Letters from Ascension Hermitage and Sanctuary

And on this second day after Christmas, we celebrate St. John the Divine. For me this day is a reminder of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City, a glorious place full of beauty and history where we often worshipped when I lived in New York. Monastery Icons  provides this icon and explanation of St. John's life: Our St. John the Evangelist icon illustrates, the son of Zebedee, and the brother of St. James the Great. Called to be an Apostle by our Lord in the first year of His public ministry. He became the "beloved disciple" and the only one of the Twelve who did not forsake the Savior in the hour of His Passion. He stood faithfully at the cross when the Savior made him the guardian of His Mother.   Over the past years we have often had cats named John or variations of John, such as Ian. And now we have  Yanah  whose name is also a variation of John. May you have a blessed and holy day!

Blessed Feast of St. Stephen! Celebrating with infinite gratitude to  St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Houston, TX  and St. Stephen's Day School. Icon and text from  Monastery Icons : One of the 72 disciples of Christ, after the Ascension Saint Stephen was chosen as one of the seven deacons. . . . Scriptures tell us that "full of grace and fortitude, he did great wonders and signs among the people." Many adversaries rose up to dispute him, but "they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the spirit that spoke." Brought before the Sanhedrin and charged with blasphemy against Moses and against God, he was filled with the Holy Ghost and looking up to heaven, he cried out, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God" In demonic fury the onlookers rushed upon him, dragged him outside the city, and stoned him to death. 

Merry Christmas! The Merriam-Webster word of the day is benison - a blessing or benediction, and certainly this Christmas Day is a blessing. We at Sanctuary House wish you a happy and joyous day. Our kitty Dolly and doggie Goldie  are just two of our many blessings - they hope you will be counting many at your home, too.

A Christmas Carol,  by G. K. Chesterton The Christ-child lay on Mary's lap, His hair was like a light. (O weary, weary were the world, But here is all alright.) The Christ-child lay on Mary's breast His hair was like a star. (O stern and cunning are the kings, But here the true hearts are.) The Christ-child lay on Mary's heart, His hair was like a fire. (O weary, weary is the world, But here the world's desire.) The Christ-child stood on Mary's knee, His hair was like a crown, And all the flowers looked up at Him, And all the stars looked down.  . . . and Zed, whose name means God is righteous, looks up too - wishing you all a blessed Christmas Eve from everyone at Sanctuary House!

Well, the mystery is solved - we do indeed have TWO roosters. Several weeks ago we discovered that Dora is really Silver Roo . . . now we can say with 100% confidence that Cora is Copper Roo. So far the two brothers get along well - they seem to have settled, at least for the present time, is that Copper Roo is in charge, and they are really not interested in the hens. Hoping all continues in peace . . .

Cold Moon rising - stay warm tonight!

Noelle is all dressed up in her Christmas collar . . . she is really more interested in the possible treats and toys of Christmas, but is also glad to have a holiday collar! Gus  says he's ready for Christmas too . . . no Christmas collar, but lots of joyful, kind thoughts! He's in a favorite nap place, ready to dream Christmas dreams.

Our sad news first: our sweet, sweet kitty Cate left us for the Rainbow Bridge. Cate had lived at Sanctuary House for many years, and especially loved the other cats. Her best friends were Claudia and Bagheera. She often curled up for a nap with Claudia, or leaned against Bagheera who is at least three times bigger than Cate was! In the last few weeks Cate had decided to be a lap cat - I held her and listened to her purr, but in the end she wanted to stay nearest to Claudia. Farewell little Cate - we'll catch up again at the Bridge. And the glad news - well it's the Winter Solstice of course! The shortest day and longest night in the Northern Hemisphere, but from now on each day is a tiny bit longer. . . we're safe on our way to Summer! And it is St. Thomas' Day. The antiphon for the Magnificat on this day has always been one of my favorites, coming as it does in the middle of the Great O Antiphons of Advent: O Thomas Didymus, through Christ who suffered thee to t

Cloudy morning - looks like rain - Thea and Sammy settle in for a morning nap! We know that tomorrow is the shortest day of daylight, but it's so dark today that it's just two short days in a row! The chickens keep going into their coop and back out again in case the afternoon rain has stopped - no such luck, but the ducks are very delighted with the weather! Stay warm, stay dry - Winter begins tomorrow.

Willow, Sonny, and Imagine opted for a nap on this cloudy afternoon. Titan watched the birdfeeders and traffic along the road.         When  Willow  got up from her nap she looked through the fence . . . "Did I miss anything?" she asked.

Sandy and his sister Melita settled in for a morning nap. Outside, the geese also decided on a nap in the early morning sun. Little Red sat on her corner nest, while Henrietta enjoyed breakfast.

 Cindy took these photos on Sunday when she came to feed the horses. It is still cold and gray now, on Monday, but no more snow . . . . and the sun is trying to break through the clouds!

Borrowing a few lines from today's  posting on The Writer's Almanac  : "It's the birthday  of poet  John Milton ,  born in London (1608). . . .  Milton coined more than 600 words, including  the  adjectives  dreary ,  flowery ,  jubilant ,  satanic ,  saintly ,  terrific ,  ethereal ,  sublime ,  impas sive,   unprincipled ,  dismissive ,  and  feverish;  as well as the nouns  fragrance, adventurer, anarchy,  and many more."  I can't imagine a world without those words!  The first snow of our winter!  Blanche and Little Red wonder what these white flakes are, while Betty headed back to the chicken coop to watch the snow from a dry space. Gabby  the duck put her head under the wing - her downy feathers keep her warm - and watched the snow beginning to fall around her.

As the Gilbert and Sullivan song says, things are seldom what they seem . . .and so we were not entirely surprised to discover that Dora, the hen, is really Silver Roo, the rooster! Silver Roo is only about 4 months old, but we're pretty sure that he has crowed twice, and his hackle and saddle feathers are very pointy. And, no, we're not certain about his "sister" Cora. We "think" she's a hen, but she is very brightly colored . . .time will tell!

May he rest in peace, and rise in glory.

The horses patiently waited for breakfast in the misty morning. Indoors, the cats (Louie, Dolly, and Gus) invited a friend for breakfast, although they were quite glad that he only watched them eat and did not take much for himself!

Goldie's response to yet another rainy morning? A nap, of course! Blessed first Sunday of Advent to our Christian friends. Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish friends.

It's a chilly December 1st, but our little Polish chickens ventured out of the coop to join the bigger chickens and ducks. They were thrilled to discover birdseed as well as ordinary feed in the yard!