Where did my get go? It was there just moments ago. Not yesterday Nor the day before But it once was, I declare. I even had get to go, get to share. Can you Could you Have you, dear friend Some umph to spare? Image Source The difference between try and triumph is a little umph. ~ Author Unknown Read more

Recently, St Joseph Church underwent a church make-over. Icons were installed in the “silo style” dome: 16 prophets, 12 apostles, 4 evangelists, 4 angels, 2 archangels, the Image Not Made with Hands, the Protection of the Theotokos … and a big ol’ dragonfly. A brief mediation tries to capture the beauty of the fallen (flying, whirling, buzzing, devouring, dying, batty) world, here: The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.Image Source Read more

With apologies to Steve Miller Band … This here’s a story ’bout Dean Joe from daughter, Boo … And some others with nothin‘ better to do … Than stand around the church, sing high, just like this dude … And here’s what happened when they decided to cut loose … They headed down to, ooh, not El Paso … That’s where they ran into this Man’s castle … Dean Joe looks a man who used to wrastle … Daughter Boo... Read more

St Joseph – Houston has been transformed over the past three weeks by the installation of icons in the church’s “silo style” dome. Last night, we had the blessing of the icons — complete with priest, deacon, altar boy, and photographer climbing up to the first platform — with holy water and censer, and about 70 faithful gathered beneath chanting. Today, the scaffold workers came to disassemble; by tomorrow afternoon all will be cleared out except the dust! The following... Read more

Dear Father Joseph, I’m writing because you had a question asked [at a recent speaking engagement] … that I heard on an Orthodixie podcast, that I can answer and answer well. It was something like, “what do you do if you are Orthodox, but your family is absolutely apathetic, lost, anti-church, etc.” Well, you pray, regularly receive the Eucharist, go to confession a few times a year, and experience joy in your Orthodox faith. Concentrate on yourself and get out... Read more

Those who know me know I ain’t much on Halloween. I never was much on Halloween, even as a kid. It seemed a bit odd to me that perfectly normal devil-hating church folks would go all out, once a year, to root for the other side. As I popped in to Kroger the other day my eyes were accosted with the images of bogey-ness. Goblins, the living dead, spider webs, and ghoulishness everywhere. Did I mention brightly wrapped massive amounts... Read more

Blogging without comment here. (Note the images, about halfway down, of the 3-levels of the “silo dome” at St Joseph Church. Also, the angels surrounding the Pantocrator are, at the moment, held up with duct tape!) — Thanks to Jeff Anderson for these images. Read more

You can’t have icons without iconographers & helpers; here’s ours: Inanimate. Jennie … assisting. Dmitry … thinking. Victor and Aleko … measuring. Paints & stuff … sitting. Marking. Patterning. Tarrying. Closer. Further. Spying? Hanging. Drawing. Climbing. Guarding. Arriving. Pics courtesy of Doug Burns. More to come … Read more

No 13.5 year old boy was harmed in the capture of these images … As Mark … Luke Matthew John … and even an Archangel are my witness! “Basil … time to come down, Bud.” Boy says: “It’s pitch dark up top!” Dad says, “Take a picture with the flash on!” Pantocrator, coming along. That’s enough for now … Previous images: One, Two, Parish Icon Page. More later! Read more

As mentioned — here — the “silo style” dome of St Joseph Church is getting a make-over over the next couple weeks. Intrepid parishioner Jeff Anderson scaled the ladder and scaffolding today and snapped some images of the work in progress … Iconographer Dmitry Shkolnik’s website: here. Read more