Holy Week is upon us. I still can't believe how quickly Great Lent has gone by. This will be an eventful few days with lots of services, prayers, and blessings.
I will be far too busy to blog or comment on your pages; please forgive me.
Blessed Holy Week! Joyous and Glorious Pascha to all!!
In Christ,
Tatyana
The photo above is of the icon corner in my dorm room, today.
I remembered that I never gave credit to the website from which I got my sweet (and free) page design and layout. It is TheCutestBlogOnTheBlock.com . I saw it on a lot of my fellow Ortho-bloggers' websites and really liked the variety I found on the site itself. So go check it out!
Also, for those of you who are Russian-speakers, I found several new to me links for great Orthodox resource and Q&A websites, and a couple of them were for Orthodox TV stations. How wonderful is that? One of them even claims 24/7 online broadcast; it doesn't really work for me all the time, but some of the archived program episodes are good to watch nonetheless. I am really excited about these – I already have some favorite programs J The only thing is, of course, it's on Moscow time, but it's such a wonderful resource that the time difference does not seem to be a big deal. So here are some links:
http://www.pravmir.ru/ - this one has some articles in English, although I do not know about the quality of the translation and materials.
http://orthomedia.ru/index.php - this is the one with some nice links to videos and Orthodox TV stations' broadcasts
http://media.tv-soyuz.ru/ - this is a specific channel СОЮЗ (UNION) that has online broadcast and some great program recordings in the archive
That's all the updates for today. Forgive me, my English-speaking friends. I was so excited about these resources of the Moscow patriarchate that I didn't focus too much on the available translations in English.
By the way, if anyone has not yet read Father Arseny: priest, prisoner, spiritual father, go get it now and read it! It's in narrative style, not difficult to read at all, but so, so beneficial! You won't be able to put it down.
In Christ,
Tatyana
P.S. The picture above is of Yosemite Park in California that my brother took in 2005 during his Christmas vacation with his girlfriend.
You know, I made a conscious decision to not stay away from Orthodox blogs during Great Lent. Sure, I cut down my internet surfing time. I also try not to go on any non-Orthodox website (except, unfortunately, my email and Facebook). But I truly believe and have personally experienced that internet in and of itself need not be bad and unedifying as well as distracting. You, my fellow blogger friends, are prime examples. I look forward to reading your posts, whether they be quotes by the Fathers, Lenten recipes, family anecdotes, ramblings, joys, or struggles. You help me to be a little more prayerful, a little more vigilant, a little more aware of the bright sadness that should be filling my heart. And for that, I thank you. I have long wanted to express these words (since before Thanksgiving, when I finally did reflect upon what this "blogosphere" means to me), but unfortunately, have not found the time, forgive me. I feel during these seven weeks, your thoughts have often given me the necessary strength to not stray from the path of this blessed journey. This is just another way I have learned that we all affect each other in seemingly insignificant ways. So thank you for struggling as I do, and allowing me to see the connection and unity of our lives, no matter how far apart physically we may be. Thank you for allowing the Grace of God to make you the tools that would help others keep going. Please pray for me, a sinner!
*********
"In the beginning the Jesus prayer is the bread which sustains the athlete, then it becomes oil which sweetens the heart and, in the end, it becomes wine which intoxicates man, that is, which creates ecstasy and union with God."~on the fruits of the Jesus prayer, from "A Night in the Desert of the Holy Mountain: discussion with a hermit on Jesus prayer", by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos
In Christ,
Tatyana
"...I will tell you a legend. An elder lived in the desert of silence. The demons visibly attacked him, and began dragging him out of his cell so as to completely drive him out of the desert. The elder himself began fighting back at them, but they moved him and had already dragged him right up to the very door. Just a bit more, and they would have turned him out. Seeing his extreme danger, the elder cried out, 'Lord Jesus Christ! Why have you abandoned me? Help me, Lord!' As soon as he called out, the Lord appeared immediately and chased away the demons, and said to the elder, 'I did not abandon you, but because you did not call on me and thought you could cope with the demons yourself, I did not come to your help. Call on Me, and you will always receive ready help.' After saying this, the Lord disappeared. This incident is a lesson not just to the elder, but to all of us: Do not struggle with passionate thoughts through your own spiritual altercations with them, but turn immediately to the Lord with prayer against them."In Christ,
~St. Theophan the Recluse (Letter to a Young Girl)
