Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
Holy Week has begun! Please be sure and read through this entire newsletter, because we not only have the schedule for all the beautiful services and important activities of this week, we also have important information about events that will be taking place after Pascha, like The Pascha Book Study, The Annual Talent Show, Camp St Raphael, and The Parish Life Conference.
OUR CALENDAR
Fasting Days
During Holy Week we abstain from meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine, and olive oil Monday through Thursday. Great and Holy Friday is a strict fast day (in which the goal should be to eat as little as possible), and there is a blessing for wine and olive oil on Great and Holy Saturday. If you need to modify the fast in any way, please check with your spiritual father.
The Schedule for Holy Week
If you have the Archdiocesan Holy Week Service Book, please see the emailed newsletter to this week’s Happy Priest is a guide for using that volume in our Holy Week Services.
Monday, April 18 Great and Holy Monday
Pre-sanctified Liturgy 6am
Bridegroom Othros 7pm
Masks will be required at this service
Tuesday, April 19 Great and Holy Tuesday
Pre-sanctified Liturgy 6am
Masks will be required at this service
Bridegroom Othros 7pm
Wednesday, April 20 Great and Holy Wednesday
Pre-sanctified Liturgy 6am
Unction Service 7pm
Thursday, April 21 Great and Holy Thursday
Vesperal Liturgy of St Basil with Washing of Feet 6am
Service of the Twelve Gospels 7pm
Friday, April 22 Great and Holy Friday
Royal Hours 9am
Descent from the Cross Vespers Noon
Service of Lamentations 7pm
The Tomb Vigil
This service runs from 9pm on Friday, April 22 to 9am on Saturday, April 23.
Saturday, April 23 Great and Holy Saturday
Vesperal Liturgy of St Basil with Baptisms 8am
Masks will be required at this service; at the service, a family will be baptized and chrismated along with two individuals will be made catechumens
Paschal Service 11pm
Sunday, April 24 The Great and Holy Pascha
Agape Vespers 2pm (The gospel will be read in English, Latin, Italian, Arabic, and Russian)
Paschal Picnic 3pm
Membership Update
Before the Divine Liturgy on Lazarus Saturday, we made an individual a catechumen. Please be sure and introduce yourself and let him know that you will be praying for him as he prepares to be received into the Church.
An Announcement About Pascha Flowers
As is tradition at Saint John, the handmaidens will be coming together on Friday morning after the Royal Hours to decorate the nave and the bier with bright flowers.
The church budgets for some flowers, but, as you know, the liturgical calendar gives us many many opportunities to celebrate the feasts with festal decorations. We'd love not to use the whole budget on Pascha and save some to adorn the church on other occasions. If you have any extra to give this season, please consider donating specifically to the flower fund.
You can visit the website to donate using PayPal (select “Flower Fund” in the dropdown menu). You can also include a check or cash in the offering bowl. Please just make sure to earmark the funds for flowers with a memo on the check or a note with the cash.
Thanks to all of you for participating in this joyful ministry.
COMING UP
The Pascha Book Study will begin on Wednesday, April 27, and it will meet each Wednesday evening through May 25. Father Andrew Wilson and Father Michael Coleman will be leading the group, and this year’s study will bring to a close our year long exploration of the theology and practices associated with death in Holy Orthodoxy. With the help of several selections, the group will take a guided tour of the funeral service itself, beginning with Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev’s overview from his Orthodox Christianity series. Along the way the group will focus on the prayers and hymns unique to the service, while also reading St. Gregory of Nazianzus’ funeral oration for his friend, St. Basil the Great, perhaps the best example of a eulogy in the Orthodox tradition. Finally, the study will end with a look at grief through a letter of consolation sent by St. John Chrysostom to a spiritual daughter whose husband had died. There is no single text to purchase for the book study, but a packet of materials will be printed and available in the bookstore for only the cost of what it took to get them printed. Here’s the schedule for the sessions and the readings:
Session 1 - The Orthodox Funeral Service, Pt 1
Read: Funeral Service: pp 1-7
Read: Funeral Oration: paragraphs 1-27
Session 2 - Funeral Service, Pt 2
Read: Funeral Service: pp 7-13
Read: Funeral Oration: paragraphs 28-54
Session 3 - Funeral Oration
Read: Funeral Oration: paragraphs 55-82
Session 4 - Funeral Service, Pt 3
Read: Funeral Service: pp 14-21
Session 5 - Letter to a Grieving Widow & Conclusion
Read: Letter to a Grieving Widow (13 pages)
Our annual talent show gives parishioners a chance to share and celebrate each other's unique gifts, experiences, and creations. Do you have something to share or perform? Get details and sign up here: https://forms.gle/nbFPgeCsyUsBHc4Y9. The show will happen on Sunday, May 15th, from 12:30 - 2 pm (give or take depending on the number of submissions). If you have questions, email Rigel Thurston at: rigelthurston@gmail.com.
Camp St Raphael 2022 Camper Applications are available online at https://www.campstraphael.org at Noon on February 1st. Remember spots are reserved on a first come first serve basis, so don’t delay. Session One is June 26th through July 2nd, and Session Two is July 3rd through 9th. This year CSR will be at new location in Kingston, Oklahoma. Scholarships are available through the parish, so if you need assistance in order to send your child to camp, please speak with Father Aidan or Father Andrew.
The Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America’s Parish Life Conference will be hosted by St George Cathedral in Wichita, Kansas, from June 15th through 18th. Jerry Juliano will be ordained to the Holy Diaconate at the closing liturgy for the conference. Hotel reservations may be made at Reservations: Hyatt Regency https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/group-booking/WICRW/G-GECA.
OUR MOMENT OF GRACE AND COURTESY
Here are the final three Pascha Moments of Grace and Courtesy:
Please leave your food in your vehicle until after the Pascha services have ended. Once we have all reverenced the cross, there will be plenty of time to get the food and get organized; however, we simply won't have room for all the food during the services.
Please plan on cleaning up after yourself and your children or grandchildren--even if your children or grandchildren aren't actually sitting with you during the Paschal Feast. Please pay special attention to the confetti that is often placed in hollow eggs; it’s difficult to pick up once it gets too scattered. Also, if your schedule will allow, please plan on helping clean up after the feast: we will need to put up all the tables and chairs, clean up the kitchen, take out the trash, wipe down the bathrooms and vacuum before Agape Vespers that afternoon.
Even though the Paschal Services take place overnight, it’s not a slumber party—it’s the most important night of the year. So let’s be sure and dress up for it. Instead of jammies or athleisure wear, think prom or wedding reception or big job interview. That’s just one more way we can express our gratitude to the Most Holy Trinity.
An unworthy priest,
aidan
The Happy Priest is a publication of Life At A Dead Run Media, which is a subsidiary of One Take Productions. Our IT Guy is Jerry Juliano; our Webmasters are Lily Halsey and Seth Hart; our Keeper of Lists is Father Andrew Wilson; our Roving Reporter is Bruno Gehard; we always add boiled hooves to our Paschal Patsas, and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.