Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
There are two Saturdays of Souls during Great Lent. The first will be this coming Saturday, March 15, and the second will be on Saturday, March 22. We should all be able to make at least one of those services to remember our departed loved ones and friends. Please look for the memorial prayer binder on the narthex table, and list your departed loved ones (first names) so that they can be prayed for during the service you will attend.
Also, after the services this coming Saturday morning, March 15, the Burial Society will be offering light refreshments, and they will answer your questions and help you to get your end of life paperwork going.
Emily C. will also be going through the steps on how to make Kolliva. Kolliva is a boiled wheat dish traditionally served to honor a loved one who has passed away. If you'd like to learn the special meaning of each ingredient and the history of this beautiful dish then please join her in the kitchen following the service.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
During Great Lent, the full fast calls on us to go without meat, dairy products, fish with backbones, oil, wine, and hard liquor. There is a blessing for fish, wine, and oil on certain feast days (the Annunciation, for example). Women who are pregnant or nursing, children who are still growing, and folks who have specific medial requirements are not expected or encouraged to keep the full fast, but all of us can fast in some way. Please check with your sponsor or spiritual father if you need to adjust the fast.
Daily Services
Monday, March 10-Friday, March 14 Orthros 5am; Vespers 5pm (there will not be daily vespers on Wednesday because of the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy; it’s always a good idea to check the day before and make sure nothing has come up to change the regular schedule).
However, Fr. Andrew, Seth Hart, and many other folks continue to broadcast daily readings from spiritual books online. They are now reading “The Orthodox Faith” by St John of Damascus. The schedule is as follows: M-F at 12pm.
In addition to the daily Synaxarion readings posted in the #synaxarion channel on Discord, the online team is now posting daily Bible Readings that will allow you to read through the Bible in a year. These readings are posted in the #bible-365 channel.
Monday, March 10
Great Compline 7pm
Tuesday, March 11
Inquirer’s 101 7pm; you can also access the group on Discord
Wednesday, March 12
The Pre-Sanctified Liturgy 7pm
Thursday, March 13
The Bible Study, New Testament Edition 7pm; you can access this group on Discord
Friday, March 14
The Akathist Hymn 7pm
Saturday, March 15
Saturday of Souls
Orthros 6am
Divine Liturgy 8am
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, March 16
The Second Sunday of Great Lent
Orthros 7:30am
Church School 8:15am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Youth Church School 1pm
Monday, March 17
Great Compline 7pm
Tuesday March 18
Inquirer’s 101 7pm; you can also access the group on Discord
Wednesday, March 19
The Pre-Sanctified Liturgy 7pm
Thursday, March 20
The Bible Study, Old Testament Edition 7pm; you can access this group on Discord
Friday, March 21
The Akathist Hymn 7pm
Saturday, March 22
Saturday of Souls
Orthros 6am
Divine Liturgy 8am
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, March 23
The Sunday of the Cross
Orthros 8am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Anniversary / Memorial Blessings
You can use the links in the email version of the newsletter to sign up for anniversary blessings and memorial services that will be offered in 2025. Please note that things have changed for 2025 to accommodate our growing parish (i.e. some were not able to get on the schedule for anniversary blessings in 2024 because all of the slots were taken).
Memorial Services, will now occur at the end of Great Vespers on Saturday, and they may only be offered for Orthodox Christians who have departed this life. If your departed loved one was not an Orthodox Christian, visit this page on our website to learn about and request an Akathist for the Departed rather than signing up for a memorial service.
Anniversary Blessings may be requested for the first wedding anniversary and every fifth anniversary thereafter (i.e. 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, etc.). They may only be offered if one of the married couple is an Orthodox Christian. Approach the solea immediately after the hymn “Blessed be the Name of the Lord” at the end of the Divine Liturgy. If you have marriage crowns, bring them with you as you come forward. Those celebrating anniversaries that are not eligible to sign up, are invited to come forward during the “Birthdays, Anniversaries, and Namedays” segment of the announcements after the Divine Liturgy.
Our Memorial Service
One of the longtime and cherished parishioners that we will remember on this upcoming Saturday of Souls is LaVerne H. Full of enthusiasm, a love for life and the Most Holy Trinity, she set an example for us all. Please take a few minutes to read about the life of this gracious lady in the link that accompanies the email version of this newsletter. May her memory be eternal.
Coming Up
Great Lent is a good time to do some spiritual reading. This year, during the Pascha Book Study, we will be using a short book called The Passions of the Soul. That book is already available at Christ the Lightgiver, so why not pick up a copy, read through it slowly during Great Lent, and you’ll be ready to go when the book study begins on the Wednesday of Bright Week. Benedict H. will be leading the Pascha Book Study, and here’s what he has to say about the book and the event: “For the Pascha Book Study, we’ll be studying Rowan Williams’ Passions of the Soul. Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, is one of the premier Western scholars of the Eastern spiritual tradition. With Williams’ help, we’ll investigate what the fathers can teach us about the passions and how we can overcome them.”
The Church calls on us to make our confession during Great Lent. At St John’s, we hear confessions on Saturday evening following Great Vespers. There is a list in the narthex, you put your name on the list, and you make your confession with whichever priest calls your name. If Saturday night does not work for you, or if you wish to make your confession with a specific priest, then you can make an appointment during the week with that clergyman. However, we do not hear confessions during Holy Week, so we all need to go ahead and participate in that Holy Mystery before Lazarus Saturday, which, this year, falls on April 12.
Finally, the Church expects us to increase our giving during Great Lent. Of course, we should first check and make sure that we are up to date with our current commitment to the parish budget, but, if we are, then we should consider giving a little more to help out all those who aren’t able to contribute as much as they had anticipated, or we should think about making a special gift to the Building Fund during this season of spiritual striving.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
The area between the main doors to the nave and the table that is just inside those doors needs to remain clear as much as possible. Folks are constantly coming in and going out, and if people stand in front of the door or by the table during the liturgy, that makes it difficult to enter and exit. The ushers will be reminding us to keep this area open, so please follow their directions.
an unworthy priest
aidan