Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
Starting this month, the choir is going to be using some new music in the Divine Liturgy. This music was written specifically for our parish by the Grammy-nominated liturgical composer, Benedict Sheehan, and the choir wants us all to sing along. To help make that happen, we’ve put a link to the music on Discord. Due to copyright issues, our Music Director, Karen Morgan, will need to give you access to that link, but, once you’re connected, listen to the new sound as often as you can, and come prepared to sing with all of us and with the angels.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
During Great Lent, the full fast calls on us to go without meat, dairy products, fish with backbones, oil, wine, and hard liquor. There is a blessing for fish, wine, and oil on Saturdays and Sundays during the fast and on certain feast days (the Annunciation, for example). Women who are pregnant or nursing, children who are still growing, and folks who have specific medial requirements are not expected or encouraged to keep the full fast, but all of us can fast in some way. Please check with your sponsor or spiritual father if you need to adjust the fast.
Daily Services
Monday, March 3-Friday, March 7 Orthros 5am; Vespers 5pm (there will not be daily vespers on Wednesday because of the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy; it’s always a good idea to check the day before and make sure nothing has come up to change the regular schedule).
However, Fr. Andrew, Seth Hart, and many other folks continue to broadcast daily readings from spiritual books online. They are now reading “Lost Histories: The Good, the Bad, and the Strange in Early American Orthodoxy” by Matthew Namee. The schedule is as follows: M-F at 12pm.
In addition to the daily Synaxarion readings posted in the #synaxarion channel on Discord, the online team is now posting daily Bible Readings that will allow you to read through the Bible in a year. These readings are posted in the #bible-365 channel.
Monday, March 3
Great Compline 7pm
Tuesday March 4
Great Compline 7pm
Wednesday, March 5
The Pre-Sanctified Liturgy 7pm
Thursday, March 6
Great Compline 7pm
Friday, March 7
The Akathist Hymn 7pm
Saturday, March 8
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, March 9
The Sunday of Orthodoxy
Orthros 8am
Church School 8:15am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Monday, March 10
Great Compline 7pm
Tuesday, March 11
Inquirer’s 101 7pm; you can also access the group on Discord
Wednesday, March 12
The Pre-Sanctified Liturgy 7pm
Thursday, March 13
The Bible Study, New Testament Edition 7pm; you can access this group on Discord
Friday, March 14
The Akathist Hymn 7pm
Anniversary / Memorial Blessings
You can use the links in the email version of the newsletter to sign up for anniversary blessings and memorial services that will be offered in 2025. Please note that things have changed for 2025 to accommodate our growing parish (i.e. some were not able to get on the schedule for anniversary blessings in 2024 because all of the slots were taken).
Memorial Services, will now occur at the end of Great Vespers on Saturday, and they may only be offered for Orthodox Christians who have departed this life. If your departed loved one was not an Orthodox Christian, visit this page on our website to learn about and request an Akathist for the Departed rather than signing up for a memorial service.
Anniversary Blessings may be requested for the first wedding anniversary and every fifth anniversary thereafter (i.e. 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, etc.). They may only be offered if one of the married couple is an Orthodox Christian. Approach the solea immediately after the hymn “Blessed be the Name of the Lord” at the end of the Divine Liturgy. If you have marriage crowns, bring them with you as you come forward. Those celebrating anniversaries that are not eligible to sign up, are invited to come forward during the “Birthdays, Anniversaries, and Namedays” segment of the announcements after the Divine Liturgy.
Coming Up
Daylight Savings Time begins this coming Sunday, March 9, so, before you go to bed on Saturday night, be sure to set your phones and watches and alarms one hour ahead (and chalk it up to a little extra asceticism).
There will be two Saturdays of Souls during Great Lent. The first will be Saturday, March 15, and the second will be on Saturday, March 22. We should all be able to make at least one of those services to remember our departed loved ones and friends. Please look for the memorial prayer binder on the narthex table, and list your departed loved ones (first names) so that they can be prayed for during the service you will attend.
Great Lent is a good time to do some spiritual reading. This year, during the Pascha Book Study, we will be using a short book called The Passions of the Soul. That book is already available at Christ the Lightgiver, so why not pick up a copy, read through it slowly during Great Lent, and you’ll be ready to go when the book study begins on the Wednesday of Bright Week. Benedict H. will be leading the Pascha Book Study, and here’s what he has to say about the book and the event: “For the Pascha Book Study, we’ll be studying Rowan Williams’ Passions of the Soul. Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, is one of the premier Western scholars of the Eastern spiritual tradition. With Williams’ help, we’ll investigate what the fathers can teach us about the passions and how we can overcome them.”
The Church calls on us to make our confession during Great Lent. At St John’s, we hear confessions on Saturday evening following Great Vespers. There is a list in the narthex, you put your name on the list, and you make your confession with whichever priest calls your name. If Saturday night does not work for you, or if you wish to make your confession with a specific priest, then you can make an appointment during the week with that clergyman. However, we do not hear confessions during Holy Week, so we all need to go ahead and participate in that Holy Mystery before Lazarus Saturday, which, this year, falls on April 12.
Finally, the Church expects us to increase our giving during Great Lent. Of course, we should first check and make sure that we are up to date with our current commitment to the parish budget, but, if we are, then we should consider giving a little more to help out all those who aren’t able to contribute as much as they had anticipated, or we should think about making a special gift to the Building Fund during this season of spiritual striving.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
On those Sundays when Church School is in session, let’s remember that this is an opportunity for all the parents to participate in Orthros or offer some private prayers or catch up on some spiritual reading. The common room in the parish house is available for those who prefer not to be in Orthros, but, when we are in that room, we need to be as quiet as possible with our personal devotions, and we need to remember that Fellowship Hour does not start until after the Divine Liturgy has ended.
an unworthy priest
aidan