Comments on: Babylon and the Trees of Pentecost

By: Amy Koegel-Gibbs

Amy Koegel-Gibbs — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 17:28:28 +0000

Thank you for sharing Fr. Stephen, here in Switzerland both the auffarht and the Phingston are celebrated in both the Catholic and the Protestant churches. Even being raised as a preachers kid it took me lots of thinking time to understand what the meaning of these 2 celebrations is…I didn’t learn it in the numerous sermons I was fortunate enough to hear from my earthly father. But since I have learned a bit, the 10 days between the feasts have meant alot to me. God bless you all.

By: The Church is God’s Vision

The Church is God’s Vision — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 08:01:02 +0000

[...] ~ Fr. Stephen Freeman, “Babylon and the Trees of Pentecost“ [...]

By: Lucian

Lucian — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:13:23 +0000

Father Stephen, a man struggling with cancer needs all the help and support he can get: Link 1 , Link 2 ellenschmitz@mac.com If you could maybe write a short post about it, to draw more attention to his case, and thus raise as much funds as possible... Thank you, Father, and God bless.

By: Daniel W

Daniel W — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 02:45:46 +0000

Peter,

Thanks for posting that link. It looks beautiful.

By: MrsMutton

MrsMutton — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 16:43:19 +0000

I really love this distinguishing feature of Russian Orthodoxy — I’ve never seen trees in a Greek church. Other Russian parishes, I’ve noticed, don’t use actual trees, but tree branches, or even just potted plants; but real trees in church just grabs me somehow. Thanks, Father!

By: Sibyl

Sibyl — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 14:17:16 +0000

And… the harvest continues on until Succoth, the feast of booths, and then the frost and snow.

By: davidperi

davidperi — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 07:41:58 +0000

These beautiful birch trees can be tapped for good, clear, sweet tasting water. Drill a hole in the tree, place a small drain pipe so the water can go into a pail., bottle it and put in the frig. My wife´s sister does it in the spring and many Finns in eastern Finland do it. It tastes good.

By: Peter T.

Peter T. — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 02:29:11 +0000

There's a photo here.

By: Daniel W

Daniel W — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 00:06:52 +0000

What kinds of trees were they? How were they set up? Were they potted or put into stands? I’m really fascinated by this. Do you have any photos?

By: Peter T.

Peter T. — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 19:49:13 +0000

And here I was expecting you to make a connection with the willows where we hung our harps before Lent