Glory to Jesus Christ!

Palm Sunday, 4/09/17   – the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem

—Second Parish Mission

8:40 a.m. Lytija and Blessing of Bread
9:00 a.m. +Mary Plaskonos requested by Sylvia & Tony Plaskonos

Blessing of Pussywillows and anointing with the holy oil (myrovannia) of the faithful and distribution of blessed prosfora.

10:30 a.m. Pro Populo

Epistle: Phil.4:4-9
Gospel: John 12:1-18, Tone 6

Holy Monday, 4/10/17   Holy Martyrs Terence, Pompeius, and companions
8:00 a.m no intention for the Liturgy

Holy Tuesday, 4/11/17   Holy Priest-Martyr Antipas, Bishop of Pergamos
9:00 a.m. +Mychajlo, Evdokia, Volodymyr Stadnicki (Pan.) requested by Stadnicki family

Holy Wednesday, 4/12/17   Venerable Father and Confessor Basil, Bishop of Parios
9:00 a.m. Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Holy Thursday, 4/13/17   Holy Priest-Martyr Artemon and companions
8:00 a.m. God’s blessing & health for Pyrohy Workers requested by Joan Nast
7:00 p.m. The Proclamation of the Lord’s Passion in the Gospels

Good Friday,  4/14/17   Holy Father Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome
4:00 p.m. Vespers and Veneration of the Holy Shroud

Great Saturday, 4/15/17   Holy Apostles Aristarchus, Pudens and Trophimus
8:00 a.m.  Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great
4:00 p.m. Blessing of Easter Foods
6:00 p.m. Blessing of Easter Foods
7:00 p.m. Prayer at the Tomb

Easter Sunday, 4/16/17  —The Glorious and Holy Sunday of the Resurrection of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ
8:30 a.m. Procession and Paschal Matins
9:30 a.m. Pro Populo

Blessing of Artos (leavened bread)
Blessing of Easter Foods

Epistle: Acts  1:1-8
Gospel: John 1:1-17, Tone 7

****During coming days, Bright Week, there is no fasting.

Sunday, 4/02/17  Fifth Sunday of Great Lent —Commemoration of Our Venerable Mother, Mary of Egypt
9:00 a.m.  +Ella Sowa requested by Walnycky family
10:30 a.m. Pro Popolo

Epistle: Heb. 9:11-14
Gospel: Mark 10:32-45, Tone 5

Monday, 4/03/17  Venerable Father and Confessor Nicetas, Abbot of the Monastery of Medicius
8:00 a.m. +Ivan and Halyna Lobay requested by Maria Lobay

Tuesday, 4/04/17  Our Venerable Fathers Joseph the Hymnographer and George of Maleum
9:00 a.m. +Mary Plaskonos (40 days, Pan.) requested by the Plaskonos family

Wednesday, 4/05/17  Holy Martyrs Theodulus and Agathopedes and companions
9:00 a.m. Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Thursday, 4/06/17  Repose of Our Holy Father Methodius, Teacher of Slavs
8:00 a.m. no intention for the Divine Liturgy

Friday, 4/07/17  Venerable Father George, Bishop of Mitylene
7:00 p.m.  Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

Saturday, 4/08/17  Lazarus Saturday —Holy Apostles Herodion, Agabus, Rufus, Asyncretus, Phlegontus, and Hermes
8:00 a.m. no intention for the Divine Liturgy

Sunday, 4/09/17  Palm Sunday —the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem
8:40 a.m. Lytja and the Blessing of Bread
9:00 a.m. Special Intention

Second Sunday of the Parish Mission preached by Father Robert Markovitch

Blessing of Pussywillows and Anointing
10:30 a.m. Pro Popolo

Epistle: Phil. 4:4-9
Gospel: John 12:1-18, Tone 6

Sunday, 3/26/17 Fourth Sunday of Lent —Commemoration of St. John Climacus
9:00 a.m +Mary Plaskonos requested by Cathy Kolesnik
10:30 a.m. Pro Populo

Epistle: Hebrews 6:13-20
Gospel: Mark 9:17-31, Tone 4

Monday, 3/27/17 Our Holy Mother Matrona of Thessalonica
8:00 a.m.  no intention for the Liturgy

Tuesday, 3/28/17 Our Venerable Father Hilarion the New; the Holy Stephen, the Wonderworker
8:00 a.m. +Carol Floramo requested by the Walnycky family

Wednesday, 3/29/17 Our Venerable Father Mark, Bishop of Arethusa; the Deacon Cyril and Others Martyred during the Reign of Julian the Apostate
9:00 a.m. Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts

Thursday, 3/30/17 Our Venerable Father John Climacus, Author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent
8:00 a.m +Ivan Bodnaruk requested by the Walnycky family

Friday, 3/31/17 Our Venerable Father Hypatius, Bishop of Gangra
7:00 p.m. Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts

Saturday, 4/01/17 Our Venerable Mother Mary of Egypt
9:00 a.m. +Wolodymyra Basladynska (Pan.) requested by Dionizia Brochinsky

Sunday, 4/02/17 Fifth Sunday of Lent —Commemoration of Our Venerable Mother, Mary of Egypt
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
10:30 a.m. Pro Populo

Epistle: Hebrews 9:11-14
Gospel: Mark 10:32-45, Tone 5

The Epistle to the Hebrews begins today: ““At the beginning, O Lord, you established the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; and they will all grow old like a garment. You will roll them up like a cloak, and like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” In the first part of the journey we call the Great Fast, we remembered first the story of creation, and how God found it very good. But at the end of these two weeks, we heard that because of our sins, “The Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and his heart was grieved. So the Lord said: I will wipe out from the earth the human beings I have created. (Genesis 6:6-7)” What is the inspired Scripture telling us – that the human race is completely broken and dysfunctional because we have refused to follow God’s loving providence? The Gospel (Mark 2:1-12) becomes a key hinge in this story. The paralytic man lowered through the roof is a symbol of our crippled, broken and dysfunctional human race. Fortunately, there are still some who know this and want to help heal it – the four friends who lower the broken man through the roof. And the healing follows, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Child, your sins are forgiven.’” (v. 5) We are broken and sinners, but if we can have faith, creation can be made good again – this is our hope. Sin is an offense against God, so those who do not have faith grumble, “Who but God alone can forgive sins?” (v. 7) Who but God alone can repair the damage done by rebellion against his plan? And so this story is key in the Gospel, Jesus is God, the Son of the Father, as he created the world, and is always “the same.,” he alone can repair the damage. To prove this, he makes the man to walk again. But Jesus is also a human being, and as such, has imparted the power to forgive sin to the Church, which is his body, and in which we find healing and forgiveness. This is truly a mystery beyond expression. Yet a further point can be made.

During Great Lent the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is prayed at Divine Liturgy and not the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.

Sunday, 3/05/17     First Sunday of Lent — The Sunday of Orthodoxy
9:00 a.m. PRO POPULO
10:30 a.m. God’s blessing and health for Anna requested by Maria Wysowskyj

Epistle: Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2
Gospel: John 1:43-51, Tone 1

Monday, 3/06/17     The 40 Martyrs of Ammorium
8:00 a.m. +Sophie Plachtyna requested by Sestrichi

Tuesday, 3/07/17      The Holy Priest-Martyrs and Bishops of Cherson
8:00 a.m. +Eugenia Harvey (Pan.) requested by Carl Harvey

Wednesday, 3/08/17     Our Venerable Father and Confessor Theophylactus
8:00 a.m. +Helen Wasylyk requested by Sestrichi

Thursday, 3/09/17     The Holy 40 Martyrs of Sebaste
8:00 a.m. +Catherine Levitzky (Pan.) requested by Joseph M. Levitzky

Friday, 3/10/17     The Holy Martyr Condratus, Cyprian and those with him
7:00 p.m.  Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts

Saturday, 3/11/17     Our Holy Father Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem
8:30 a.m.  For All deceased members of the Parish
9:00 a.m. Sorokousty
9:30 a.m. +Myron Gali (29th Anniv., Pan.) requested by Anastazia Gali

Sunday, 3/12/17 Second Sunday of Lent —Commemoration of St Gregory Palamas
9:00 a.m. PRO POPULO
10:30 a.m. Thanksgiving Divine Liturgy  requested by Maria Wysowskyj

Epistle: Hebrews 1:10-2:3
Gospel: Mark 2:1-12, Tone 2

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.” (From today’s Gospel, Matthew 6:16)

The reason is not to be hypocritical, in the pattern we’ve seen over the past three Sundays, to think that we are better than others. In this saying, we may see something deeper, the wisdom of what it means to live a godly life. Fasting is the more difficult decision. It’s easier to eat what we want, to be the person we want to be, to follow our own “nature.” It’s a modern mantra, “Be the person that you are! Don’t let others – even God – tell you what to do!” But it’s really not “modern,” it goes back to Adam and Eve, who ate the forbidden fruit so that they would “know” – that is, determine what is good and evil for themselves. We have to discern “easy nature” from “real nature,” for God has created us to surpass “nature” and become “godlike.” The army tells us, “Be all that you can be,” but faith tells us, “Be more than you can be.” To choose for ourselves wraps us up in ourselves, and closes us to the whole universe of others and to God. Fasting is a symbol, of refusing the decision of Adam and Eve, of opening ourselves up to others and to God.

Nicholas Denysenko recently wrote, “Fasting is about changing one’s ways for the sake of the other; one dies to excesses and indulgences in one’s life to become aware of the other and his needs, and to rehearse loving the other.” The gospel tells us that we should be joyful in opening ourselves up to the other, a whole new universe awaits us! Fasting is an “alleluia.”

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras