Be Inspired With Hope!



St. Theophan the Recluse
(1815-1894)



“Labor with all your strength; bring to the Lord all your concerns about success. Trust in God is the foundation of spiritual life. Nothing will happen all of a sudden; everything will come about in its own time. Everything you seek with faith will come. But when? When the Lord is ready to grant it. Be patient, remaining steadfast in the ways you have begun. Be inspired with the hope that the day will come when the light of joy will glow in the heart and it will be emancipated from all bonds, bringing freedom of movement and raising you to that place where the noble images of spirit ascend. Then you will soar in the realm of the spirit like a bird that has been freed from its cage.”

http://www.orthodoxprayer.org/Theophan-Prayer.html

“May the blessing of the Lord be upon you. May your Guardian Angel protect you from all attacks of the enemy!”






"If you are not successful in your prayer, you will not be
successful in anything, for prayer is the root of everything."
 – Theophan the Recluse

VIP's Visit

Admiral Tidd, our Navy Chief of Chaplains, visited last week with his wife Jennifer and a team of other chaplains for what we call in the Navy - the annual P.D.T.C. (Professional Development Training Course).

This is a picture of Papa (Fr. Phil) and Admiral Tidd in front of the chapel just after our service and before the next service, where he was introduced to the congregation of the Contemporary Christian Service.

The purpose of this PDTC was to instruct everyone regarding a new governing document that makes Navy Chaplains on the same professional level as any other Staff Corps in the Navy. (i.e., Medical Corps, Supply Corps, JAG Corps, etc.) In other words, chaplains will have a more clearly defined career path like all other officers in the Navy, so they will know how to plan their next assignments, when and where to go for more education, etc.

This is exactly what WE needed many years ago!  It's about time that the Chaplain Corps is finally establishing standards for itself!

J

Me, Jennifer Tidd, and Lois Marshall



Dinner with the local Admiral's and the Marine General at Cafe' Europa
about 50 yards from the exact spot where St. Paul came ashore in Pozzuoli
on his way Rome.





A visit to the Herculaneum



An ancient McDonald's (as the tour guide said). A place
where the citizens could get hot food to-go - 2000 years ago!!!
Wow!



Herculaneum was destroyed in 79 A.D. along with Pompeii, but is much more will preserved.  The look, therefore, into the past in the town was absolutely amazing!

Jaroslav Pelikan

The first time I met “Jary” (which is the way he introduced himself to me), was at the campus of Yale University the fall of 1989 when Phil was in Chaplain’s School in Newport, Rhode Island. He was exactly as I imagined him. A C.S. Lewis type fellow – tweed jacket … suede elbow patches and all! His office was full off books and papers; stacked high in every nook and cranny, in no particular order it seemed to me, reminiscent of Indiana Jones’ office in the movie, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” But he assured me that it all made perfect sense to him—and chuckled! We had an interesting lunch in the teacher’s lounge and spoke of family and theology and the future of our lives. It is a precious memory.


I meant to post a few words and this picture of him on the May 13th, which is the day of his repose but time got away from me—therefore I’m doing it today.

Jaroslav Jan Pelikan (December 17, 1923–May 13, 2006)

May his memory be eternal!


Fr. Philip's cousin Jaroslav





Super Busy

Be Back Soon ~

Rainy Days and Lunchboxes



I had this lunch-box



Rainy days were the best kind of days when I was a little girl,at least in my first few years of elementary school! For one thing it meant we’d be inside during recess; we’d play fun games like “Heads-Up, Seven-Up,” and “Whose Missing.” We’d even get to eat our lunch in our classroom! Now, if the first few years of elementary school taught me anything, it was how to fully appreciate the delight of lunchtime. There was no other time like it. It was as though the children began to think about their lunches from the time they arrived at school just as soon as the first bell rang; what was in their lunchboxes, who would be buying their lunch that day or "bringing" their lunch, etc., not forgetting the fierce competition of who had the best lunchbox – Bozo the Clown, The Jetsons, The Beatles, Mickey Mouse Club, Mary Poppins, Barbie, Paldin, and of course - for Papa - the lunch box of lunchboxes, The Satellite Lunch-box! To him, it embodied the vision of all his boyish hopes and dreams for the not to distant future in space, which was typical of many young boys of the 50's and 60's. And each one of these nutrient bearing metal cases had a little matching thermos inside to carry cold milk or hot soup to drink along with your sandwich, piece of fruit and cookie. The lunch-hour was a time of anticipation and bustle; once you were old enough to really appreciate it anyway. In my relatively short life, up to that point, lunch was just lunch, nothing more. You ate it and went on with your day as quickly as possible, hopefully avoiding the dreaded "rest" that sometimes followed. But school lunch-time was a period you could have to yourself or with a favorite friend at "your table"; a time to think, to ponder, and to pretty much either shovel food into your mouth so you could get to recess as quickly as possible, like some did; or to maybe take a little extra time and simply put the food into your mouth, bite by bite, the way your mother taught you as though she were lovingly looking over your shoulder, and get to recess a little after the others.

For me, it gave me time to reflect on just how much I liked my school life. Lunchtime was halfway through the schoolday, but I still remember the feeling of those extraordinary rainy days and I can recall being captivated by the drops on the windows and gazing out feeling the safety and protection of being inside our sturdy¸ sheltered classroom when we had those special "indoor" lunch days.



Papa's very favorite lunch-box, The Satellite Lunch-box, because his
dad worked in the space program and he always wanted to go there!



Today is a day like that here in Naples! It’s raining outside – not too hard though, just enough to stay in the sturdy, sheltered indoors for recess and eat our lunch inside our cozy Naples house. Papa and I had some plans to play outside today. We were headed to Procida, one of the smaller islands nearby, but instead the rain got in the way . . . fair-weather travelers, that's what we are! In its place, we are doing more boring things like studying and catching up on housework! Not as exciting or fun at all, but necessary nevertheless.

Bright Week Peal

In the Eastern Orthodox Church there is a long and complex history of bell ringing, with particular bells being rung in particular ways to signify different parts of the divine services, Funeral tolls, etc. This custom is particularly sophisticated in the Russian Orthodox Church. Russian bells are usually fixed, and are tolled by pulling on a rope that is attached to the clapper so that it will strike the side of the bell.

• On every day of Bright Week all the bells are rung from the conclusion of Liturgy until Vespers.
• From Pascha until Ascension there is a treble peal (trezvon) following Sunday Liturgy.

Easter in Naples - A Paschal Collage

Saints Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church
Saturday, 10:00 PM ~ Sunday, 3:30 AM

Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Him flee from before His face.

Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered, and let them hate Him flee before His face.


Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

As smoke vanisheth, so let them vasish; as wax melteth before the fire.
Christ has risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

So let sinners perish at the presence of God; and let the righteous be glad.

Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

This is the day that the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad therein.

Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowning life.

Glory to the Father and the Son and to the Holy Spirit.


Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing  life.

Both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Christ is risen fromthe dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

On Saturday night at the beginning of the Paschal Divine Liturgy,each member holds a candle lit from a larger candle symbolizing the eternal flame of Christ. Candles are lit one by one from the priest's candle and hymns are sung.

.

Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs. . .


. . . bestowing life.











Let us attend.  The Gospel is read . . .

Shout with joy to God, all the earth.







Cristo 'e risorto! (Christ is Risen)

'e veramente risorto! (Indeed He is Risen!)

With Christianity, the old belief receives new contents, and the egg receives a religious significance amongst the Christians. There exisits a tradition which makes Mary Magdalene to be the originator of the custom of using red eggs on Easter day. After the Ascension of our Saviour, Mary Magdalene went to Rome to preach the Gospel and, appearing before the Emporer Tiberius, she offered him a red egg, saying: CHRIST IS RISEN.” Thus was begun her preaching. Learning about this offering of Mary Magdalene, the early Christians imitated her, presenting each other with eggs. Hence, eggs began to be used by Christians in the earliest centuries as a symbol of the Resurrection of Christ and of the regeneration of Christians for a new and a better life along [with] it. The custom of presenting each other with red eggs was familiar to the Christians of the earliest Universal Church.


The red color, which generally is used for Easter eggs, serves to remind us of the precious blood of God the Redeemer, which was shed on the cross for the salvation of all men.



The blessing of the eggs takes place after the morning Easter service. The breaking of the lenten fasting on Easter Sunday begins with eating the blessed eggs.    (source: "Orthodixie" Copyright 2004 - 2011, Joseph David Huneycutt)

+ + +

Christ's resurrection Icon is reverenced and the 40-day fast is broken. ...

I hope I've captured some of this experience and that you've enjoyed the pictures from our Paschal Divine Liturgy here in Naples, Italy. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us, and we embraced every moment of it!


Christ is Risen!!

A Pelican-in-her-Piety

The Pelican-in-her-Piety is an allegorical description of Jesus Christ , is both His sacrificial love and resurrection. In an age when literacy was limited, the image of the Pelican-in-her-Piety would have been recognizable as and understood by everyone who saw it, and was in particular interpreted as being symbolic of the Eucharist.

Thomas Aquinas used the allegory in his 'Adoro Te Devote'"O loving Pelican! O Jesu Lord!
Unclean I am but cleanse me in Thy Blood of which a single drop,
for sinners spilt,
can purge the entire world from all its guilt."

"Through icons the Orthodox Christian receives a vision of the spiritual world."
~ Bp Kallistos

From “Orthros of Great and Holy Saturday” (Lamentations Service)

Last night during the Lamentations Service, once again I was struck as the Reader (one of which happened to be Papa) chanted the above lamentation from the Second Stasis. It brought to mind the beautiful traditon and analogy depicted by the "Pelican-in-her-Piety." The pelican was thought to pierce herself in her breast in order to feed her blood to her young and bring them back to life.


Like a pelican,
With Thy side, O Word, by wounding riven,
Hast thou made Thy children once dead to live,
By distilling on them moisture rich with life. ~ Second Stasis


Mourn not for me, Mother, as thou beholdest Me in the grave; for I thy Son, whom thou didst conceive in thy womb without seed, shall rise and shall be glorified.  And being God, I will ceaselessly exalt and ennoble those who in faith and longing magnify Thee. ~

Holy Friday



Greek Orthodox Church in Naples, Italy
(late last night) 



On Great and Holy Friday, the Orthodox Church

commemorates the sufferings of Christ: the mockery, the crown of thorns, the scourging, the nails, the thirst, the vinegar and gall, the cry of desolation, and all the Savior endured on the Cross.

"Today He Who hung the earth on the waters is hung on the tree," sing the solemn worshippers. Beginning with the Orthros of Holy Friday on Thursday evening, and ending with Vespers on Friday afternoon, the day is one of solemn observation and strict fasting. The richness of the liturgical actions and hymnography on this day, are unsurpassed.

We worship Your passion and Your burial,

for by them, You have saved us from death!

the daffodil principle - a longtime favorite

HOLY TUESDAY

"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."—Hebrews 12:2


Don’t worry if you don’t feel joyful on feastdays or other times when you “ought” to feel joyful. Joy is a gift, like life and sunlight and air and flowers and food. It comes and goes, according to its own rhythms and seasons, and its presence doesn’t mean someone’s holy, any more than its absence means someone’s doomed. In spiritual life, feelings are not as important as acts and habits.

We must build the habits of prayer and life in Christ, and let the feelings follow when (or if) they may.

"And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at His
teaching. But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they came
together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, to test Him.eacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" And He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like
it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments
depend all the law and the prophets."

"Daffodils" read by Jeremy Irons

Palm Sunday Reflections

O Christ God, when before Thy voluntary sufferings Thou didst explain to all the confirmation of universal resurrection; Thou didst raise Lazarus in Bethany by Thine exalted might, after he had been dead for four days. And to the blind Thou didst give sight; for Thou art the Giver of light, O Savior. Thou didst also enter the city with thy Disciples, sitting on an ass, fulfilling the preaching of the Prophets, as though riding upon the cherubim, and the Hebrew youths received Thee with palms and branches. Wherefore, we also carry olive branches and palms, crying out to Thee in gratitude, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He that cometh In the Name of the Lord.

Orthros of the Feast

 "In our liturgical celebrations, we remember events of the past. But the whole meaning and
power of Liturgy is that it transforms remembrance into reality. On Palm Sunday this reality
is our own involvement, our responsibility to, the Kingdom of God. Christ does not enter into
Jerusalem anymore, He did it once and for all. And He does not need any "symbols," for He
did not die on the Cross that we may eternally "symbolize" His life. He wants from us a real
acceptance of the Kingdom which He brought to us... And if we are not ready to stand by the
solemn oath, which we renew every year on Palm Sunday, if we do not mean to make the
Kingdom of God the measure of our whole life, meaningless is our commemoration and vain
the branches we take home from the Church."
 
[taken from] A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week
                    by
                   The Very Rev. Alexander Schmemann, S.T.D.

"In other words, in our making a remembrance of that unique momentous event, which we do with palm branches processing into the church, the intent is to not merely perform a symbolic reenactment, but to allow God, through the Holy Spirit to make that past event reality in our lives now and forevermore. And that which He makes real in us is nothing less than the Kingdom of God itself.  And since what He did through His entrance into Jerusalem in such a royal manner was to establish His Kingdom here on earth as the King of King and Lord of Lords, it is that same Kingdom that is established in our lives in the here and now through this act of worship."

~ Papa

Trusting God

Look at the beautiful butterfly, and learn

from it to trust in God.

One might wonder

where it could live in tempestuous nights,

in the whirlwind, or in the sunny day;

but I noticed it is safe and dry under the

broad leaf while rivers have been flooded,

and the mountain oaks torn up by their roots.

~ Jeremy Taylor

Burned Biscuits!



Burned Biscuits



I read this little story today and thought it was "a keeper!"

"When I was a kid, my Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I  remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his Biscuit, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school.

I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember hearing my
Mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what
he said: "Honey, I love burned biscuits."


Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he
really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your
momma put in a long hard day at work today and she's real tired. And
besides... a burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!"


You know, life is full of imperfect things... and imperfect people. I'm not
the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just
like everyone else. What I've learned over the years is that learning to
accept each other's faults and choosing to celebrate each other's differences,
is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and
lasting relationship.


So...please pass me a biscuit. And yes, the burned one will do just fine!
Life is too short to wake up with regrets... Love the people who treat you
right and [pray] for the ones who don't.


"The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth." (Proverbs 10:20)

When I was a kid I used to believe ...




When I Was A Kid



When I was a kid I believed all kind of interesting and silly things - didn't you? It's fun to collect stories and snippets here and there from people and books, remembering what we all used to think about when we were kids. Starting this week I'm going to post on my side-bar a little section called: "When I was a kid I used to believe . . .

I'm borrowing the title from a book by the same name, but the book has a second half to the title - "butter comes from butterflies" - and I will be quoting often from the book, as well as other sources over the months!

Here are a few of my favorites to get you started:

When I was a kid I used to believe . . . that birds grew from birdseed. ~ Jen

When I was a kid I used to believe . . . as a child I would sing along with the Beatles' "Eight Day's a Week."

For years afterward I thought I was miscounting , because I couldn't name the eighth day. ~Eric

When I was I kid I used to belive . . . that "Be Thou still near" in my bedtime prayer had something to do with my ear and that maybe the significance of it was something I would learn about later in life.

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
when in the morning light I wake
Bloust an ear (Be Thou still near)
for Jesus sake.
 ~ Papa Pelikan


I hope you enjoy this addition to the side-bar and our sojourn down a memory lane from our youth.

A Giorno Chiaro!

Sherman likes the view too!

A Clear Day!

Vineyards and citrus - smells so good!



I’ll bet the blue sky in the picture above the ship – the Royal Caribbean – in my last post gives you the impression that it was a pretty day, right? Well not so! Compared to today, it was just a so-so weather day. At least it wasn’t raining that day, but yesterday was a rainy and very windy one, which means there’s always a good chance that the following day would turn out to be as pretty as a picture. And sure enough . . . look what we got! I woke up this morning to such a perfect day. The drive to my Italian class this morning was breathtaking. Now why couldn’t the weather have been like this for Jim’s visit on Monday?

Today we learned how to say things in the “past tense” . . . which is very helpful. Little by little (poco poco) this beginning attempt at Italian is actually making some sense. Yesterday, I was even able to tell our landlord (not needing the past tense form) that we couldn’t come for Sunday dinner this weekend because we are in the middle of Lent, and we would have to wait until after Easter. Believe me, it wasn’t a very elegant sentence, but we got the message across to Luigi and that in itself is a huge victory! Yeah-who!

I forgot to mention in my post on Monday that our nice neighbor just behind and below us, with the beautiful vineyard and lemon trees, threw up some lemons for us to “catch” in overhand pitch style, like a baseball while Jim was visiting.l! (unlike last week when he passed them up to us in a bag using a long tree branch)  The lemons are as big as softballs! Unfortunately, Jim couldn’t take them with him on the ship. Our neighbor asked us if we’re enjoying the lemons, and of course they are so delicious and thanks to my "baby" Italian, we at least were able to tell him that in Italian - i limoni molto deliziosi! Grazie mille (Your lemons are very delicious - thank you so much!)



A picture of the long tree branches used to pass the lemons in a bag



Italians use lemon juice on everything! Steak, fish, veggies, salad . . . you name it! The lemons here are not as bitter as American lemons. A very nice dressing for a salad, for example, is to add some of these fabulous lemon slices (some of the juice mixed in) tossed with a little olive oil some salt and pepper added, for a yummy local fare. We eat this (without the lemon slices) each time we have dinner at our landlord’s house; so light and refreshing.



Our neighbor's beautiful yard! Our view from our middle terrace last week.





Here we are in front of our house


It so great to have friends visit! We hope to have so many more visitors come to our home.
What fun to have Jim see where we live and picture our lives.

Time Stops For No Man?

After countless . . . conversations over the past few months trying to remember the last time we actually saw our friend Jim Barnett, his ship finally came in, (ha) to the Port of Naples, that is! A few months ago he contacted us on face book to let us know that he would be in the Mediterranean in early April and that his ship would be docking in Naples! How amazing is that?! At the time I was thinking, “Wow, that’s awhile from now.” It’ll be half-way through Lent, all that much closer to finding out about the Board results, and there could even be the possibility of sunshine and nice weather in the forecast by then. These were some of my thoughts! It’s been a harsh winter – heavy-duty winds that move any and everything in their path and most of the time the cold, biting rain to go along with it!

But, sure enough, before we knew it the day arrived. The night before, the phone rang and there was his familiar voice saying my name, “Tami? It’s Jim Barnett,” as though we had just talked to each other a year or so ago. But, “it is we who use time; time is not measured . . . it is just the tool for measurement”, and for us – suddenly – 25 + years were filled in and there we were, talking as though it was as natural as anything. Where had all that time gone? Well, we had used it all up!

Earlier that Sunday afternoon, Papa and I spent a number of hours driving my little car all around Naples (risking our lives for friendship, mind you [ha]), making sure we knew where we were going and how to get to the port (for sure), how to find at least a few of the historic sites to show him, and double-checking our time-line for getting him back to the ship on time. Monday morning traffic in Naples is busy and crazy, so of course we wanted to be prepared! We parked at the port where the ship would be docked the next morning at 0700 and went up the stairs to the new shopping galleria. The grand opening is scheduled for next week. That was unexpected and fun! We were able to acclimate easily after that and then figure out the best way to get home. We wanted to bring Jim to our house as well and show him Pozzuoli and a little of our area. Isn't that amazing!

Jim is traveling with Royal Caribbean International, assistant in charge of the music for the entire ship of over 5000 people - something like that - and will be in the Mediterranean for the next several months. They'll be in and out of Naples at least 10 times or so! We are really looking forward to a number of visits together.

We picked him up at 0900, spent the day just like we planned it and had an absolutely wonderful time together - as if time had somehow stopped or skipped along the mountain tops. We each have had our deep "valley" experiences, but somehow they didn't matter - on Monday!

Since arriving in Naples we keep hearing that this is the place where the Apostle Paul first stepped ashore before his last long journey on foot to Rome on the Appian Way!

When Paul was taken to Rome as a prisoner, Luke tells us in Acts 28:15 that Paul was coming up the Appian Way from Naples with his guards, and that the Christians in Rome “had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these men Paul thanked God and was encouraged.”

Papa and I had heard that there was a marker somewhere in the Port of Pozzuoli (5 minutes from our house) to mark this momentous occassion, but in our previous attempts had not been able to find it. But on Monday - with Jim - we found it!  On the left and in the center are the markers for the Apostle Paul, and on the right is a marker for the visit for Pope John Paul IIwhen he visited this same historic spot.  Beautiful!

~The butterfly counts not months but moments, 

and has time enough.~