A Blessed Land

We were blessed this week and so was our land and the house that sits on it. It must have been a strange sight, to those passing by, to see a tall, bearded man, dressed in a cassock, walking barefoot, swinging a censor. This is especially true since my wife and I have recently acquired a property in a small community in Tennessee, that still has the old country store and "fillin' station", the small post office, and the staple southern protestant churches, Baptist and Church of Christ.  What an honor it was to walk with our beloved priest as he prayed prayers of blessing and dispelled any demonic forces that may have made the place home over the years. With this blessing came notice to the heavens and to the earth, that there are new inhabitants now, orthodox Christians. 

Our four walls were anointed with oil,  covering the East, West, North, and South. Since our priest had not been able to find his "regular" anointing oil as he was heading over, he grabbed a bottle of oil that he had obtained some thirty plus years ago. It was not until he started making the sign of the cross on the walls, with the oil, that he informed us that the oil was from the vigil lamp of Saint John the Wonderworker. It was those many years ago that our priest had sojourned, at the suggestion of Father Seraphim Rose, to San Francisco, to the church and tomb of Saint John. There, he was allowed in alone, at night, and filled his vial with the precious oil. It was later that Saint John was canonized.

I pray that the land and house, with which our Lord has entrusted us, will be a place of healing and peace to all to step foot here, for we are stewards of His gracious gifts. 

"Owning nothing but possessing everything."