St. Basil’s Feastday, January 1st

A.D. 330-379

Kontakion

You became for the Church a solid foundation,

and for all mankind strengthened by your teaching,

you became a harbor of refuge,

O Venerable Basil who reveals heaven’s mysteries!

 

• To learn more about St. Basil the Great and the tradition of Vasilopeta, click here.
• For copywork on hymns and quotes by St. Basil, click here. (more coming)
• Recommended reading: Keeper of the Light: St. Macrina the Elder, Grandmother of Saints (and grandmother of St. Basil)
• St. Gregory of Nyssa (St. Basil’s brother) Eulogy for St. Basil
• St. Gregory of Nazianzen’s Eulogy for St. Basil
• St. Basil’s letter to St. Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzen) on Humility, prayer and Christian life
• Other writings by St. Basil the Great

 

Vasilopeta Cake

 

According to The Complete Book of Greek Cooking, page 208:

Vasilopeta is a cake made in honor of Saint Basil, whose feast day is January 1. Cakes differ in the various regions of Greece: some are a type of bread, others a type of rich yeast cake, others are flat, made of cookie dough. The cakes may differ, but all include the customary hidden silver coin. It symbolizes good luck to the person who finds the coin in his piece of cake…The following recipe is the most traditional version.

• 2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 2 cups sugar

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 6 eggs

• 2 tsp. baking powder

• 1 cup lukewarm milk

• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

• 1 1/2 tbs. fresh lemon juice

• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, or pistachios)

• 1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Cream butter and sugar together until light. Add flour and stir until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir baking powder into milk and stir into egg mixture. Mix baking soda and lemon juice and stir in. Mix well.Pour into a greased round layer cake pan 10 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep. Bake for 20 minutes. Slip inside cake, a coin wrapped in aluminum foil. Sprinkle with nuts and sugar and bake for 20 to 30 minutes longer, or until cake tests done. Cool 10 minutes in pan and invert onto serving plate. Serve right side up.

Personal note: Our family actually uses an 11 x 3 spring roll pan and it takes us longer, more like an hour and a half, to bake this vasilopeta recipe. In our experience, this recipe requires significantly more volume in pan size than what is stated.It is a tradition to take these cakes or loaves of bread to church to be blessed after the liturgy for St. Basil the Great.

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Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Homily on the Nativity of the Lord

by  St. John Chrysostom

 

I behold a new and wondrous mystery! My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn.

The Angels sing!
The Archangels blend their voices in harmony!
The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise!
The Seraphim exalt His glory!
All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side the Sun of Justice.

And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed, he had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things move in obedience to God.

This day He Who Is, is Born; and He Who Is becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became he God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassibility, remaining unchanged.

And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.

Yet He has not forsaken His angels, nor left them deprived of His care, nor because of His Incarnation has he departed from the Godhead.

And behold,
Kings have come, that they might adore the heavenly King of glory;
Soldiers, that they might serve the Leader of the Hosts of Heaven;
Women, that they might adore Him Who was born of a woman so that He might change the pains of child-birth into joy;
Virgins, to the Son of the Virgin, beholding with joy, that He Who is the Giver of milk, Who has decreed that the fountains of the breast pour forth in ready streams, receives from a Virgin Mother the food of infancy;
Infants, that they may adore Him Who became a little child, so that out of the mouth of infants and sucklings, He might perfect praise;
Children, to the Child Who raised up martyrs through the rage of Herod;
Men, to Him Who became man, that He might heal the miseries of His servants;
Shepherds, to the Good Shepherd Who has laid down His life for His sheep;
Priests, to Him Who has become a High Priest according to the order of Melchisedech;
Servants, to Him Who took upon Himself the form of a servant that He might bless our servitude with the reward of freedom;
Fishermen, to Him Who from amongst fishermen chose catchers of men;
Publicans, to Him Who from amongst them named a chosen Evangelist;
Sinful women, to Him Who exposed His feet to the tears of the repentant;
And that I may embrace them all together, all sinners have come, that they may look upon the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sins of the world.

Since therefore all rejoice, I too desire to rejoice. I too wish to share the choral dance, to celebrate the festival. But I take my part, not plucking the harp, not shaking the Thyrsian staff, not with the music of pipes, nor holding a torch, but holding in my arms the cradle of Christ. For this is all my hope, this my life, this my salvation, this my pipe, my harp. And bearing it I come, and having from its power received the gift of speech, I too, with the angels, sing: Glory to God in the Highest;
and with the shepherds: and on earth peace to men of good will.

 

Posted from here.

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Shrimp Creole

A lenten recipe our children loved. I plan to make the sauce in bulk and freeze. It will then be very quick meal to put together with our plain (unseasoned) parboiled rice.

 

1 minced onion

3 TBS veg. oil

2 sweet bell peppers diced

3 cloves garlic minced

4 cups diced tomatoes (2 big cans)

2 TBS Creole seasoning

2 cups fresh bread crumbs

3 TBS margerine

1 package of salad shrimp (could use diced squash or some other ‘meaty’ vegetable as an alternative)

4 cups cooked rice 

Saute onion and garlic in vegetable oil until transparent, then add bell pepper, tomatoes, and Creole seasoning. Cook, partially covered, on low for an hour. Once done cooking, add shrimp.

Grind dry bread into crumbs and saute in margarine. Set aside. Spread rice in an 8X13 oiled pan. Pour and smooth shrimp and tomato sauce over rice. Spread bread crumbs on top and bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

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Additional Suggested Reading and Resources for Jesse Tree

Updated! Now supplemental readings are complete and cover days 1 through 52!

 

Includes hymns and additional suggested reading resources for each day, graciously made available by a member of our group:

festaljessetreeadditonaldays1-52pdf

jessetreecalendar

Copywork and additional weeks of suggested supplemental reading will be added to this post as they come available.

Thank you!

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Complete Jesse Tree Readings for Days 1 – 52

Just updated! Now includes readings through Day 52!

Please note, some ornaments have been rearranged:

 

 

Fr. Joshua and M. Jenny Mosher have finished the first part of the Jesse Tree readings and have graciously made it available:

jesse_tree_readings_complete_ver_1

Thank you Fr. Joshua and M. Jenny!

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St. Wenceslas

“Good King Wenceslas”, a very well know Christmas carol written by John Mason Neale,* is about an actual Orthodox saint. You can listen to an MP3 version of this hymn: here. John Mason Neale also wrote a children’s story on St. Wenceslas’ life which can be found here:

• wenceslaus

 

*John Mason Neale, an Anglican clergyman of the early to mid 19th century, was the first to translate Orthodox hymns and liturgies into English. He had hoped the Anglican Church would join with the Orthodox, as witnessed by his letters. And the highest ranking clergy at his funeral were Orthodox.

More of John Mason Neale’s stories written for children can be found here:

• “A Children’s History of the Church: from the Day of Pentecost until the Council of Chalcedon“
• “Stories of Church History“

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Spiritual Quotes

For what else is the feast, but the constant worship of God, and the recognition of godliness, and unceasing prayers from the whole heart with agreement? So Paul wishing us to be ever in this disposition, commands, saying, ‘Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks.’ Not therefore separately, but unitedly and collectively, let us all keep the feast together, as the prophet exhorts, saying, ‘O come, let us rejoice in the Lord, let us make a joyful noise unto God our Saviour.’ Who then is so negligent, or who so disobedient to the divine voice, as not to leave everything, and run to the general and common assembly of the feast?~St. Athanasius the Great (A.D. 293 – 373)

 

The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.~Psalm 34:10

 

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Lenten Speculaas Cookie Recipe

This is a very yummy recipe. We are making the dough now and are refrigerating over night. Tomorrow, we plan to roll it out, cut shapes of St. Nicholas and nautical symbols (using patterns and a sharp knife for the nautical symbols, since we do not have any cookie cutters for them). There is plenty of free clip art online that can be used to make such patterns. We will post pictures of our finished cookies tomorrow.

Traditional European gingerbread recipe modified to be lenten:

1 cup of Earth Balance Margarine or other nondairy margarine.

2 cups of dark brown sugar

The equivalent of 2 eggs using either Egg Replacer or 2 Tbsp of ground flax seeds blended in 4 Tbsp of water

Grated rind of one lemon

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg or mace

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp ground cardamom

1/8 tsp salt

4 cups of flour (we used 2 cups whole wheat and 2 cups unbleached)

1 tsp baking powder

 

Cream margarine and sugar until fluffy. Stir in egg replacer and lemon rind. Sift spices, salt and powder with flour and gradually stir into butter mixture. Wrap in wax paper, plastic wrap or ziplock bag and refrigerate over night (or if in a rush, chill in the freezer 20 minutes).

Roll dough between 1/4 – 1/8 inch on a floured surface. Larger cut-out figures require thicker dough. Cut out figures with cookie cutters or using a sharp knife. The dough can also be used with a cookie mold, or can be molded by hand.

Place cookies on lightly oiled baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until set and lightly browned. Large and thicker cookies will require a  longer baking time. If you prefer soft cookies, remove them from the oven when just set. The longer they remain in, the crisper they will be.

You can ice and decorate when cool.

Note: as I make this dough, I am finding it too dry, so I am adding water to help it ball up into a real workable dough. We will see how it works out tomorrow when we shape and bake it.

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Advent — A Light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death…

Fits very well with our St. Nicholas Day celebration:

December 3, 2008

Beloved in Christ,

Christ is in our midst!

As we prepare for the celebration of the First Coming in the Flesh of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we must fast and pray, and especially give alms, to be able to enter into the joy and grace of the Feast. By prayer and fasting, we empty ourselves of the chaos of our passions and the distractions of the world, so that we might have peace in our souls and silence in our hearts. By this, we identify ourselves with the silence and peace of the Mother of God, who accepted the Divine Presence within her self, so that the Word might become flesh and dwell among us. Let us also let the Word become incarnate in our hearts and souls and bodies, our thoughts and actions, that we might become instruments of His Will, being recreated in Christ for good works.

We give alms as a way of overcoming our selfishness, of detaching ourselves from grasping for possessions and money, so that the generosity of God who gave His Son for us may shine forth from us. We give alms to those in need, as a way of honoring Christ, who identified Himself with the poor, the suffering, the persecuted and the oppressed. Whoever is poor, whoever is suffering, whoever is rejected and oppressed, is Christ; let us minister to Him in them. Let us open our minds and hearts, our homes and our wallets, to those suffering from loneliness and despair, those who have lost their jobs and fear to lose their dignity, the orphans and widows-the fatherless and divorced, elderly, abandoned and alone. It is good to write checks to organizations. But the spiritual riches come from consoling Christ by serving those in need, personally, with warm affection.

Ours is a time of great uncertainty, fear and war. The economy is teetering, unemployment is mushrooming. Tens of thousands of our children, brothers and sisters are in peril at war in distant lands. Of those who have returned, how many are broken and in despair, not knowing where to turn from the unending nightmares in their memories and their minds. We must especially reach out to them and their families, Orthodox or not, to comfort and console and give them our help, as individuals and as Christian communities.

The Coming of Christ is a message of hope, the banishment of despair. True spiritual striving is the means by which we cast out the works and thoughts of darkness, and let the Holy Spirit heal and console our souls. Let us cleanse our souls through confession, accepting Christ’s forgiveness, forgiving everyone who has offended or hurt us, and forgiving ourselves. By repentance we must cast out all resentments and anger, bitterness and self-loathing, selfishness and carnality, self-serving desires for revenge and retribution, all that entombs us in guilt.

Then with a pure mind and a broken heart enkindled by love, overflowing with compassion for those suffering and in need, we might give birth to Christ in our lives, that we might behold His Glory, the Glory of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Wishing you joy and peace, as we prepare together to receive Christ Come in the Flesh, in the Holy Mysteries, in prayer, and in the service of the needy, I remain faithfully yours,

With love in Christ,

+ Jonah
Archbishop of Washington and New York
Metropolitan of All America and Canada

From OCA.org

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St. Nicholas of Myra, Dec. 6/19

 

 

The truth of thy deeds
hath revealed thee to thy flock as a canon of faith,
an icon of meekness,
and a teacher of abstinence;
for this cause thou hast achieved the heights by humility,
riches by poverty,
O Father and Hierarch Nicholas,
intercede with Christ God that our souls may be saved. ~ Troparion

This glorious saint, celebrated even today throughout the entire world, was the only son of his eminent and wealthy parents, Theophanes and Nona, citizens of the city of Patara in Lycia. Since he was the only son bestowed on them by God, the parents returned the gift to God by dedicating their son to Him. St. Nicholas learned of the spiritual life from his uncle Nicholas, Bishop of Patara, and was tonsured a monk in the Monastery of New Zion founded by his uncle. Following the death of his parents, Nicholas distributed all his inherited goods to the poor, not keeping anything for himself. As a priest in Patara, he was known for his charity, even though he carefully concealed his charitable works, fulfilling the words of the Lord: Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth (Matthew 6:3). When he gave himself over to solitude and silence, thinking to live that way until his death, a voice from on high came to him: “Nicholas, for your ascetic labor, work among the people, if thou desirest to be crowned by Me.” Immediately after that, by God’s wondrous providence, he was chosen archbishop of the city of Myra in Lycia. Merciful, wise and fearless, Nicholas was a true shepherd to his flock. During the persecution of Christians under Diocletian and Maximian, he was cast into prison, but even there he instructed the people in the Law of God. He was present at the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea [325] and, out of great zeal for the truth, struck the heretic Arius with his hand. For this act he was removed from the Council and from his archiepiscopal duties, until the Lord Christ Himself and the Most-holy Theotokos appeared to several of the chief hierarchs and revealed their approval of Nicholas. A defender of God’s truth, this wonderful saint was ever bold as a defender of justice among the people. On two occasions, he saved three men from an undeserved sentence of death. Merciful, truthful, and a lover of justice, he walked among the people as an angel of God. Even during his lifetime, the people considered him a saint and invoked his aid in difficulties and in distress. He appeared both in dreams and in person to those who called upon him, and he helped them easily and speedily, whether close at hand or far away. A light shone from his face as it did from the face of Moses, and he, by his presence alone, brought comfort, peace and good will among men. In old age he became ill for a short time and entered into the rest of the Lord, after a life full of labor and very fruitful toil, to rejoice eternally in the Kingdom of Heaven, continuing to help the faithful on earth by his miracles and to glorify his God. He entered into rest on December 6, 343. ~ The Prologue From Ohrid

It is our family tradition to fill our stockings with gifts, gingerbread cookies and treats, to be enjoyed on St. Nicholas Day, Dec. 6/19.  And we normally include gold foil chocolate coins (the dark chocolate variety is lenten). They commemorate Saint Nicholas saving three poor peasant daughters from a life of sin and despair, when he threw gold coins in their window for their marriage dowries. The coins are traditionally believed to have landed into their stockings/shoes close to the fireplace–why we hang Christmas stockings on the fireplace today.

Here is a wonderful unit study on St. Nicholas that really fits the pattern of how we have traditionally filled our own stockings. It includes the following suggestions (which I rewritten, attempting to put in a more Orthodox context where possible):

• Gold coins (or Sacagawea coins), other money or gift certificate representing the money he threw into the window of a poor family’s house.
• A toy representing the toys he had commissioned a toymaker to make for poor children.
• Something to represent his devotion to God: a spiritually oriented book, icon, cross,  prayer rope or other object.
• Something to represent the food he would give to the poor (fruit, nuts, gift certificate, etc).
• An item of clothing representing his clothing the poor.
• Something representing the gingerbread he liked to bake and give away (lenten recipe here).
• Something representing the ship he saved through his prayers.

The unit study recommends singing “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” but there is a traditional Orthodox hymn that could be sung instead. Other options for coloring, besides what they suggest, can be found in The Nativity Icon Ornament Kit which includes one image of St. Nicholas that can be hung on the tree when finished. Or the free downloadable coloring sheets found at OrthodoxOnline.com.

In addition, when we have been able, we have tried to do a good work anonymously in St. Nicholas’ name to a family in need.

We also try to have a very festive lenten salmon dinner and sing the troparion as a part of our meal prayer.

And if for some reason we are unable to attend Liturgy commemorating his feast day at church, we read the Akathist commemorating him.

For more resources on celebrating St. Nicholas Day:

The Miracle of St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas for Little Ones

StNicholasCenter.org

PhyllisOnest.com

OrthodoxOnline.com

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