Update for the week Friday, April 22, 2011 through Thursday, April 28, 2011
THIS WEEKEND
HOLY FRIDAY
The Children's Retreat, beginning at 9:30 am on Friday,
April 22, will include fellowship and age-appropriate craftsfor ages 4
through young adult. Children’s confessions will be heard between 11:00
and noon. The retreat ends with a simple luncheon. Parents of children
under age 5 should plan to stay with their child(ren). Volunteers are
welcome and needed to assist with activities and lunch. A $5 goodwill
donation is requested (not required) to defray costs. We ask that you
pick up your child by 12:30 if you do not plan on their attending Royal
Hours at 1:00. Please contact Trish Orlovsky at 781-641-0182 or t_orlovsky@hotmail.com if you have questions, can help with an activity, or plan to attend.
Your help is needed to help decorate the Church on Great and Holy Friday at 9:30 am and on Great and Holy Saturday after the Liturgy and Coffee Hour at 1:00 p.m. We will be decorating the Bier of Christ on Friday, and preparing the church for Pascha on Saturday afternoon. Please come, stay and help. Parents: Come upstairs and help while your children are downstairs at their Retreat. You’re welcome to share lunch with the kids, but please let Trish know early in the week so there will be enough for everyone.
Royal Hours begins at 1:00 pm, followed by Unnailing Vespers at 3:00 pm, when the figure of Christ is removed from the Cross where it was nailed Thursday during the Twelve Gospels service, and is laid in the tomb, or bier.
Lamentations begins at 7:15 pmagain this year. During this service we will process with the Bier out of the church and down Massachusetts Avenue to Central Square, where we will meet worshippers from Ss. Constantine & Helen Greek Church carrying their bier, and join them for prayers and blessings before processing back to St. Mary.
Following the Lamentations Service on Holy Friday evening, St. Mary's Teen SOYO will hold an All-Night Vigil at the Church. All youth, ages 12-18 (grades 7-12), are encouraged to participate in reading Psalms, keeping watch at the tomb, and joining a discussion led by a special guest. The Vigil culminates Saturday morning with Vesperal Liturgy at 9:00 am. Teens across the Diocese will participate in similar vigils at their respective churches. The Church will be locked and several chaperones will remain with the Teens throughout the night, into the morning.
HOLY SATURDAY and GREAT AND HOLY PASCHA
Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil begins at 9:00 am on
Saturday, April 23. We celebrateChrist’s triumph over evil and death,
with the scattering of bay leaves and flowers. This service includes
fifteen lessons from the Old Testament, all prophesying the ultimate
victory of God, and also includes Baptism and Chrismation of our newest catechumens. The service will be followed by a Coffee Hour/Reception.
Saturday evening and into Great and Holy Pascha, all our Lenten efforts and Holy Week observances culminate in the celebration of Christ's resurrection. The services begin with the Vigil/Rush Service at 10:00 pm, followed by Resurrection Matins at 11:00 pm, and Divine Liturgy at 12:00 midnight. Paschal festivities, with plenty of food, will take place in the Church Hall after Liturgy.
Joint Agape Vespers (Baouth) on Easter Sunday morning will be held at 11:00 am at St. Mary’s, with a reception following.
VIDEO STREAMING– All of these services, including the all-night vigil, will be available for live viewing on your computer - go to https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/livestream.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
NO FASTING – There is no fasting on Wednesday or Friday, not only during Bright Week (April 25-30), but until the Feast of the Ascension (June 2) – for the whole forty days that Christ remained on earth following his resurrection. This is the decision of the Holy Synod of the Church of Antioch. (This cessation of fasting, however, is purely voluntary; you may fast if you wish.)
NO VESPERS – There will be no Saturday Vespers services during the month of May.
PARISH COUNCIL – The next meeting of the Parish Council will be Monday, May 2, at 7:30 pm.
N. G. BERAM SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS - The N. G. Beram Veterans Association is pleased to announce the continuation of this program for the 45th year, which was established to encourage, promote and support the education of students of Arabic-speaking backgrounds. High school seniors can obtain the application along with the instructions by visiting the web page at: www.stjohnd.org/ngberam. All applications must be postmarked no later than June 1, 2011.
REMINDERS
PARKING- The Church Parking Lot will be available for parking throughout Holy Week; however it is not available for parishioner parking from 9:00 am. to 5:00 pmMondays - Fridays any other week.
BENEFIT FOR THEOPHANY SCHOOL– Next Saturday, April 30, starting at 6:30 pm, there will be a Benefit Evening & Auction for Theophany School at Apollo Functions, Norwood, MA For more information you can call the school at 781-444-3058, or see http://theophanyschool.org/assets/files/Annual%20Benefit%20Evening/evite%202011%20auction-1.pdf.
VON HOLZHAUSEN LECTURE – The Fellowship of St. John the Divine invites you to the annual vonHolzhausen Lecture following coffee hour next Sunday, May 1, 2011, at 12:30. This year’s speaker will be Fr. Michael Plekon, professor at Baruch College’s Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, Orthodox priest, and author (see http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/wsas/academics/anthropology/mplekon.htm) He will be speaking on the topic, “Hidden Holiness: The Holy Life Where You Least Expect It.”
PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE – This year’s New England Parish Life Conference will be held Friday, June 17, through Sunday, June 19, at the Resort & Conference Center in Hyannis, hosted by St. John of Damascus Church in Dedham. Register today - discounted hotel rates are only guaranteed through May 1, and early bird discount through May 14. Look for us on Facebook: “2011 Parish Life Conference,” or visit us at www.stjohnd.org/conference2011. You can email questions to the conference chairpeople at Conference2011@stjohnd.org
2011 ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION– The 50th Antiochian Archdiocese Convention will be held July 24-31 at the Marriott Chicago Downtown, Chicago, Illinois. For more information see www.archdioceseconvention2011.orgor email info@archdioceseconvention2011.org
THIS WEEK'S VOLUNTEERS
LITURGICAL SERVICE:
Holy Saturday morning– Old Testament: Teva Regule,
Thomas Marge, Tiffany Conroy, Melissa Nassiff, Kate Jellinghaus, Arlene
Marge, Andrea Jabbour, Theo Smith, James Wilcox, Charlie Marge, Jeff
Wasilko, Brooke Wilcox, David Vermette, Trish Orlovsky, Bob Kowalik;
Epistle: Alex Orlovsky; Left Cloth: David Vermette and Juliet Burch ;
Right Cloth: Melissa Nassiff and TBD; Left Bread: Tiffany Conroy;
Right Bread: Michelle Chin
Pascha- Epistle: Andrea Jabbour; Left Cloth (Fr. Antony): Tiffany Conroy and Tim Moore; Center Cloth (Fr. Karl Kish) Martin Scrivener and Meg Butler; Right Cloth (Dn. Jeff): MaryAlice and George Mina; Left Bread: TBD; Right Bread: Dimitrios Antos
COFFEE HOUR – Paschal Festivities in the Church Hall following midnight Liturgy
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Holy Thursday, April 21: Washing of the Feet 6:45 pm; Twelve Gospels 7:00 pm
Holy Friday, April 22: Children’s Retreat 9:30 am; Royal Hours 1:00 pm; Unnailing Vespers 3:00 pm; Lamentations 7:15 pm with Procession to Central Square; Teen SOYO All-Night Vigil
Holy Saturday, April 23: Vesperal Liturgy 9:00 am
Saturday-Sunday, April 23-24: Vigil/Rush Service 10:00 pm; Resurrection Matins 11:00 pm; Great and Holy Pascha Divine Liturgy 12:00 midnight; Paschal Festivities in the Church Hall following
SCRIPTURE READINGS for Great and Holy Pascha:
Epistle: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-8
To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs,
appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God.
And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from
Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said,
"you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days
you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit." … "you shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in
Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth."
Gospel: John 1:1-17
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through
him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was
life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. … And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his
glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
Sunday, April 24: Joint Agape Vespers (Baouth) 11:00 am here at St. Mary; Reception following
LOOKING AHEAD
Sunday, May 1: vonHolzhausen Lecture 12:30
Sunday, May 15: Church School Graduation and Closing of Church School festivities
Friday-Sunday, June 17-19: Parish Life Conference in Hyannis
Sunday-Sunday, July 24-31: Archdiocese Convention in Chicago
INSIGHT
Rise, do not keep your feet away that He may wash them from the impurity
of sin. Go out with him to the Mount of Olives. Learn from Him how to
bend your knees and pray until the sweat pours down. Rise, meet your
cursers and crucifiers, surrender your hands to the bonds, do not keep
your face away from the slapping and spitting. Strip your back to be
lashed. Rise, my friend, do not fall to the ground, bear your cross,
for it is time for departure. Stretch your arms with Him and do not keep
your feet away from the nails. Taste with Him the bitterness of gall.
Rise early while it is still dark. Go to His tomb to see the Glorious
Resurrection.
- St. John of Dalyatha, Homily on the Meditation on the Economy of the Lord
Glory to Thy holy Resurrection, O Lord! "The One who planted a soul
within me by his divine breath, submitted himself to slaughter and
surrendered his soul to death, and has raised the dead with himself,
glorifying them in incorruption."
- Sunday Matins Canon, Ode 1
But it is our whole faith that by His own death Christ changed the very
nature of death, made it a passage — a "passover," a "Pascha" — into the
Kingdom of God, transforming the tragedy of tragedies into the ultimate
victory.
- Fr Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent
Christ is Risen! Truly, He is Risen!
Would you like to know how to say the Paschal Greeting in languages
other than the eight or so we use at St. Mary's? Check out this site
which has text and voice recordings for over 250 languages: http://www.srbigham.com/en/langues.html . Here's how we say it in eight of the languages we use at St. Mary's:
English: Christ is Risen! Truly, He is Risen!
Arabic: Al Maseeh ‘Am! Ha’an ‘Am!
Greek: Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti!
Slavonic: Khristos Voskrese! Vo Istinu Voskrese!
Romanian: Hristos a Înviat! Adevǎrat a Înviat!
Albanian: Krishti u Ngjall! Vërtet u Ngjall!
Tigrinian: Kristos Tensiu! Behake Tensiu!
Cantonese: Gaydolk Folkwoot Leew! Ta Koksut Folkwoot Leew!
Spanish: Christo ha Resucitado! En Verdad ha Resucitado