When you are in a good mood...

When you are in a good mood, don't let the moments pass unexploited. In those moments, pray to God not let you alone when you will be fought in the difficult times of the temptation...

Prayer saves. The prayer that is true, genuine. The prayer that comes out from the bottom of your heart.

http://aoratigonia.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/when-you-are-in-good-mood.html

Kyra Sarakosti Recipe

Today we cut the second foot off of our Kyra Sarakosti. Tomorrow we will celebrate the Sunday of St. Gregory of Palamas. May you all have a blessed third week of Lent!

For those of you not familiar with the Kyra Sarakosti tradition, here is a little more about it.

In olden days, in order to keep track of the Lenten period, Kyra Sarakosti was created. She was drawn in the image of a nun. She does not have a mouth to remind us that we are fasting and her hands are crossed in prayer. She has seven feet for the seven weeks of Great Lent. Every Saturday one of her feet are cut off. After the last foot is cut off, it is placed in a bowl of fruits and nuts and whoever finds it receives a special blessing. The winner will write their name and year on the back of it and will keep it as a keepsake.

If you want to make one of these for your children, here is the recipe. It can also be found in the Festive Fast cookbook.

2-2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
2-2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
water (as much as needed)

Combine flour, salt and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl and gradually add enough water to form a stiff, but flexible dough. Roll dough out to 1/2" thickness. With a sharp knife cut out the figure as shown above. Cut out two long narrow strips for arms and join at shoulders (wet surface to which arms will be applied). Make slits in dough for fingers. Mark closed eyelids and noise with pointed object. Wipe entire figure down with a lightly dampened cloth to make shiny. Bake in moderate oven until golden. *This is not edible!

http://www.orthodoxmom.com/2010/02/kyra-sarakost-recipe.html

A demonic ploy

Before our fall, the demons say that God is a friend of man; but after the fall, that He is inexorable. 

- Ladder of Divine Ascent, 5.31

When we are thinking about committing a sin, the demons tell us, "Oh, don't worry, God is a loving, merciful God, you can go ahead and commit the sin, He'll forgive you!"  But no sooner is the sin committed, than they change their tune and tell us, "Oh, now you're in trouble! God saw that, and He is a just God, who punishes every sin! There's no way He'll forgive you for that."

Let us remember this trick of the demons. God is indeed merciful, loving and forgiving; He is also absolutely just, and will require an account from us at the judgment even of every idle word, not to mention our sinful words and deeds. But how much better for our spiritual lives if we remember the opposite of what the demons tell us, namely, when we are tempted to sin, let us remember that God sees everything, even the secret thoughts of the heart, and He will require us to give account for it; but if we fall into sin, then let us remember that God is merciful, and so be moved to repent for our sin. As one father said, the question is not, "Why did you fall?" but rather, "Why did you not get up again?"
http://frbenedict.blogspot.co.nz/ 

How old is the orthodox faith?

If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex-monk of the Catholic Church, in the year 1517.

 If you belong to the Church of England, your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to re-marry.

If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded by John Knox in Scotland in the year 1560.

 If you are a Congregationalist, your religion was originated by Robert Brown in Holland in 1582.

If you are Protestant Episcopalian, your religion was an offshoot of the Church of England, founded by Samuel Senbury in the American colonies in the 17th century.

 If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1606.

 If you are of the Dutch Reformed Church, you recognize Michelis Jones as founder because he originated your religion in New York in 1628.

 If you are a Methodist, your religion was founded by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1774.

If you are a Mormon (Latter Day Saints), Joseph Smith started your religion in Palmyra, New York, in 1829.

 If you worship with the Salvation Army, your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865.

 If you are Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year in which your religion was born and to Mary Baker Eddy as its founder.

 If you belong to one of the religious organizations known as "Church of the Nazarene, Pentecostal Gospel," "Holiness Church," or "Jehovah's Witnesses," your religion is one of the hundreds of new sects founded by men within the past hundred years.

 If you are Roman Catholic, your church shared the same rich apostolic and doctrinal heritage as the Orthodox Church for the first thousand years of its history, since during the first millennium they were one and the same Church. Lamentably, in 1054, the Pope of Rome broke away from the other four Apostolic Patriarchates (which include Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem), by tampering with the Original Creed of the Church, and considering himself to be infallible. Thus your church is 1,000 years old.

 If you are Orthodox Christian, your religion was founded in the year 33 by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It has not changed since that time. Our church is now almost 2,000 years old. And it is for this reason, that Orthodoxy, the Church of the Apostles and the Fathers is considered the true "one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church." This is the greatest legacy that we can pass on to the young people of the new millennium.

by Rev. Dr. Miltiades Efthimiou

Greek Orthodox Mission in Fiji Part

Τhe Archbishop of New Zealand, his Eminence Amfilochios, talks about the missionary work in Fiji Islands.