One week and counting: that’s how long we have until Holy Lent begins—the Great Fast! We begin now (if we haven’t already) preparing ourselves, body and soul, and our households to make the most of this holy season of fasting and increased prayer that is before us. We do so in order to heal, to grow in Christ, to take a few steps forward in faith and participation in the life in Christ God, so that, arriving at Pascha, we are changed and renewed further into those beloved children of God that He has formed us and called us to be.
In the same manner, Christ places before us today the remembrance of the Last Judgment, when Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. The timing is neither accidental nor random: Christ through His holy Church knows that it is our Orthodox understanding of sin and judgment that can be not only the catalyst to change, to increased cooperation with the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but also the vehicle through which that change comes. We keep in remembrance the Last Judgment, so that daily, judging ourselves in light of the Gospel and the revealed life of Christ through His holy Church, we may address the sin in our lives, find healing for our souls and increased participation in the life of the Holy Trinity, and in this way, hear the words of Christ on the Last Day, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you.” In His love, Fr. Robert+
House blessings need to be completed, if possible, in the Triodion (i.e., before Lent). We invite Christ into our homes to bless them and pray God to make them places of His light, peace, truth, and love. Please contact Fr. Robert ASAP with 2 suggested days and times for a house blessing.
This week at Holy Archangels:
- Sunday, Feb. 23, Meatfare, SUNDAY SCHOOL and ANNUAL MEETING after Liturgy
- Mondays, Fr. Robert’s Day Off (please don’t contact except for pastoral emergencies)
- Tuesday, Feb. 25, 12:50-13:20, Sixth Hour prayers, USNA
- Wednesday, Feb. 26, 6:30, St. John’s College Boathouse, Applied Orthodox Theology Discussion—“Lent: What you need to know”
- Saturday, March 1, 6:00 p.m., Great Vespers. Confession following.
- Sunday, March 2, 9:30 Hours, 10 a.m. Divine Liturgy, Forgiveness Sunday, CHEESEFARE followed by abbreviated Vespers and the RITE of FORGIVENESS.
Save the Dates:
- Mon., March 3, “Clean Monday,” GREAT LENT BEGINS!
- Wed., March 5, 6:30 p.m.,FIRST PRESANCTIFIED LITURGY, Lenten potluck, St. Martin’s
$5,000 Matching Grant Update
We have been offered a $5,000 matching grant by an anonymous donor, the goal of which we must reach by Pascha. So Far we have raised $1,497. Praise be to God!
Prayer Requests:
- That God may grow our Mission “in spirit and in numbers…”
- For God’s financial provision for our Mission and ACM;
- For our Mission that we may find a Choir Director;
- Archpriest George, Archpriest Michael, Priest John, Dcn. Basil, Rdr. John, Benedict, Colette, Mary, Carol, Katherine, James, Daniel, Sarah, Seraphim, Ed, Patricia, the Church in Georgia and Romania as they address the relativism of the West, speaking the truth in love, our suffering Orthodox brethren in Syria, the nuns and orphans of St. Thekla Monastery abducted by Syrian terrorist rebels, our brethren in Ukraine.
- The newly-departed Reader Michael, Mat. Claudia
Troparion (Resurrection) Tone 2
When You descended to death, O Life Immortal,
You destroyed hell with the splendor of Your Godhead.
And when from the depths You raised the dead,
all the powers of heaven cried out://“O Giver of life, Christ our God, glory to You!”
Troparion (Holy Archangels) Tone 4
Commanders of the heavenly hosts, // we who are unworthy beseech you:
by your prayers encompass us beneath the wings of your immaterial glory,
and faithfully preserve us who fall down and cry to you://
“Deliver us from all harm, for you are the Commanders of the Powers on high!”
Kontakion (from the Lenten Triodion) Tone 1
When You, O God, shall come to earth with glory, all things shall tremble,
and the river of fire shall flow before Your judgment seat;
the books shall be opened, and the hidden things disclosed;
then deliver me from the unquenchable fire,//
and make me worthy to stand at Your right hand, O Righteous Judge!
Kontakion (Holy Archangels) Tone 2
Commanders of God’s armies // and ministers of the divine glory,
princes of the bodiless Angels // and guides of mankind;
ask for what is good for us, and for great mercy,// Supreme Commanders of the Bodiless Hosts
