passage

Today we had the funeral for the falling asleep in the Lord of our dear sister Nadia. Her passing was a thing expected, yet one is never 'ready'. She had been so ill for so many years. I marvel as I write this....She had become so luminous through wrestling with cancer that light seemed to pour out of her. In fact, those who did not know her before her illness often did not know her to be ill. Her whole person was transfigured by Grace. I am reminded of an icon of St. Nicholas I once saw....His face is quite dark and there are grooves in it from tears....yet the whole is suffused with an inner glory. The truth is clear in this image as it was clear in Nadia's life....
I will try to find an image of the icon to add to this note.