St. Simeon Skete, Taylorsville Kentucky USA

With St. Simeon, the God receiver, as our patron, the skete seeks to practice the ideals found in our Rule, The Thousand Day Nazareth. In simplicity and poverty, the skete embraces the struggle of inner life through the practice of the Prayer Rope.

See our website at www.nazarethhouseap.org

Donations should be addressed to: Nazareth House Apostolate, 185 Captains Cove Drive, Taylorsville, Kentucky 40071.

Important Notice: All writings, posts, graphics & photographs in this blog are the copyrighted property of (unless otherwise indicated) Nazareth House Media, a division of Nazareth House Apostolate and cannot be copied, printed or used without written permission from NHA Media, Taylorsville, KY.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Sham el-Nessim, Emmaus Day

Today, at Nazareth House we celebrate a tradition in commemoration of Luke 24:13-35, Emmaus Day or in Coptic Tradition : "Sham el-Nessim". The tradition is to pack a picnic and travel as the men did while Jesus walked with them on the road to Emmaus. Other religiouns celebrate Sham el-Nessim as a welcoming of Spring.

Sham el-Nessim literally means "sniffing the air" or "breathing the air" occurring annually on Monday, the day after the Easter Sunday.

Sham el-Nessim is celebrated by Christians and is considered both a national and religious festival in Egypt and other parts of the world. The main features of the festival are:

People spend the day out picnicking in any space of green, public gardens, parks, at the zoo, etc. In Sierra Leone, James and the family takes a picnic to the ocean.

Traditional food eaten on this day consits mainly of salted fish (canned tuna works well), lettuce, scallion or green onions, tirmis or Lupini Beans and boiled colored eggs.

Even if you have to go to work on Monday, take some time to walk away from your desk, get outside, sniff the breeze and celebrate your personal walk with Christ.