A Pascha greeting to donors arrived today, Orthodox Holy Wednesday, from Isle of Mull via sister monastery in Colorado and included a surprise gift: an icon of Saint Cuthbert by the same hand who has rendered others for Kilninian. This one is in nautical theme in black, white, and red, evoking Farne Islands, Eider (“Cuddy”) ducks, and, seemingly, the vision that occurred in the saint's youth while he was shepherding in Lammermuir Hills the very night Bishop Aidan of Lindisfarne reposed in Bamburgh which led the young Saint Cuthbert toward his monastic calling—though appearing as an old man in this telling.
Wednesday, August 31, 651jul, 23:59, Bamburg, ENG:
Jupiter 22° 18' Leo
Uranus 9° 43' Rx Capricorn
Pallas 6° 32' Rx Pisces
Orthodox Holy Friday, April 6, 2018, 16:19 CEST:
Jupiter 22° 00' Rx Scorpio
Saturn 9° 02' Capricorn
Pallas opposite natal Ascendant exact
Images: common eider eggs (Somateria mollissima), Farne Islands (Tom); grey seal (Halichoerus grypus), Farne Islands (Steenbergs); eider ducks (Richard Rice) geograph.org.uk; via Wikimedia Commons