How Sweet it is to be Loved by You
In Step with the Rhythm of God
{ traveling prayer kit in athens - may st gavrilia and st amphilochios guide us in pilgrimage }
Traveling with Saints on Pilgrimage
Our long awaited Pilgrimage to Patmos begins today.
A gathering of women seeking stillness together … traveling to remote Patmos Island to experience a quiet practice of prayer … to fill our minds, bodies and souls with the beauty of God's creation … to explore the depths of God through His living saints.
Saint Amphilochios, lover of trees and all God's children, will be with us. He founded the women's monastery just a 10-minute walk down the ancient stone path from our villa. There he tonsured Saint Gavrilia as a nun, in a small little chapel behind the bougainvillea-laden church courtyard where we will receive a talk from one of the smiling sisters there.
Saint Gavrilia, the Ascetic of Love, inspires me like no other saint has done. She is the Mother Teresa of Orthodoxy, whose life embodies pure love. When we day trip to Leros Island to venerate her relics at the castle church overlooking the island, we will spend the evening with her spiritual daughter, Aspasia. How often do we get a chance to share friendships with the spiritual daughter of a saint? Such a blessing.
How Sweet it Is…
Aspasia is a true friend to me, and to our pilgrimages there. Amazing, with her dedication to Gavrilia, her artful making of small books and objects, and her musical talent. She has shared the stage with Cat Stevens and James Taylor, and will play music in the streets of Leros again for our group, this time with the bouzouki playing owner of the outdoor cafe where we will share a meal that evening!
Saint Gavrilia has changed me. When I encounter difficulty with someone or something, I try to ask myself, "What would Saint Gavrilia do?" (remember WWJD? ;) She chose love over and over. Of course I am far, far from my goal, but practicing …
How to replace Anxiety with the Rhythm of God
In the beautiful new edition of her biography, just released by Sea Salt Books, Saint Gavrilia expresses how she walks in step with the rhythm of God.
"We slowly acquire the experience and finally, one day, we stop wishing and asking. For He knows what, where, if and when He will grant it. So, we sit quietly without fretting. Some will say that we are indifferent, full of apathy, impassive. But this is not true: we simply walk in step with the rhythm and will of God. This is how we can have no anxiety. Many years ago I had anxieties. 'What will happen? How will I do this? When will I go there?' But then, I had the pride of wanting to know the outcome of my work: will it be criticized? Will it be approved? This is why I was worrying and waiting impatiently. Now, nothing like that! I just sit quietly and wait for His will to be done in my life - every day. As I told you before, every morning I put my signature at the bottom of the new page, I give 'carte blanche' to the Lord." p248
As a paper lover and writer, this gives me a new way of looking at the blank page. Simply put your signature at the bottom of the new page of your life, every day. See what the Holy Spirit may bring!
I love her apophatic way of determining God's will in our lives. Practical.
She says,
"Don't forget that when it is not the will of God, He makes it quite clear, for then He shuts all the doors. When you go here and there and find obstacles everywhere, change course, don't insist on your own will. Say your prayer and change your mind." p277
As my poustinia press card, ‘A Prayer for Any Task’ in the photo above reminds us, ‘without Me, you can do nothing.’
So off we go, to a new spiritual adventure in pilgrimage. Clinging to the threads given to us by our Holy Father and the saints. Knowing that in our weakling state of humanity, ‘how sweet it is’ to take baby steps toward BEING with God, in the rhythm of love.
+++
Needed to hear this :)
enjoy your pilgrimage! God-willing I will join you again im Greece. You seem to have found your spiritual heart im Patmos and in her saints there. say a prayer for me!