Blessing the graves at Elmwood Cemetery on Memorial Day, (Noir Filter, Dissolving border, Processed with Analog)
Memorial Day in Lorain
One of my favorite customs in our Lorain community is the blessing of the graves on Memorial Day. To be sure, it’s usually a scorcher - 90+ degrees - and with my cassock on it seems at least 15 degrees warmer.
But despite the oppressive heat, many in our community come to our local cemeteries to remember their loved ones, and to pay respect to those that have fallen asleep in the Lord before them. They lay flowers on the grave; they offer a prayer; they make sure that I find their parents, grandparents, godchildren, godparents.
One family in our Church remembers, every year, to have the grave of their two-year old sister, Mary, blessed. I’d wager that grave has been blessed every year since 1924…
Would still be kinda awesome tho!
Captain America’s my favorite, I think. But Thor’s shoulder pads are pretty good as well…
Moving around some photos I found this gem from our trip to Cappadocia in Turkey. Nice teeth!
(Nikolaj filter, black border —> Processed with Analog)
Also, what's your thoughts on Western Rite Orthodoxy?
Honestly, I don’t know too much about it to speak intelligently about the subject. I’m pretty sure a couple of people I went to Seminary with serve the Western Rite in their diocese.
Either way, as long as proper order is followed (IE - so long as priests remain obedient to their bishops, their bishops remain obedient to the synod, and the synod is in communion with other Orthodox churches) then if it’s blessed I don’t have a problem with it.
But again, I know very little about it, including the structure of the rite, its specific points of departure from the Eastern rite, etc.
Hello Father. I have another question today! Have you ever visited Mount Athos in Greece, or do you plan to visit it one day?
I do plan to visit Mount Athos - it’s on my list of pilgrimages to take, along with Jerusalem, Irkutsk, Alaska and Santiago De Compostella. Jerusalem and Mount Athos are on there for obvious reasons, I should think - Irkutsk is on there as St Innocent holds a special place in my heart; Alaska is on there for it’s connection to Orthodoxy in America; and Santiago De Compostella - although not an **Orthodox** site of Pilgrimage - is one of the most famous sites of medieval pilgrimage in the world and has a well established trail to walk through Northern Spain!
Schoololgy… and flipping my Church School classroom
As part of my work as a Technology Tech for an Ohio school district, I am often asked to learn new systems and programs that might be beneficial to students and teachers. Thus far, I’ve tried a variety of different websites, databases and so on. All of them have failed to impress me.
Of course, that’s not to say the things I try are without merit or usefulness - they usually are. But often they target something specific, or offer content and data management that’s useful for specific things (tests, student information, etc).
Today, however, I ran across something that intrigued me - Schoololgy.
