In all your works, either at home or at the place of your service, do not forget that all your strength, your light, and your success are in Christ and His Cross; therefore, do not fail to call upon the Lord before beginning any work, saying, “Jesus, help me!  Jesus, enlighten me!”  Thus your heart will be supported and warmed by lively faith and hope in Christ, for His is the power and the glory unto ages of ages.    St. John of Kronstadt

I wish to thank everyone for your cards, emails, words of sympathy and love after the sudden death of my mother.  

As I take time to reflect on the life and lessons learned from my mother, I am reminiscent of her courage, determination and faithfulness.  Her own mother died when she was just five years old.  She suffered through years of poverty and the German occupation of World War II surviving in a tiny Greek mountain village.

Like many immigrants, she showed great courage moving to a new country, with no knowledge of culture or language, determined to raise a family and living a simple life of hard work and sacrifice.   She married a man twenty years her senior, raised three children and never stopped working or praying. 

Humbly, for over 22 years, she made deli sandwiches at San Jose State University, rarely missing a day of work.  The only thread of familiarity to her past was found at our Greek Orthodox Church, where, surrounded by icons and incense, my mother would quietly pray, “Jesus, help me!”   A lesson I learned from my mother was that in times of need, we can petition God “Jesus, help me!”

My mother was a conservationist at heart – always reusing the rinse water to start a new load of laundry, recycling plastic baggies and cottage cheese containers.  She grew fruits and vegetables in our garden, continually reminding us of the sanctity of God’s creation and our role in preserving and giving thanks for the abundant blessings produced by the earth. 

Her hands were worn from years of working the farmland and laboring in and outside the home.   Again, many lessons learned.  Give thanks to God for all things.  Work hard. Cherish the little things.  Don’t be wasteful.

From a very young child, I remember waiting for the # 7 bus to take us from Jullian Street to downtown San Jose, then off to bus  #26 to go to St. Nicholas church –  every Sunday. The act of going to church was a sacred priority.  This is yet another lesson I learned from my mother.  Keep Sunday sacred.  Go to church.  Never complain about how early the service starts, how long it is or how hard it may be to get there.  Thanking God matters.

My mother’s ‘candili’ (the oil lit candle), was always aflame near the kitchen stove.  It was in the kitchen where she would make prosforon, kourambiethes and koulourakia.  It was during these times of baking I witnessed the importance of offering what little we have back to God and to others.   A photograph of her hand making prosforon is on the wall of our kitchen at Holy Apostles.  Let it be a reminder to each of us how important it to offer our gifts back to God in faithfulness.

My mother Maria, throughout her eighty-seven years, lived a life of prayer and remembering God.    She read the bible regularly, yet she was no biblical scholar.  She would sing the hymns of the Church quietly throughout the day; yet she was not a skilled chanter.  She fasted and prayed; yet she was not a theologian.   Instead, she was a tiny, simple, faithful and mighty woman, who taught me countless lessons: Say your prayers.  Go to church.  Work hard.  Don’t be wasteful. Offer something of yourself back to God, as unworthy as you may feel.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart. 

 May her memory be eternal.                     +  Fr. Tom