I live maybe 2 to 2 and a half hours away from the Holy Trinity Monestary in Jordanville. I'd love to go there someday. Maybe I can talk the wife into going on a tour there with me someday (she's Pentecostal).

¹O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
²O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.
³O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.
⁴To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.
⁵To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
⁶To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.
⁷To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:
⁸The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:
⁹The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.
¹⁰To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹¹And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹²With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.
¹³To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹⁴And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹⁵But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.
¹⁶To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.
¹⁷To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹⁸And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹⁹Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever:
²⁰And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever:
²¹And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever:
²²Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever.
²³Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:
²⁴And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.
²⁵Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.
²⁶O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

I know the Antiochian Orthodox Church I'm in isn't in union with the Ethiopian Orthodox, but I really like this song for some reason. Probably because it's in honor of St. Michael.

A collection of photos of Orthodox Elders and Anchorites (hermits) to the chanting of Psalm 50 (Psalm 51 in non-Orthodox Bibles).




Psalm 50

1	Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2	Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3	For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4	Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Rom. 3.4
5	Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6	Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7	Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8	Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9	Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10	Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11	Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
12	Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit.
13	Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14	Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15	O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
16	For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17	The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18	Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19	Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Okay, II've finally sewn in all the loose ends on both the baby blanket and hat for my niece Christy (every time you change color, you're left with having to sew in the ends of the leftover yarn, which is a pain if there's a lot of color changes). So now it'll be ready for my mom to bring with her down to Texas when she visits my niece in order to attend the baby shower.

My wife's mom has made three baby blankets for her pastor who is having tripplets, and since she's having trouble with the edging I was volunteered to help, lol. I have one done, and I have to do the other two probably over the weekend. And finally, I'm almost a third of a way through the Harry Potter scarf for my niece Kara's Christmas gift. Which means that I have to pick up the pace in order to get it done in time for Christmas.

In other news, on November 8th I'm being Chrismated into the Antiochian Orthodox Church. Chrismation, also known as Confirmation in the Roman Catholic Church, means I will be sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, at which point I will officially cease to be Roman Catholic and will be Eastern Orthodox. Way back when, when I was Confirmed in the Catholic Church, I chose Saint Raphael the archangel as my patron. At the time I knew nothing about St. Raphael, but being into art I knew of the Rennaisance artist Raphael, which was why I picked him at the time. Since then, I read the Book of Tobit (a book accepted as cannonical by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, but rejected by the Protestants) where the story of Tobias and Archangel Raphael appears, and I realized that I picked a pretty cool Saint after all. The priest at the Orthodox church I've been attending told us who were converting and who were formerly Roman Catholic that, if we wished, we could pick a new patron saint if we wished. After wavering for a long time, I finally decided that I'd stay with Saint Raphael after all.

So, as I said, the priest announced we'd be Chrismated on November 8th. I looked the date up on the Church callendar, and guess what? November 8th in the Orthodox Church is the Feast of the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the other Bodiless Powers: the Archangels Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Salaphiel (Salathiel), Jegudiel (Jehudiel), and Barachiel. So I'm literally being Chrismated on my patron saint's feast day! Cool, huh?

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