THE HOLY SEASON - DAY 1

                                  
I appreciate this tradition from the Orthodox Church.  Perhaps you will, too. 
                                                                                                                                    --Bonnie B.


    
                                                                                                 Lazarus Saturday                                                         
                                                                    
(The Saturday preceding Palm or Branch Sunday)

By raising Lazarus from the dead before Thy passion Thou didst confirm the universal resurrection, O Christ God!  Like the children with the branches of victory, we cry out to Thee, O Vanquisher of Death:  Hosanna in the highest!  Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord! (Troparion)

Christ--the Joy, the Truth and the Light of All, the Life of the world and its Resurrection--has appeared in his goodness to those on earth.  (Kontakion)


Lazarus Saturday was once among the few great baptismal days in the Orthodox Church Year.  Because of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, Christ was hailed by the masses as the long-expected Messiah--King of Israel. 

From the website of the Orthodox Church in America, OCA.org

(The Bible's 11th chapter of John tells the entire story of Lazarus.) 
 

 Tomorrow:  The Holy Season - Day 2, Palm Sunday

 

FIRST DAY OF SPRING- a photo album

 

Picture It

The fog was piled into opaque, fluffy blankets covering the low areas. 

I drove alongside and across the flood diversion canal known as The Big Ditch. The fog lay in the bottom of the Ditch, looking like cotton candy.  The sun was streaking the eastern sky with orange and lemon colors. I had my camera and was a bit frustrated that there was nowhere to stop. The traffic was picking up.  

Most of the fog had dissipated by the time I completed my errand and drove through the entrance to Sedgwick County Park.  The morning was still gorgeous, even more so next to the water with life all around.  

I can't think of a more joyful way to experience the first morning of Spring 2015.

 

                                                                             All photos by Bonnie Hamilton Beuning  copyright March 20, 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, I took the highway home, still enjoying the beauty that lay ahead.

 

May your springtime be breathtaking, wherever you are! 

Blessings!     bb