St.Vladimir Orthodox Church

April 19, 2024

Fifth Sunday of Lent: St. Mary of Egypt

Saturday April 20 Vigil 6:00pm

Sunday April 21 Divine Liturgy 10:00am
Tone 5

Wednesday April 24 10:00am Presanctified Liturgy

Saturday April 27 Lazarus Saturday
10:00 am Baptism or Chrismation of Catechumens
Followed by Liturgy (first Communion)

Please pray for the Catechumens who will be Baptized or Chrismated: Chris, Evangeline, Jennifer, Julia, Julian, Rory, Shane, Sasha, Shawna, Steven. We have spent a lot of effort preparing these 10 candidates and I pray that they will flourish as Orthodox Christians in the parish.

There are more Catechumens who will be baptised later, as the occasion warrants. I'm looking forward to admitting the next set of Catechumens into the church as well.

"This year again, we have a collection of authentic Ukrainian hand-painted wooden eggs Pysanky for sale. They are at the church entrance. The suggested donation is $15 per egg. Please put money into a special collection box next to the basket. All proceeds will be forwarded to help Ukrainian families fleeing the war."

Thank you for arranging this, Alina

Notices:

Pysanky

The Pysanky cost $15 and the proceeds go for the support of the victims of the Russian/Ukrainian war.

Clean up

Saturday is Clean up day. I understand that there will be refreshments available. Come and help to make the church a more and nicer, cleaner place to worship.

St. Catherine Discussion Group

Dear all:

A reminder that we will meet again this week, Saturday, April 20 at 4:30 p.m. before Vigil, in the basement at St Vladimir. This will be our last meeting before we conclude Lent, enter into Holy Week, and celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord at Pascha. We will continue our discussion of Way of the Ascetics by Tito Colliander, picking up our discussion from last time at around Chapter 10. Please join us as we enter the final period of the Great Fast, and help each other reflect on what this little book has to tell us about prayer, fasting and the life in Christ. All are welcome.

For those who can't come in person, as usual we will stream the discussion at:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84462331463?pwd=NLFDnjMtzdVPfretIBFaOp6m4aauVq.1

Love in Christ,

Daniel

Catechumens

They will meet after Coffee Hour this Sunday. This will be their final meeting before they are Baptised and or Chrismated.

St George Church

You are aware that Father Panagiotis has asked Father Alexander to fill in for him on the Sundays of this month, so please pray for Father Alexander and Father Panagiotis. This has caused us to have to modify our service schedule for the rest of Great Lend and Passion Week. Please make sure to read and note the Supplementary Bulletins as they are issued. I don't want you to turn up expecting a service that we have had to cancelled.

Holy Unction

The service of Holy Unction that was planned for Wednesday, May 1, has been cancelled. It will be rescheduled at a quieter time of the year.

Saturday May 4 (Eve of Pascha)

A Liturgy was scheduled for 10am. This is now cancelled.

Be careful not to confuse that cancellation with the great Paschal Liturgy at 11pm that evening. That is the Liturgy of Great and Holy Pascha and no matter what - that is still on!

Blessing of Baskets

You may remember from Last year and from Christmas, that there will be lots and lots of people attending the Paschal Liturgy. The church will be bursting at its seams. If all goes to plan, there will be a tent set up for the placing of baskets to be blessed at the end of the Paschal Liturgy. Please put your basket there but do not light basket candles until right before they are to be blessed. We will welcome all of our visitors; they are important to us. May God bless them and us. If you would like advice about Baskets and what to include, and why those things are included, have a word with one of the two Matushkas who, I'm sure will be pleased to give advice.

A Proposal

Some of the young men have suggested that we roast a Lamb for a Paschal meal after the Agape Vespers (which is at 4pm on Pascha Sunday, that's Sunday May 5). We can do that if there are enough people and food to make a decent Paschal Dinner. There will be a signup sheet.

If you would like to learn about the making of Pascha bread and that delicious Cheese Pascha, please have a word with Matushka Lena, or Maria (both of whom are usually found in and around the choir). I first came across Cheese Pascha in Paris and have never forgotten it. I happen to know that Matushka Lena makes very good Cheese Pascha.

Love in Christ and wishing us strength for the last little while of Great Lent
May God Bless is all
-- Father David