Glory to Jesus Christ!
As we now enter into the Great Fast, see here for our printable schedule of services for Great Lent, Holy Week, and Pascha.
Please join us. All are welcome!
2024 Great Lent, Holy Week, and Pascha
Great Lent
Sunday of Forgiveness
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Please join us on Sunday, 17 March 2024, for the Divine Liturgy followed by the Rite of Forgiveness, after which we will enter into the Great Fast (Great Lent).
All are welcome!
About the Rite of Forgiveness:
“… on the very threshold of the Great Fast, at Vespers on the Sunday of Forgiveness, there is a special ceremony of mutual reconciliation: for without love towards others there can be no genuine fast. And this love for others should not be limited to formal gestures or to sentimental feelings, but should issue in specific acts of almsgiving. … It is to give not only our money but our time, not only what we have but what we are; it is to give a part of ourselves”. — from The Meaning of the Great Fast, The Lenten Triodion. Mother Mary and Archimandrite Kallistos Timothy Ware (St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 2002).
1st Sunday of Lent: The Triumph of Orthodoxy
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Sunday, 05 March 2023, is the first Sunday of Lent and the Triumph of Orthodoxy, so-called as it commemorates the 9th century restoration of icons and their veneration (i.e., Orthodoxy) against the iconoclasts. The “triumph of Orthodoxy” does not -and should never- imply a modern arrogance or spirit of triumphalism.
Following the Divine Liturgy we will conclude our worship with a procession with icons and the Rite of Orthodoxy. Everyone is encouraged to bring their favorite icon for the procession.
The Epistle and Gospel readings for Sunday are:
⁜ Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2 (Epistle)
⁜ John 1:43-51 (Gospel)
About this Sunday we read from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese website: “The theme of the victory of the icons, by its emphasis on the incarnation, points us to the basic Christian truth that the one whose death and resurrection we celebrate at Easter was none other than the Word of God who became human in Jesus Christ…. | continue reading at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese website.
Forgiveness Sunday: The Expulsion of Adam from Paradise
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
This coming Sunday, 26 February 2023, is Forgiveness Sunday. Following the Divine Liturgy we will serve the Rite of Forgiveness, the communal act of mutual forgiveness before entering into the Great Fast.
This Sunday is also Cheesefare, the last day for those fasting to consume dairy products before Lent. (But yet again, to loosely paraphrase St. Basil the Great: don’t forsake your cheese and milk only to consume your brother with anger!)
The Epistle and Gospel readings for Sunday are:
⁜ Romans 13:11-14:4 (Epistle)
⁜ Matthew 6:14-21 (Gospel)
About this Sunday we read from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese website: “… The Sunday of Forgiveness, the last of the preparatory Sundays before Great Lent, has two themes: it commemorates Adam’s expulsion from Paradise, and it accentuates our need for forgiveness. There are obvious reasons why these two things should be brought to our attention as we stand on the threshold of Great Lent. One of the primary images in the Triodion is that of the return to Paradise. Lent is a time when we weep with Adam and Eve before the closed gate of Eden, repenting with them for the sins that have deprived us of our free communion with God. But Lent is also a time when we are preparing to celebrate the saving event of Christ’s death and rising, which has reopened Paradise to us once more (Luke 23:43). So sorrow for our exile in sin is tempered by hope of our re-entry into Paradise… | continue reading at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese website.
2023 Lent, Holy Week, and Pascha Schedule
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
As the season of Lent approaches, please see our printable 2023 Lent, Holy Week, and Pascha Schedule.
All are welcome and invited to worship with us during this time of the Great Fast as we seek to turn away from ourselves and towards God and neighbor.
Sunday of the Last Judgement
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
This coming Sunday, 19 February 2023, is the Sunday of the Last Judgement, as well as the commemoration of the Apostles of the Seventy Archippus and Philemon, and the Martyr Apphia, among others.
This Sunday is also Meatfare, so called as it is the last day we consume meat before entering into the Great Fast. | See also the helpful article And When You Fast by Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis.
The Epistle and Gospel readings for Sunday are:
⁜ 1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2 (Epistle)
⁜ Matthew 25:31-46 (Gospel)
About the Sunday of the Last Judgement we read: “On the past two Sundays of this pre-Lenten period, the focus was placed on God’s patience and limitless compassion, of His readiness to accept every sinner who returns to Him. On this third Sunday, we are powerfully reminded of a complementary truth: no one is so patient and so merciful as God, but even He does not forgive those who do not repent. The God of love is also a God of righteousness, and when Christ comes again in glory, He will come as our Judge. Such is the message of Lent to each of us: turn back while there is still time, repent before the End comes. … | Continue reading at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese website.
