Massive, majestic, monastery bells
pealed out over the hills and the valleys.
Caught unaware,
my heart beat rapidly
while my eardrums
threatened to explode.
My world froze in place
and I caught something of the Divine.
I could see
my bottled prayers,
my jars of salt tears
smash violently upon the earth.
Turning into smoke,
they rose upon the clouds
into Heaven.
They arose as incense,
billowing out the perfume
of a desperate soul.
I can’t believe it, but Holy Week is finally here. In the Orthodox Church, the week before Pascha (Easter) is called Holy Week and each day has a distinct purpose and service. In fact, if you add up all of the services of Holy Week, it ends up being of a total of more than 25 hours.
I am a little sad. I haven’t been able to truly experience Holy Week this year. I currently live over 100 miles away from my Church and there really aren’t any other Orthodox Churches much closer to me. My family and I attend every Sunday, but there is no way that we can go to all of the services of Holy Week.
This is only my 3rd Pascha as an Orthodox Christian and the first year, my church didn’t have all of the Holy Week services because we didn’t have a full time priest. So last year was my only real experience of a full Holy Week.
During Holy Week, we live in real time of the gospels and walk with Christ every moment until resurrection. Holy Friday, which is tomorrow, is my favorite day of all. There are three long services. There is Royal hours where we keep vigil with Christ on the cross. Then before the next service, the children of the church decorate Christ’s funeral bier with flowers. Then there is the burial service when we take Christ off the cross and put him in the funeral bier and march around the outside of the church. Then in the evening there is a Lamentations service. The funeral bier is in the center of the church and many Psalms and laments for the crucified Christ are read. This can go as long as 3 hours, but the whole church is dark and lit only with candle light, and we focus on lamenting the death of Christ. There is even a vigil and the Psalms are read over His body every hour until the service the next morning. Parishoners sign up to read the Psalms by the hour. Supposedly when an Orthodox person person dies, their body is brought into the church and Psalms are read over the body all night. However, I have never been part of an Orthodox funeral and don’t know exactly how it is done.
There are many services on Saturday. Then the matins for Pascha starts at 10:30 pm. We have our Pascha Divine Liturgy around 12:00 am. This will last for a couple of hours. Around 2:00 am we will have a huge feast of all kinds of meat and dairy items since we have been abstaining from them for almost 60 days.
My family will get to go to the Pascha services Saturday night. By the time everything finishes up, it will be around 3:00 am. Then we will have to drive 2 hrs home. Maybe we will sleep on someone’s floor for a couple of hours.
I am sad, but happy that I will get to go to Pascha. This certainly has been a trying Lent and I have learned so much. I have also failed in many ways, but it is important to find out my weak areas.
May the Lord bless all of you my dear readers and my prayers will be with you.
Sometimes we fool ourselves. We fool ourselves into believeing that we don’t have problems in a certain area. We are joyful. We find oursevles calm. But we never really know what lies beneath. We never really know what passions are hidden deep inside ourselves.
Great Lent is a time for digging. For discovering what is underneath and laying it aside. However, often during lent, one doesn’t really have to work at digging. For some reason, things seem to errupt. Lately, it seems like my heart has been lying on earthquake fault that has been dormant for quite a time but has suddenly become active.
For the past several weeks, we have had major problems with our internet service provider for various reasons. There has been several days when we have had not internet at all. Then when we did have it, it would either be slow as a slug or very sporadic. (off 3 hrs, on for a few hrs, off for several more hours.)
I had a reason to be frustrated. There is nothing wrong with frustration. However, this deep dark anger swelled up inside of me. I found my self seething and fuming. If you know me, this is very much unlike me. I don’t get angry often, and when I do, it doesn’t last very long.
The anger that welled up inside of me over something that to most of the world is so trivial bothered me. I never knew a volcano of unerupted anger was inside of me.
Another thing the jerked my world is a selfishness that has come over me. Recently I watched, “Idol Gives Back.” They showed so many videos of children starving and dying not only in countries like Africa but also in America as well. I guees I never really understood how tragic and devastating Hurricane Katrina really was. You would think that after watching something like this that I would be filled with compassion. On the contrary, the opposite was occuring. The passion of self-centeredness burst forth. I often got upset when seeing material things that I couldn’t have. This is also unlike me. If you know me, then you would know that I am not a very materialistic person at all.
Great Lent is indeed a battlefield. It is something that helps us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling like St. Paul says.
With weariness and joy, I look forward to Pascha when we celebrate the true sacrificial Lamb.
When I visited The Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration at the end of February, the Lord really touched my heart in many ways. While I was there, I felt a constant link to Eastern Europe, and I knew that I was to return there for mission work.
I have done previous mission work in Ukraine in the summer of ‘99 and from August 2001-June 2002. However, I was a Protestant missionary. At the time, I was not acquainted with the Orthodox faith. Since then Eastern Europe has always captured my mind and my heart. That love and desire for the people of Eastern Europe has grown even more since I have become Orthodox because most of the countries in Eastern Europe are Orthodox countries.
While still at the monastery, I contacted my priest with my desire to go back to Eastern Europe to do mission work. After I came back, we came to the conclusion that I needed to fill out an application with the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC). The OCMC is the official mission and evangelism agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA). I filled out an application with the OCMC and was accepted to go on a summer mission trip to Romania. The fact that I am going to Romania has significance. The Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration was found by Mother Alexandria (now deceased). Mother Alexandria was formerly known as the Princess of Romania, Ileana. She and her family were forced out of Romania by the Communists.
I will be gone July 16-August 9. The first few days will be spent in St. Augustine, FL at the OCMC headquarters. To go on this trip, I need to raise approximately $4,000. I need to have all of the money raised 3 weeks before my departure date.
During the trip, my teammates and I will be working at two youth camps for Orthodox teenagers. I will be teaching some English, but I will also be teaching some about the Orthodox faith. I am sure that we will also be involved in the normal summer camp activities such as crafts and sports.
I would appreciate your prayers for my trip. If you feel led to contribute to my trip in any way, please e-mail me at oilofgladness2004@yahoo.com and I will let you know the specifics on how you can donate.
There are those who may think that Great Lent is nothing but works and that it is full of nothing but tradition. I do not doubt that there are many who make these thoughts true. However, when done correctly it can be and should be a great awakening within one’s soul to evaluate where they’re at spiritually and to continue to stay on the narrow path.The strict rules of Great Lent are not to be done legalistically just for the sake of it. The Pharisees kept the traditions as perfectly as humanly possible but even Jesus told them that they had missed the spirit of the law which is love and mercy. I think it was St. John Chrysostom who said something like, “What good is it to keep the fast but devour your brother?”
One prayer that keeps me on track during Great Lent is the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian. This prayer is said during many of the Lenten services and is encouraged to be read often individually during Lent. Here is the prayer.
Oh Lord and Master of my life
do not give me a spirit
of sloth, despair, lust of power and idle talk.
But give rather a spirit
of chastity, humility, patience and love to your servant.
Yes, Lord and King,
grant me to see
my own transgressions
and not to judge my brother.
For blessed are You unto ages of ages, amen.
The part that gets me all the time is “grant me to see my own transgression and not to judge my brother.”
It is so hard for me not to judge others. In some ways, I have a critical personality and it is not hard for me to puff myself up and think that I am better than others. I am often judged by others (or least I perceive it that way) and I hate it. I must be careful because the measure that I judge others by is what I will be judged by.
Since becoming Orthodox, my mindset has slowly changed and now I can’t understand the people who think the way that I used to think. It is hard for me to imagine that I ever thought like an Evangelical Christian. (Well, I do have to admit that there is still a lot of Evangelical framework by which I process things. A lifetime of conditioning doesn’t go away right away.)
The hardest thing for me is not to judge people’s motives when displaying Christian merchandise. To me, Evangelical Christianity focuses too much on fads. All of the bracelets, t-shirts, etc really rub me the wrong way. In my tainted opinion, it cheapens Christianity and makes Christ a commodity. Silly slogans sometimes take the sacredness away. I actually saw a t-shirt with the words “Got Jesus?” printed in bold letters. (This is, of course, taken from the “Got Milk?” campaign.) Underneath this phrase in parentheses was “it’s hell without Him.”
I also have a problem with cheesy Christian songs that make Christianity seem so shallow. Last night, I was watching American Idol. It was Dolly Parton week. Dolly Parton sang her new song called “Jesus and Gravity.” It made me cringe.
I am writing all of this not to condemn Evangelical Christianity but to open my eyes to my transgressions. Like St. Paul said, I should be excited to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached no matter how it is presented.
In the Orthodox Church, we say a special prayer before the Eucharist (communion). The first part of it says, “I believe, O Lord, and I confess that You are truly the Christ, the Son of the living God Who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
At first I couldn’t really understand this prayer. I would say this prayer, but I wasn’t quite comfortable saying “of whom I am chief.” I mean, compared to other people I was certainly not the chief of sinners. How could I be? There are murders and rapists out there. I am definitely not that sinful.
But, you see, I was looking at it from the wrong perspective. I am not to compare myself to anyone nor am I to compare anyone else to me. This reference about being the chief of sinners is not a comparison of whose sin is greater than mine. I am the chief of sinners because I have not used faithfully all that God has given me and have not lived up to all that I have learned and have declared as truth.
Once again, this post was not to blast any certain group of people but to become aware of the transgressions within my own soul.
May the Lord purge this spirit of judgmentalness from my soul and replace it with Love for all people!
For the past few weeks, I haven’t been writing too regularly. There are many reasons for this. It seems like there has been so many interruptions and inconveniences like the internet connection being down for several days. However, one main reason is that this is Great Lent for Orthodox Christians.Although Western Christians had their Easter last Sunday, Orthodox Christians will not celebrate Easter this year until April 27. Orthodox Christians do not use the term Easter. We prefer the term Pascha. Pascha comes from Pass Over (The Jewish Feast which Christ was celebrating the night of the Last Supper and the day on which Christ was crucified). Our celebration of Pascha is based on the Jewish calendar. Sometimes Western and Eastern “Easter” coincide on the same day. However, Pascha cannot happen before Pass Over. The Western calendar often has Easter before Pass Over.
I am a very introspective person and have been doing a lot of thinking during this Great Lent. I have often been unable to write because I haven’t quite known how to really put down what I am thinking in words. Great Lent began this year for us on March 10. There are many things to write about Great Lent. Over the next few posts, I hope to discuss many issues pertaining to Great Lent. However, in today’s post, forgiveness will be my main focus.
Yesterday I was in the gym working out. While I was working out, I happened to see many things on the TVs that were right before my eyes. Many of the channels were set on news. The volume on all of them was down, but the captions were displayed. All of them had news of horrible or tragic things going on in the world around us. All of a sudden, I wanted to break down and weep. I thought to myself, “What has happened to the World? Is there no sanity left?” At that moment, the desire to abandon this world, especially the American lifestyle, came upon me. The materialism, greediness, selfishness, and lust of this country often overwhelm me. However, I cannot become a hermit. I must live in this world and somehow live for Christ despite all of the things around me.
Later, when I was analyzing this feeling, I started to think about who was to blame for the current situation of the world today. It was at that moment that I realized that I was part of the downfall of the world. I was partly to blame.
The Orthodox do not believe that people “fall” alone. There is no sin, no matter how minor you may think it is, that does not affect all of humanity. A display of this belief comes into action on “Forgiveness Sunday” which is the Sunday before the Monday Great Lent starts.
Usually after the Divine Liturgy on Forgiveness Service, the church as a whole will participate in Forgiveness Vespers. The priest will bring his wife and children up in front and bow before them, embrace them, and ask forgiveness to each one of them. The wife and children will reciprocate. This is the beginning of the formation of a circle. The next person will go up to the priest and the priest’s family and each will bow to each other and ask forgiveness. That person will then join the circle. Then another person will come up and will ask forgiveness from everybody else in the circle, bow before them and embrace them, and the people in the circle will ask individually forgiveness from them. (When someone asks you to forgive them, then your response is not I forgive you but “God forgives”.) And so on. This can take a long time if there are a lot of people in the church. When this is finished, everyone in the church will have asked forgiveness of every other person individually. Also people of all ages do this. It so cute to watch the toddlers go up and hug everyone and ask their forgiveness.
This is a time to ask forgiveness for certain things God has laid on your heart. However, you might ask how can you someone ask forgiveness from someone if you don’t even know them or if you have done nothing towards them. First of all, for the people you don’t know, you can ask forgiveness for not trying to introduce yourself and getting to know them. Another thing to think about, is how do we know if we have done something to offend someone or not? I may have offended someone by not carefully guarding my tongue. I have hurt many people’s feelings without evening being aware of it.
However, if you go beyond of all this, our sins hurt everyone not just those immediately around us. What I do has a ripple effect on the whole world.
I have been through two Forgiveness Vespers and I will admit that they are quite uncomfortable for me at the beginning. To me forgiveness is a very private matter. There are some people who go through it and are crying and really getting a lot of spiritual blessings out of it. For me, it is awkward to go up to people and ask their forgiveness because I think that I don’t have anything to be forgiven for. However, I realize that this is just an area that I need growth in. Part of my reluctance to participate in such a service is probably even related to my pride.
The Orthodox believe that the book The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky has a lot of spiritual truths in it. There are many quotes in this book that have to deal with this issue of forgiveness.
Bishop Kallistos Ware in his book The Orthodox Way says this.
Dostoevsky’s Starets Zosima in The Brothers Karamazov comes closer to the truth when he says that we are each of us responsible for everyone and everything:
There is only one way to salvation, and that is to make yourself responsible for all men’s sins. As soon as you make yourself responsible in all sincerity for everything and for everyone, you will see at once that this is really so, and that you are in fact to blame for everyone and for all things.
Dostoevsky also says in The Brothers Karamazov :
My brother, a dying youth, asked the birds to forgive him. That may sound absurd, but when you then of it, it makes sense. For everything is like the ocean, all things flow and are indirectly linked together, and if you push here, something will move at the other end of the world. It may be madness to beg the birds forgiveness, but things would be easier, for the birds, for the child, and for every animal if you were nobler than you are-yes, they would be easier even if only by a little. Understand that everything is like the ocean.
Wow, these quotes blow me away. If I am to live in peace, I must forgive all and ask forgiveness for all.
When I was at the monastery, I bought a CD entitled “Hymns of Paradise: Hymns of Life and Hope.” The songs on this CD on the songs of the Orthodox Funeral service and are sung by Fr. Apostolos Hill who is the Assistant Priest at Asumption Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Denver, Co. They are sung in Byzatine Chant in English. They sound so ancient and ethereal.I have never been to an Orthodox funeral, but I have heard that they are beautiful. This CD is beautiful. I thought that to end this particular series of mine, I would share with you the words of some of the amazing hymns.
Hymns of Paradise:
1. Troparia, Tone 4
With the spirits of the righteous mad perfect in faith,
Give rest, O Lord, to the souls of Your servants
And preserve them in that life of blessedness
That is lived with thee, O Friend of man.
In that place of Your rest, O Lord,
Where all Your saints repose,
Give rest also to the souls of Your servants
For You alone are immortal.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…
You are our God who descended into Hell
To loose the pains of the dead who were held there
Give rest also to the souls of Your servants, O Savior.
Now and ever and unto ages of ages, Amen
O Virgin alone pure and immaculate
Who in maiden-motherhood brought forth God
Intercede for the salvation of the souls of Your servants.
7. Evlogetaria for the Dead, Tone 5
Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your statutes.
The choir of the saints has found the fountain of life and the door of
Paradise. May I also find the way through repentance, the sheep that
was lost am I, call me up to You, O Savior, and save me.
Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your statutes.
You who did fashion me of old out of nothingness, and with Your
Image Divine did honor me; but because of the transgressions of Your
commandments, did return me again to the earth from whence I was
taken; lead me back to be refashioned into that ancient beauty of Your
likeness.
Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your statutes.
I am the image of Your unutterable glory, though I bear the scars of
my stumblings. Have compassion upon me, the works of Your hands,
O sovereign Lord, and cleanse me through Your loving-kindness; and
the homeland of my heart’s desire bestow on me, by making me a
citizen of Paradise.
Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your statutes.
Give rest O God to the souls of Your servants, and appoint for them a
place in Paradise; where the choirs of the saints, O Lord, and the just
will shine forth like stars; to Your servants that are sleeping now give
rest, overlooking all their offenses.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
The triune radiance of the One Godhead with reverent songs
acclaiming, let us cry; Holy are You, O eternal Father, and Son also
eternal, and Spirit Divine; shine with Your light on us who with faith
adore You, and from the fire eternal rescue us.
Now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Hail, O gracious Lady, who in the flesh bears God for the salvation of
all; and through whom the human race has found salvation; through
You may we find Paradise, Theotokos, our Lady pure and blessed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia; Glory to You, O God (3x)
Wow, these hymns say everything. They are gorgeous. Memory Eternal to all of those who have fallen asleep in the Lord!
When I was at the monastery, I wrote several poems/prayers. The following is prayer XXIII. This is the prayer that arose in me after I went to the vespers for the Saturday of Souls.XXIII.
I have always loved cemeteries,
quiet, peaceful havens
to honor
those who have passed
through this life.
But for me
the dead have always been dead,
their fates have already been sealed.
There was no reason
for me to intercede for them,
nor the need for me
to ask them
to intercede
on my behalf.
Slowly,
like the formation
of milk into butter,
the Orthodox mindset
is starting
to solidify in me.
Lord have mercy,
on those who have departed
from this life.
Lord have mercy,
on those dear to us
whose memories still surround us
each and every day.
Lord have mercy,
on my tree of ancestors
hidden from my knowledge.
Lord have mercy,
on those who made this world
better by their beauty and grace.
Lord have mercy,
on those who fought for injustice,
on those who created art and music
for the enjoyment of our souls.
Lord have mercy,
on those killed
by a hand of another,
on those who were tortured
and left to rot.
And Lord,
have mercy
upon the alcoholics,
the murderers,
the rapists,
the thieves.
Memory Eternal!
Memory Eternal!
Memory Eternal!
About a week before I went to the monastery, I had this strong urge to go visit the graves of my relatives. I knew that a few of them were buried in the old cemetery in town, but I didn’t know exactly where. I talked to my mom about going there, and she said that we would try to go after I came back from the monastery.My mom never visited her mother’s grave since she had died over 22 years previously. She raised me to think that visiting graves was not that important. The dead were dead and there was nothing else to it. However, after both of us became Orthodox, our minds started to change.
When I was at the monastery we celebrated the Saturday of Souls. There are three of these on the three Saturdays before the first Sunday of Lent. We had a special vespers that commemorated the dead. The nuns sang many hymns and read many prayers regarding God to have mercy on those who have departed. We also read the names of the departed that were sent to the monastery to be prayed for. This service really had an impact on me. It solidified in my heart, the importance of praying for the departed.
Upon my return from the monastery, my mother and I went out to visit the graves of our departed ancestors. We couldn’t find the graves, but soon found help in the maintenance men working in the graveyard. They took us to the office and looked up plot numbers for us.
When we found the plot, we also found some unexpected graves. We found the grave of my grandmother (my mother’s mom). We also knew that my great grandmother was buried out there along with my great grandfather. We also found the graves of my mother’s uncle, aunt, and cousin. However, we found several other graves. Through some research we found them to be my great-great grandfather and great- great grandmother, my great-great grandfather’s 1st wife (no relation to me), my great-great uncle, and my great-great-great uncle who has a special civil war soldier memorial at his grave.
After we found our ancestors I read the prayers for the departed from an Orthodox prayer book. This was an amazing experience. I felt somehow connected to my ancestors. I felt like they could hear my prayers for them.
Now my mother and I try to make a weekly trip out to the cemetery to pray the prayers of the departed over our ancestors. We also say short prayers for them each morning.
My interest in my departed ancestors has led to a new hobby about which I am completely obsessed. I now have the compulsion to find out all of my ancestors that I can. I joined www.ancestry.com and have been bowled over by all of the information that I have been able to find out. I have also spent countless hours and many sleepless nights digging through documents. (I have a bad habit of being an all or nothing person. It is very hard for me to do things in moderation!)
My great-great grand father came to Kentucky after the Civil War, but he was originally from Virginia. He served in the 23rd infantry of Virginia during the Civil War. I have traced his lineage all the way to the 1600s back to the beginning days of the Virginian colony. (This link goes back around 10 generations. How amazing!)
I also found out my great-great-great grandfather (on a different branch of the tree) came over from Ireland. (That means that I am 1/32 Irish.) However, I am a little stuck there. I have narrowed it down to 10 possible boats that he could have been on.
I haven’t even started on my father’s family tree. His relatives came over from Germany. That will be very fascinating to track down, another adventure to experience.
Part I
I have been Orthodox for 2 years now. What I like most about Orthodoxy is that you can never reach a point where you have learned everything. There is always something new to learn. My priest always says something like, “Orthodox is so basic that a toddler can wade in it, but also that it is so deep that the greatest theologian can never reach the bottom.” To me this sums up Orthodoxy exactly. It is so basic that the children of the parish can participate and understand, but if you are willing you can pursue it and never, ever reach the pinnacle. To me, that is so beautiful.
One thing that I am just starting to grasp is the whole idea of praying for the dead. I never had problems with this idea of Orthodoxy, but it never really made an impact on me. My priest once told our congregation a true story that I think is taken from the book The Mountain of Silence: A Search for Orthodox Spirituality by Kyriacos C. Markides. I am paraphrasing the story he told and I hope that I am getting most of the facts correct.
There was a priest a long time ago. He was not a very good priest. In fact, he was an alcoholic. However, he fought against this passion all of the time. Because he struggled with this constantly, he often thought that he was unworthy of his office. This unworthiness caused him to go to the graveyard often. He knew that he could at least do some good by praying for the souls of those that had passed away.
Many people complained to the bishop about this particular priest. The bishop decided that he needed to relieve the priest of his duties. Not very long after that, the bishop was visited in his dreams by a lot of angry people rising up from graves. The people were shouting at him to reinstate the priest. The bishop was very shaken up by this dream and decided to visit the priest. He asked the priest what he had done to these people in the graveyard. He was very humbled and mentioned that he had only prayed for them.
For non-Orthodox this story may seem suspect and reek of spiritualism. However, Orthodox believe that people’s souls are either in a place called “Paradise” or in a place called “Hades.” They have not yet reached their final resting place. I am not an Orthodox scholar and I can not really explain it without people distorting my words. However, it is important that people realize that Orthodox do not believe in Purgatory and in buying people out of eternal punishment or doing enough good works in their name to earn them eternal reward. In Orthodoxy, there are actual quite many different views of what is going to happen to us in the afterlife. Some of these are quite controversial, like the tollhouses, and are not agreed on by all Orthodox theologians. From what I know, there is not a set in stone dogma about what exactly what will happen after death. It is a mystery and we can not know for sure what happens. However, the Orthodox do believe that we should pray for those departed. The final judgment has not occurred yet and the souls are now out of time. We believe that our prayers have an effect on their souls. We also believe that they can pray for us. Just like we may ask a living friend or relative to pray for us, it is acceptable to ask a deceased friend, relative, and especially a Saint to pray for us.
I have heard the story about the alcoholic priest a couple of times. The first time I heard it, I found it quite surprising. Although, it did not disturb me in any way, I didn’t automatically start praying for the dead. Gradually, though, in my morning prayers I would pray for the some of my known ancestors who have reposed. (Orthodox use the term “reposed” instead of dying because people die in this world but their souls are still alive).
Even though I haven’t always prayed for the departed, I have always had a predilection for cemeteries and for ruins in general, hence the picture in the heading of my blog. Graveyards have never spooked me out nor scared me. The romantic side of me has always found them enchanting and fascinating. When I was in Ukraine, I was in hog heaven to see all of the beautiful, ancient graves. I visited Kiev once with one of my Ukrainian friends (non Orthodox). I told her that I just had to go and see some of the very ancient cemeteries. She, of course, thought that I was strange. I walked around for almost an hour and she was getting really impatient. Being in the graveyard made her nervous. I told her that I wished that we had brought our lunches so that we could eat in the graveyard. She about had a fit. She really thought that I was not right in the head. I took many pictures of these ancient graves. Maybe one day I can get them scanned and upload them. Old Orthodox graveyards have fences that appear to be made out of wrought iron around each individual grave.
Well, this post in starting to get a little long and I have so much to tell. Next time I will talk about my new habit of weekly visiting the graves of some ancestors and my search to learn more about those we have come before me. I will also discuss how these desires manifested themselves.
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