The angels of God were celebrated by men from earliest times but this
celebration was often turned into the divinization of angels (II Kings
23:5). The heretics wove all sorts of fables concerning the angels. Some of them looked upon angels as gods; others, although they did not consider them gods, called them the creators of the whole visible world. The local Council of Laodicea (four or five years before the First Ecumenical Council) rejected the worship of angels as gods and established the proper veneration of angels in its Thirty-fifth Canon. In the fourth century, during the time of Sylvester, Pope of Rome, and Alexander, Patriarch of Alexandria, the present Feast of Archangel Michael and all the other heavenly powers was instituted for celebration in the month of November. Why precisely in November? Because November is the ninth month after March, and March is considered to be the month in which the world was created. Also, as the
ninth month after March, November was chosen for the nine orders of angels who were created first. St. Dionysius the Areopagite, a disciple of the Apostle Paul (who was taken up into the third heaven), described these nine orders of angels in his book, On the Celestial Hierarchies, as follows: six-winged Seraphim, many-eyed Cherubim, God-bearing Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Virtues, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. The leader of all the angelic hosts is the Archangel Michael. When Satan, Lucifer, fell away from God and drew a part of the angels with him to destruction, then Michael stood up and cried out before the faithful angels: ``Let us attend! Let us stand aright! Let us stand with fear!'' and all of the faithful angelic heavenly hosts cried out: ``Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God of Sabaoth! Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory!'' Concerning the Archangel Michael, see Joshua 5:13-15 and Jude 1:9. Among the angels there reign perfect oneness of mind, oneness of soul, and love. The lower orders also show complete obedience to the higher orders, and all of them together to the holy will of God. Every nation has its guardian angel, as does every Christian. We must always remember that whatever we do, in open or in secret, we do in the presence of our guardian angel. On the day of the Dread Judgment, the
multitude of the hosts of the holy angels of heaven will gather around the throne of Christ, and the deeds, words, and thoughts of every man will be revealed before all. May God have mercy on us and save us by the prayers of the Archangel Michael and all the bodiless heavenly powers. Amen
From St. Nikolai Velimirovich’s Prologue of Ohrid.
Today is my Patron Saint’s Day. It’s been a long and busy day, and I’ve just now had a few minutes to breathe and put this online while waiting for an email (that seems to be delayed in cyberspace) Thank you to Deb, Elizabeth, and Philippa for your Name’s Day Wishes and Happy Feast Day to Ian’s Church.

The email still isn't here.

Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. ~Plato

For those of us in the United States, today is Election Day

As some of you may remember, I am forced to vote-by-mail, much to my annoyance and frustration (there’s not even a sticker in the envelope) so my vote has been cast for awhile now. But, for those who actually get to *go* vote, please do – and while I don’t get into politics much (although I’m pretty sure you can guess pretty well my leanings) I do think that no matter who you vote for, voting is absolutely important. I look forward to playing Political Pundit tonight and watching the returns.

On another note, this week’s selection of words on my word-a-day email are words formed by combining two words (which the Word A Day email mentioned is called portmanteau (from French, carrying case for clothes, usually with two compartments) since Lewis Carroll gave them this moniker in his 1872 classic "Through the
Looking-Glass".)
Yesterdays?


bodacious (boh-DAY-shuhs) adjective

1. Outright, thorough.

2. Remarkable, impressive.

3. Gutsy, brazen.

4. Voluptuous.

[A blend of bold and audacious.]

I had no idea it was a blended word.

Lastly, please keep those in my water soaked neck of the woods in your thoughts and prayers. I have friends and parish members who have been flooded and evacuated, and we are still getting rain.

Stay Dry and vote

To answer Suzanne’s question, on Saturday night, my mom and I heard Van Morrison at the new WaMu theater in Seattle.

My impressions were very similar to this review: It was a marvelous night for a moondance, even if the full moon wasn't visible. Van Morrison and his 10- member band of singers and instrumentalists enraptured concertgoers Saturday night with a sold-out show that spanned the Belfast-born singer's entire career. Among the favorites in the 19-long set at the new WaMu Theater were "Moondance," "Brown Eyed Girl" and "St. James Infirmary Blues."
Concertgoers quickly rose and danced and sang along to Morrison's classic songs and well-chosen cover tunes. It was a terrific show, among the best he has offered in the Seattle area in recent memory.
But why so short? Morrison's band took the stage promptly at 7:30 p.m., catching concertgoers off-guard and leaving them with little time to enjoy the abundant food and beverage service at the venue. The show concluded abruptly at about 9 p.m. without an encore. With tickets priced from $165 to $225, the show's brevity was a bit of a rub.
Nevertheless, many concertgoers left the building with satisfied grins. (continued on link)

It was a very tightly controlled set – no chit chat between songs, but lots of great grooves and by far the best song was his version of Moondance. It was a marvelous night.

Photo downloaded from the internet and not from Saturday’s concert, but that’s kind of what he looked like, hat and all.