Sts. Cyril & Methodius and The Garden in June Video

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This has been an eventful week.  Revisions of two of our books have been sent to the printer, awaiting production of finished proofs and two new videos are available on our You Tube channel.

Cyril & Methodius-Mural-Troyan Monas
Portion of a 19th C. mural of Sts. Cyril and Methodius holding the Cyrillic alphabet. Monastery of the Holy Mother of God, Troyan, Bulgaria. Public domain.

Episode Eighteen in The Lives of the Saints – Second Series, celebrating Saints Cyril and Methodius was uploaded last night.   The running time is just over 15 minutes.

Labelled in the 19th C. by Roman Catholic Pope Leo XIII as Apostles of the Slavs and known in the Eastern Church as “Enlighteners of the Slavs,” these two men created a new alphabet and produced Bible translations which brought the New Testament and much of the Old to the Slavic peoples in south central and Eastern Europe for the first time.

Working before the split between Rome and Constantinople that still plagues Christianity, Cyril and Methodius enjoyed the support of both jurisdictions.

The episode includes many illustration to usually seen in the Western Church.  The two saints are honored in the East and the West by the naming of churches and monasteries.

Watch the Video     Listen to the Podcast

Regular readers of this blog know that I am a great fan, if not to say, a fanatical one, of the latest developments in the world of petunias, especially those produced as Supertunias and the trademarked and patented line known as Surfinias.  Last month AIC Videos offered a 3-minute glimpse of my garden and its features.  To demonstrate the spectacular growth the my trailing petunias I produced a 1-minute update showing the growth.

Watch The Garden in June

As always, thank you for your interest and support for the Anglican Internet Church ministry.  Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

New Videos: Basil of Caesarea; Bookstore; & Garden

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Basil of Caesarea-Ohrid CathedralThis week I offer three new videos and one new podcast from the AIC’s digital library.

The first is Episode 17 in The Lives of the Saints – Second Series, a tribute to St. Basil of Caesarea, whose Feast Day in Jun 14.   The episode features illustrations generally unseen in the Western Church, including the beautiful blue and white themed icon of St. Basil celebrating Holy Communion, a 9th C. work from St. Sophia Cathedral, Ohrid, Macedonia.  The work is public domain.   St. Basil is primarily remembered for his contribution to the Church’s understanding of the equality of the Holy Spirit with God the Father and God the Son in the Holy Trinity.  The concept was incorporated into the Nicene Creed at the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D., primarily owing to the work of his brother, St. Gregory of Nyssa and his friend St. Gregory Nazianzen.   The next episode, celebrating Its. Cyril and Methodius, whose Feast Day in Jul 11.

Watch Episode 17.                      Listen to Episode 17.

The second video is a new preview of the AIC Bookstore, using new software included with my new Mac computer.  The video includes the covers and glimpses of pages from the entire catalogue.  Since the content is primarily visual, there is no companion podcast.

Watch the Bookstore preview.

In my Weekly Update, which goes out to a selected group of interested recipients, I often write about my passion for gardening, especially with Petunias.  The third new video is a light-hearted picture and music video giving viewers a 3-minute look at my garden, focusing on the new varieties of petunia available for the first time this year, plus views of other plants and garden details.  Included this year are several new petunias offered for the first time in 2017:  Supertunias Latte, Really Red; Black Cherrt; and Honey; plus several amazing Surfinias which can trail up to 4′ down from the pot, including:  Heavenly Blue; Sky Blue; Blue-veined; Pink-Veined; Heartbeat; and the unique Crazytunia series:  Blueberry Cheesecake; Citrus Twist; Razzmatazz; & Bitter Lemon.   All flowers are identified with subtitles.

Watch the Garden Preview

As always, thanks for your interest in and support for the Anglican Internet Church online ministry.  May God continue to bless you in all that you do in His Name!  Glory be to God of all things!  Amen!

Late Spring-Summer Events

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I thought to share with readers my plans for the Blog and Web Site for the rest of Spring and also for the coming Summer.

pbp-ver3-cvr-front-mid2This coming week I expect to finish the first video produced on our new iMac laptop using the more advanced version of iMovie.  It is a short preview with page images for the AIC Bookstore – Spring A.D. 2017 Preview.  You’ll see the stylistic differences right away, with new page transitions not available in the iPad version used for all earlier videos.  There will be information about all publications, including the pending revised edition of The Prayer Book Psalter.   The revised version includes some design changes to type faces and content.  Some of these include the first line in Latin for each Psalm and additional focus in the commentaries on how the same issues and verses are addressed in other AIC Publications, including books, videos and podcasts.  The publication date depends upon completion of the proof-reading, but I hope it can be finished by early summer.

In June there will be new episodes on The Lives of the Saints – Second Series, including one of my favorite saints, Basil of Caesarea (Jun 14th).  Later in the summer will be Cyril and Methodius (Jul 11th);Joseph of Arimethea (Jul 25th); and Augustine of Hippo (Aug 28th).

As always, thank you for your interest and support.  The sales of our books have been very encouraging, with 100% of all royalties donated to the AIC.

May God bless you in all that you do in His Name.  Glory be to God for all things!  Amen!

Good Friday Podcasts

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Again this year for Good Friday I’ve included the links to the AIC’s series for Good Friday, In the Cross of Christ I Glory.  The program was written for use at my former parish from Noon to 3 PM on Good Friday, based on a version of the Seven Words from the Cross which was  first read in 1946 A.D.  The original author relied upon a homily written in 1904 A.D.   To their work I added prayers and quotations from the Holy Fathers of the 4th Century and later.

The format is an opening address followed by seven sets of prayers and meditations for the seven words from the Cross and a closing address.  The entire text is found on pages 75-101 of the AIC Bookstore Publication, Occasional Services for Anglican Worship, now available in paperback and Kindle editions using the links in the Virtual Bookstore section at the bottom of the home page of the AIC Web Site where you found this Blog.

I hope each of you was able to attend a Good Friday service in your area and will attend at your local parish on Easter Sunday.

Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

Saints 2 – Athanasius of Alexandria

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St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, fresco (1191), church of St. George in Kurbinovo, MacedoniaEpisode Sixteen in The Lives of the Saints, Second Series, celebrating the life and remarkable contributions to the Church Universal of St. Athanasius of Alexandria, is now on line at our Web Site and through our You Tube channel.   St. Athanasius is celebrated in the Western Church on May 2nd, the date of his death.

Regular readers of his blog will notice the familiar black, while and gold on blue in the accompanying 12th C. fresco from Macedonia.  There’s nothing like that shade of blue in western religious art.

Athanasius is also called Athanasius the Great to distinguish him from the many Eastern saints of the same name.  He’s also known as the Father of the Canon; the Father of Orthodoxy, and was recognized among the first four men named “Doctors of the Church” in the Roman Catholic tradition (with St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil of Caesarea, St. Basil the Great, and St. Gregory Nazianzen).  For five decades in the middle of the 4th C. he defended Nicene Christianity against Arians and others, even at the risk of persecution and expulsion from office.  Today, his accusers are long gone, most of their names forgotten, but Athanasius the Great remains among the most-revered figures in the Church in both the Eastern and Western traditions.

The episode runs just over 18 minutes and includes many other works of art viewers might not have seen before.

Watch the Video        Listen to the Podcast.

As always, thanks for your interest and support of the Anglican Internet Church ministry.  Glory be to God of all things!  Amen!

Saints2 – John Climacus

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EpiLadder_of_Divine_Ascent_(Russia)sode Fifteen in The Lives of the Saints – Second Series was uploaded to the Web last week.  It celebrates the life of St. John Climacus, 7th C. abbot of St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, and includes many colorful illustrations on the author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent, one of the most important books of the early church in the realm of Christian Spirituality.

Not generally well-known in the Western Church tradition, The Ladder, is quite famous in the Eastern Church. The episode includes a reading of St. John’s text on the 30th step on the ladder.  The illustration is a Russian Orthodox icon of unknown date.and which is in the public domain.

Watch Episode Fifteen      Listen to the Podcast

As always, thank you for your interest and support.  Glory be to God for all things!  Amen!

St. Thomas Aquinas & St. Gregory the Great

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Thomas_Aquinas-Detail-Gentile da FabrianoI got a little behind in my production schedule and neglected to upload two new episodes in The Lives of the Saints – Second Series.  The first is focused on St. Thomas Aquinas, whose Feast Day is March 8th.  The episode includes five illustrations, from the 15th, 17th and 20th Centuries.  St. Thomas is best known for his Summa Theologica.  In the series I avoided comment on whether systematic theology has been a plus or a minus for Christianity.

The illustration at left is one of nine scenes in the Valle Romita polyptych in tempera and gold on panel by the Renaissance artist Gentile da Fabriano from the collection of the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Italy, painted circa 1400 A.D.  In the original, there are eight scenes in two rows surrounding a larger ninth central image of the Blessed Virgin and Holy Child.   St. Thomas appears in the far right side of the top row.

Watch Episode 13       Listen to Episode 13

 

The second presentation celebrates the life of St. Gregory the Great,

dreamstime_xl_56699377-detail1.jpg
Detail, 19th C stained glass.  Image copyright Jorisvo|Dreamstime.com

Bishop of Rome, 590-604 A.D.   I include three illustrations, one of which is a 19th C. stained glass window at Stabroek, Belgium.  Gregory’s accomplishments are almost legendary in scope: ambassador to Constantinople; first monastic to be Pope; sponsor of revised liturgies, including the Presanctified Gifts still in use; founder of monastery; author of one of the earliest lists of Christian virtues in the Western Church; and advocate of the style of chanting of the Psalms at Alexandria, now known as the Gregorian chant.  The illustration is the top section of the 19th C. stained glass window referenced above, showing the Holy Spirit, depicted as a dove, whispering into Gregory’s ear as the wrote his Dialogues.  The image is based on the contemporary account by Deacon Peter of Rome.

Watch Episode 14       Listen to Episode 14

The next episode in the series, Episode 15, celebrating St. John Climacus, whose Feast Day is March 30th, will be uploaded next week.   The newest AIC Bookstore publication, The Writing Prophets of the Old Testament is now available in both paperback and Kindle editions.  Use the Virtual Bookstore links at the bottom of our Home Page at http://www.AnglicanInternetChurch.net.

As always, thank you for your intestest and support.

The Writing Prophets of the Old Testament

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WPOT-Cover.inddThe newest AIC Bookstore Publication, The Writing Prophets of the Old Testament, is now available through our Virtual Bookstore at CreateSpace.com and, by special order, from retail bookstores.  A Kindle edition will be available in the coming weeks.

The finished version includes 128 pages in soft cover, 8.5″ x 8.5″ format.  There are 62 full-color illustrations from the 3rd through the 21st Centuries, including manuscripts, icons, mosaics, frescoes, stained glass windows, paintings, photographs, and engravings from the artistic and religious traditions of both the Eastern and Western Churches.

Order your copy now   100% of all book royalties are contributed to the AIC ministry.

In Part I, I discuss the traditional division of the Old Testament into the Books of Moses, or Pentateuch; the Histories; the Poetic Books; and the Prophets.  In Part II are separate chapters on each of the four “major” prophets (depicted on the cover, from the left, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel) and on each of the twelve “minor” prophets.  For each books, I offer a brief history as well as a summary of the major themes, followed by a series of selected major quotations.   The Scripture text uses the New King James Version, except for select quotations from the King James Version which appear in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  All cross references to the Book of Psalms use the prayer book text, which is based on the version used in the Great Bible of 1539 A.D.

As a bonus feature for readers unfamiliar with the Septuagint text of the Old Testament, I have included at the end of the chapter on Daniel the full text of five Deuterocanonical works.  These are Susanna, the Prayer of Azariah, the Song of the Three Children, Bel and the Dragon, plus Daniel and Habakkuk in the Lion’s Den.    The text is based upon either the St. Andrew’s Theological Seminary Septuagint (SAAS) or older, online translations identified in the text.

In the commentary, special text boxes demonstrate the influence of many of these sixteen prophets on the Christian worship tradition, especially as practiced by Anglicans using the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, and also their influence upon the development of Christian theology.   The AIC’s Service Book edition of the prayer book is also available through CreateSpace.com;

The publication of The Writing Prophets of the Old Testament concludes our series of Christian Education Study Publications, Prayers Collections, and Other Publications which have been produced by the AIC since 2014 A.D.  I hope readers will find them useful in broadening their knowledge of and understanding of traditional Christian doctrine and worship.

As always, thank you for your interest and support.  May God bless you in all that you do in His Name.  Glory be to God for all things!  Amen!

 

 

 

Saints2 – Simeon of Jerusalem

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simeon_of_jerusalemSaturday, February 18th, is the Feast Day of St. Simeon of Jerusalem.  Episode Twelve in The Lives of the Saints – Second Series honors his devoted work in leading the church in the 1st Century.  The illustration is a Russian Orthodox icon showing him in bishop’s garb against gold background.   The location and date was not specified by the public domain source.  This is a short episode, owing to the lack of material about St. Simeon.

Watch the Video       Listen to the Podcast

I’ve finished the script and slides for several additional episodes in the series, including St. Thomas Aquinas (Mar 8); St. Gregory the Great (Mar 12), St. John Climacus (Mar 30), and St. Athanasius of Alexandria (May 2) and am trying to wrap up the text and slides for St. Basil of Caesarea (June 14).   I’ve bought additional royalty-free photographs for several of these episodes.  The ones for the St. Athanasius episode are remarkable, with the wonderful blues and whites used by the Byzantine and Greek artists in the 9th C. and later.

On the AIC Bookstore front there is excellent news this week.  My proofreader has finished with The Writing Prophets of the Old Testament.  Those readers who have used page designing software will be familiar with the problem of text continuation into later pages.  Well, in the section on Daniel the continuation went haywire, with several pages out of correct order, making reading a challenge.  Also, there was insufficient clarity on my part about exactly where the non-canonical verses fit into the chronology in the canonical version of Daniel.  All these problems were fixed and the chapter on Daniel returned for further checking.  I am hopeful the second proofing will be completed by early next week, making publication possible before the end of February.

I remain hopeful that the proofing of 2nd Edition of The Prayer Book Psalter:  History, Text & Commentary will be finished this month as well.  The proofreader is a different person than the one who is working on the Prophets book.  There are  many more source citations to be checked, since the book is so much longer.  For the second edition I changed type faces and sizes and added cross references to other AIC Bookstore publications which have been produced since the original book was finished in 2014.  The book also has a new cover using the white lettering on black background which I introduced last year for other books.

In this era when the beliefs of Christianity are under assault by other religions, politicians, social theorists, Marxists, and Nihilists, and many other “ists” I continue to work to produce books for lay people seeking to understand the teachings of traditional Christianity.  I thank you for your support and interest and urge you to continue to share the blog posts with others.  If you’d like to receive my Weekly Update, which goes out on Fridays (usually), please send an email request to me at frron.stjohnanglican@earthlink.net.

Glory be to God for all things!  Amen!