April 23: St. George and Temptation, the Dragon

I 

Opening reading:

Ephesians 6:10-18 New International Version (NIV)

The Armor of God

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with:

the belt of truth buckled around your waist, 

with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 

and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. 

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Take a piece of string and tie it around the waist of each student.   Be sure they understand that it is the belt of truth that St. Paul spoke of in his letter to the early Christians in Ephesus which we just read together.  The rest of the Armor of God may be worn as well, constructed out of cardboard and labeled & decorated, bearing in mind the faith-significance of each item.  

Now lets begin to talk about St. George:

St. George was born in the late third century in a land called Cappadocia to very good Christian parents.  When he was just a small child, his father had already been martyred for the faith and his mother went on to raise him as a devout Christian.  

One day, St. George was riding his horse in the woods and came upon a lake.  This lake was known to have been inhabited by a dreadful dragon, who would often emerge from the water and eat the unsuspecting animal, or person,who happened to stop by to admire the beauty of the water.  The people of the town were so afraid of the dragon.  They were pagan and so they consulted their idols about what to do.  Now, demons just love to have fun with idolatry...this is why we Christians are forbidden to have anything to do with it.  Pagans believe that their idol-gods can speak to them, but in reality, it is the enemy spirits who possess those images who do the talking, and they never, ever, have anything good to say.  The demons that were speaking to them from this idol, told them that they must draw lots each month to see whose child would be sacrificed to the Dragon.  The lot fell to the magistrate's own daughter that day, who was all dressed up in her finest gown and placed near the water's edge to await her fate.  She was terrified and when she saw St. George approach her she cried out in tears to the saint, asking him to please help her and save her from the dragon.  His heart was moved with pity and he began to pray when the dragon suddenly emerged and lunged at him!  St. George drew his sword and cried out, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!", and he lunged back at the beast, wounding it severely in the neck so that it was rendered harmless.  The little girl was relieved, but still quite scared.  St. George urged her to take off the sash from around her own waist and tie up that dragon with it.  Then, using it like the leash of a dog, she walked the injured dragon into the town square to show it to all the citizens.  Once they had seen that it had been mastered by the little girl, St. George drew his sword once again and finished off the animal so that he would never, ever harm anyone again.  

Everyone has a dragon living deep within their hearts...his name is Temptation.  He hides and waits for you to get close enough to him so that he might lunge at you and devour you like he did those poor townsfolk.  He might seem very scary, but with that armor that St. Paul spoke of, he can be easily mastered.  When St. George first drew his sword, (the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God) what did he say?  He prayed!  "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!"  When do we say those words?  When we make the sign of the Cross!!   Demons are afraid to death of the Cross!  Then he attacked the dragon with the Sword of the Spirit and wounded him so much so that he and the little girl were no longer afraid of being eaten.  But the beast was not dead.  He is a tough enemy to defeat and often it takes many, many attempts.  St. George was a good friend to that little girl because he prayed for her and helped defend her from her enemy, but what he did next was just as important.  He gave her courage.  He encouraged her to use what she had to defeat her enemy by herself!  She took off her belt (remember, the belt of truth...the enemy hates truth, because God IS truth.  He lied through the mouth of the idol too!) She took the belt of truth from around her waist and used it to tie up the Dragon!  She had the beast so tamed by the truth that she could walk him like a pet!  He now obeyed HER!!  This is what living according to the truth can do!  Now she wouldn't just keep this good news to herself, she was directed by St. George to walk that dragon proudly into the town square so that all the people who were once afraid of this animal could see just how effective the weapons of the Sword of the Spirit and the Belt of Truth could be!  They would be encouraged as well and she could spread this good news throughout the kingdom so that no one would need to be afraid any longer!  Once the news was spread, the dragon was completely defeated and the entire kingdom could rejoice!  

Activity:  

This is my pet dragon.  His name is Temptation.

Temptation likes to live deep in the bottom of my toybox.  He used to scare me.  My fear of him made me crazy!  He made me go way out of my way to avoid him, so much so that I couldn't do the things I really wanted to do, things that were good for me and made me happy, all because I was afraid to wake him up.   I was afraid he would devour me.  But not anymore...

See this leash?  It's the Belt of Truth!  Do you have a belt of truth?  (Remind them of the string around their waist) 

Let's make a pet dragon named Temptation to remind us of the story.  We can harness him with our own Belt of Truth and proudly walk him home!  WE will be in charge of where HE goes, and not the other way around!

Needed:

One green paper dessert-sized plate

Pair of google eyes, and glue to affix them.

One tongue, cut from a piece of red chenille or red paper (3-4" long)

One set of paper strips, cut according to the template provided.  

Stapler, or clear tape for construction.  

One wooden skewer

String, to make the Belt of Truth (leash) 

 *Measured about twice as long as the distance from the waist of the child to the floor.

1.  Fold the paper plate in half, green side out, over the length of the wooden skewer.

2.  Tuck the tongue inside and staple it in place.  Also staple each end of the skewer in place, with a bit of the wooden part sticking out of each end.

3.  Glue the eyes on.

4. Cut out the strips of paper, the tail and legs of the dragon from the photocopied template.  Be sure to cut only on the solid lines!  The dotted lines are for folding.  

5.  Staple the largest strip, as a loop, in the center of the back of the folded paper plate.  

6.  Staple each strip, in succession from largest to smallest, in a chain from the back of the head of the dragon.  This will form his body.

7.  Staple on the feet and the tail.

8.  Take the Belt of Truth (string)  from around the child's waist and tie each end to each side of the wooden skewer.  This will guide the dragon as the child "walks" him.

9.  Tie a knot in the string a few inches above the puppet to give the leash some stability.

10.  Walk your Dragon home!  

Treat:

I have another dragon for you to see!  He's made of cake!

I made a bundt cake (your favorite recipe is best!) and cut it in half, but on a diagonal.  

I cut off one sloping-side and stood it on it's end to form the head, while I turned the other half of the cake around so that it formed an "S" shape, like a writhing dragon.  

The other sloping side made the tail!   I frosted it (also, with your favorite frosting) and decorated it to look like a dragon!  Sometimes we use candies as scales, sometimes sliced strawberries.  Sometimes we like a chocolate dragon, and sometimes peanut butter icing and colored melting chocolate discs for scales.  The most fun can be had when the children use their imagination.  

When mine were little, we made this every year for my daughter's feast day celebration (she is named for the Empress Alexandra who was converted by and martyred with St. George....a story for another day!). The children loved to vanquish the dragon after dinner with the Sword of Truth (our cake knife...haha!) and eat him right up.

September 1: St. Simeon the Stylite

Tomorrow begins the new liturgical year!  Have you made any New Year's resolutions yet?  Oh I have, as I always do.  I pray that I may keep them well this year.  

I think I've found my new patron saint for this coming liturgical year.  He and I, at first glance, appear to be very different.  He is a fifth century monastic from Syria, strongly ascetic and a hearty faster.  I am a homeschooling mom in suburban Pennsylvania who can hardly manage morning and evening prayer and who heartily struggles to keep her craving for chocolate at bay. Yet I identify with this saint very strongly.  Like me, Simeon the Stylite didn't fit well in where he was planted either.  They actually asked him to leave the monastery because his strong devotion to prayer and fasting intimidated the other monks.  Can you believe that?  Its one thing to be seen as a religious fanatic among the neighbors, but at the monastery too?  Poor Simeon.  It was clear that he was obedient; he didn't argue or preach to them, but simply withdrew.  It is so much easier to be alone with God than to be amid the chatter that distracts from Him.  This is where we agree, Simeon and I.  

In order to become more alone with God and to be free to listen and hear His small, still voice, Simeon lived in isolation in an abandoned well at first.   I imagine he was feeling rather "lowly" and his new home had reflected that. When the monks repented and understood that his devotions were genuine, they begged him to come back to the monastery and he did.  This time he changed his way of thinking and he built a cell for himself upon a ten foot high pillar where he could raise his heart and his thoughts to lofty things and pray undisturbed, carrying out his penitential practices alone with God.  Gradually, Simeon's pillar grew taller and taller, about eighty feet in the air, and a wall was built around the pillar to keep curiosity seekers away.  He liked it this way. 

I imagine myself in that same kind of cell on occasion, especially on very difficult days when it seems every single support has been removed from beneath me save One.  My pillar, however, is not entirely self-imposed and for that fact, I am not usually as peaceful.  I'm reaching upward, toward Heaven, this is true, and my desire is to soar up higher and higher away from the banter and distraction, but then I look down and panic.  Where is my support?  I think of what it must have been like for Simeon in his lofty cell.  I remember that he had no visible support in his tower either; he had just the strong One in the center that held him up.  I wonder if he could see it or if he just "knew" that it was there.  There are days that I can see no support beneath me either.  The ones that I knew to be there seem to have been removed gradually, one by one, some gently and almost secretly, and some rather abruptly (almost violently, actually) until only One, central, magnificently mighty Pillar of Strength was left to hold me up.  Often, I can't see my Pillar either when I look down around me.  This is what scares me.  I "know" It is there, but because I can't see it I must trust and believe.  This is sometimes so very hard.  I must also be like my new patron saint and either let go of the anxiety, or learn to actually carry on while in this anxious state as well!  Again, so very hard.  

I wonder how often Simeon actually did look down.  Did he do so often, like I do, or did he prefer to look up?  This coming year I resolve to look up more often than I look down.  

If you are local to the Scranton, Pennsylvania area, stop in and say hello.

Would you like to learn more about the book? :  AncillaPress.com

Coming soon:  The Zacchaeus Tree:  A Family Guide Through the Season of the Great Fast

          This will be a similar format as The Jesse Tree, with meditations and activities for each day of the Fast specific to our Byzantine traditions, but useful for any Christian seeking a plan for making the Great Fast season more meaningful.

The Jesse Tree: A Family Guide through the Season of Philipovka

I am very excited to finally share my news!  My book, The Jesse Tree , A Family Guide, is ready!  

It is a daily scripture reading, lesson and craft instructions for all 40 days of Philip's Fast!  It's written from my Byzantine Catholic perspective, but can be used by those of the Latin rite as well.  

The publisher, Ancilla Press, has just offered it on their website!  I can finally share it with you!!!  Check it out here:

http://www.ancillapress.com/JesseTree.html

I have started a Facebook page as a discussion forum for families who are using the text. We can discuss ideas, ask questions, or share photos of our accomplishments!  It's a public page, so just ask to join!  This is going to be so much fun!!!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/751629174964549/

What has she been up to?

I thought some of you may be interested in seeing what I've been doing since I haven't been posting so much lately.  My friend Dessi and I have been collaborating on an ebook called 

Holy Hands:  Cooking & Crafting with the Saints!

It has biographical sketches of 12 saints, some of whom have been featured here at Building Up the Byzantine Family, along with some fresh new stories!  There is a recipe and a craft to accompany each saint story to keep your little saints busy as they learn how to share the gifts God has given them!

Check it out at Seton Magazine!

Holy Hands:  Cooking and Crafting with the Saints

by Dessi Jackson & Lynne Wardach

You can get a copy of my ebook at:

http://www.setonmagazine.com/holy-hands-cooking-crafting-saints

Inside are twelve short, mysterious and delightful stories of the Saints, packed with delicious recipes and crafts that will not only taste good, but fill your home with fragrance and good food!

These hands-on family activities are designed to provide beautiful teaching opportunities about the lives of these lesser-known saints, and the important message that their holiness and example should permeate our lives. Dessi Jackson, immigrant from Bulgaria and mother of six has collaborated with her daughter, Maria, to produce the stories. Lynne Wardach, Byzantine Catholic and mother of five teens created the accompanying crafts.

These authors present a fun, creative and inspiring collection of activities to bring your family together. You are encouraged to gather your children around you and read aloud the Saint story, and then work together to make St. Mamas’ Homemade Cheese, or the Seven Sleepers’ Pot Pies. And then, to teach children the beauty of sharing, create a St Rita of Cascia Rose-Petal Rosary or assemble the amazing Magdalene’s Aromatic Foot Scrub.

Each saint story comes with a related recipe and craft, so that each month you and your family can come together and incarnate the sweet sanctity of the saints in your homes!

61 pages. Color photos.

The Next Chapter

Pope Francis has declared the year 2015 "The Year for Consecrated Life" and has called upon those living such consecrated lives as monks, nuns and even lay oblates to witness to the world about the value and beauty of such a life.  

As you may know, I had the opportunity to participate secular Carmel for six years with the Carmelites at Holy Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Monastery, a place which had beckoned my heart from the time I was in my teens.  I had entertained the idea of actually entering the community as a nun while I was in college, but upon asking the Lord what His will was regarding this decision, I was promptly and most assuredly redirected.  My purpose in life is most certainly, maternity.  Once this became clear to me, I set the desire to enter Carmel aside.  It was always tucked away inside my heart only to take root and grow there much to my surprise and confusion, until I learned of the secular order.  How wonderful this would be!  Like having my cake and eating it too!  But this new tug on my heart came at what some would consider to be the most unusual time of my life.  The youngest of our five children were one year old twin girls, and the other children were only 5, 7, and 9.  After discussing it with my husband and calling the president of the community, I attended a meeting.  I took a few months to discern, and six months later I received my secular habit and began formation.  I began the studies, the recitation of the Divine Office, reading the works of the Carmelite saints, and the practice of mental prayer...I have always loved mental prayer.  This is what led me to seek the secular order in the first place!  It was perfect!  Some time later I made temporary promises, and was nearly ready to make a final, life-long promise, when suddenly, I was forced to take a leave of absence.  My husband became aware of an illness which had rendered him (temporarily, thanks be to God!) somewhat disabled and he needed my help at home.  I could not leave him with the children to attend the meetings, and found it difficult to make the proper commitment to the community, so with a broken heart, I had to leave. That was several years ago.  By the time my husband had recovered and I was ready to go back, a visit to my spiritual mother at the monastery revealed that my return to the life in Carmel that I had loved and sorely missed, may not have been God's plan.  Mother had asked me to be patient and await her instructions because the entire monastery was working on a plan for their future, and she wanted me to be a secular part of that future, but not until they had their plan in place.  So I began a vigil.  

Now that my first full year of blogging has been completed, and I've shared the ways that my family observes the liturgical calendar for a full liturgical cycle, I decided that this year, I'd like to take it in another direction.  I would like to chronicle my experiences as a Byzantine wife and mother as I strive to become a secular Byzantine Cistercian oblate.   I'm eager to learn how to strengthen my relationship with Christ and His Church in this way, and to live more authentically as a Byzantine Catholic oblate, as I'll be starting from scratch as a novice once again.  I look forward to analyzing the things I'll learn in order to teach my own children how to be better Christians.  I'd love to use this forum to share these thoughts with you.  My formation begins at Holy Annunciation in January and I can hardly wait for the first meeting.  Pray for me, and for the two souls entering with me as we are pioneers!  I'll be back to tell you all about it.

June 26: St. David of Thessalonica

Everyone is finished with school here at my house, which means everyone is bored.  I, however, have plenty to keep me busy.  The pool is open, so we have extra towels and swim suits for me to look after and provide; the garden is planted and now and the plants, as well as the weeds among them call to me daily.  Everyone is going here and there as usual and they all need Mom to assist them.  There are days that I'd like to just go outside and find a really tall tree, climb up into it and just sit there...yep, just me and God.  

Today's saint, the sixth century martyr David of Thessalonica, did just that.  St. David had left the world and entered into contemplation at a monastery, but even that austerity proved to be to engaging for him.  For three years, he remained high up in an almond tree, away from everyone and everything but God, until an angel of the Lord told him to come down.  He was gifted by God in many ways, working wonders, healing the sick and providing counselling to penitents in need.  

Yes, there are some days I understand David of Thessalonica completely.  As I try to explain him to my active and sociable children today, we'll make up a batch of healthy almond bites in his honor.  My giirls and I may even dip them into some chocolate and keep them in our little hiding spot above the refrigerator.  When all our dishes are done after dinner and the kitchen is once again in proper order, we have a peaceful little moment of quiet reward for ourselves in the dining room...no big brothers, with their big appetites, are allowed.  Everybody needs to be like our saint once in a while and steal away for a momentary breather, right?  Have some almond bites today, find yourself some peace and quiet, and have a Happy Feast!

St. David's Almond Bites

• 1 cup pitted dates, packed
• 1 cup roasted unsalted almonds, loosely chopped
• 1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup or agave)
• 1/4 cup creamy almond butter
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (or quinoa flakes for GF option)
• 1/2 tsp almond extract ( optional)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and combine well.  Roll into balls and enjoy!

As an option, you may roll your Almond Bites in more crushed almonds, or cover them with melted chocolate!