Nativity of the Mother of God

[Cradle]

Did you have fish today? :) Or is it only us spoiled greeks? :D

Hey these good people in OBOB have a thread about the feast day, I thought it was a good idea to have one here too. Shame on us, we forgot to start it earlier didn't we.

(well, goes for those of us on the new calendar anyway)

From the translations of Fr Ephraim Lash.

Apolytikion. Tone 4.

Your Nativity, O Mother of God, has brought joy to all the inhabited world; for from you there dawned the Sun of righteousness, Christ our God. He abolished the curse and gave the blessing; and by making death of no effect, he has bestowed on us eternal life.

Kontakion. Tone 4.

Joachim and Anne were set free from the reproach of childlessness, Adam and Eve from corruption of death by your holy Nativity, O Immaculate. Delivered from the guilt of offences, your people celebrate it as they cry to you: The barren woman bears the Mother of God, the sustainer of our souls.

[Matrona]

Did you have fish today? :) Or is it only us spoiled greeks? :D

Because of the circumstances in my parish, we had a vesperal Divine Liturgy tonight for the feastday. It was pretty cool, even though there were only five of us--Father, an altar server, and three of us singing in the choir. In a parish as small as mine, though, this is not uncommon. God help us...

As for the feast itself of the Nativity of the Theotokos, I can only say this: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMY! ;)

[countrymousenc]

Did you have fish today? :) Or is it only us spoiled greeks? :D
Nyet, is not only you spoiled Greeks! (Actually, I think you Greeks have it a lot tougher than we do, in some ways.) Yes, the OCA calender reads "fish, wine & oil" today, so I'm about to complete the day with a glass of wine. :)

This is also the feast after which my parish is named!

[Oblio]

:)

I'm having leftovers that are a bit less than fasting being that my little Anna takes her name from the Righteous Ancestor of God St. Anna.

[Akathist]

I couldn't attend the Vespers Tuesday last night (the only service for the Nativity our church does.) I had to work. It was frustrating too because I had three hours scheduled and ended up only working one hour.

And I messed up on the fast today. I still have trouble with following the fast when I get busy and have to work from 6 - 9 pm. I get too hungry or else I am trying to eat on the run. My priest and I are talking about and he says I am too hard on myself trying to follow the fast at all when I am so depressed and stressed.

I hate fish unless it is deepfried and there is a ton of tarter sauce to cover up the taste. I can tolerate "fish sticks" for example. If I can get a freshly caught Lake Michigan trout, I like them but only if I caught them. ;)

And on top of that I hate the taste of olive oil or wine..... so these are not feast food for me at all. One of the best punishments I could get is to have to eat fish with a salad with olive oil on it and have only wine to drink.

[Oblio]

I hate fish unless it is deepfried and there is a ton of tarter sauce to cover up the taste.


[yoda]
You must unlearn ...
[/voice]

You need to get either salmon in the NW or tropical fish (Grouper, Mahi etc.) down in the Keys or thereabouts.

[Grand_Duchess-Elizaveta]

My sister-in-law, who is RC, is ready to have a baby any day now. She was seriously hoping to have it today because of the Nativity of the Theotokos, but I haven't heard anything so far. She only has a couple hours to go, and we haven't heard anything indicating that she's in labor or anything. Bummer.:)

[countrymousenc]

I hate fish unless it is deepfried and there is a ton of tarter sauce to cover up the taste. I can tolerate "fish sticks" for example. If I can get a freshly caught Lake Michigan trout, I like them but only if I caught them. ;) I wish you could try some Southern farm-raised catfish sauteed with cajun spices or rolled in cornbread mix. The very best, however, if you don't mind so many bones, is bluegill (and other sunfish). The down-side is they're too pretty to eat! :(

Must confess, though, there's nothing as convenient as fish sticks and ketchup, especially when ya end up spending the day recovering from a computer crash. :sigh:

And on top of that I hate the taste of olive oil ...

I didn't like olive oil at first, either, but now... Is there any other oil? But I mostly cook with it, rather than using it on salads.

[Michael the Iconographer]

The icon for the feast (not done by my hands):

[Michael the Iconographer]

The very best, however, if you don't mind so many bones, is bluegill (and other sunfish). The down-side is they're too pretty to eat! :(

Bluegill and Sunfish are a delicacy! If you can get hand sized bluegill you can get some nice sized fillets off them and they are just absolutely tasty! I highly recommend them!

[Oblio]

Bluegill and Sunfish are a delicacy! If you can get hand sized bluegill you can get some nice sized fillets off them and they are just absolutely tasty! I highly recommend them!

Oh yes !

My best memories are eating fresh caught Bluegill battered and panfried in bacon grease while vacationing with my family as a youngun' in the Ozarks :yum:

[Michael the Iconographer]

Oh yes !

My best memories are eating fresh caught Bluegill battered and panfried in bacon grease while vacationing with my family as a youngun' in the Ozarks.

You are making me miss the days of camping with scouts and then when my parents had a cabin in the woods with a pond that my friend and I stocked with all kinds of sunfish and bluegill and bass that we caught at Salt Fork State Park. I have not bee fishing in ages, maybe I should pull out the fishing pole on my next day off! :)

[countrymousenc]

You are making me miss the days of camping with scouts and then when my parents had a cabin in the woods with a pond that my friend and I stocked with all kinds of sunfish and bluegill and bass that we caught at Salt Fork State Park. I have not bee fishing in ages, maybe I should pull out the fishing pole on my next day off! :)


Here's what you do. Y'all get a cane pole, some line, a cork, a hook and some nightcrawlers, find some brush or a pier, and fish early (until about 9 or 10 AM) and again between suppertime and right after sunset. (They don't bite well in the heat of the day or when it gets dark. At least, not on Lake Norman.) Take a buddy and a camera, so you can post pictures of the catch!

[Michael the Iconographer]

Here's what you do. Y'all get a cane pole, some line, a cork, a hook and some nightcrawlers, find some brush or a pier, and fish early (until about 9 or 10 AM) and again between suppertime and right after sunset. (They don't bite well in the heat of the day or when it gets dark. At least, not on Lake Norman.) Take a buddy and a camera, so you can post pictures of the catch!

You are right, my best fishing for blue gill/sunfish has always been right after sun rise and right at dusk. Now, all I have to do is find a good place here in Cleveland to fish for bluegill.

[ufonium2]

I hate fish unless it is deepfried and there is a ton of tarter sauce to cover up the taste. I can tolerate "fish sticks" for example. If I can get a freshly caught Lake Michigan trout, I like them but only if I caught them. ;)

I hate fish, period. Actually I hate all seafood. I also don't generally like "ethnic" foods, so fasts are a lot of fun for me.

[Akathist]

We used to get up before the sun and get out onto Lake Michigan early early early. Then catch our fill, go back to the camp and prep and start to cook them before everyone else was even crawling out of bed. I love fishing but haven't been in a long time. Here in Michigan you have to get a fishing license.

[countrymousenc]

North Carolina requires licenses, too, for everyone 16 and older.

(edit: and charges extra for trout)

[prodromos]

I used to love fish, but my body seems to be changing and there are few fish I can stomach now. Mind you, I don't have a problem with any of the fasting foods such as octupus, calamari and mussels :D. We use olive oil in just about everything, in fact we don't have any other oil in the house (except for a bit of sesame oil), just extra virgin olive oil.

Tuesday night we went to the village Malagra for vespers as the church there is dedicated to the Nativity of the Mother of God. It was a beautiful service led by the Despotis (bishop over that region), so altogether there were about ten priests serving :)

[Cradle]

Because of the circumstances in my parish, we had a vesperal Divine Liturgy tonight for the feastday. It was pretty cool, even though there were only five of us--Father, an altar server, and three of us singing in the choir. In a parish as small as mine, though, this is not uncommon. God help us...

Vesperal liturgies are great :thumbsup:. And five people is not too bad, there was just vespers at the church where I went on Tuesday evening and we were Fr + Matushka + choir (2) + warden + 2-3 more. I acutally arrived five minutes before the end of the Artoclasia (Litya?) as I was travelling earlier. Also couldn't go to morning liturgy because of work. I ended up being lazy in my office on my desk but that's another story.

]Actually, I think you Greeks have it a lot tougher than we do, in some ways.

Well take into account that in practice we very very rarely follow the fast to the letter that you read in our books! E.g. I always do wine & oil (and beer :D) on Wed & Fri, except maybe 10-15 days per year. Hmmm, of course I also fast on Saturdays before Sunday communion. Does anybody else do that?

Oblio many years to your daughter!

Thornygrace our disposition towards fasting is at times more important than the strictness of fasting itself. E.g. someone may say "I don't think fasting is important, I'm dropping it". Bad, because he plays canon-maker. Someone else says "I respect the fasting tradition, I try to obey the church, but I can't do it all. What I can, I do". Acceptable! Your priest knows better :).

It all becomes a habit after a while. I've been doing Wed - Fri since I recall myself and I think first time I did the whole of Lent I was 12 or something. I've been more or less trying to follow as best as I could ever since (although not always possible). I suppose the result is I happily consume just about any kind of food that is unlucky enough to lie within my reach :D. Except artichoke I guess. Now that I live alone and normally spend the fasts with veggie sausages and spaggeti with tomato sauce, I at times feel a craving for my mum's okra :yum:. I was brought up mediterranean diet and I'm sad it's impractical for me to follow it anymore.

Mind you, I don't have a problem with any of the fasting foods such as octupus, calamari and mussels.

Mmm... htapodaki. Somehow I have to carry some with me next time I visit Greece. I wonder if they'll let me carry it on the plane!

Tuesday night we went to the village Malagra for vespers as the church there is dedicated to the Nativity of the Mother of God. It was a beautiful service led by the Despotis (bishop over that region), so altogether there were about ten priests serving.

Which Despotis? Anthimos?

Well I don't know whereabouts Malagra is, I'm a "protevousianos". But I was visiting Thessaloniki once in a while during the 8 months I served nearby in Yiannitsa. Do you ever go to the monastery in Souroti? To the tomb of Fr Paisios?

Hmm, I think I covered everybody!