~Prayer needed~

We listed our house today, please pray for the right buyer to come along quickly!!

~Good news on the Classical Education front~

The one major concern I had about moving was leaving our dear Classical and Christian school. We have invested three years in Classical education, and I so desired my children to continue being education in the Classical method. I am very grateful for God’s providence; I received this exciting invitation the other day and am thrilled for our children to take part in the study center. Another wonderful blessing is that the study center is just miles from the parish house! Glory be to God for all things!

Interested in a Christian Classical Study Center?

We desire to support and enhance the efforts of homeschoolers to provide quality Christian Classical education by:

*involving students in the great conversation with Classical works, learning to critique literature from a Christian world-view

*developing an appreciation of our Christian heritage and its influence on Western civilization

*stressing literary excellence
*facilitating dialogue and debate for students
*providing opportunities for student collaboration
*sharing the responsibility of preparing quality core-curriculum learning experiences for our children.

We have used the Blackburn Study Center in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , as a model for our study center

( www.blackburnstudycenter.org )

Our goal is to include 8-15 students per classroom in the following groupings:

1st/2nd 3rd/4th 5th/6th 7th 9th 10th-12th

We will share the cost of the tutors, supplies, curriculum, etc. among the families involved. We would like to hire 3-4 experienced tutors for our middle and high-school aged students (dialectic and rhetoric) to teach the following subjects:

Omnibus (History, Theology, and Literature), Science, Latin, Writing, and Logic.

Our grammar-school students will be taught by parent-teachers. We will offer the following classes for grammar students:

History, Science, Literature, introduction to Latin, and Writing/Grammar.

~Prayer needed~

Please say a prayer for my friend Cindy (the dear mom who was so kind and helpful to us last week in NY), her brother, and twin nephews who were in a fatal plane crash yesterday. We are all so stunned by this great loss and the pain their family is going through. Little Alex and Natalie lost their 13 year old first cousins and their Uncle. My heart goes out to their Aunt and the twins’ older sibling who are left to mourn this tremendous loss. Cindy, George and family, you are all in our thoughts and prayers today and always.

 Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy. May their memories be eternal!

Today is the Feast Day of St. George the Great Martyr

St. George pray to God for us!

~Sitcom Theme Show Songs~

In the last two days I have noticed three commercials using old theme show songs. What’s up with that? The first one was a Talbot’s commercial set to the “Mary Tyler Moore” theme song. Then a car commercial featuring a hip, modern version of “The Jefferson’s” ,”moving on  up”,theme song. Then tonight a M&Ms commercial with an “Adam’s Family” theme. Is this a new trend or just a coincidence? I suppose everything old is new again or maybe they are trying to reach a certain demographic? I remember a time when many commercials used classic rock songs.  Are we running low on creativity or are the trying to grab us with something familiar? None of these songs would be familiar to my children or my husband for that matter. Hmmm, they must really be after a certain demographic and I guess I am it!

~Hello again from WNY~

We are still in NY;  Fr. had  two funerals today and a parish council meeting tonight, so the boys and I are entertaining ourselves.  We went by the parish house and met the neighborhood children when the school bus dropped them off. I was at the house on Saturday without my children, and all the neighborhood kids were playing in the circle. I spent about 45 mins talking to all the children and I really like them. They were all very friendly, articulate and sweet with one another.

 I think we are going to like living on that street. The house is in a cul-de-sac and there are a lot of children our children’s ages. I met several parents and we exchanged e-mails so they can send me details about the area, sports sign ups etc… We are all anxious to move up here and get settled, not too much longer now, the boys have to finish school and the church house needs  a little work done before we can move into it. On Saturday we went to the parish house to talk about  the updates, new kitchen , bathrooms etc. It is a really cute house built in 1949; it is quite a bit different than our current house, but I think we can make it work for our family. The area is a  really good area in an ideal location.

I enjoyed meeting everyone this weekend at Church.  People are very welcoming and friendly,  the boys have already made friends, they enjoyed Sunday School and coffee hour, and look forward to Greek School next year. All the boys looked very nice in their altar robes, beautiful white ones for this period following Easter and before Pentecost. The Church is absolutely beautiful and I am really looking forward to worshiping in this lovely Church with so many wonderful people.

We had rain today but we made the most of it by doing a little exploring of  the downtown and the lake front. They boys wanted to see the Navy ships and hockey arena and we swung by the Church so they could enjoy the children’s library which is part of the Church’s lending library.

We hope to get home tomorrow, pray for good weather and low winds!

CHRIST IS RISEN!!!
TRULY HE IS RISEN!!!

 Χριστός Ανέστη! Αληθώς Ανέστη!

Христос Воскресе! Воистину Воскресе!

“Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death , and to those in the tombs, bestowing life!”

The Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom (Read Each Year at Pascha)

Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God? Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!  Is there anyone who is a grateful servant?  Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting?  Let them now receive their wages! If any have toiled from the first hour,  let them receive their due reward; If any have come after the third hour,  let him with gratitude join in the Feast! And he that arrived after the sixth hour,  let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss. And if any delayed until the ninth hour,  let him not hesitate; but let him come too. And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,  let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,  as well as to him that toiled from the first. To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows. He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor. The deed He honors and the intention He commends.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!  First and last alike receive your reward;  rich and poor, rejoice together! Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!

You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,  rejoice today for the Table is richly laden! Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one. Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith. Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty,  for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;  for forgiveness has risen from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.

He destroyed Hades when He descended into it. He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh. Isaiah foretold this when he said, “You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below.”

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with. It was in an uproar because it is mocked. It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed. It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated. It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive. Hell took a body, and discovered God.  It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.

O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, O death, are annihilated! Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down! Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is Risen, and life is liberated! Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead; for Christ having risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

~Holy Saturday~

On Great and Holy Saturday the Orthodox Church commemorates the burial of Christ and His descent into Hades. It is the day between the Crucifixion of our Lord and His glorious Resurrection. The Matins of Holy Saturday is conducted on Friday evening, and while many elements of the service represent mourning at the death and burial of Christ, the service itself is one of watchful expectation.

Commemoration of Holy Saturday

On Great and Holy Saturday the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord’s descent into Hades, the place of the dead. Death, our ultimate enemy, is defeated from within. “He (Christ) gave Himself as a ransom to death in which we were held captive, sold under sin. Descending into Hades through the Cross … He loosed the bonds of death” (Liturgy of St. Basil).

On Great Saturday our focus is on the Tomb of Christ. This is no ordinary grave. It is not a place of corruption, decay and defeat. It is life-giving, a source of power, victory and liberation.

Great Saturday is the day between Jesus’ death and His resurrection. It is the day of watchful expectation, in which mourning is being transformed into joy. The day embodies in the fullest possible sense the meaning of xarmolipi – joyful-sadness, which has dominated the celebrations of Great Week. The hymnographer of the Church has penetrated the profound mystery, and helps us to understand it through the following poetic dialogue that he has devised between Jesus and His Mother:

“Weep not for me, O Mother, beholding in the sepulcher the Son whom thou hast conceived without seed in thy womb. For I shall rise and shall be glorified, and as God I shall exalt in everlasting glory those who magnify thee with faith and love.”

“O Son without beginning, in ways surpassing nature was I blessed at Thy strange birth, for I was spared all travail. But now beholding Thee, my God, a lifeless corpse, I am pierced by the sword of bitter sorrow. But arise, that I may be magnified.”

“By mine own will the earth covers me, O Mother, but the gatekeepers of hell tremble as they see me, clothed in the bloodstained garment of vengeance: for on the Cross as God have I struck down mine enemies, and I shall rise again and magnify thee.”

“Let the creation rejoice exceedingly, let all those born on earth be glad: for hell, the enemy, has been despoiled. Ye women, come to meet me with sweet spices: for I am delivering Adam and Eve with all their offspring, and on the third day I shall rise again.” (9th Ode of the Canon)

Great Saturday is the day of the pre-eminent rest. Christ observes a Sabbath rest in the tomb. His rest, however, is not inactivity but the fulfillment of the divine will and plan for the salvation of humankind and the cosmos. He who brought all things into being, makes all things new. The re-creation of the world has been accomplished once and for all. Through His incarnation, life and death Christ has filled all things with Himself He has opened a path for all flesh to the resurrection from the dead, since it was not possible that the author of life would be dominated by corruption.

Saint Paul tells us that:

“God was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Hence, eternal life – real and self-generating – penetrated the depths of Hades. Christ who is the life of all destroyed death by His death. That is why the Church sings joyously “Things now are filled with light, the heaven and the earth and all that is beneath the earth” (Canon of Pascha).

The Church knows herself to be “the place, the eternal reality, where the presence of Christ vanquishes Satan, hell and death itself.

The solemn observance of Great Saturday help us to recall and celebrate the great truth that “despite the daily vicissitudes and contradictions of history and the abiding presence of hell within the human heart and human society,” life has been liberated! Christ has broken the power of death.

It is not without significance that the icon of the Resurrection in our Church is the Descent of Christ into Hades, the place of the dead. This icon depicts a victorious Christ, reigned in glory, trampling upon death, and seizing Adam and Eve in His hands, plucking them from the abyss of hell. This icon expresses vividly the truths resulting from Christ’s defeat of death by His death and Resurrection.

~Great and Holy Friday~

On Great and Holy Friday the Orthodox Church commemorates the death of Christ on the Cross. This is the culmination of the observance of His Passion by which our Lord suffered and died for our sins. This commemoration begins on Thursday evening with the Matins of Holy Friday and concludes with a Vespers on Friday afternoon that observes the unnailing of Christ from the Cross and the placement of His body in the tomb. Learn More »

“They cast lots upon my vesture…….”
Good Friday Morning

According to the Hebrew custom, the “Royal Hours”, four in number, are read at this time. These services consist of hymns, psalms, and readings from the Old and New Testaments, all related prophetically and ethically to the Person of Christ. In some churches the “Hours” are read in the afternoon, before the Vesper services.

“Father forgive them for they know not what they do…….”
Good Friday Morning

(The service is Vespers sung on Friday afternoon)

The Vespers of Friday afternoon are a continuation of the Royal Hours. During this service, the removal of the Body of Christ from the Cross is commemorated with a sense of mourning for the terrible events which took place. Once more, excerpts from the Old Testament are read together with hymns, and again the entire story is related, followed by the removal from the Cross and the wrapping of the Body of Christ with a white sheet as did Joseph of Arimathea. Apostle Paul, interpreting the dreadful event, exhorts the Church: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God . . . we preach Christ crucified . . . the power of God and the wisdom of God”, 1 Cor. 1: 18f.

As the priest reads the Gospel, and taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in a white cloth”, he removes the Body of Christ from the Cross, wraps It in a white cloth and takes It to the altar. The priest then chants a mourning hymn: “When Joseph of Arimathea took Thee, the life of all, down from the Tree dead, he buried Thee with myrrh and fine linen . . . rejoicing. Glory to Thy humiliation, O Master, who clothest Thyself with light as it were with a garment”. The priest then carries the cloth on which the Body of Christ is painted or embroidered around the church before placing It inside the Sepulcher, a carved bier which symbolizes the Tomb of Christ. We are reminded that during Christ’s entombment He descends into Hades to free the dead of the ages before His Incarnation.

The Gospel readings which relate these events are: Matt. 27:1-38; Lk. 23:29-43; Matt. 27:29-54; Jn. 19:31-37; Matt. 27:55-61. Good Friday is the only day in the year on which the Divine Liturgy is not officiated.

Today the devoted Christian ponders in his heart the deep meaning of the Seven Last Words of Christ uttered on the Cross, the first Divine Pulpit of Christianity.

“Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves”
Good Friday Evening – The Lamentation

Mary Magdalene, Mary, the Mother of God, John the beloved disciple, and Joseph of Arimathea are shown preparing Christ’s body for the tomb. Icon of the Epitaphios

(The service is Matins of Saturday morning sung by anticipation Friday evening.)

It consists of psalms, hymns and readings, dealing with the death of Christ, in contrast to His divinity, and in expectation of His Resurrection. One of the hymns relates: “He who holds all things is raised up on the Cross and all creation laments to see Him hang naked on the Tree”. The thoughtful, and well-written Odes,, sung by the choir, compare the Compassion of God and the cruelty of man; the Might of God and the moral weakness of man. The Odes picture all Creation trembling when witnessing its Creator hung by His own creatures: “Creation was moved . . . with intense astonishment when it beheld Thee hung in Golgotha”. The Odes remind us of the vision of Isaiah, who saw Christ, “the unwaning light of the manifestation”, and cried aloud, “The dead indeed shall arise and all those on earth shall rejoice”. During this service the Body of Christ is carried in procession around the church. In some parishes the entire flower-bedecked Sepulcher, symbolizing the Tomb, is carried in the procession.

The entire congregation joins in singing the, three parts of the “Hymns of Praise” (there are approximately 300 hymns, but only a few are sung). After these hymns are sung, the priest sprinkles the Sepulcher and the whole congregation with fragrant water. There is a simultaneous praise of both the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ with their purpose of the redemption of man. We no longer lament the sufferings of the Crucified One; we now lament chiefly for our own sins because we are far from God. So these services should have a rather personal meaning of repentance and of strong faith in God.

Christians observe Good Friday with fasting, prayer, cleanliness, self-examination, confession and good works, in humility and, repentance so that the Grace of the Cross might descend upon them.

The Gospel reading is Matthew 27:62-66.

~HOLY THURSDAY~

Come, O faithful! Let us enjoy the Master’s hospitality: the Banquet of Immortality! In the upper chamber with uplifted minds, let us receive the exalted words of the Word, Whom we magnify! Hear The Hymns of Holy Week »

HOLY THURSDAY MORNING – Matthew 26:2-20, John 13:3-17, Matthew 26:21-39, Luke 22:43-45, and Matthew 26:40-27:2. On Holy Thursday morning, we ascend Mt. Zion with Christ and the Twelve, and enter into the upper room. Once there, we witness the awesome moment when, at the Last Supper, Christ abolishes the ritual practice of the Old Covenant and establishes the ritual of the New Covenant, prophesied by Jeremiah, through the Sacrament of Holy Communion. The faithful receive Holy Communion at that Holiest of Liturgies.

HOLY THURSDAY EVENING – In this service, we commemorate the undeserved suffering of Jesus Christ, endured for our sake, so that we might be reconciled anew to God our Father. The Gospel readings witness for us the betrayal and arrest of Jesus, his trial and conviction, and finally his torture, crucifixion and death at the hands of a sinful humanity. This evening’s service also includes the procession representing Christ carrying His own cross along the Via Dolorosa, and ends when we see before us the King of Glory crucified. The Gospels are as follows:

1. John 13:31-18:1
2. John 18:1-29
3. Matthew 26:57-75
4. John 18:28-19:16
5. Matthew 27:3-32
6. Mark 15:16-32
7. Matthew 27:33-54
8. 23:32-49
9. John 19:25-37
10. Mark 15:43-47
11. John 19:38-42
12. Matthew 27:62-66

These readings relate the last instructions of Christ to His disciples, the prophecy of the drama of the Cross, the dramatic prayer of Christ and His new commandment. The day should be devoted to reading the “Gospel of the Testament” of Christ which He left for all men. The Church services during Holy Week re-enact the events of this Gospel.

After the reading of the fifth Gospel comes the procession with the Crucifix around the church, while the priest chants the 15th antiphon: “Today is hung upon the Tree, He Who did hang the land in the midst of the waters. A Crown of thorns crowns Him Who is King of Angels. He is wrapped about with the purple of mockery Who wrapped the Heavens with clouds. He received buffetings Who freed Adam in Jordan. He was transfixed with nails Who is the Bridegroom of the Church. He was pierced with a spear Who is the Son of the Virgin. We worship Thy Passion, O Christ. Show also unto us thy glorious Resurrection”.

During the Procession, the faithful Christian kneels and prays for his spiritual welfare, imitating the thief on the Cross who confessed his faith and devotion to Christ. He then approaches and reverently kisses the Crucifix.