Orthodox Faith
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Orthodoxy: the unbroken unity of the Christian faith, the “One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church,” "catholic" meaning full and complete, lacking nothing. The Orthodox Church precedes Roman Catholicism and denominations. The Bible came from us!
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After the murder, the queen ordered that the king’s holy body be seized and hidden in a hut nearby. In obedience to her command, the servants took the body by the feet and threw it ignominiously into the hut, concealing it with some mean coverings.
In the hut a lived a woman blind from birth whom the queen used to support out of charity. While she spent the night there alone with the holy body, suddenly, in the middle of the night, a wonderful light appeared and filled the whole hut. Struck with awe, the poor woman cried out: "Lord, have mercy!" At this, she suddenly received her sight, which she had so long desired. And then, removing the covering, she discovered the dead body of the holy king. The present church of St. Edward at Corfe stands on the site of this miracle.
Edward's body was hastily buried at Wareham were it lay for a year before being disinterred. According to the life of Oswald, Edward's body was found to be incorrupt when it was disinterred. The body was taken to the Shaftesbury Abbey, a nunnery with royal connections which had been endowed by King Alfred the Great and where Edward’s grandmother Ælfgifu had spent her latter years.
Edward's remains were reburied with lavish public ceremony. In 1001, Edward's relics, for by now he was reckoned a saint, were translated to a more prominent place within the nunnery at Shaftesbury.
St Edward’s holy relics were hidden during the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of King Henry VIII. The relics were rediscovered at the abbey in 1931 and are today enshrined in the Orthodox Church of St Edward the Martyr in Brookwood, Surrey.
Wrestle for your own soul, especially in such days as these. ✝️ St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Mar 18/ Mar 31)
☦️ The Lenten Prayer of St Ephraim the Syrian

Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of laziness, despair, lust of power and idle talk. (prostration)

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Your servant. (prostration)

Yes, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother, for You are blessed unto ages of ages. Amen. (prostration)

O God, cleanse me a sinner! (bow 12 times)

O Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of laziness, despair, lust of power and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Your servant.

Yes, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother, for You are blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.(prostration)
"The tradition of praying a sundown coincides with the time of lighting the lamps, before the time of electricity. This was a definite transition time in ancient times, something we have lost in our electrical power world where there is no need to change what we are doing because of the setting of the sun. But, this transition required a definite change of activity in the days before electricity.
In the Church at this time of day, as the sun sets, we traditionally gather in the Church to give thanks for all the blessings our Lord has granted us this day. This prayer service begins with the psalm of creation (Psalm 103(104))."

www.orthodoxprayer.org/Hours.html
St. Dorotheos of Gaza on the Holy Lenten Fast: “Everyone who wants to purify himself of the sins of the whole year during these days must first of all restrain himself from the pleasure of eating. For the pleasure of eating, as the Fathers say, caused all men's evil. Likewise he must take care not to break the fast without great necessity or to look for pleasurable things to eat, or weigh himself down by eating and drinking until he is full."
The gentle, charitable St. Cuthbert, Wonderworker of Lindisfarne (Mar 20) could not perform the Holy Liturgy without tears. Likewise, he wept at hearing confessions. His compassion extended to all creatures.

When the saint would stand along the frigid coastline to pray, otters would come around him and lay along his feet to keep them dry and warm.

St. Cuthbert was known to surround himself with a species of duck and gave a rule which prohibited them from being eaten or disturbed. To this day, the species is known as the “Cuddy duck” in St. Cuthbert’s honour.

“Having surpassed thy brethren in prayers, fasting, and vigils, thou wast found worthy to entertain a pilgrim-angel; and having shone forth with humility as a bright lamp set on high, thou didst receive the gift of wonderworking. And now as thou dwellest in the heavenly Kingdom, O our righteous Father Cuthbert, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.”
"Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (John 4:29)

According to the tradition of the Church, the name of the Samaritan Woman by Jacob's well (Mar 20 and the 5th Sunday of Pascha) is Photini (or Photine, Photina, Svetlana), which means “light" (Φωτεινός). She is sometimes called the first evangelist since after her encounter with Christ at the well, she told her townspeople that she had met the Christ.

"Now if a woman of Samaria is so eager to learn something profitable; if she stays with Christ though not yet knowing Him, what pardon shall we obtain? ... We know Him ... yet are unable to endure anything that is said, but are jaded in our knowledge. ☦️ St John Chrysostom

Great-Martyr Photini, Equal-to-the-Apostles, pray to Christ for the salvation of our souls!
Let no political and geographical borders stop us from praying for the afflicted in in every country of the world.

O Lord, bring speedy relief to all who are suffering the effects of disasters, wars and threats everywhere. Aid those who bring aid. Hear, O Lord, those who call upon You in distress.
The lenten spring shines forth the flower of repentance! Let us cleanse ourselves from all evil, crying out to the Giver of Light: Glory to You, O Lover of man!

—from the Matins Hymns for Wednesday of Cheesefare Week
☦️ St. Joseph the Hesychast
On the 1st Sunday of Great Lent, the Sunday of Orthodoxy, we commemorate the “Triumph of Orthodoxy,” the restoration of the holy icons in the reign of the holy Empress Theodora

St John of Damascus on Holy Images: "I do not worship matter, I worship the God of matter, who became matter for my sake, and deigned to inhabit matter, who worked out my salvation through matter. I will not cease from honouring that matter which works my salvation."

Photo: Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Orlando, Florida
“Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

The Annunciation to the Most-Holy Theotokos (Mar 25) "is the beginning of our salvation, the revelation of the eternal mystery! The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin as Gabriel announces the coming of Grace. Together with him let us cry to the Theotokos: Rejoice, O Full of Grace, the Lord is with you!" (Troparion of the Feast, Tone 4)
The Feast of the Annunciation to the Theotokos is also Greek Independence Day.

Photo: Greek cat enjoying his independence.
Prayer to the Holy Trinity
Most Holy Theotokos, see my distress, see my affliction! Help me, for I am helpless. Feed me, for I am a stranger and a pilgrim. You know my offence, forgive it and resolve it as you will.
"When you condemn another person, you condemn God Himself." + St Gabriel Urgebadze of Georgia, Confessor and Fool for Christ
If you fill your soul with news, what will it be fragrant with?

‘Our mind is wandering all the time as it is, our thoughts are constantly far away and we are unable to focus on anything. It’s the wandering of the mind. We receive some news willy-nilly. Then we begin to turn it over in our minds. And next the well-known scheme works:

‘Provocation—coupling—assent—captivity—sin.'

All the points of the development of sin are present in us. Someone hears some news, begins to think about it, gets annoyed, angry, and starts to judge others. As a result, we find ourselves in a state when we are unable to pray. How can we pray if we are annoyed, angry and condemn others?

—Father Sergei Ermolaev, Church of St. John the Baptist, Vologda