Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
This coming Sunday, February 22, we will serve Forgiveness Vespers no later than 1pm. At this service, we exchange words of mutual forgiveness with everyone in the parish, so please do your best to be present as we begin Great Lent together.
Fasting Days
During this final week of the Triodion, we do not eat meat (beef, pork, chicken, fish with backbones), but dairy products are permitted on all days.
On Monday, February 23, we will begin the traditional fasting discipline in which we go without meat (beef, pork, chicken, and fish with backbones), dairy products, oil, wine, and hard liquor through Pascha, Sunday, April 12. If you need to modify that discipline in any way, please speak with your spiritual father as soon as possible.
Daily Services
Monday, February 16-Friday, February 20: Orthros 5am; Vespers 5pm (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 A Life Testimony by Metropolitan SABA. 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.
Tuesday, February 17
The Inquirer’s Class 7pm
Saturday, February 21
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, February 22 Forgiveness Sunday
Orthros 8am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Forgiveness Vespers no later than 1pm
Coming Up
It's time to register for camp! Every year, The Order of St Ignatius provides each parish with $1,000 to put towards camp scholarships. If you would like some of that scholarship money, please let Father Aidan know by Sunday, February 22. At that time, Father Aidan will let each family know how much they will receive. Also, please note that you still need to register for camp, and that receiving scholarship funds does not guarantee that you will get into a camp.
This year, Great Lent begins on Monday, February 23. Please take a look at the website calendar and start planning how you will fast and when you will make your confession. We also need to be thinking about which Lenten services we will attend, what kind of spiritual reading we want to do, how we will help others, and how much we want to increase our giving. If we will plan ahead, we will be able to take full advantage of these special seasons.
This year, the Saturdays of Souls fall on February 14, March 7, and March 14, as well as on May 30. On those Saturdays, we pray for our departed friends and loved ones, but we also prepare for our departure from this life, and our Burial Society can help us with a lot of those practical details. Members of the society will be present on each Saturday, and they can answer all your questions and help get you started on that process that so very many of us just try to postpone. Since there are four Saturdays of Souls, our hope is that all of us will attend the Divine Services on at least one of those days, so look at your calendar and go ahead and pick a Saturday on which you can join us.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
When we need to ask the priest a question or give him an update on our health or schedule an appointment, we can do that by email or with a phone call or in a personal conversation. However, we should not try to do any of that when we are receiving the Holy Eucharist or reverencing the Precious and Life-Giving Cross—those are sacred and solemn moments that should not be interrupted with other concerns.
an unworthy priest
aidan