Skip to main content

Sunday of the Cross

Image may contain: indoor

Sunday of the Cross

"O Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance!
Grant victory to the Orthodox Christians over their adversaries,
And by virtue of Thy cross, preserve Thy habitation!"
~Troparion for the Cross 


I was honored to be asked to participate in the "skeleton crew" for Matins & Liturgy at St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral this morning, which was streamed on YouTube for all the faithful. We were allowed to have no more than 10 people at Liturgy and we had exactly that; but we prayed for every person who sent their names in - the living and the departed. 

When we arrived at the Great Doxology with the Cross brought out and we began singing "O Lord, Save Thy People", I almost broke down. The Orthodox Fight Song. Grant victory to the health care workers who are saving lives; to researchers and scientists who are searching for a vaccine and cure; to volunteers who are making masks, bringing food to shut-ins, helping their neighbors; to those who have been afflicted with this terrible virus... the list goes on!

I know that over 250 households watched our service from home, but it was so difficult to sing into an empty church. The hollow echo as Fr. Andrew gave a beautiful homily gave witness to the empty pews behind us. Where there are usually 300+ worshipers, we were few. It is a great task to lead so many in prayer, and I am truly humbled to have done so. Even when faced with adversity, Christians find ways to worship in their homes and this was no different. 

May you all create a small church in your homes during this Lenten period and may we all be able to gather at the Lord's Pascha! What a feast that will be!

Our own decorated cross:


Week 2 at Home

Tomorrow we will begin our second week at home. This weekend there was a lot of screen time. A movie every night (thank goodness for Disney+, Netflix, Hulu...). Tonight was my pick and we watched Free Willy! Didn't think about the fact that we would have to explain foster care, graffiti, whale kidnapping, being homeless... Lots of life lessons, but M & L liked it. N had never seen it either.

So, what do we have planned for the coming week? I have signed up the boys for Center for Interactive Learning classes that run from 8:30-10 am. They are free, live-streamed classes for Kindergarten through 6th grade, produced at museums, zoos, aquariums and the like. We plan to hook up the laptop to the TV and see how it goes. I am hoping we do some art with Mo Willems Doodles and get plenty of exercise. We got out the trampoline this weekend and have had several hours of bouncing time to get those wiggles out.

Other plans:

  • Snacks doled out in their bins in the morning - they eat WAY too many snacks if they have free rein of the cupboard.
  • Quiet Time space - both boys have a cozy chair to read in with all their books stacked up ready to read.
  • More puzzles! I started a 1000 piece one that I picked up at Target. Boys have several going up and down our hallway.
  • Build old LEGO sets!


Spirit Week will commence this week with Pajama Day, but M & L are required to change out the the PJs they are currently in. They wore them pretty much the entire day Sunday (did they wear them Saturday, too?). If you join, please post pics for me to see! Who wants to be my twinsie? We can wear yoga pants and sweatshirts. Wait, that means every mom could be my twin!

Image may contain: text


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Calling Audibles

Today all planned activities were thrown out the window and multiple audibles were called. There were meltdowns and then there were MELTDOWNS, which resulted in way too much screen time. Likely three plus hours. At least I was not interrupted during the video call we had with my VP. Meltdown Causes M didn’t want to bring his Legos downstairs. M hit L because he broke his LEGO sword L crashed into M’s bike and got a cut near the outside corner of his eye. Meltdown over whether he would have to go to the emergency room and get stitches. (Valid, since he has been there twice since Christmas for glue/stitches and HATES needles.) Fortunately, just a surface cut that we can take care of at home with bacitracin. Boys didn’t want to get the $0.25 they owed me for leaving the light on in their room from the piggy bank themselves . "Why can't YOU just get it?" (New rule: if you leave your light on, you owe Mommy $0.25. Something we should have started a long time ago.) I...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wins & "Opportunities" Day 1

We Survived Day 1 Day one is in the books. I was home on my own, as Nate had to report in, but will be home for two weeks, starting tomorrow. There was less work during working hours and more setting up activity areas, but we survived! Now that dining in at restaurants has ended for a bit and gyms are closed, there are fewer ways to transmit the virus. But also, the LIBRARY closed! My homeschooling friend posted a shot of "This is NOT what homeschooling looks like. We are not normally stuck at home. We normally have access to libraries, museums, zoos and friends." Agreed, we are in unprecedented times. So I learned a few things today: Wins: I got one final trip to Target at 7 am for at least the rest of week one. Donuts are delicious for breakfast - especially ones with St. Patrick's Day Lucky Charms! Boys changed into their clothes FIRST THING after breakfast. Miracle of miracles. They would stay in the same pajamas a week, day and night, if I let them....
Post a Comment
Read more

Happy Saint Pattrick,s Day

Saint Patrick (not just a holiday for green beer and corned beef and hash) N started working from home today, so we took turns with kid corralling. He had the morning and I did more in the afternoon. Breakfast was, of course, green Lucky Charms that turn your milk (and likely other things) green. We all tried to dress in green - I made it into pants I haven't worn in a few years! The morning was a success! Boys cleaned their rooms and the living room floor so the Roomba could run without picking up their LEGOs. Next was coloring time using pictures we print off the internet . From there, we entered "learning time". I hate that we are doing Moby Max, in addition to already increased screen time, but this is what we have for now. My awesome coworker also sent St. Patrick's Day packet of math and letters for early elementary. That was super helpful and M even helped L with it! Reading Time. This was one of the quietest parts of the day, by far! Both boys read fo...
Post a Comment
Read more