Recent News

Second Sunday of Great Lent (Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas)

21 March 2019 at 12:45

This Sunday, March 24, is the second Sunday of Great Lent, as well as the Forefeast of the Annunciation and the Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas.

The readings from Holy Scripture are: Genesis 28:10-17 (Vespers, 1st reading), Ezekiel 43:27-44:4 (Vespers, 2nd reading), Proverbs 9:1-11 (Vespers, 3rd reading), John 21:1-14 (10th Matins Gospel), Hebrews 1:10-2:3 (Epistle), and Mark 2:1-12 (Gospel).

As each Sunday of Lent has its own spiritual theme and historical context, we know that the Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas is of a later origin. Of this day we are told:

This Sunday was originally dedicated to Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (February 23). After his glorification in 1368, a second commemoration of Saint Gregory Palamas (November 14) was appointed for the Second Sunday of Great Lent as a second “Triumph of Orthodoxy.”
2nd Sunday of Great Lent: St Gregory Palamas

To learn more about this day, including what it means for our spiritual lives, see the podcast episode on the Second Sunday of Lent by Fr. Thomas Hopko and the article A Man Fully Alive by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick.

Photos from the First Sunday of Great Lent (Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy)

17 March 2019 at 15:00

This is the Faith of the Apostles.
This is the Faith of the Fathers.
This is the Faith of the Orthodox.
This is the Faith which has established the Universe.
Commemoration of the Restoration of the Holy Icons

On Sunday, March 17, after the Divine Liturgy, we celebrated the Triumph of Orthodoxy with the Commemoration of the Restoration of the Holy Icons. Below are a few photos from our small procession with icons and the reading of excerpts from the Affirmation of Faith of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.

Procession with icons on the Sunday of Orthodoxy

First Sunday of Great Lent (Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy)

15 March 2019 at 10:45

This Sunday, March 17th, is the first Sunday of Great Lent and the commemoration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (see below). If you would like to take part in the small procession with icons after the Liturgy, please bring an icon from home. Children and adults alike are invited! The Rite of Orthodoxy will also be held after the Liturgy.

The readings for this Sunday are: John 20:19-31 (9th Matins Gospel), Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2 (Epistle), and John 1:43-51 (Gospel).

What is the Sunday of Orthodoxy?

The Sunday of Orthodoxy is the first Sunday of Great Lent. The dominant theme of this Sunday since 843 has been that of the victory of the icons. In that year the iconoclastic controversy, which had raged on and off since 726, was finally laid to rest, and icons and their veneration were restored on the first Sunday in Lent. Ever since, this Sunday has been commemorated as the “Triumph of Orthodoxy.”
From the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America website article Sunday of Orthodoxy

See also the modern day classic Homily on the Triumph of Orthodoxy from Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and Enlightener of North America, delivered in 1903 on the Sunday of Orthodoxy at the Cathedral Church in San Francisco.

New Sunday Service Time

15 March 2019 at 06:00

Mark your calendars! Please note that beginning this coming Sunday, March 17, 2019, the first Sunday of Great Lent, the new start time for the Divine Liturgy will be 9:00AM. The Prayers of the Hours will begin at 8:45AM. Please check the parish calendar for details, changes, or additions.

2019 Pascha Card

13 March 2019 at 10:59

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

It won’t be long until we will greet each other with this joyous phrase. In sharing the greeting and joy of this glorious Feast, we are sending a Pascha (Easter) card to the friends and families of our parish. To add your name(s) or to remember the name(s) of your departed loved ones on our Pascha card, we humbly ask for a small donation as we attempt this outreach. Our card will also contain a schedule of our Pascha services along with a greeting letter from Fr. Gregory.

If you wish to have your name(s) included on our card, please complete and return the attached form to Fr. Gregory or Alex Krowzow (or mail it to the listed address) no later than April 1, 2019. Checks may be made out to Four Evangelists Orthodox Church. All proceeds will benefit our parish.

Great Lent Begins

10 March 2019 at 19:00

O Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of sloth, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors and not to judge my brother; For Thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen
Lenten Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian

Today, along with all Orthodox Christians world-wide, we began the journey of Great Lent with the Rite of Forgiveness at the end of Vespers. (In many parishes it is common to celebrate a portion of “Forgiveness Vespers”, along with the Rite of Forgiveness, after the Sunday Liturgy as opposed to the evening proper).

As the choir sang selected hymns from the Paschal Canon – hymns we won’t hear again until Great and Holy Pascha – the faithful, one-by-one, asked each other for mutual forgiveness (cf. Gospel of St. Matthew 6:14-15) and the altar vestments were changed to purple to reflect the penitential mood of the season.

We wish everyone a fruitful and joyous Lent as we turn anew to seek the Lord.