No matter how hard we may try, it is impossible to avoid prayer in silence altogether. Aside from the natural silences that come with sleep, sickness, satiation, sadness, or a winter snow, we may also encounter the impromptu silences of everyday life while first sitting up in bed, during a long day's drive, staring up at twilight, or fighting tired eyes getting heavy before bed. With all this silence interrupting our noise, perhaps there's more to it than what meets our ears

With the rising of the sun, You stretch my soul and breathe into my lungs. In the still heat of the noonday, You close my eyes and illumine my soul. In the silence of the late afternoon, You steady my feet and shake the sand from my shoes. With the lengthening shadows of the setting sun, You hold me in your arms and remind me of my last breath. My God and My God and My God, Why do you remain with me As sinful as I am? My God and My God and My God, Why do you save me from myse

I try to understand How it is That You are So near to me? I want to know why? I want to know how? But why do I want to know? Is it so that I can understand it? Is it so I can explain it to others? You fill me. You surround me. You are above me. You raise me up. You keep me grounded. You use my hands to bless. ...to anoint. ...to absolve. ...to commune. ...to immerse. You use my mouth to taste Your sacrifice. ...my eyes to see Your presence. ...my ears to hear Your heavenly ho

You fill me With Divine Love You surround me With Divine Fire You sustain me With Divine Waters You lead me With Divine Light I am not worthy of this Yet Here you are Never letting go Always reminding me I am in the world, But not of the world. I love you With every ounce of my being. Save me from myself and Sanctify me. An 18th c. icon of Pentecost from a private collection via Wikimedia Commons.

When in the morning A light breeze awakens my mind, I remember You walked the earth. When in the afternoon A hot gust shutters my senses, I remember You suffered on the cross. When in the evening A cool wind enlivens my heart, I remember You resurrected on the third day. When in the night A silence settles over the cosmos, I remember You ascended into Heaven. All this? For me? For us? And there's more? Unworthy as I am, I ecstatically await With bated breath For the coming of

With head bowed, Back bent, and tired feet, I crawl to you on hands and knees. With eyes swollen, Parched mouth, and Prayer rope in hand, I whisper the words, One more time. Your enemies are boundless O Christ, Yet, you offer An inexhaustible cup that Never runs dry? Forgive me, a sinner. You gave yourself Mary Most Holy, As the birth giver of God. And now you provide A refuge to me? "Rejoice, for the angelic powers and the human race rejoice because of you! Rejoice, for your

Empty and loveless is the world founded by man, Built for his own edification. Angry and hopeless is the world fueled by man, Possessed by his own pride. Bleak and faithless is the world formed by man, Twisted by his own conceit. These dead waters never quench The thirst born deep inside. Only Christ, The Son of the Living God. The water He is, By whom you will never be thirsty. The water He gives, Gushes up toward eternal life. Give me this living water, So that I may never

Head bowed And hair soaked, My fingers grasp The woolen rope on my hand. Ebb of sin Flow of prayer, My mind in heart The knots move my fingers. Eyes closed And body still, My soul receives The silence nearer my spirit. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me, A sinner. Sounds of rain in my ears And cracks of thunder in my soul, Is praying in the rain Another Baptism, but of tears?

"Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One, And the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One! Angels with shepherds glorify Him! The wise men journey with a star! Since for our sake the Eternal God was born as a Little Child!" - Kontakion (thematic hymn) from the Nativity Service

The Great Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos is the celebration of the presentation of Mary, the Mother of God, who was brought by Joachim and Anna (her parents) to the Temple in Jerusalem to live and serve until her betrothal to Joseph. We deeply cherish this feast because we honor Mary as "the abode of heaven" (from the Troparion of the Feast) and "the heavenly tabernacle" (from the Kontakion of the Forefeast). On this day we bask in the glory of Mary who "let it be don