In birth, you preserved your virginity; in death, you did not abandon the world, O Theotokos. As mother of life, you departed to the source of life, delivering our souls from death by your intercessions.

Shudder, O ye heavens! and, O earth, give ear unto these words:
God descended once before for our sake; He descends again today for His Mother.

I will repost my remarks from last year: Blessed Feast! This is the fourth highest feast in the Church year, following the Paschal feast, Pentecost, and the feast of the Nativity. Church teaching is that all the apostles but Thomas were gathered mystically around the Blessed Mother as she died, and were there for her burial. Thomas, arriving three days later, was taken to her tomb, only to find that it was empty. This Church teaching of the assumption of her body into heaven is not just a pious tradition, but holds some deep spiritual and physical truths for us. It is a sign and reminder to us that not only Christ resurrected bodily, but that we all will rise. Also, we now know, as they didn't then, that all women bear the DNA of each and every child borne to them in their bodies forever. So, by raising His mother, our Lord made sure that His resurrection was complete on this earth. If this had not happened, then He would not be completely risen. What a wonder and miracle!

So many times, when people deny the honor to the Theotokos, it is really a dishonor to the Lord. Even denying her the title Theotokos ends up declaring that Christ was either not God in her womb, or that He is not God incarnate. It is not intentional, but I think a good question to ask oneself when putting her "in her place" is what does this mean about Christ and His divinity? If it ends up dishonoring Him, calling His divinity into question, or lessening Him, it isn't a good thing. Likewise, so many people say that there is too much honor given her, without actually considering whether or not they honor her enough or even at all. What is just the right amount of honor? Surely it isn't debasing the woman who bore and raised our Lord? Jesus was born a Jew and fulfilled the law. He loved and honored His mother, and as we could not have had Him without her, why would we want that, instead of following His example?

The Archangel Gabriel in the Gospel of Luke hails her and says that God calls her blessed. Her cousin Elizabeth's unborn son, Saint John the Forerunner, leaps at the sound of Mary's voice, and by this does Elizabeth know and proclaim that Mary is the Mother of her Lord. Mary replies by saying that ALL generations will call her blessed. It is in the Scriptures that we are to bless her, that God Himself magnifies her, so why should we not do the same?

Thanks to the prayers of our Blessed Mother, and Amira's Guardian Angel, as well as your prayers, she recovered quickly and was able to attend the second week of her dance intensives. She will be coming home this Saturday, and we have missed her. It will be good to have her back home.

Pineapple appears to be alright for Jerome, but tomorrow we begin testing bananas, which were the only food on the list that he did not already avoid that his doctor thought might actually be a true allergy. Please pray for him that his health does not suffer too much if this is the case. His birthday also falls this week, and while it is fun that fair is usually at the same time as his birthday, it also makes it harder for us to celebrate, so we will have a family celebration and then have a party for him later.

God is so good to us! I needed tomatoes and eggplants for this week's meals, and the gleaning club came up with some for us out of the blue. I was bemoaning our dwindling jars of peaches, and not only peaches, but two boxes of peaches plus three boxes of apricots were provided for us. We also got quite a few tomatoes, to boot. He knows our needs, and he provides even the smallest ones.

It is fair week this week, which means long hours in our neighborhood booth and also that autumn will be upon us next week. We usually have the winds come through and bring a chill the Monday following fair week, and the fall sets in that week and the next. Sometimes we get three or four weeks of fall before we see temperatures below freezing at our house, but once we had almost a full two months of autumn. Pray that we see that this year.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Pumpkin Spice Pancakes (Gluten-free for Jerome) with Pear Syrup, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Roasted Salmon with Mustard Caper Sauce, Smashed Potatoes, Salad, Fruit Plate
• Monday - Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos
  Breakfast: Hard Boiled Eggs, Fruit Plate, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Steak Salad, Fruit Plate
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Potato Pancakes, Fried Ham, Grapefruit Halves, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Pasta (Gluten-free for Jerome) Carbonara, Green Salad, Fruit Salad
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Chickpeas, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Fruit Plate, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Slow Cooker Ratatouille (I use crookneck squash in this), Foccaccia (Gluten-free for Jerome), Green Salad, Fruit Plate
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Piña Colada Pancakes and Syrup (Gluten-free for Jerome), Bacon, Orange Juice
  Dinner: Tacos de Papa, Avocado Relish, Salsa Rice, Steam Sautéed Green Beans with Cumin and Garlic, Chocolate Cloud Cake
• Friday
  Breakfast: Ful, Bread (Gluten-free for Jerome), Sah’awiq, Chopped Tomatoes, Grapefruit Halves, Mint Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Black Bean and Corn Salad, Sliced Avocados, Corn Chips, Fruit Plate
• Saturday - Feast of Saint Bernard
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Cheese, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Sliced Apples, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Hamburger Stew, Bread (Gluten-free for Jerome), Fruit Plate

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Rejoice, O Virgin Mother of God, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art though amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, for thou hast borne the savior of our souls.

Dominic said that when we pray this prayer, or any other Marian prayers like the Hail Mary, which are based on the text of Luke, we are placing ourselves in the prophecy from Mary's own lips: "For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed" Luke 1:48

Labels: Birthday, Blessed Virgin, Family, Fasting as a Family, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Prayer Requests, Tales from the Kitchen, Theotokos