Apples and St Euphrosynos

We recently wrapped up our apple unit with @treehouse_schoolhouse for our homeschool curriculum and added an Orthodox twist by revisiting one of our favorite saints - St Euphrosynos the cook! The girls made this apple crisp on their own and we got to enjoy it with the yummiest vanilla ice cream.

🍎 Story of Apples from Paradise - Euphrosynos was a humble monk who fulfilled his monastic duty as the monastery cook. He spent his days continually praying and fasting. His brothers at the monastery often corrected him, but he never complained. He endured every correction and unpleasant treatment. St. Euphrosynos pleased the Lord by his inner virtue that he concealed from people. One time, a priest of the monastery prayed asking the Lord to show him the blessings prepared for the righteous in the age to come. In a dream it seemed to the priest that he was standing in a garden. In it he also saw Euphrosynos, the cook of his monastery. Amazed at this encounter, the Priest asked Euphrosynos how he came to be there. The saint replied that he was in Paradise through the great mercy of God. The priest then asked if Euphrosynos would be able to give him something from the surrounding beauty. In reply, St. Euphrosynos suggested the priest take whatever he wished, and so the priest pointed to three luscious apples growing in the garden of Paradise. Euphrosynos picked the three apples, wrapped them in a kerchief and gave them to his companion.

When the priest awoke in the early morning, he initially thought the vision was a dream, but suddenly he noticed next to him the cloth with the fruit of Paradise wrapped in it, emitting a wondrous fragrance. Later, the priest found St. Euphrosynos in church and asked him under oath where he was the night before. He replied that he was where the priest also. Fearing vain glory, he soon fled the monastery and was never seen again. The monks always remembered that their monastic brother St. Euphrosynos had come upon Paradise, and that they, in being saved through the mercy of God, would meet him there. The pieces of the apples from Paradise, the brethren reverently kept and distributed. St Euphrosynos was commemorated Sep 11th

🍎🍎🍎 St Euphrosynos pray to God for us!

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If you’d like to learn more about St Euphrosynos, check out my September Guide blogpost.