Kevin Basil

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Joyous Christmas to all. Today is the Conclusion of the Birth of Christ, in the Byzantine Rite, the seventh of the Twelve Days of Christmastide. It is also the commemoration of Saint Melanie the Younger. The twelve days continue tomorrow with the Circumcision of the Lord and Saint Basil the Great, my patron. The following day, January 2, begins the Prefeast of Theophany, which completes the Twelve Days, with the remembrance of Saint Seraphim of Sarov.

This is the season of feasting. Like Bright Week after the Pasch, fasting is dispensed — some sources say “prohibited” or “forbidden” — during this period, up until the Twelfth Day, which is the Eve of Theophany, a strict fast. This is the time when families gather for celebrations and friends gather to party. Fasting is forbidden, and the days are full of important remembrances. So far from being over, as if Christmas begins and ends with the twenty-fifth, the celebration continues.

So, a joyous feast to everyone. Party on down.

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We successfully passed sea trials, with very few deficiencies. Every gave us BZs for a job well done.

Being fully qualified and authorized to wear the dolphins is still elusive. The submarine force instruction directs that a sailor shall qualify in “less than six months, three months of which shall be on an operational submarine (i.e. not in the shipyard).” The scuttlebutt is that all the requests (of which there are many) for waivers were denied. Interestingly, the ship enters a modernization period in the spring, so there won’t be enough operational time to fulfill the requirement. Even with already a month on an operational sub (from riding USS Providence back in May), I would not see three months until summer ’07 sometime. Other non-qualified sailors would be waiting even longer.

Reminds me of the old proverb about what awaits those who ask for God to grant them patience: He rewards them with many circumstances that teach them to be patient.

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Sometime betweeen now and late this week, USS Jacksonville will cast off lines and get underway for the first time in over two and a half years. This would be a bad luck boat, if there ever was one. They say that if you treat your ship right, she’ll treat you right. It’s hard to take any pride in a boat that’s collided with other ships three times. Good thing I don’t believe in luck.

Of your mercy, please remember the unworthy servant of God, Basil, in your prayers when a petition is invoked for those who travel “by land or by sea.” As mentioned earlier, Saint Nicholas is the patron of mariners. Saint Pantaleon is the patron of military men and women.

(Rumor has it that all of us who have passed our boards will be pinned sometime in the next few days, perhaps before or just after getting underway. My chief had me get dolphin patches for my uniform just in case.)

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Saint Nicholas: Discovering the Truth About Santa Claus

Happy Saint Nicholas Day. This site has all kind of resources to show you who St Nicholas was. I love the Western image that’s most prominent on the front page: Bishop Nicholas’ crozier has a ship in its crook. Beautiful.

Saint Nicholas, pray for us, the crew of this thrice ill-fated submarine, that we may be protected from every adversary as we travel below the surface of the sea in the depths that only the Lord and his saints perceive. By the prayers of the Mother of God and the power of the Lord who appeared to you in a vision, manifest your friendship to us as you did of old by appearing to the terrified sailors and saving them from destruction, that like them we may glorify the almighty God who has worked such wonders through you. Intercede for us before the holy and life-giving Trinity, whose name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we ever praise and glorify, that we may have health and life in this age and in the age to come, amen.

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