The Lenten Triodion Has Begun

From the OrthodoxWiki:

The three weeks that commence on the fourth Sunday prior to Great Lent constitute the weeks of preparation.

This past weekend, the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee was observed. The church has begun her annual march toward Great Lent. I will shift posting over to my original blog, The Numbered Day (formerly titled first Numbering Our Days, then Life in the Slow Lane).

Patterns

Overhead at Ancient Faith Women's Conference, a couple of months ago. The words stuck with me.

“The Light Which Fills the World”

Frederick Mathewes-Green recently linked a PBS introduction to the landscapes of Orthodox photographer Christopher Burkett. He painstakingly develops photographs using Cibachrome, a film no longer made by the manufacturer.* He purchased ten years’ worth of film, when the end of production was announced, in 2012.

Burkett shares more of his story in The Tapestry of Creation.

“I’m working within a very limited box, in terms of technical possibilities. It’s a form of discipline, but there’s a strength and depth that’s possible within that discipline that doesn’t happen any other way.”  Christopher Burkett

*Watching Burkett process film brought back memories of watching my father in the darkroom, so many Sunday afternoons.

Around the table, around the sun

Seasonings

During the season of Great Lent,
so much depends upon the brown sprinkle of pepper,
the white glaze of salt.

Montage

On this day we ate breakfast out, ran errands, then took a drive to Sunbury, to see St. Barnabas the Apostle Orthodox Church. It's always interesting to see how an Orthodox congregation adapts a (previously occupied) building for worship and congregational life. The large flower garden at the foot of the exterior cross, backed by a sunny yellow cement wall, evoked Easter morning.
*******
The guy in the lower right corner, lolling against the dessert display case, was on staff at Jason's Deli that evening, awaiting the supper rush.

Incense

It was trendy to burn incense in the 70's. I had a little burner I used a few times back then. Eastern Orthodox Christians still burn it today, part of their (sensory-rich) worship services--or to accompany prayers at home. I ordered some, along with a burner and a roll of charcoal, from Legacy Icons to see what it's like. The burner is a work of art--the frankincense kit, tactile and beautiful. I am fascinated we can come so close to this physical element of the Nativity story, one of the gifts of the magi.

Video: How to burn incense

The mystery of art

Jonathan Jackson, The Mystery of Art: Becoming an Artist in the Image of God, Clergy-Laity Congress, Greek Orthodox Church in America,  Nashville,  2016.

Seek silence. Listen for the still, small voice. "The whole world is a sacrament."

Buns for St. Lucy's Day

A friend makes delicious St. Lucia saffron buns for St. Lucy's Day, which is traditionally observed at the darkest time of year, as light is about to return. St. Lucy, patron saint of the blind, was martyred in the early fourth century. (The raisins represent eyes.)

The buns have a striking form; until I sketched them, I hadn't realized they trace Hogarth's Line of Beauty.

John Donne composed A Nocturnal Upon St. Lucy's Day.

Watercolor pencil, watercolor, and Dr. Ph. Martin's Radiant Watercolor (background, the color of the wine of communion). (The buns disappeared so quickly I had to sketch them from a photo.)

Memory Eternal

Thou only Creator, 
Who with wisdom profound mercifully orderest all things, 
and givest unto all that which is useful, 
give rest, O Lord, to the soul of Thy servant who has fallen asleep, 
for she has placed her trust in Thee, 
our Maker and Fashioner and our God. (Troparion)

With the saints give rest, O Christ, 
to the soul of Thy servant where sickness and sorrow are no more, 
neither sighing, but life everlasting. (Kontakion)