Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
April 9th - April 24th
The Great Fast began on March 2nd and is our only focus as a community until our celebration of our Lord's Glorious Resurrection (Pascha) on April 19th!
Divine Services and Activities
- Saturday, April 11th, we begin the festal weekend of Lazarus Saturday and the Triumphal Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem (commonly called, Palm Sunday) which provides a brief "break" before we enter into the final week of the Great Fast, known as The Great and Holy Week.
- On Lazarus Saturday, we celebrate the Raising of Lazarus, the friend of Jesus. We will host our brothers and sisters from Assumption and St. Nicholas Orthodox Churches beginning at 9:30am with the service of Preparing the Gifts of Bread and Wine. During this service, everyone present will be able to remember their living and departed family and friends. Divine Liturgy follows. After Divine Liturgy, our Ladies Auxiliary will be hosting a Lenten Potluck.
- Clean and Decorate for Palm Sunday - Our Altar Society, and anyone that would like to help, will be preparing our church for this celebration.
- In the afternoon at 5pm, we celebrate Great Vespers and Confessions as normal.
- On Sunday, April 12th, we celebrate our Lord's Entrance into Jerusalem. Matins with the Blessing of Palms begins at 8:50am and Divine Liturgy with the Procession of Palms at 10am.
- During Coffee Fellowship, our Church School will be having their Annual Palm Sunday Bake Sale. If you are making anything for the bake sale, please bring them to the hall on Lazarus Saturday, April 11th between 12 noon and 5pm.
- On Sunday evening, we begin the Great and Holy Week with Bridegroom Matins beginning at 7pm. This will be a combined Pan-Orthodox service with our brothers and sisters from Assumption and St. Nicholas.
- On Holy Monday, we celebrate the Presanctified Liturgy beginning at 9am. In the evening at 7pm, we celebrate the 2nd Bridegroom Matins.
- On Holy Tuesday, we again celebrate the Presanctified Liturgy beginning at 9am. In the evening at 7pm, we celebrate the 3rd and last Bridegroom Matins.
- On Holy Wednesday, we celebrate the last Presanctified Liturgy of the Great Fast beginning at 9am. In the evening from 5:30pm until 6:30pm, the Sacrament of Repentance (Confession) will be available for the last time before Pascha. In the evening at 7pm, we celebrate the Holy Sacrament of Unction (Anointing for the Healing of Body and Soul).
- On Holy Thursday, we celebrate The Last Supper with the Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil the Great beginning at 9am. A Lenten Potluck follows. In the evening at 7pm, we celebrate Matins with the 12 Passion (Suffering) Gospels. After the 5th Gospel Reading, we have the carrying of the Cross from the Holy Altar, placing the Crucifix of Christ on it, and then the veneration of our Crucified Lord. If it is necessary, those with little children may leave after the veneration.
- On Holy Friday, we have three (3) Divine Services. At 9am we celebrate the Royal Hours of Pascha. Following this service, the Tomb of our Lord will be decorated. At 3pm, we celebrate Great Vespers with the Taking Down of Jesus from the Cross and Placing Him in the Tomb. The Teen SOYO Holy Friday Vigil begins at the end of this service. A sign-up poster with 1/2 hour time slots will be in the Lounge. Readers can read in Arabic or English. At 7pm, we celebrate the Resurrectional Matins of Christ's Funeral with the Procession of the Tomb. The vigil continues following this service.
- On Holy Saturday morning, April 18th, we celebrate our Lord's Descent into Hades with the Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil the Great at 10am. This is a beautiful service where the purple Altar Cloths and Vestments we have used since the beginning of the Great Fast on March 2nd are replaced with white in the middle of the service. For those who will not be able to attend the Pascha Services this night, then please attend to hear the First Announcement of our Lord's Resurrection!
- On Holy Saturday evening, April 18th, we begin our celebration of our Lord's Pascha at 11:30pm. We have three (3) Divine Services: Nocturnes, Paschal Matins, and the Paschal Divine Liturgy. This is the Feast of all Feasts in the Orthodox Church. Be with us as we sing, Christ is Risen for the first time. If you have attended before, you will never miss it! If you have never attended, you don't know what you are missing! Take a nap and come and celebration the Glorious Resurrection of our Lord! Our Ladies Auxiliary prepares our parish's Paschal Breakfast -- if you would like to donate toward the meal, please contact Hiam Bathish (e@bathish.com).
- We continue to celebrate Pascha for 40 days. On Sunday, April 19th at 4pm, we celebrate the Vespers of Love/Pascha (Agape in Greek, Bayouth in Arabic). The gospel reading for this service is read in as many languages as we can find people to read them -- please speak with me if you are interested, I have over 40 languages! Following Vespers, our Church School hosts our Pascha Egg Hunt -- children are encouraged to bring a basket to collect their goodies.
- The week following Pascha is called Bright Week. We will be celebrating 3 Paschal Divine Liturgies: Bright Monday morning at St. Nicholas beginning at 10am; Bright Wednesday evening at St. George for the Feast Day of our patron beginning at 6pm; and Bright Friday morning at Assumption beginning at 10am.
Fasting Discipline
- During our Festal Weekend and the Great and Holy Week, the traditional fasting discipline on weekdays (Mondays-Fridays) is to abstain from eating and drinking meat, poultry, cheese, milk, eggs, fish, wine, olive oil, and their by-products. On Lazarus Saturday, we follow the same discipline except we may have wine and olive oil. On the Great Feast of the Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday), we may have fish, wine, and olive oil. On Holy Thursday, we may have wine and oil. On Holy Saturday, if we eat anything at all, we observe the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, milk or other dairy products, fish, and olive oil) and we may have wine. Beginning after the midnight Pascha Services in the wee hours of Sunday morning, April 19th, there is no fasting until April 29th.
Announcements
- I am saddened to inform you that after a long battle with cancer, +Khaled Sahouri (47 years old), son of Jamil and Angele, fell asleep in the Lord this past Tuesday, April 7th. Visitation (today from 4pm-8pm) and the Funeral service (tomorrow, Friday, April 10th at 11:00am) will take place at Swartz Funeral Home, 1225 West Hill Road, Flint (810-235-2345). May Khaled's memory be eternal with all of the saints.
- I have just returned from Hurley Hospital and am saddened to inform you that +Peter Farah (23 years old), son of Salim and Randa, tragically fell asleep in the Lord this afternoon. Arrangements will be announced. May Peter's memory be eternal with all of the saints. Please keep both the Sahouri and Farah families in your prayers asking God to grant them comfort.
- The time to have your confession heard before Pascha in the Holy Sacrament of Repentance is drawing to a close. The best time is this Saturday, April 11th after Great Vespers. I will not be able to hear confessions on Palm Sunday morning. From Palm Sunday evening until Holy Wednesday afternoon at 6:30pm, confessions can be heard by appointment before or after any of the Divine Holy Week services. If you would like to have Fr. Angelo or Fr. Matthew hear your confession, they will be at St. George for Divine Services on Lazarus Saturday morning, April 11th and also on Palm Sunday evening, April 12th. The Heavenly Banquet (Holy Communion) is available for all who are prepared and the Holy Sacrament of Repentance is part of that preparation. Plan ahead so we can all participate in the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Tree of Life!
- Resources for the Great Fast As we continue in the most sacred time of the year, this special web site, www.lent.goarch.org/ (from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, the archdiocese of Assumption Orthodox Church) can be used for guidance, reflection, and information. The site provides articles, sermons, music, prayers, and much more to edify and strengthen us on our Lenten Journey.
- Our Pascha Party (Hafli) to help raise funds for needy children to go to summer camp scheduled for Sunday, April 19th has been postponed until Sunday, May 31st. More information will be available in the May issue of The VOICE.
- Please click this link http://lent.goarch.org/articles/lent_holyweek_meditation.asp for a short meditation on the Great and Holy Week and Pascha.
May God be with us and bless us with a fruitful and spiritually rewarding fast.
Love,
Fr. Joe
