EXALTATION OF THE PRECIOUS AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS
Sun Sep 14th
Hirmos for the Holy Cross
O Mother of God, You became a mystical paradise when, without tilling, You brought forth Christ our God, by whom the life-giving Tree of the Cross was planted on earth. Wherefore, we deeply bow before this Cross, which is exalted today and we magnify You.
image:new cross at Nohra Hill castle monuments, Lebanon
Prayer to the Venerable Cross
Making the sign of the the Cross over your head with the Cross, say:
Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered; and let those who hate Him flee before His Presence. As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish; and as wax melts before the fire, so let the demons perish before the presence of those who love God and who sign themselves with the sign of the Cross and say in gladness: Hail, most precious and life-giving Cross, for You drive away the demons by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified on You and who went down to Hell and trampled on the power of the devil and gave us You, His Venerable Cross …More
Beshara Abou Mrad B.S.O., Melkite Priest
The crumbling of the world is through the Middle East and the lawlessness the west is endorsing there. But the crumbling must go through Lebanon, the most Marian country in the Middle East and among the most in the world. Our Lord and His Mother took refuge in the land that is now Lebanon as in for example Matthew 15:21. I am sure a suggestion from His Mother, as a reprieve from the harassment He received for preaching the Gospel.
Consider invoking the Venerable Melkite Bechara Abou Mrad B.S.O. from the South of Lebanon. For personal intentions and for the axis of resistance against the evil.
A prayer to Father Bechara to be a Saint
Our generous savior, who gives his priest all the graces, who are his own heritage, for the holiness and goodness of his people, we pray and beg you to glorify your humble servant, Father Bechara Abou Mrad, who walked in your way of perfection all the days of his life. Let your mighty power appear in him, to twinkle like a bright star in the sky of your …More
Not a vision/locution but a real presence?
Cell of Abou Mrad
Holy Savior Monastery in Southern Lebanon, founded on a miracle. Where Jesus and Mary walked in the flesh.
NATIVITY OF OUR MOST HOLY LADY, THE THEOTOKOS
Mon Sep 8th
Troparion of the Nativity of the Theotokos
Your Nativity, O Mother of God, heralded joy to the whole universe, for from You rose the Sun of Justice, Christ our God. He cancelled the curse and poured forth His grace; He vanquished death and granted us eternal life.
Kontakion of the Nativity of the Theotokos
Through Your holy birth, O Immaculate One, Joachim and Anne were delivered from the shame of childlessness, and Adam and Eve from the corruption of death. Your people, redeemed from the debt of their sins, celebrate Your birth crying out to You: the barren gives birth to the Mother of God, the Sustainer of our Life!
image: icon of the Ever-Virgin Mother of God at the destroyed Syrian monastery of Sergius & Bacchus, Syria
Ezekiel 44:2 ...the gate is to remain closed, it is not to be opened for anyone to enter by it; since the Lord God of Israel has entered by it, it shall remain closed. [on the Ever Virgin Nature of the Theotokos]
Holy Prophet Moses Thu Sep 4th
A reminder that the Traditional Calenders have a seamless continuity with the Patriarchs of the Old Testament. The original Abrahams Accord.
Troparion for Prophets
We celebrate the memory of your prophet, and through him we implore You, O Lord, save our souls.
image: Moses and the Burning Bush icon, Saint Catherine Monastery, Sinai
The Ten Commandments
I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
Beginning of the New Year, Synaxis of Theotokos. Mon Sep 1st
Also Saint Simeon the Stylite, Saint Aeithalas, 40 Women with Ammon, Saints Callistos, Hermogenes and Evod, Joshua son of Nun.
The origins of the Orthodox Churches’ New Year on September 1 can be traced to the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea (325) establishing the liturgical calendar. September was historically significant for the Hebrews as the beginning of their year, associated with the harvest with thanksgiving offering to God (Exodus 23). Also according to Holy Tradition, Jesus Christ entered the synagogue in Nazareth to read from the scroll of Isaiah, while proclaiming an "acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4).
Troparion of the New Year
Maker of the Universe, O Lord who alone have power over the seasons and times: bless this year with Your bounty, preserve our country in safety and keep Your people in peace, through the prayers of the Mother of God, and save us.
Kontakion of the New Year
O Creator and Master of time and eternity, super substantial God of All, O Merciful One: …More
Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, Fri Aug 29th
The west is living a sexual entrapment cult. Meet a major intercessor for our freedoms to come back.
Matthew 14:11 His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.
Sat Aug 23rd Leave-Taking of the Dormition Saint Irenaios of Lyon, Heiromartyr
Troparion for Hieromartyrs (Bishop-Martyrs)
Sharer in the Apostles' way of life and successor on their thrones, inspired by God, you found ascetical effort as the means to contemplation. And so, dispensing rightly the Word of Truth, you fought for the faith unto the shedding of your blood. O Hieromartyr, intercede with Christ God for the salvation of our souls.
"Since the Redeemer preexisted, there had to be someone to be saved so that He would not come in vain. As a consequence, we find Mary, the obedient Virgin."
"Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race."
"The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith."
Saint Irenaios of Lyon [Against Heresies, 2 Century]
“For as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; …More
Never underestimate the claim that a nation reached a celestial body. And its resultant capacity to capture the imagination of the body of nations, adding lie after lie. Free masonry claimed victory over religion with compass and square and the art of the deal. Marketing was born with protestantism.
When the stone tablets became Flesh, The Ark became human.
Feast Days of Saint Philomena leading to the Feast day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Saint Philomena, saint in a time capsule for our time, hidden for centuries. Virgin and Martyr who mirrored the passion of our Lord, condemned to death by Emperor Diocletian. Diocletian could easily represent the emperors of our time who in their vanity, like Trump, Biden, some bishops and other authority figures of the empire after him, lust after the under-aged and virgins.
Her story:
santuariosantafilomena.it/en/santa- …
August 10th
Celebration of the Translation of the Holy Body and the martyrdom of Saint Philomena
August 11th
Liturgical feast day in honor of Saint Philomena
August 13th
Celebration of the name of Saint Philomena
Second Sunday of August
Solemn festivities in honor of Saint Philomena
Consider praying the Cordon of St Philomena every day:
O Saint Philomena Virgin and Martyr, pray for us that through your powerful intercession we may obtain that purity of spirit and heart which leads to the perfect love of God. Amen.
The aim of the Devotion
- preserve chastity, each …More
August 11th - Liturgical Feast of Saint Philomena. Mirrored the sentencing of our Lord by Diocletian.
THE HOLY TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD, GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST
Wed Aug 6th
In the Eastern Tradition, the Transfiguration of Our Lord represents to the two levels of existence of the baptized living the Sacramental Life.
Troparion of the Transfiguration
You were transfigured on the Mountain, O Christ God, showing your disciples as much of Your glory as they could hold. Let Your eternal Light shine also upon us sinners, through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Giver of Light, glory to You!
image: Transfiguration icon, St, Catherine monastery
The Divinity of God is revealed outside of His Humanity.
The Passion Begins
Friday August 1
Procession of the Life Giving Cross
Seven Holy Maccabees, their Mother Salome and their Tutor Eleazar
Troparion of the Cross
O Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance, Grant victory over all enemies to orthodox Christians, and protect Your nation by the power of Your Cross.
If you are Jewish, consider how you are supposed to celebrate Hanukkah, but the book wherein the story comes from, the Book of Maccabies, was dropped by Jews and neo-christians centuries ago. Find your nearest Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Bible to read the story of what you are celebrating.
Saint Panteleimon, Great-Martyr
Tue Jul 27th 2027
Troparion of Saint Panteleimon
Holy and victorious martyr, Panteleimon, intercede with God all-merciful that He may grant us the remission of our sins.
image: St. Panteleimon icon, Our Lady of Nourieh, Lebanon
The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
July 16.
Leading the contemplative life and the fight against the priests of the pagan god Baal
1 Kings 17.
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
Make your home a Carmel.
Statue of Our Lady of Carmel, Mt. Carmel Palestine.
The angel of the Lord appeared unto Mary...
Sun Jul 13th
Troparion of the Archangel Gabriel
O Captains and Leaders of the Armies of Heaven, unworthy as we are, we beseech you without cease to surround us with your intercessions and cover us beneath the shelter of the glory of your ethereal wings. We bend our knee and cry out with perseverance: Deliver us from danger, O Prince of the Powers on High.
"And rightly an angel is sent to the virgin, because the virgin state is ever akin to that of angels. Surely in the flesh to live beyond the flesh, is not a life on earth but in heaven."
St Jerome
St Maria Goretti (1890 - 1902)
"The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for all that He, in His goodness, sends to us day after day."
St. Gianna Molla
Saint Andrew of Crete
Fri Jul 4th
"When Jesus said the words "Behold your Mother," he meant this: My wounds are sources of graces that flow only through Mary."
St. Andrew of Crete
Deposition of the Mantle of the Theotokos at Blachernae
Wed Jul 2nd
O Pure One, whom God Himself has blessed, you have given us a blanket of purity to all the faithful, the holy Mantle that had covered your pure body. We celebrate with love the deposition of this mantle and sing to You with joy: Rejoice, O Virgin, most honorable, Glory of all Christians.
Judges 6:39-40
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.
Heavenly gifts! Oh I would that we cherish them more! I was given the heavenly gift of the Brown Scapular, the "Garment of Grace." It is a heavenly treasure Our Blessed Mother of Mount Carmel gives to Her little children whom She loves with a special and tender Motherly love. It is the blossoming of the "little way." Please everyone become enrolled in the Brown Scapular! God bless you!
HOLY GLORIOUS AND ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCES OF THE APOSTLES, PETER AND PAUL
Sun Jun 29th
Troparion of Saints Peter and Paul
O Peter and Paul, higher in rank than any other Apostle, Doctors of the World, intercede with the Master of All that He may give peace to the world and great mercy to us all.
Nativity of the Honorable and Glorious Prophet and Forerunner, John the Baptist
Tue Jun 24th
Kontakion of Saint John the Baptist
The woman who had been barren becomes fertile and gives birth to the Forerunner of Christ. He is the greatest and last of the Prophets, for standing in the waters of the Jordan River, he placed his hands on Christ whom all the Prophets had announced; and in so doing, he becomes a prophet himself, a preacher and a forerunner of the Word of God.
image: Birthplace of John the Baptist, Ein Kerem, Palestine