The Lenten Spring by Catrina for Bethany House Chickenley

SPRING! A season. and a reason For opening doors, to let the wind blow, where it will; bouncing and bringing The spring chorus, singing … A time to rejoice, and a time to let go. Giving and receiving. Arriving and leaving the meandering track we all have to walk. Someone to laugh with, cry with, tread the path with Be quiet with or revel In A Heart to Heart talk Life brings us seasons, changes to force. Like the stream, to the river, to the sea on its course. Caring and sharing, tears and pain But The Light of God shines through All And sunshine with rain… …Makes a R A I N B O W !... … Gods’ promise of a brighter tomorrow; He completes our journey of suffering and sorrow. His grace and mercy; His LOVE is the thing We experience most greatly in The Lenten Spring. Catrina for Bethany House Chickenley Copyright 2013

The Masters Face.
Inspired by Phyllis Blockley.



I have a likeness of My Lord, upon a cloth, kept so secretly.
Which He made by rising from the dead.
The Light, from All Eternity
shone in the darkness;
And the darkness comprehended it not.


The sign of death that causes the life of all?
A weapon invincible,
and The Weapon of Peace.
The Cross,
meant for shame, came to be
a sign of Victory for me.


I see, in lives of humility,
this sign, carried, for love of me.
So, I depict on wood
all the good,
which attracts life, to LIFE;
through death.
Life fulfilled.
Life fulfilling itself.


The Image created Itself.
And broke It's Self, to heal all things.
The Image envisaged no greater love,
because LOVE
knows no other than Itself.


"Let there be Light"
There was,
and is,
and ever shall be,
in those who live for eternity,
who look for the life that created "all this"
and gives itself. Continually.

Merry Christmas!

As I bring to mind God as a baby, I thank God for all of life both earthly and spriritual being brought together by Christ for all time and eternity.

Remember the one thing needful - Jesus is the reason for the season.
Whoever follows him will have The Sword pierce everything, especially thought processes, and be called to lay down life as they know it to take up life in all it's fullness, continually saying Lord Have Mercy.

When you are down and your soul is weary.
When troubles and your heart burdened be;
Then be still and wait in the silence
until He comes and sets your spirit free...

A year...

One year ago today my Dad left me.
It wasn't because he wanted to go, but his body was throwing him out.
His illness had become to hard to bear and he wanted to know how to get out, so I said "You and your body have to part company".
I saw the light go out in his eyes.

Two days ago I had a dream.

My Dad came into a room full of the people he loved both living now, and departed and he went round them all, asking them to forgive him. When he came to me, he cupped my head in his hands and I put my arms round him, he looked into my eyes and said "I LOVE YOU", "I want you to remember this time now, not what was said the last time I died".
Then I woke up from that dream with peace and quiet in my mind and heart, and have slept better these last 2 nights than the whole of this past year.

Thank you, Dad,(and God) for giving me all the love and the memories, and taking the pain of grief away when it becomes so painful, with the remeberance of LOVE.

Prayer

It's not thinking about it, reading about it, blogging about it, searching for it, seeking after it, desiring it; IT IS just DOING IT!

Know your heart is always praying, but what do we feed our heart with?
Thoughts...

Saint Silouan was given "Keep thy mind in hell and despair not" by Jesus.
Hell was the turmoil of his heart, and, gradually, through time, practicing patience, humility and love, Jesus brought him restoration, and the peace and life with God for which he hoped.

Blessed Saint Silouan ... Pray to God for us.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy upon us...

Mama Mia!

Hail Myriam, full of grace, the Lord is with thee...
The angel Gabriel's greeting.

Blessed art thou among women...
This from her kinswoman Elisabeth who was inspired to exclaim this while Mary was spending time with her and Zacharias and coming to terms with the enormity of what had been asked of her, and who also was pregnant, with John the Baptist. "Who am I, that the Mother of My Lord should visit me..."

Blessed is the fruit of thy womb...
Called out by a person in the crowd while Jesus was about His ministry.

The ripples of God throwing Mary into the pool of Humanity still cause disturbance in life today.

May she always help us find her Son and Saviour, Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ; and in knowing Him, know ourselves, that we forgive and love and live in peace.

If Carling made bus drivers...

Carling may not have made this bus driver, but God certainly did!

It's a long long journey, so stay by my side.

When I walk through the dark you'll be my guide...

Jesus... I know I'll never find another you!

Facebook or anywhere!

There can be miracles when you believe...

St. Marina of Antioch.
St. Marina/Margaret used to be a saint on the Western calendar, too, until the Roman Catholic Church threw her and several others off in 1969, noting that they were "probably myths brought back by the Crusaders from the East" -- since those "myths" include St. Christopher, St. Barbara, and St. Catherine of Alexandria, we will say no more about that, except to note that God's people in our past, His followers, His Saints are not made of "myths."
However, sometime last year, this article came into my inbox, a translation from a newspaper article that appeared in a Greek newspaper. I was thinking of it recently. You draw your own conclusions.
*****
A few years ago, a family from Lemessos, Cyprus, named Vassiliou received the following miracle. In Greece they are well known from the televised requests they made in order to find a donor for their young boy, Andrea, who suffered from leukemia. The donor was indeed found and the parents began preparing for their trip to Texas, U.S.A where the bone marrow transplant was going to be performed. Meanwhile, they also prayed and begged Jesus Christ to save their boy. Before they left for the U.S.A the parents heard of St. Marina's miracles and they called the monastery of St. Marina located on the island of Andros in Greece to ask for her blessing. The Elder of the monastery, Archimandrite Fr. Cyprianos promised that he would pray to St. Marina. He also wished the parents for St. Marina to be with Andrea in the operating room, to help him. With Elder Cyprianos' blessing and with strong faith that St. Marina would help indeed, the Vassiliou family went to the U.S.A.
After the necessary pre-operation tests that Andrea had to undergo, he was taken to the operating room. A short time before the operation was to begin, a woman came to see the surgeon who would be operating on Andrea. She said that she was Andrea's doctor and asked to be allowed to observe the operation. The conversation that ensued proved that the woman was indeed a doctor. However, the surgeon replied that 'outside' doctors were not permitted to be present in the operating room and that his medical teams' policy was that no doctor other than those on the team be involved in such delicate operations. The persistence of the woman however, convinced the surgeon to allow her in the operating room. But before, he asked her to leave her coordinates [presumably, credentials] at the administration desk. The unknown doctor did as told and then entered the operating room with the surgeon. During the operation, she gave several directions regarding the progress of the procedure. The operation went well and in the end the surgeon thanked the woman and exited the operating room.
Andrea's parents immediately went to inquire about the outcome of the surgery and the surgeon replied that all had gone very well, adding that he could not understand why they had brought Andrea to him when they had such a fine doctor. The parents were surprised and responded that they had not brought any doctor with them. The surgeon insisted, however. He also told them that when he came out of the operating room Andrea's doctor had remained there for a little longer with the rest of the operating team and therefore, she would probably still be around. He recommended that they look for her. The search, however, proved pointless, as the 'woman doctor' was nowhere around. The Vassiliou couple then concluded that it must have been a doctor from Greece or Cyprus who had decided to travel to the U.S.A and contribute to the delicate operation. They expressed the wish to know who she was so that they may be able to thank her, and at the surgeon's recommendation they then went to the administration desk to ask for her coordinates.
It was with utter surprise that they read that the unknown woman had signed with the name "Marina from Andros". Tears of gratefulness and joy filled their eyes as they recalled that the Elder at the monastery had said to them that he wished Andrea to have St. Marina in the operating room to help him. Andrea's parents shared with the media their joy both for the successful operation and Andrea's recovered health and for the miracle they received. The Vassiliou family made the vow that the entire family will be present at the saint's monastery every year on the saint's feast day (July 17) and Elder Cyprianos reports that the family has been making the annual trip from Lemessos to Andros every summer to thank Saint Marina for saving Andrea.
Miracles performed by God through the saints, have never ceased to take place in the Orthodox Church. With these miracles, may our Lord Jesus Christ help all of us build our faith.

Thanks to Meg for this posting. We love you Dear Saint Marina X X X

In Relationship

Amen.
When translated means; so be it...

Many times it is hard to accept what God asks of us.
If we cannot accept what is being asked of us we leave, rather than change to absorb anothers viewpoint.
If we remain in the moment and not be overprotective of our self, God can work for the salvation of all concerned and all movement is of peace, even if it means leaving is the way forward.
It will be agreeable.

What is God asking my Amen to, today?


Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Matthew 5 v. 37