Charlotte’s Blog
Living in Christ by Mother Raphaela
I’ve never been a book club person. When my kids were young, I didn’t have the time or energy for a book club. There were years that I barely had time to read at all. Those were hard years. My kids are all grown now, and even though a couple of them still live at...
If you don’t know what to do, be kind
I said this on my Facebook page a few years ago, and it seems worth saying again: If you can't think of anything else to do right now, be kind. Find one or two or five organizations that feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, minister to...
Halloween hospitality
This morning's Gospel was the story of a poor man named Lazarus and a rich man whose name we don't know. Or, rather, we know his name all too well. It's my name. It's yours. We, all of us, are the rich man. And it's such an interesting story to fall today, on...
A History of Words: Pascha and Easter
Why do Orthodox Christians call Easter Pascha? For all Christians, Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant, the heart of our faith is the Resurrection of Christ. At first, the celebration of the Resurrection was called Pesach, the Hebrew word for Passover, because the...
The best picture books with disabled characters
How many of the picture books at your house include characters with disabilities? The book collection at my godson's house is probably typical. Four big piles of books with no disabled characters, and two very small stacks that have major or minor characters with...
Icons in Catherine’s Pascha
Some thoughts from R.J. Hughes The Orthodox faith is a faith of art in many forms. While my work was limited to the visual arts, I wanted to, and hoped I did, create a rich, colored world that reflects the beauty of a Pascha service. A huge thank you to Father John...
Orthodox churches in Catherine’s Pascha
When my illustrator, R.J. (Becky) Hughes, had the idea of framing the pages in Catherine’s Pascha with images of Orthodox churches from around the world, she wanted to have at least one church from every continent: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South...
Children’s basket cover project
Do you fill a basket with candy and small gifts for your children on Pascha morning? If you’ve made an embroidered cover for the Pascha basket that you take to church, your children might like to try their hand at basket covers for their baskets at home. The basket...
How to make Pascha ornaments
Project created by R.J. Hughes “Oh! Could you make a blown-egg ornament like those eggs Catherine’s holding on the cover?” A single, off-hand comment from my mother-in-law. She had arranged an author’s presentation for me at her P.E.O. Chapter. At each meeting they...
Glass icon project
Project and pattern by Randi Maria Sider-Rose, Iconographer Peasants in 19th century Transylvania discovered that, although hand-painted icons from Greece were out of their price range, they were able to produce their own icons on glass. Following in this tradition,...
Itzhak: A boy who loved the violin
When my children were small, I told them that there are true stories about real people, and made up stories about made up people, and made up stories about real people. Written by Tracy Newman and illustrated by Abigail Halpin, Itzhak: A boy who loved the violin is a...
Top 10 most-read posts from 2020
My top 10 most-read posts of 2020 contained some surprises. Some new posts made the top 10, along with some of the first blog posts I wrote. Number 10: Pascha baskets and Pascha basket covers This post was #6 in 2019. It includes history and traditions related to...
THE MAGIC OF BOOKS
Share the joy of the Pascha through the magic of a book: Catherine's Pascha.
