Four Evangelists Orthodox Church, Bel Air, Maryland

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Divine Liturgy

Weekly Update: 2nd Sunday after Pentecost and the Synaxis of the Saints of North America

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Glory to Jesus Christ!

Prayers
In your prayers please continue to remember our catechumens, new mothers, the sick, the poor, and those in need.

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,…” — 1st Epistle of St. Timothy 2.1

Choir Practice
Please note that the scheduled choir practice for this evening, Tuesday, 17 June 2025 at 6:30pm, is being held at the Mukai home and not at the church. Please contact Peggy for details.

Catechumen’s Class
This Wednesday, 18 June 2025 at 7:00pm, will be the last catechumen class of the current session. Dates and times for the next set of classes will be forthcoming.

Baptism and Chrismation
Join us on Sunday, 22 June 2025 at 8:30am, for the baptism and chrismation of Daniel B. Please continue to pray for Daniel and all catechumens as they prepare to enter the Orthodox Church.

Please note that the Divine Liturgy will start closer to 9:30am.

2nd Sunday after Pentecost
This coming Sunday, 22 June 2025, is the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, as well as the Synaxis of the Saints of North America. On this day we remember all of the saints who have lived and labored on our continent. (Synaxis, from the Greek word meaning “gathering” or “assembly” and in this case the common commemoration of a number of saints in a single service)

The readings for this Sunday are:

As the bountiful harvest of Your sowing of salvation, / the lands of North America offer to You, O Lord, all the saints who have shone in them. / By their prayers keep the Church and our land in abiding peace / through the Theotokos, O most Merciful One.
— Troparion for the Synaxis of the Saints of North America

St. Olga of Alaska, first female Orthodox saint in North America (+1979, canonized 2023. Feast day 27 October)

Apostles Fast
The Apostles Fast is upon us. This fast, also commonly called the Fast of Sts. Peter and Paul, occurs from the second Monday after Pentecost until the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on 29 June. It varies in length due to its dependency on the date of Pascha. By the 5th century, this fast was attested to in both the East and the West. St. Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome (+461), described the fast as a way of tempering the post-Paschal joy of the Spirit with watchfulness.

This Week and Looking Ahead

Sunday of the Blind Man and the 6th Sunday of Pascha

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Christ is risen!

Prayers
In your prayers, please continue to remember our catechumens, expectant mothers (and fathers), the sick, and those in need.

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,…” — 1st Epistle of St. Timothy 2.1

Sunday of the Blind Man (6th Sunday of Pascha)
This coming Sunday, 25 May 2025, is the Sunday of the Blind Man and the 6th Sunday of Pascha. Also commemorated on this day is the Third Finding of the Honorable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptizer John (c. 850), among others.

The readings for this Sunday are:

  • 2 Corinthians 4.6–15 (Epistle, Forerunner)
  • Matthew 11.2–15 (Gospel, Forerunner)
  • Acts 16.16–34 (Epistle)
  • John 9.1–38 (Gospel)

I come to You, O Christ, / blind from birth in my spiritual eyes / and I call to You in repentance: / You are the most radiant light of those in darkness!
— Kontakion for the Sunday of the Blind Man

This Week at Four Evangelists Orthodox Church

Looking Ahead

Sunday of the Samaritan Woman and the 5th Sunday of Pascha

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Christ is risen!

This coming Sunday, 18 May 2025, is the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman and the 5th Sunday of Pascha.

The readings for this Sunday are:

The Samaritan Woman came to the well in faith; / she saw You, the Water of Wisdom, and drank abundantly / she inherited the Kingdom on High and is ever glorified!
— Troparion for the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

Samaritan woman (St. Photini) at the well

This week at Four Evangelists Orthodox Church:

Looking ahead: Forty days after Pascha we will celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord on 29 May 2025, followed by the Feast of Holy Pentecost ten days later on 08 June 2028.

Stay tuned for more information!

Sunday of the Paralytic and the 4th Sunday of Pascha

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Christ is risen!

This coming Sunday, 11 May 2025, is the Sunday of the Paralytic and the 4th Sunday of Pascha. On this day we also remember the Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles Cyril (869) and Methodius (885), First Teachers of the Slavs.

And while not an official day on the church calendar, it is also Mother’s Day –a worthy time to give thanks for all of our mothers, including all of the women in our lives who have shown us maternal love. May God bless our mothers!

The readings for this Sunday are:

By Your divine authority, O Lord, / as You raised up the paralytic of old, / so raise up my soul, paralyzed by sundry sins and unseemly acts; / so that being saved I may cry: / “Glory to Your power, O compassionate Christ!”
— Troparion for the Sunday of the Paralytic

Healing of the Paralytic

Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women and the 3rd Sunday of Pascha

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Christ is risen!

Upcoming on the calendar at Four Evangelists Orthodox Church:

Sunday, 04 May 2025, is the 3rd Sunday of Pascha and Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women.

The 3rd Sunday of Holy Pascha is observed by the Orthodox Church as the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers. The day commemorates when the women disciples of our Lord came to the tomb to anoint his body with myrrh-oils but found the tomb empty. As the woman wondered what this meant, angels appeared proclaiming that Christ had risen from the dead. | from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America website

The readings for this Sunday are:

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. — Gospel According to St. Mark 16.1–8

Myrrh-bearing Women

5th Week of Lent and the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt

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Glory to Jesus Christ!

This coming Sunday, 06 April 2025, is the 5th Sunday of Great Lent and the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt.

St. Mary of Egypt is commemorated on 01 April and on the 5th Sunday of Holy Lent. She is commemorated on this Sunday due to her recognition by the Church as a model of repentance.1

Enlightened by the grace of the Cross, * thou wast seen to be a bright light of repentance, * dispelling the darkness of passions, O all holy one. * thou didst appear as an angel in the flesh * to holy Zosimas in the wilderness. * Intercede with Christ for us, O Mary our righteous Mother.
— Troparion for the Feast of St. Mary of Egypt

The readings for this Sunday are:

  • Galatians 3.23–29 (Epistle, Saint)
  • Luke 7.36–50 (Gospel, Saint)
  • Hebrews 9.11–14 (Epistle)
  • Mark 10.32–45 (Gospel)

Upcoming services during Great Lent:

Access our full Lent, Passion Week, and Pascha calendar here.