Category Archives: Trips Local to Boston

Orthodox Christian Worship in Five Senses

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Wanted to tell you about a talk and worship service demonstration I am giving at the end of this month. Would be delighted if some of you local to Boston could make it. See information below and on the attached flier.

“Orthodox Christian Worship in Five Senses”

Come take a tour of the sensory-rich Eastern Orthodox worship service that enlightens the mind through the heart. Engage with a 2000 year-old Christian tradition that has been called America’s best kept secret.

Aaron W. Friar
Associate, Institute for Christian Unity M.Div.,
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology

Friday, March 27, 7:00pm
Refreshments: 6:30pm, WEE Forum: 7:00pm
Fellowship Church, 47 Milton Street, Dedham, MA 02026

flier

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There She Blows

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humpback_stellwagen_editHave you ever been so close to a whale that it can splash you in the face? Our family traveled to Gloucester on Columbus Day for a whale watch.

We drove to the harbor and boarded a ship named Miss Cape Ann. The ship zoomed into deep ocean and started looking for whales. The people were amazed when one of the passengers shouted, “THERE SHE BLOWS.” Off in the distance, two whales were spouting. Continue reading →

Pickin’ and Hummin’ in the Harvest

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IMG_2259Our family had the great fortune already this fall of attending two celebrations of the harvest with many more to come. The first was a long-standing tradition we have had of going with St. Herman Christian School to our favorite fruit farm in Northborough, MA. The second was a new tradition that we intend to repeat with my parents who now live in the area: the yearly harvest of the largest producer of cranberries in the world, right here in New England! Continue reading →

Lenten Music Concert in Boston

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3rdannualhymnfestival-posterFor those who might not have been close to the concert we did in New York/New Jersey, the Boston Byzantine Choir is doing the same program right here in the Boston area, and for the first time, in a non-Orthodox Church! Please join us at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Dedham on Saturday, April 5 at 4pm in the afternoon for a time of spiritual enlightenment and refreshment.

If Narnia Had a Beach

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IMG_1710If the legendary Narnia had a beach, its name would be Wingaersheek. Located just under an hour away from Boston on Cape Anne, this wonderland rivals the great Cape Cod in elegance and tidal pool exuberance. Its only deficiency is that there is not much beach at high tide and the parking is slim on the weekends. Thankfully, we avoided both those pitfalls by coming in the middle of the week when the the tide was low, and we were richly rewarded with miles of walkable beech, several warm water tide pools where creatures abounded, and a lovely patch of shade courtesy of the large boulders which shoulder the western edge. Enjoy this small photo montage of the rest of the sights: Continue reading →

Drinking it Raw

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Got a voucher from LivingSocial to go on a hay ride and receive complimentary cones of ice cream from a dairy farm in Framingham, MA. We already have a favorite apple and fruit picking farm in Northboro and a maple sugaring site that we blogged about for the early spring. Finding this wonderful dairy farm today in a place not too far from the city completes the tri-fecta of edible goodness. Continue reading →

Act Now While Divine Services Last!

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For those of you in my faithful readership who have yet to experience an Orthodox Christian Holy Week, now is your chance. At an Orthodox parish near you, begins a week of services unlike any you have experienced anywhere else on the planet. If you are local to Boston, you are cordially invited to attend all of the services our parish offers. If you can only do one, come to either Saturday morning Liturgy or late Saturday night, early Sunday morning for the Feast of Feasts, GREAT AND HOLY PASCHA.

Worse case scenario, if you are unable to appear hypostatically (in person), you can at least listen to a youtube channel created that has much of the key music or the ever-mellifluous Ancient Faith Radio. WARNING: Once you have gone to one service, you won’t be able to stop, so clear your schedule for God because He deserves your praise more than baseball games, concerts, or that addicting TV series. Let the divine drama begin!

Urgent Prayers Needed for Boston

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I first heard of the tragedy that struck our fair city in the form of an email call for urgent prayer. And being the prayer warrior that I am… [ahem] well, no, you guessed it. Instead of instantly falling on my knees to almighty God and begging the protection and supplication of his saints and angels, I instead worried and hunted on the internet for information when information was least readily available.

I had been just four blocks away from the blast site with my three young children only several hours before the incident. We enjoyed a lovely morning of carousel and swan boat riding and were contemplating a trip into the spectator crowds around the marathon when a wiser notion [nudge from a guardian angel?] steered us underground on the metro and back towards home. Continue reading →