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A Prayer to  Jesus to deliver us from the sin of abortion O Lord Jesus Christ, Who – at the 6 th hour of the day – didst shed Thy precious Blood upon the Cross for the salvation of all mankind: receive the souls of all the innocent pre-born babies, who have been, are being, or will be slaughtered today in the hospitals and abortion chambers throughout our Nation.  And as their untimely deaths have prevented them from receiving the grace of Holy Baptism, I entreat Thee to accept their innocent blood as their Baptism (as Thou didst with the early Martyrs); so that they can share eternity with Thee. To the doctors, nurses, parents and hosts of accomplices responsible for this infanticide, grant tears of repentance; so that they can run to Thee for forgiveness and healing, and thus avoid the eternal death of their souls.  I believe that all things are possible with Thee, O Lord.  Therefore, I entreat Thee on this day – through Thy divine grace – to convince at least one mo

“One day a man came to my kalyve (hut) and told me he was very worried because he was not of the same mind with his wife. I saw, however, that there was nothing serious between them. He just had a few rough edges, his wife had a few others, and they couldn’t deal with one another. They needed a little sanding. Take two planks of wood before sanding them. One has a knot here, the other has a knot there; if you try to join the planks there is an empty space left between them. If, however, you sand one a little here and the other a little there, using the same tool, they join perfectly. * …When spouses have different personalities it helps in the raising of children even more. One spouse wants to put on the brakes a little, but the other says, “Give the children a little freedom.” If they both are overbearing they will lose their children. If however, they leave them on their own, again their children will be lost. Therefore, when the parents have different personalities, the children enj

Here is a step by step guide to the Proskomedia (Offering) which is completed during Orthros or Matins before the Divine Liturgy begins. 1. After strengthening himself through a few prayers and venerating the icons, the priest enters the Holy Altar and kisses the Gospel and Altar Table in preparation to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. 2. Next, he puts on his full set of vestments, blessing and kissing each item while reciting a matching Scripture verse. 3. The priest then washes his hands, thus expressing his desire to be more cleansed of his sins, while reciting Psalm 26:6-12. "I will wash my hands among the innocents, and so will I go around Thy Altar, O Lord..." 4. Next, he bows 3x before the Prothesis, or table used for the Proskomedi, and prays "O God, cleanse me, a sinner, and have mercy on me" (Luke 18:13) 5. The priest then selects one of the prosphora breads to hold in his left hand, while using his right hand for the lance. He touches the lance on the seal,

Saint Vladimir's Press and Jane G. Meyer were generous enough to send me a copy of their recent book, "The Woman and the Wheat" so that I may share my thoughts on this blog. In some ways, I feel very unqualified to do so, not having a literary background. Therefore, I can only speak as a mother who happens to have studied Theology in order to better teach my own children, if God so wills. "In the “Woman and the Wheat”, Jane G. Meyer introduces to adults and children the phrase from the Divine Liturgy “Thine Own of Thine Own we offer unto Thee.” With poetic rhythm and soothing illustrations, the book preserves the ancient art of baking prosforo as a joy-filled offering to God to be consecrated and received back again in the Holy Eucharist. It captures the cycle of God’s blessings, through hard work and prayer for one’s self and one’s neighbor, encouraging all of us to a fuller experience of the liturgical life." Because the book touches on very important eleme