Notes from underground (Orthodox Christians from South Africa)
Today, we are told, is officially the start of Spring*, and it is also New Year’s Day — welcome to the year 7519 (I think). *Note of our blog: The writer writes "spring" instead of autumn because he is in the southern hemisphere.
Of course to those on the old calendar, the new year won’t begin for another 13 days (14 September Gregorian), and for those who paid attention in geography lessons at school spring won’t begin until the equinox on 21 September, or thereabouts. But according to our mulberry trea, it’s already been spring for a couple of weeks. It seems to sprout its new leaves on about 19/20 August every year. And that’s just about when the jacarandas finish losing their leaves — they always seem to be the last.
It’s been a warm winter. It was cold for a couple of weeks during the world cup, but it’s felt like spring for well over a month now.
Twenty-one years ago the Patriarch of Constantinople, Dimitrios,
urged Orthodox Christians to make 1 September a day of prayer for God’s
creation and for the environment. You can read his message here. His successor as Patriarch, Bartholomew, has continued to encourage the practice, and as a result has been named the first among the top 15 “green” religious leaders.
The day has since been adopted by other Christian bodies as well, and
the first day of spring seems like an appropriate time for it.
Wednesday 1st September 2010
* Tone 5 – Week after PENTECOST 14
CHURCH NEW YEAR – DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT
St. Simeon Stylites, the Elder (459)
St. Martha the Mother of St Simeon Stylites (the Elder) (c 428)
Martyr Aithalas of Persia (380) Holy Forty Women Martyrs and Martyr Ammon the Deacon their teacher, at Heraclea (4th) [icon]
Righteous Joshua the Son of Nun (16th BC)
St Fiacre, Hermit of Meaux (670)
St Giles the Greek, Hermit and Abbot (8th)
St Drithelm of Melrose, Monk (c 700)
St. Meletius the New from Cappadocia
Martyr Callista with her brothers at Nicomedia Finding of the Icon of the Mother of God at the Miasena Monastery
Icon of the Mother of God “Chernigov-Gethsemane”
Icon of the Mother of God, the “All Blessed”
Venerable Evanthia
According to Holy Tradition, Christ entered
the synagogue [icon] on September 1 to announce His mission to mankind (Luke
4:16-22. Quoting Isaiah 61:1-2), the Savior proclaimed, “The spirit of
the Lord is upon me; because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to
the poor; He has sent me to proclaim release to captives, and recovering
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord...” This scene is depicted in a
Vatican manuscript (Vatican, Biblioteca. Cod. Gr. 1613, p.1).
Tradition says that the Hebrews entered the Promised Land in September. See also
The Saints and the animals
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