“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us” (Ps 90:17): 1. The Covering

Some stories are best written down. If not, in time they are forgotten or distorted, and even the people whose stories they are can no longer agree on what happened or whether it happened at all. How many of these stories have already been forgotten and will never add to the beauty of our human experience in this world? To remember is not simply to archive or to catalogue, but to make real and meaningful. Some things in life are too beautiful to forget, or archive, or to catalogue. Thus, I shall now attempt to keep them diligently, “lest [I] forget the things which [mine] eyes have seen, and lest they depart from [mine] heart…” (Deut. 4:9)

Growing up in Russia, I heard–perhaps overheard–or read somewhere that the first snow covers the earth on the Feast of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. In Russian, we do not say “protection” but, rather, “covering” (покров). As the story goes, in a vision, the Mother of our Lord covered the people who needed Her protection with her omophorion. So, it makes sense that the earth receives its white covering on the Feast of the Covering.

I never paid much attention to this assertion–partly, because I had other interests growing up; and partly, perhaps, because it seemed incredible that snow would fall on the exact same day every year (for the Feast of the Covering is always on October 14). Rationally, it must be stated that the date on which the snow falls depends on where one happens to be (Russia is approximately twice the size of the United States and spans many different climate zones) as well as on a myriad of other complex factors that drive weather. And, of course, I am a rational person.

Last year, I was asked to serve once a month at a church consecrated for the Mother of God. October 14, 2018 happened to fall on a Sunday, and so it made sense to schedule the October service for that day. As we began the Divine Liturgy, it started to snow–for the first time that year! The church has a window in the center of the eastern wall, where the apse should be, directly behind the Holy Table. Thus, standing at the Holy Table, as I do during the Liturgy, I had a perfect view of the glory of the earth receiving her pure-white covering as we continued to again and again pray to the Lord. This was stunningly-beautiful and absolutely unforgettable. I suddenly realized that I remembered–from sometime and somewhere in my childhood, decades ago–that this was what happened on the Feast of the Covering.

This year, due to the work schedule at my secular job (if the job of a chaplain can be called secular), we could not serve on the Feast of the Covering. Instead, we scheduled the Liturgy for October 12. As I said the first prayers upon arriving to the church, it began to snow for the first time this year.

Do I think that the local weather is driven by the schedule of services at a small log church in central Wisconsin? I think I am finally discovering that I simply do not owe the answer to this question to myself or anyone else. I can just stand in awe at the beauty of the Lord my God, and let His beauty shine upon us!

See also:

“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us” (Ps 90:17): 2. The Ride

“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us” (Ps 90:17): 3. Saint John

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