St. Lucia and St. Herman

 

This past week some families in our community gathered to remember two special December Saints: St. Lucia of Syracuse and St. Herman of Alaska.

For St. Herman, we made Spruce Island cookies. A Presbytera friend gave me this recipe years ago, and I taped it into the back of my parish cookbook. This post has the full recipe with instructions, as well as a link to purchase the cookbook with the original recipe. It's traditional to make green tree shapes for Spruce Island, and yellow stars since St. Herman is called the North Star of Christ holy Church in his troparion.

In an attempt to avoid food dyes this year, we added 1/4 tsp tumeric to the recipe to make yellow stars. But you can also ice them or use yellow sprinkles.

I've also had to modify the recipe for Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free family members, using sun butter and oats. (Any kind of nut butter would also work in that one.)

For St. Lucy of Syracuse, we made St. Lucia buns. I never realized how perfect this recipe is for little hands. Basically, the dough is like play-dough and can be manipulated easily. I made the dough the night before and kept in in the fridge in an oiled plastic bag. 

It sat out on the counter during liturgy and was ready for rolling after snack time.

Since my god-daughter likes cinnamon, and since saffron is rather expensive, I adjusted the recipe:

St. Lucia Buns for my God-daughter

About 2 lb flour

¾ c oil

1 c sugar

1½ TBS yeast (or 2 packets)

1¾ c warm water

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Raisins or chocolate chips to decorate

Add sugar, yeast, and warm water to a bowl and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Mix in rest of ingredients, adding just enough flour to make a dough that doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl but is still pliable.

Shape and let rise for an hour, or refrigerate dough overnight in an oiled plastic bag. Bring to room temperature the next day, shape and rise for an hour.

Size of dough to shape = a small lemon (pics below)

Roll into a rope and then roll the ends in opposite directions towards the middle.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

And just in case you need the reminder that these sorts of activities don't always turn out perfectly, I give you, the turtle/porcupine bun version. I love them!

None of the these children are mine - mine are with the "older kids" now. Therefore, I am particularly thankful for these moms sharing their children with me. I pray you enjoy the time with the children in your life this season!

Saint Moses the Ethiopian

You might have arrived at my blog from the link in my bio in my short story in Kosmeo, so I thought I would introduce you the historical man that inspired me. 

Meet Moses!

He has several epithets that help the faithful distinguish him from Moses of the Old Testament. 

Moses the Black

Moses the Ethiopian

Moses the African

Moses the Strong

You can read a short history of his life in wikipedia. 

Why is St. Moses the Ethiopian so inspiring to me? 

His Strength

I love the story of the Moses as a monk in the desert, attacked by four robbers. (You can read the story in the Wikipedia link above.) It helps to remember that Moses used to be a leader of a gang of robbers himself, and became a Christian later in life. Moses had the physicality you might expect from a gang leader. He was so large and so muscular that he was able to wrangle four men without knocking them out. Then he CARRIED all FOUR MEN to the main monastery building to turn them in to his abbot, because he didn't think it would be Christian to hurt them. (I love this detail in the story, because it points out that hurting them was an option. But he didn't do it.) He had physical and spiritual strength.

His Humility

He himself had been a former robber and gang leader. He had a personal conversion story to share that was similar to their own past. He could have sat the robbers down in his own cell and told them his story of becoming a Christian and urged them to follow his model.

But he did not presume to know best what they needed. Like all monks are trained to do, he crucified his own thoughts and desires and brought the robbers to his abbot. That way the abbot could ask Moses to share his story, or ask the cook to prepare them a meal, or ask the infirmary to check their health, or choose to talk to them himself. We don't know exactly what happened, but the four robbers were overcome by the Christian Life, the love-as-deeds-life, the kind of life in which "They will know you are Christians by your love." And the robbers experienced their own conversion story.

His Refusal to Judge

I love this for two reasons. First, I feel like I can come to him and talk to him and know that he is not judging me. Second, I feel drawn to his help when I am tempted to judge someone else. And I am always tempted to judge someone else. I feel grateful to God for the example he gives me in Moses. I know that by the prayers of St. Moses, I have been able to - slowly, over much time - see some of my own sins, my own sand that falls behind my back unknown to me, leaving a mess in my trail. 

Want to Read More about St. Moses?

I haven't read it yet, but want to read this graphic novel about the life of St. Moses. I have read two other graphic novels by the same author and was inspired by them.

If you would like to read about St. Moses in the context of other African saints, you might appreciate Become All Flame: Lent with African Saints – Park End Books. The explanation of the phrase "become all flame" is alone a worthy story!

Here is a little illustrated children's book, The Abbot and the Robbers. This paperback book is just the right size to read as a bedtime story.

I pray that when I am tempted, like Maurice in my own story, to think I am better than others or that others are doing things wrong, St. Moses will help me remember to see my own sin instead. St. Moses, pray to God for us!

The Ethics of Beauty (Free Webinar Link)

This free online event has me thinking!

"... interview with author and Orthodox Christian theologian Dr. Timothy Patitsas to discuss his book The Ethics of Beauty for an evening to rediscover the older Beauty-first response to moral questions, the integrity of the soul, and the best possible human life." January 26th, 8:00EST

Ethics of Beauty When Dealing with Children

This topic (focusing on Beauty first to help you figure out what to do in a situation) makes me think of a scene from Hard Times by Charles Dickins. Dickins clearly contrasts two opposite ways of thinking about a thing. In the passage, Mr. Gradgrind is trying to teach a little girl (whose father rides, raises, heals, and trains horses for the circus) about horses. 

I imagine that little Sissy, who has grown up with horses, had a more beautiful answer inside of her, but Mr. Gradgrind squashed it.)

Artist: Joseph Clayton Clark

‘Girl number twenty, ...Give me your definition of a horse.’

(Sissy Jupe thrown into the greatest alarm by this demand.)

‘Girl number twenty unable to define a horse!’ said Mr. Gradgrind, for the general behoof of all the little pitchers.  ‘Girl number twenty possessed of no facts, in reference to one of the commonest of animals!  Some boy’s definition of a horse...

‘Bitzer,’ said Thomas Gradgrind.  ‘Your definition of a horse.’

‘Quadruped.  Graminivorous.  Forty teeth, namely twenty-four grinders, four eye-teeth, and twelve incisive.  Sheds coat in the spring; in marshy countries, sheds hoofs, too.  Hoofs hard, but requiring to be shod with iron.  Age known by marks in mouth.’  Thus (and much more) Bitzer.

‘Now girl number twenty,’ said Mr. Gradgrind.  ‘You know what a horse is.’

She curtseyed again, and would have blushed deeper, if she could have blushed deeper than she had blushed all this time. 

The Ethics of Beauty

If Mr. Gradgrind had even considered the beauty of a horse, or the beauty of the bond between a person and his horse, then he might not have totally alienated poor Sissy. Instead he saw the horse through a lens of science, facts, figures.

Photo courtesy FreePik

It makes me wonder, do I ever see my children or the things they care about through a lens that belittles them? 

Thanks be to God for the prayer At the Beginning of the Day by Metropolitan Philaret, which includes these wise words:

 "Bless my dealings with all who surround me... Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others."

Metropolitan Philaret

Last October, I was able to attend our Diocesan Assembly and hear Eugenia Constantinou talk about how an Orthodox way of thinking differs from a modern Western way of thinking. 

Listening to her speak, I realized that often, much of my thinking does not line up with the Orthodox φρονιμα (way of thinking, way of seeing the world, way of approaching life - one of those hard words to translate). I'm not talking about my thinking about church that doesn't line up. It's my secular thinking: situations that I don't realize that I'm seeing wrongly, in a non-orthodox way. 

Thinking Orthodox

First, I want to read this book by Presvytera Eugenia. I'm also considering registering for the free interview with Timothy Patitsas. (Thursday morning or evening? I need to ask the event organizers and I'll update this post when I find out!)

Make Your Own Free Icon Coloring Page

I made this one year for our annual pilgrimage for our beloved Saint Raphael of Brooklyn

We have enjoyed free icon coloring pages like these in the past, but sometimes I can't find the saint I want.  

No worries - it's easy to make your own!

I was raised in the 80's on the TV show MacGyver, and his name became a verb for us, any time we needed to cobble something together we didn't have.

MacGyver rigs up a lie detector.

It seems that this idea of "macgyvering" seeped into my bones, because it has been my default response many times in my life.

My high school drama program couldn't afford scripts and royalties? We macgyvered plays ourselves.

My pantry didn't have the ingredients for a recipe? I macgyvered a substitution.

I couldn't find an icon coloring page for my children? I made one.

And you can make one for the children in your life, too!

How to Make a Free Icon Coloring Page

Step 1 - Icon and Clear plastic 

You need a container with a lid slightly larger than the size of the icon you want to use. I save clear plastic fruit & bakery containers for this purpose.

I've scored some very large ones at Coffee Hour - when someone brings muffins or mini-cinnamon buns from Sam's Club. 

This is a small berry carton for a small icon.

Cut the lid off, so you can place it over your icon.

I decided to make a coloring page of the icon of Saint Monica instead, since she is my patron saint, and we already have a lot of St. Herman materials.

Step 2 - Permanent Marker

Trace the major lines of the icon onto the clear plastic. You may want a back-up plastic lid, in case you mess up the first one.

Keep taking it off and putting it back on to see what you still need to trace. The goal is not to trace every detail - just the major lines. Sometimes, instead of coloring pages, these are called Black Line Drawings. That name might help you make choices about what to trace.

Step 3 - Cut out your Flat Template

My icon is St. Monica asking the Lord Jesus to help her son. 

I didn't like how the image of Jesus turned out on my plastic rendition, so I decided to cut it out. I can tell the story of St. Monica to children and explain that she is gesturing to Christ in prayer.

Step 4 - Make a Copy onto white paper 

Our home printer makes copies, but you could also ask your local priest if you could borrow the church's copy machine. Or you could take it to Fed Ex or Kinkos.

After the original copy, I decided to enlarge it 160% so the icon coloring page would indeed fill a whole page. 

Step 5 - Revise your Icon Coloring Page

I made a couple of copies, so that I could play with it. I eventually decided NOT to include the pattern on the dalmatica. 

I did use correction tape ($1 at Dollar General) to remove the faint line of the original plastic.

I also took my permanent marker and went back over some lines that looked faded.

Finally, I printed her name using Algerian font and made another copy. 

If you can, scan the image as a pdf, to save it to your computer for future use. 

Also, I put the tracing pages and plastic in our "Holy Burn Can" - which is just where we keep things like that to burn later. If your family doesn't regularly burn holy trash, your priest probably does. If you have a son who serves in the alter ask him about it - it might even be his job!

And that, my friends, is how you macgyver a free icon coloring page.