Renewal Sunday
By Sergei V. Bulgakov The eighth day after Pascha as the ending of the celebration of Bright Week was a special celebration since ancient times, as if it replaced the very same Day of Pascha and was called Antipascha, and means “instead of Pascha”. From this day the cycle of Sundays and weeks of the entire year begins. On this day the commemoration of the resurrection of Christ is updated for the first time. This Sunday of the Antipascha was called the New [Read more...]
The Days of Holy Week
Each day in Holy Week is devoted to a particular theme, and since they pass quickly, here they are for your meditation in advance. PALM SUNDAY: The Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Christian Faith, and celebrated with great honor. We commemorate his entrance into His saving Passion for us, and like the Apostle Thomas, prepare ourselves to “go and die with Him,” following the services of Holy Week which follow. A grand procession [Read more...]
The Days Before Us
Each Day in Holy Week is devoted to a particular theme, all designed for us to draw closer to Christ, His Resurrection, and His Awesome and Dread Second Coming. Entering into the spirit of these parables and reminders from the Holy Scriptures makes Holy Week the most spiritually and liturgically intense period of the Christian year. Palm Sunday The Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Christian Faith, and celebrated with great honor. We commemorate [Read more...]
Author James Joyce and Orthodox Holy Week
James Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century. In a 1922 New York Times profile of Joyce, the following was told of him: “Mr. Joyce has no reverence for organized religion, for conventional morality, for literary style or form. He has no conception of the word obedience, and he bends the knee neither to God nor man.” Yet what we find evident from his own [Read more...]
Ten Tips for Holy Week and Pascha
I saw these last year on Fr. Peter Preble’s blog, and thought they were excellent to bring into focus what is really important during this sacred season. 1. Make participation at the Services a priority. This is especially crucial for those families with children. They must experience as much of Holy Week and Pascha as possible with their parents. 2. In our homes we should strive to “keep out the world” and enter into the peace, solemnity, and theology of the events of [Read more...]
Bulletin for Sunday, April 8, 2012
April 3, 2012 by frjohn
Filed under Weekly Bulletins
Click the image to download the bulletin in PDF format.
Family Life in an Orthodox Rhythm
by Valerie G. Zahirsky Those colorful pages of store ads that come tucked into the Sunday newspaper tell us something about our culture. They tell us that every day has become the same as every other day. Here is the ad for chocolates wrapped in red and decorated with hearts on sale for Valentine’s Day. Identical chocolates but in a different shape and wrapped in red and green were on sale for Christmas. And a month from now, no matter how long it [Read more...]
10 Important Things to do Before the End of Lent
by Archpriest Alexander Iliashenko One week of Great Lent remains. The week after is Holy Week, for which we have been preparing for so long, and which will be dedicated entirely to the remembrance of the Savior’s Way of the Cross to Golgotha and the Resurrection. Lent, as always, flies by imperceptibly, so before it is over we need to stop and break away from the vain bustle that absorbs our energies and consumes our time, so that we might manage to fulfill [Read more...]
Bulletin for Sunday, April 1, 2012
March 28, 2012 by frjohn
Filed under Weekly Bulletins
Click the image to download the bulletin in PDF format.
On The Duties Of A Choir Singer
Taken from Letters to a Beginner: On Giving One’s Life to God, by Abbess Thaisia. Cursed is the man that doeth the work of the Lord carelessly. (Jer. 48:10) You have begun to sing in the choir; therefore, you glorify the Lord in the image of the heavenly hosts, who ceaselessly sing praise to the glory of their Creator and Lord. How fortunate you are! But do you acknowledge the full sacredness and importance of this godly work, which incomparably more than any [Read more...]
