May our love for the Sun, the will of God, be as strong as the sunflower’s so that even in days of hardship and sorrow we may continue to sail unerringly on the sea of life, following the direction of the barometer and compass of God’s Will that leads us to the safe haven of Eternity.
Saint John Maximovitch
So happy to announce that the Commemoration and Prayer books for Orthodox Women are ready! You may find them in my Etsy Shop | Gladsome Life.
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This is an effort of love that I pray will be blessed. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction as well as a sneak peak of the commemorations!
Every Eastern Orthodox home is a little church, and thus adorned with an icon corner. The icon corner is one of the most sacred spaces in our homes. It is our worship space, carefully tended. In Greek the word for icon corner is εικονοστάσι {eikonostasi} meaning bright shining beautiful corner. The early church met in the homes of the faithful {Acts 2:46, Acts 20:7-12, 1 Corinthians 16-19} and the tradition of the little church of the home continues throughout the ages, for the home is indeed a microcosm of the Church and our every day and very lives are meant to be liturgically lived, in ceaseless prayer and remembrance of the Lord.
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The Saints model for us pursuing a life of prayer. Saints like Saint Porphyrios teach the virtue of the parents praying, especially the mother and gives a hard word, which is that is better to pray than to lecture.
“Pray more and with less words,” Saint Porphrios would say.
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There is a proper time for everything except prayer, as for prayer, the proper time is always.
Antiochus
Last year all of the farmers markets were shut down due to the pandemic and we totally missed strawberry season. A major bummer since that is one fruit I do not grow in my garden…. I missed homemade jam and strawberry rhubarb pie and just plain strawberries. But this year farmers markets are thriving again and so are the berries!!
This is the first jelly roll we’ve ever made. We made it in celebration of my daughter’s and her boyfriends college graduation this past weekend. This recipe is modified from a Cooks Country recipe – I cut the sugar, stepped up the vanilla and combined a couple of steps .
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But if at the center of the Church’s life there is this self-giving Eucharistic love, then where are the Church’s boundaries, where is the periphery of this center? Here it is possible to speak of the whole of Christianity as an eternal offering of a Divine Liturgy beyond church walls … It means that we must offer the bloodless sacrifice, the sacrifice of self-surrendering love not only in a specific place, upon the altar of a particular temple; the whole world becomes the single altar of a single temple, and for this universal liturgy we must offer our hearts, like bread and wine, in order that they may be transformed into Christ’s love, that he may be born in them, that they may become “God-manly” hearts, and that He may give these hearts of ours as food for the world…”
Saint Maria Skobtsova: Essential Writings
It is customary in Orthodox Liturgies for parishioners to commemorate their loved ones, friends and even enemies during the Liturgy. This is particularly true if you have prepared the Prosphora. Recipe here.
Each week I find myself scribbling down the names of our commemorations and finally decided to print up a sheet to make it less of a mess. Maybe you could use one too? I’ve made it available here and on my sidebar.
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Joyful thanksgiving, so far from being escapist or sentimental, is on the contrary entirely realistic—but with the realism of one who sees the world in God, as the divine creation.
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware | The Orthodox Way
Christ is Risen !!
My girls call this chili soup! So easy to make you almost don’t need a recipe. Leave a comment and let me know how you like it!!
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Praise the Lord, Who preserved the children in the flame of fire of the burning furnace and came down to them in the form of an Angel, and supremely exalt him to the ages
Ode Eight : Heirmos Sunday of Thomas Matins
Christ is Risen!! Truly He is Risen!!
We are still working our way through our last loaf of Tsoureki (recipe here) . We stashed our last loaf in the freezer and will enjoy it at the end of the summer. It’s a tradition we began a few years ago when we found a loaf in the freezer at the end of the summer. We were so happy to find it that we do it every year now 😊
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When there is a respect for small things, there will be an even greater respect towards the bigger things. When there is no respect for small things, then neither will there be for the bigger ones. This is how the Fathers maintained Tradition.
+Saint Paisios
Oh my goodness you guys! One of our most favorite desserts is made with Tsoureki…. many years ago I ended up with a lot of extra Tsoureki. So much that I ended up letting some of it get dry. Well, that was the best thing evah! In desperation not to let it go to waste I made bread pudding out of it. After many years it has become a Pascha Bright Week Tradition!!
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If one can live in the world and yet not mix with it – just as the oil and water do not mix in the oil-lamp – then he can live in God. He is in this world but not of this world.
Mother Gavrilia
Christ is Risen!! Truly He is Risen!!
Each year we bake enough Tsoureki (Greek Easter Bread) for our feast and friends. We also always try to have enough leftover to enjoy in the coming weeks. In my next few posts I will share some of the ways we love to enjoy it! If you have never made Greek Easter Bread you can find the recipe here and a video tutorial here.
Over the years I have found many fun ways to eat our leftover loaves. This week and next I will share them with you! Today we had Tsoureki French Toast for breakfast! It’s super versatile and that citrus flavor stands up to cooking, nicely. I hope you Enjoy!!
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Love, my child hospitality, because it opens the gates of paradise. Being hospitable you can be rewarded with receiving angels. Hospitality is the greatest virtue.
Elder Amphilochius of Patmos
Having received many questions about baking Greek Easter bread from my IG post – I put together a little video while we were baking yesterday. I hope you find it helpful.
The recipe I use can be found here
A couple of hacks from over two decades of baking the Tsoureki
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