Glory to Jesus Christ!
House blessings continue through the beginning of Great Lent. Please see Fr. Gregory to schedule a time if you would like to have your house blessed.
In preparation to enter into the Great Fast, please note that this week is fast free! The weekly Wednesday/Friday fast will resume next week, Meatfare week, and then no meat will be consumed in Cheesefare week, followed by the beginning of Lent. This gradual entrance into the Fast is very practical and beneficial, as opposed to a sudden deep-dive into the Fast!
While Orthodoxy has a defined tradition of fasting, it should be noted that there are exceptions to the rule (e.g., small children, the sick, the very old, pregnant and nursing mothers, travelers, etc.) and that practical pastoral wisdom might be called for (e.g., it might not be beneficial for someone who has never fasted to take on a strict fast) when fasting. Everyone’s situation in life is different.
If anyone has questions regarding the Orthodox practice of fasting, please see Fr. Gregory.
“True fasting is being a stranger to vice, controlling the tongue, abstaining from anger, distancing oneself from lust, evil speech, lying, perjury. The absence of these vices makes fasting true, and so shunning these vices makes fasting good.
— On Fasting and Feasts, St. Basil the Great
Saturday Vespers, 15 February 2025, will begin at the normally scheduled time of 6pm. Please join us!
This coming Sunday, 16 February 2025, at 8:30am, the Hillman family will be baptized and received into the Orthodox Church. Please join us on this joyous occasion! And please continue to keep the Hillman’s in your daily prayers.
The Divine Liturgy will begin at approximately 9:30am.
Following the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, we will pray a Panikhida (memorial service) for +David Mukai, on the 2 year anniversary of his passing. Memory eternal!
Sunday, 16 February 2025, is also the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, one of the pre-Lenten Sundays. The readings for the Divine Liturgy are:
1 Corinthians 6.12-20 (Epistle)
Luke 15.11-32 (Gospel)
I have recklessly forgotten Your glory, O Father; / and among sinners I have scattered the riches which You had given me. / Therefore, I cry to You like the Prodigal: / “I have sinned before You, O compassionate Father; / receive me a penitent and make me as one of Your hired servants.
— Kontakion for the Sunday of the Progigal Son
