Χαίρε, αχτίς νοητου Ηλίου; Χαίρε, βολίς του αδύτου φέγγους

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All you born on earth
With festival lamps in hand, in spirit leap for joy
Heavenly intelligences
Of incorporeal angels, celebrate
And honor thus the sacred feast of the Mother of God
Crying loudly: 
O rejoice all-blessed one, ever-virgin and pure, who gave birth to God

Peter is going to this beautiful monastery in New York this weekend

and I will be studying my procrastinating little bum off for the next week or so. 

I wish I could tag along

it looks so beautiful and peaceful there, 

and I am definitely in need of a spiritual escape,

a chance to clear my mind

put aside my anxiety and stress for a day or two

and just reflect on the Greatness of God's mercy and the sacrifices made for me.

Unfortunately, an exam looms close.

Also, I am nowhere near Delaware

and if I was,

I am pretty sure I would go into hiding until temperatures hit at least the mid-70s.

Yea, South Floridian wimp over here.

In the mean time, here are a few links from mystagogy and other Orthodox blogs that I found to be noteworthy and enlightening:

A letter from Hillary Clinton to Patriarch Bartholomew

Article on the importance St Menas of Crete during WWII- and a shout-out to my very own Papou :)

Some sweet photos of Metropolitan Paul and a boy in a wheelchair celebrating vespers together in Glyfada
Till next Friday, αντίο