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Tuesday 31 March 2015

Links...... to St Luke....from .

Christian tradition starting from the 8th Century states that Saint Luke was the first icon painter. He was a disciple of St Paul and accompanied him on his travels. Saint Luke  lived  in a cave for a while during a period of asceticism. Originally he was a physician and was widely educated, particularly in research work and Greek studies.

It  was believed that Saint Luke  met Mary  the mother of Jesus, and it is widely questioned whether  or not,  Mary helped  Luke  compile 'The Gospel of Saint Luke ?   Described as the  most beautiful book in the world.

He was considered to be the first Christian Historian and  the only Gentile writer of The New Testament.

 It was Luke who chronicled the Christian rendition of Christmas .  

St Luke was the only evangelist to provide certain information about the conception, infancy and childhood of Jesus. These events were described in the Bible by St Luke alone, including The Annunciation, (the announcement by The Archangel Gabriel that Mary had been chosen to be the mother of Christ).  This links to the letter  Z where I wrote about Zachariah  when The Angel Gabriel appearing before him to tell him his barren wife Elizabeth would bear a child who would be called John (John the Baptist). Elizabeth was the cousin of  The Virgin Mary. St Luke wrote about this in his gospel.

The words of  St Luke are the basis for the 'Hail Mary' and the Angelus, ( Latin) for Angel.

Saint Luke also chronicled the only gospel account of the Visitation, which contains, what is considered to be one of the world's most beautiful prayers,

 'The Magnificat'.



Going back to the meeting of Mary and Saint Luke I have a feeling that, perhaps they met outside of  Ephesus at her secluded house (LINK)....We visited Mary's house on our way to Ephesus. We know he travelled there with St Paul but I cannot as yet  find a (Link) to confirm this.  Also John the Baptist met with Mary around this time but  again that's another story!

It all (LINKS)  up with my introduction on ABCW next week.

 I wrote of Ephesus recently on ABCW, ( letter E ) I remember seeing the grave of Saint Luke when we visited there .... (Link)...

 


 


 


If it is true that Saint Luke did indeed meet Mary when he was travelling with Saint Paul,  this would be almost more than likely at her secluded house near Ephesus (Link) and I truly believe he did, because only she could provide him with the vital information regarding the Visitation and  the conception of Jesus also details of his childhood 

This LINKS up  to St Paul's visit to Ephesus where he met Mary, she lived in seclusion,  at about 5 kilometres  from the city. 

 

 Icon  of 'The Virgin Mary' created by Saint Luke.



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My sincere thanks to the  LOVELY  Denise for devising ABCW and to Roger for his  LABORIOUS efforts in keeping us going.

Also not forgetting the  LEAGUE of helpers in the ABCW team.

Best wishes to all from Di. ( AKA Trubes).



 

Monday 23 March 2015

ABC Wednesday: K stands for The Kykkos Monastery Cyprus.

ABC Wednesday: K stands for The Kykkos Monastery Cyprus.: Paphos Beach. During one of our many holidays on the sunny Island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean we visited The Kykkos Monastery up...

Tuesday 17 March 2015

J stands for Jungle.

When I was a child one of my favourite bedtime reads was The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. It was a collection of stories about a little boy called Mowgli, who was abandoned in the Indian Jungle,  only to be raised as a feral child, in  by a mother wolf who had just had cubs.

Mowgli has a black panther friend called Bagheera,  who looks after him.

Bagheera and the wolf tribe learn that Shere Khan, a man eating Bengal Tiger, has returned to the Jungle. It was decided that Mowgli should be taken back to the 'Man Village', for his own safety.


I've used illustrations from the wonderful animated version of Jungle Book by the Disney studios. The original sketches from the first publications of the book are very poor and who can forget the enchanting movie.

an assortment of characters.


Shere Khan loitering in the Jungle.



 

Many thanks to the ever JOYFUL Denise for devising ABCW and JUST Roger for  all his hard work in the administration of  this site........ Di.


 

Tuesday 10 March 2015

I stands for Islands

We live in England, part of The British Isles

As  nature decrees, there are several smaller islands in the surrounding waters.  Over the years we have had  some lovely holidays on several of them.  Amongst our favourites is The Isle of Anglesey,  It is situated off  the coast of North Wales and is less than a two hour drive from our home.

Access to the island is by way of two bridges, The Menai  Suspension Bridge, built and designed by Thomas Telford and opened in 1826,
The  Menai Suspension Bridge


The Britannia Bridge.
The Britannia Bridge was built by Robert Stevenson. It was originally a tubular steel bridge of wrought iron, It was used for carrying rail traffic, but following a fire in1970, it was rebuilt as a two tier, steel truss arch bridge, carrying both rail and road traffic.
 

The stretch of water between the mainland and the Island is known as The Menai Straits, It is a most treacherous waterway, because of differing tides at the two ends, and many have lost their lives trying to traverse it.

Each time we visit the Island we stay at a different place, there is an abundance of eateries serving seafood straight from the sea. The beaches are delightful and safe to bathe from.

 One of the Gastro Pubs on Red Wharf Bay, where Prince William and  Catherine The  Duchess of Cambridge often dined, when William was based on the Island, serving in the Royal Air Force.


The interior of the pub, we usually sat at the table in the left hand corner, which, we were reliably informed, was also a favourite table for Prince William and Catherine, I was most excited about this but unfortunately we didn't have the pleasure of meeting them !


Classic British favourite Fish and chips and mushy peas.

This is the exterior of The Ship Inn, it really is in a lovely setting so, wherever we are staying we always manage to  visit for lunch.



Beaumaris

The main town in  the Isle of Anglesey is Beaumaris,  it has a splendid castle regarded as a great unfinished masterpiece. It was built as one of the iron ring of North Wales castles, by the English monarch, Edward  the 1st  to stamp his authority on the Welsh. But it was never finished, money and supplies ran out before the fortifications reached their full height.

Such a lovely setting, the mountains of Snowdonia are across the water on the mainland. Wherever you are on The Isle of Anglesey,  you're never far away from the sea or beautiful scenery inland.

I could write forever and a day about my favourite Island, and feel so blessed to have a special place to visit, almost on our doorstep.

My thanks to the iconic Denise for devising ABCW and also to the impressive Roger for his intellectual  insight in the administration of  ABCW.
Best wishes to all, Di..xx


Random Z's