing to his flock as an image of gentleness, kindness and love for people. This was particularly precious for the Lycian Church during the persecution of Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Bishop Nicholas, locked up in prison together with other Christians for refusing to worship idols, sustained them and exhorted them to endure the fetters, punishment and torture. The Lord preserved him unharmed. Upon the accession of St. Constantine (May 21) as emperor, St. Nicholas was restored to his flock, which joyfully received their guide and intercessor. Despite his great gentleness of spirit and purity of heart, St. Nicholas was a zealous and ardent warrior of the Church of Christ. Fighting evil spirits, the saint made the rounds of the pagan temples and shrines in the city of Myra and its surroundings, shattering the idols and turning the temples to dust. In the year 325 St. Nicholas was a participant in the First Ecumenical Council. This Council proclaimed the Nicean Symbol of Faith, and he stood up against the heretic Arius with the likes of Sts. Sylvester the Bishop of Rome (January 2), Alexander of Alexandria (May 29), Spyridon of Trimythontos (December 12) and other Fathers of the Council. St. Nicholas, fired with zeal for the Lord, assailed the heretic Arius with his words, and also struck him upon the face. For this reason, he was deprived of the emblems of his episcopal rank and placed under guard. But several of the holy Fathers had the same vision, seeing the Lord Himself and the Mother of God returning to him the Gospel and omophorion. The Fathers of the Council agreed that the audacity of the saint was pleasing to God, and restored the saint to the office of bishop. Having returned to his own diocese, the saint brought it peace and blessings, sowing the word of Truth, uprooting heresy, nourishing his flock with sound doctrine, and also providing food for their bodies. Even during his life the saint worked many miracles. One of the greatest was the deliverance from death of three men unjustly condemned by the Governor, who had been bribed. The saint boldly went up to the executioner and took his sword, already suspended over the heads of the condemned. The Governor, denounced by St. Nicholas for his wrong doing, repented and begged for forgiveness. Witnessing this remarkable event were three military officers, who were sent to Phrygia by the emperor Constantine to put down a rebellion. They did not suspect that soon they would also be compelled to seek the intercession of St. Nicholas. Evil men slandered them before the emperor, and the officers were sentenced to death. Appearing to St. Constantine in a dream, St. Nicholas called on him to overturn the unjust sentence of the military officers. He worked many other miracles, and struggled many long years at his labor. Through the prayers of the saint, the city of Myra was rescued from a terrible famine. He appeared to a certain Italian merchant and left him three gold pieces as a pledge of payment. He requested him to sail to Myra and deliver grain there. More than once, the saint saved those drowning in the sea, and provided release from captivity and imprisonment. Having reached old age, St. Nicholas peacefully fell asleep in the Lord. His venerable relics were preserved incorrupt in the local cathedral church and flowed with curative myrrh, from which many received healing. In the year 1087, his relics were transferred to the Italian city of Bari, where they rest even now (See May 9). The name of the great saint of God, the hierarch and wonderworker Nicholas, a speedy helper and suppliant for all hastening to him, is famed in every corner of the earth, in many lands and among many peoples. In Russia there are a multitude of cathedrals, monasteries and churches consecrated in his name. There is, perhaps, not a single city without a church dedicated to him. The first Russian Christian prince Askold (+ 882) was baptized in 866 by Patriarch Photius (February 6) with the name Nicholas. Over the grave of Askold, St. Olga (July 11) built the first temple of St. Nicholas in the Russian Church at Kiev. Primary cathedrals were dedicated to St. Nicholas at Izborsk, Ostrov, Mozhaisk, and Zaraisk. At Novgorod the Great, one of the main churches of the city, the Nikolo-Dvorischensk church, later became a cathedral. Famed and venerable churches and monasteries dedicated to St. Nicholas are found at Kiev, Smolensk, Pskov, Toropetsa, Galich, Archangelsk, Great Ustiug, Tobolsk. Moscow had dozens of churches named for the saint, and also three monasteries in the Moscow diocese: the Nikolo-Greek (Staryi) in the Chinese-quarter, the Nikolo-Perervinsk and the Nikolo-Ugreshsk. One of the chief towers of the Kremlin was named the Nikolsk. Many of the churches devoted to the saint were those established at market squares by Russian merchants, sea-farers and those who traveled by land, venerating the wonderworker Nicholas as a protector of all those journeying on dry land and sea. They sometimes received the name among the people of “Nicholas soaked.” Many village churches in Russia were dedicated to the wonderworker Nicholas, venerated by peasants as a merciful intercessor before the Lord for all the people in their work. And in the Russian land St. Nicholas did not cease his intercession. Ancient Kiev preserves the memory about the miraculous rescue of a drowning infant by the saint. The great wonderworker, hearing the grief-filled prayers of the parents for the loss of their only child, took the infant from the waters, revived him and placed him in the choir-loft of the church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) before his wonderworking icon. In the morning the infant was found safe by his thrilled parents, praising St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Many wonderworking icons of St. Nicholas appeared in Russia and came also from other lands. There is the ancient Byzantine embordered image of the saint, brought to Moscow from Novgorod, and the large icon painted in the thirteenth century by a Novgorod master. Two depictions of the wonderworker are especially numerous in the Russian Church: St. Nicholas of Zaraisk, portrayed in full-length, with his right hand raised in blessing and with a Gospel (this image was brought to Ryazan in 1225 by the Byzantine Princess Eupraxia, the future wife of Prince Theodore. She perished in 1237 with her husband and infant son during the incursion of Batu); and St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk, also in full stature, with a sword in his right hand and a city in his left. This recalls the miraculous rescue of the city of Mozhaisk from an invasion of enemies, through the prayers of the saint. It is impossible to list all the grace-filled icons of St. Nicholas, or to enumerate all his miracles. St. Nicholas is the patron of travelers, and we pray to him for deliverance from floods, poverty, or any misfortunes. He has promised to help those who remember his parents, Theophanes and Nonna.

Another great article by Fr. Aris. It is sad but true…..preach on Fr and maybe we will change our ways!

Spoiling for a Fight

Fr. Aris Metrakos

When did America’s Orthodox Christians become such conflict junkies? Sure, controversy has been part of the Church since her earliest days. Acts 15 describes a dispute that dwarfs any disagreement that the contemporary Church faces. By all accounts, the discussions at the Ecumenical Councils were often animated and even confrontational. But the drama that developed at these events emanated from the profundity of the issues, not the peevishness of the participants.

Today, many persons with diverging opinions in the Church behave more like divorcing celebrities than like the Apostles in Jerusalem or the Saints in Nicea. It’s not enough to disagree with a hierarch-an entire website must be dedicated to his destruction. Candidates for parish council run on the platform of “putting the priest in his place.” Teens like to hang out in the back of the church hall during parish assemblies because “the fights are really cool.”

In the absence of a hullabaloo we invent problems. Pastors of growing churches are “bringing in too many outsiders.” If the priest and parish council president are friends, it can only mean one thing: “They are concocting a conspiracy.” When the clergy and parish council have a good working relationship there is an obvious reason: “Father is a control freak and a puppet master.”

Why are so many churchgoing folk spoiling for a fight? Perhaps they come to church for the wrong reasons. Possibly unresolved psychological issues are to blame. Maybe they suffer from the same tribalism that has enthralled humanity since the first time a caveman discovered the satisfaction that comes from splitting open the skull of a member of a rival clan.

Whatever the reason, the polemics that pollute the atmosphere of our parishes is slowly killing us. Church conflict creates lots of collateral damage: Priests leave the ministry. Pious laypeople shy away from leadership positions. Communities atrophy, putrefy and then petrify. For those of us who are tired of the pettiness and verbal combat, here’s a simple roadmap to peace in our parishes.

Abandon the Notion of Constituencies

St. Paul condemned the formation of parties in the Church and even urged Titus to reject factious men. This is good advice for today. Splitting the Church into groups serves only the evil one.

Sometimes the divisiveness is well-intentioned but misguided. The chairman of one parish’s nominating committee reported proudly to his priest that So-and-So had agreed to run for the parish council. In the chairman’s eyes this was a good thing because this candidate could represent all of the “religious” people of the community. The chairman’s goal was to recruit nominees that “represent all agendas in the parish.”

There’s only one agenda that matters in the Church: grow the Body of Christ numerically and spiritually and help people in need.

No Secret Meetings

There should be no meeting to which the priest is not invited and of which the parish council is unaware-period. Gatherings outside of the normal chain-of-command undermine the authority of the church’s leadership and polarize the parish. There is nothing innocuous about a “special” budget committee meeting that is really a secret budget committee meeting. Rallies of “parishioners for truth” in the back room of a bar are anything but benign. Bypassing the chain-of-command without consulting the parish council and priest hits the community with an ecclesiastical sucker punch.

Deal Directly with People

The Bible models communication that is simple, honest, and direct. If an adult has a beef with another adult, the two should speak face-to-face, not through a third party. In order to hate someone we must first objectify him. Talking man-to-man (or woman-to-woman) derails this process.

One of the dads in my parish told me about something that happened at his home the other night. His wife and older son were exchanging cross words. He jumped in (rather ungracefully), and before Dad knew it he was yelling. The whole thing lasted less than three minutes, and afterward all three apologized. Their younger son was up in bed and became very upset with the fussing. Dad called him downstairs.

“Look, son,” he said, “In families we sometimes disagree with each other and even hurt one another’s feelings. We might raise our voices. But here’s what you need to know. People can disagree and still love one another. The three of us have already forgiven one another and we’re getting on with the evening. You see, we all want the best for one another and for the family. I pray that one day you and your own wife and children will deal with conflict in the same way. This is what happens in healthy families.”

Come to think of it, this is what happens in healthy churches too.

Rev. Aris P. Metrakos is a Greek Orthodox priest and pastor of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Columbia, SC. A former Naval Aviator, he spent seven years on active duty prior to attending seminary.

In case you missed it and if you did it is worth trying to find  repeated on your local EWTN station or on line at www.patriarchate.org. It was thrilling to watch. Both Fr. and I have been guests at the Patriarchate or as it is known in Greek, the Phanar (Fener), literally meaning- lighthouse. May the light of Christ always shine in a dark world!

Under Turkish Guns, Christians Roar

It is the peculiar genius of Byzantine history that its glory reached its apogee in the era known to the West as the Dark Ages. It has no great literary heritage — a half-millenium of Muslim domination ensured the annihilation from memory of its major works beyond the Alexiad of Anna Comnena, the anonymous epic of Digenes Akritis, and various religious texts. The latter survived because the Church survived, even as the Empire did not. Chief among them  are the great liturgies, and chief among the great liturgies is the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. It is the queen of liturgies: a Greek epic of its own, also of the Western Dark Ages, emphatic and deliberate in its insistent worship of Christ. The liturgy has a heavenly glory in its song and prayer. It also has a mundane length to it. Properly done, it lasts hours. Yesterday, it lasted five hours, from 8am to 1pm. It’s a feat of endurance for the best Christian – particularly as the great majority of it has one standing. I am not among the best Christians. But yesterday, I did it.
 
Yesterday, I was in the Church of St George at the compound of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Fener district of Istanbul. Across from me sat the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, holder of the last office of the Eastern Empire, and spiritual leader of the Orthodox Christians of the world. Mere feet away, within arm’s reach, sat Pope Benedict XVI.
 
The Patriarchal compound is a small place, kept deliberately so by the Turkish authorities who object to the claim of an ecumenical title by the Patriarch. No matter that the Patriarchate in Constantinople has been the Ecumenical Patriarchate since nearly eight hundred years before the Turkish seizure of this city, and no matter that even the Ottoman Sultans acknowledged this fact: the modern Turkish state believes the Patriarch to be merely the religious leader of the Orthodox Christians of Turkey – reduced from a thriving community of millions to a mere two thousand in Istanbul proper in the 20th century – and nothing more. So vehemently do they deny any greater role for the successor to St Andrew, that in this very week, they sent police personnel to tear down English-language banners with the phrase “Archon Pilgrimage to the Ecumenical Patriarchate” on it. The Archons are properly the Order of St Andrew, and they are a collection of lay worthies of the Greek Orthodox Church in America. They also had passes allowing them entry into the Patriarchate for this Liturgy with the Pope, and to the previous night’s Doxology; but because it too mentioned an “Ecumenical Patriarchate,” they were made to put them away before the Turkish police would allow them entry into the Patriarchal compound. They complied – what else could they do? – and in a nice irony, were issued badges by the Turks which read, “Istanbul Rum Patrikhanesi.” The Patriachate of the Romans of Istanbul. Even now, five hundred fifty-three years after the conquest, Turkish idiom acknowledges what the Great Church and its people once were.
 
The Church of St George, sole church in the Patriarchal compound, acknowledges it as well. Embedded in its walls, and strewn about its tiny grounds, are fragments from the hundreds of churches of old Constantinople that were demolished in the centuries of Muslim rule. Here there is a frieze of Christ. Here there is an Apostle. Here there is a slab of marble in which a scarred IC XC is inscribed. And here there is an imperial double-headed eagle, symbol of the Eastern Imperium. It is a bit of symbology that has been inherited by several nations of the old Byzantine commonwealth, among them Russia and, improbably, Albania. The Patriarchal compound is strewn with them, giving truth to the phrase Istanbul Rum Patrikhanesi. For a moment, one may lose oneself in the fantasy that it is all still real, and all still alive – but then you look up, and see the mosque that the Turks have built athwart the compound on the overlooking hillside. The minarets peer down in the very courtyard of St George’s itself, and the message is clear: five times a day, every day of every year, the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Christians of the world must hear the muzzein at close quarters. The temporal victors are deeply unsure, even now, of their victory.
 
On this day, the minaret and all the surrounding rooftops are occupied by Turkish soldiers. They look down upon us in the courtyard and glare. There is security and insecurity in their presence: they will assuredly protect us from any Islamist who would seek to wreak mayhem – though none, not even unfriendly crowds, are in evidence – and they are assuredly not our friends. The Patriarch himself, Bartholomew I, once served in the Turkish Army, in keeping with the Turkish state’s stricture that the occupant of that office must hold Turkish citizenship. I looked up at the soldiery, and reflected on the pity of this state, which he served, that is now bent upon squeezing his ancient office out of existence.
 
Inside the chapel all is gilt and gold, a nineteenth-century version of Orthodox splendor, and it is possible to forget the scene outdoors. The place is suffused with holy relics: among them, the remains of Ss John Chrysostom, whose liturgy we celebrate, and Gregory the Theologian – both recently returned by the Vatican. Across the chapel, a supposed piece of the True Cross, and the purported pillar upon which Christ was scourged. There are sarcophagi in which various saints rest, and niches in which holy icons are venerated. It is a wonderland for the faithful. But not only the faithful are there: there is also the media of the world, armed with telephoto lenses and cameras, and looking shabby in the way that media typically do. It does not occur to them to dress appropriately – one may wish, after all, to look presentable before the putative Vicar of Christ on Earth – but then, it wouldn’t. They crowd onto platforms along the periphery of the chapel, and wait.
 
Patriarch Bartholomew I arrives, decked in brilliant finery and surrounded by black-clad deacons and Metropolitans. Pope Benedict XVI arrives, dressed in thick red robes, and accompanied by bright red-and-purple Cardinals. The Liturgy, which has already been underway for an hour, assumes a new pitch. The lights brighten. The gold upon the icons flare. We pray. We worship for another four hours, with varying levels of comprehension of the thousand-year-old Greek of the Liturgy. I scurry about from point to point, taking photographs and looking on in awe.
 
Finally, it comes time for Communion. My father asks me if I will go, and I reply that I probably should not. He urges me to, and I give in. Now, we file forward, toward the Ecumenical Patriarch His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, holder of the last office of the Eastern Empire, who gives us the Body of Christ. Mere feet away, Benedict XVI sits on the Papal throne, looking down upon us supplicants. I am overcome and cannot glance toward him. Behind me, others have more courage: they break from the line, rush forward, and kiss Benedict’s hand. He is calm and gentle. He smiles and clasps their hands, saying a few words in German and English, before urging them to go receive the Eucharist. It is profoundly moving too see these devout Orthodox who have come to pay homage to the bishop of the New Roman, and who are so overwhelmed with the presence and love of the bishop of the Rome that they must give him the same. The small space encompasses a universe, and we are at its center.
 
Bartholomew ascends to the iconostasis and welcomes Benedict in Greek. Benedict, aware of the cameras surrounding him, replies in English. We must, he says, recall Europe to its Christian heritage before it is too late – and we must do it together. Then they emerge into the cold sunlight of a cold day. They ascend to a balcony overlooking the courtyard where we gather in expectation. They speak briefly. And then, they clasp hands, Pope and Patriarch, smile and raise their arms together. Tears come to my eyes, and I am shocked to see several media personnel crying openly. For an instant, the Church is one. For a shadow of a second, the dreams of Christendom are again real.

On our way home from school today it occurred to me that I have never shared on my blog before about our Geography CD.  We spend a lot of time in the car listenting to this CD. I bought these CDs when Basil was little, before the boys were in school. Our boys  go to a Classical and Christian school where they use this very same CD in 1st grade Geography.  They master the entire CD in the first grade! It is really amazing. I am sure many of my readers may already use them or know of them. The CD is great fun and never gets annoying. The grammar stage of Classical Education is all about memorization of facts. Singing makes learning so much fun that learning is never a chore.  I can’t wait to hear Maria~Angelica singing along too. It won’t be long now!