Four Evangleists to Receive an Incredible Gift on March 14th
Glory to Jesus Christ!
I hope you are all well. As I announced with joy and thanksgiving after Liturgy, we will be holding a joint Sunday Lenten Vespers Service with our sister parish Sts. Mary Magdalene and Markella. It will be here at our parish on Sunday, March 14th, (4th Sunday of Great Lent) at 6pm. At that time, the pastor of Sts. Mary Magdalene and Markella, Fr. Manuel Burdusi, will be presenting a gift to Four Evangelists on behalf of his parish- Relics of our own Patron Saints, the Four Holy Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
This is an incredible gift- more precious than gold and jewels! We are extremely blessed to be able to receive such Relics- men who lived with our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ- so that they will be available for veneration in our humble parish. We certainly owe our sister parish a debt of gratitude!
Please put this date on your calendars. I hope and expect to see all of our parishioners at this Sunday Vespers Service on the 14th, both to thankfully accept the gift of the Relics, and to welcome our brothers and sisters from Sts. Mary Magdalene and Markella’s parish to our home. The Sisterhood will coordinate the Lenten Meal that we will serve after the Service, to give us the opportunity to spend time getting to know one another.
I hope that you all take time this week to praise God for the incredible blessings that he bestows upon our parish! May He continue to bless each of you as well.
With Love in Christ, Father Gregory
Liturgy of Pre-Sanctified Gifts
The Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts will be served at 7pm every Wednesday during Great Lent.
Please make every effort to attend these special Lenten Services as part of your devotional efforts during the Great Fast. To receive Holy Communion at a LPSG (the entire purpose of the Service!), one should take a light meal at midday, and fast completely after that until the Service. We will have a Lenten Potluck Dinner after the Service.
2010 Great Lent Epistle from our Bishops
Great Lent – the season of repentance – takes us AWAY from death and destruction and leads us TO life. Repentance – turning FROM life in the “flesh” TO life in the “Spirit”. The world in which we live is in turmoil. It is a world, which disregards the teaching of Jesus Christ.
The Church prescribes the following Fasting rules for Great Lent:
We abstain from meat, meat products, eggs, dairy products, fish with backbones, wine, and olive oil.
Wine and olive oil are permitted on weekends.
Remember, fasting is not an end in itself, nor simply a means to an end, but the practical enacting of the virtues of self-control, contentment, temperance, and moderation, among others, by cooperating with the energies, the grace, of God.
Abstinence from certain foods is intended as spiritual preparation for an experience of deeper communion with God. Each person is a unity of body and soul. A right spiritual diet and a discipline of fasting go together and strengthen each other. Just as prayer benefits not only the soul but also the body, so also fasting from foods benefits not only the body but also the soul.
As St. Isaac the Syrian teaches, there can be no knowledge of the mysteries of God on a full stomach. Fasting and prayer make us more sensitive to God's personal presence in our daily lives.
Prayer List
Please remember the following in your prayers:
Archbishop
Antony, Metropolitan Constantine, Bishop Daniel, Metropolitan Nicholas, Fr.
Michael Roshak, Rdr. Basil Athas, Michael Athas, Adora, Amy and James, Basil,
Beth Albano, Carol, John Broderick, Catherine and her family, Rose Cross,
Dorothy, Angela, Scott, George and Lea and the child she bears, Andrew, Lois
Davis, Crystal Erber, Debbie and Al Eilbacher, Erik, Teresa Ficoturo, Gail,
Molly Grabowski, Dorothy Green, David, Marti and Kevin Harris, Carlos and
Beverly Holland and their children, Jean Humphreys, John Robert Johnson,
Kalyan, Ann Kietzman, George Kozar, Leigh, Paul Maas, Steve, Jocelyn, Ruth and
Lucas Mathewes, Doug Mauzy, Christopher McKenzie, Kara and the child she bears,
Melissa, David Mukai, Peggy Mukai, Ann, Jonathan, Nadia, Sally Novick, Evanthia
Pappas, Megan, David, Hannah, Adam and Michael, William Parrish, Kim, Joe
Rehmeyer, Peter Roshak, Anthony Rotondo, Kris Sackett, James Sanderson, Sara,
Presanna Sivan, Robert Smith, Thomas Smith, Barbara Wandel, Anne Williams, Joe,
Susan, Lily, Hannah and Tabitha
Church Etiquete
Have you ever wondered:
When is it proper to sit or stand during Church services?
Should one kneel on Sundays?
How are icons properly venerated?
Is it proper to shake a priest or bishop's hand?
What about that bread offered after communion?
Click here>... to read an article on Church Etiquette that gives answers to these questions and more.
Are you aware of your spiritual poverty?
During advent, consider the discussion of this topic by reading the article "Unless the Lord Comes to US". An excerpt follows below:
I am acutely aware of my spiritual poverty. I have charged through my days heedless, as the mellowed northern California fall sun has illumined a fiery display of gold and magenta, flaming orange and russet red. Glory to God! the colors have shouted,but most of the time I have been too busy to stop and notice. My cell phone rings, my car needs gas, my errand list is a mile long, my work beckons, and my children need rides or tutoring or food. Squeezing in morning prayers here and there and attending church on Sunday, I nod to God before getting back to the “real” business at hand.
An Orthodox Christian, who, after proper preparation, regularly participates in the Mystery of Holy Eucharist, should also participate in the Mystery of Repentance, making their Confession regularly. At a minimum, the fathers of the Church recommend making one’s Confession four times per year- once during each of the Fasting Periods (Great Lent, Apostle’s Fast, Dormition Fast, Nativity Fast), in addition to anytime that sin weighs heavily upon one’s soul. Our Bishops, however, strongly encourage monthly Confession for those who partake of the Holy Mystery of Communion on a weekly basis.
In accordance with the canons of the Church, anyone who misses 3 consecutive Sunday Liturgies must make their Confession prior to their next reception of Holy Communion. Confessions will be heard on Saturday evenings after Great Vespers, on Sunday mornings prior to the beginning of Divine Liturgy (during the chanting of the Hours), or by appointment with Fr. Gregory.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO PRAY for our Mission Parish Community every day, that, by the grace of God, His Church may grow and become fully established, for the sanctification and salvation of souls, and that He may be worshiped and glorified in an Orthodox manner in Northern Maryland.
An Orthodox Christian, who, after proper preparation, regularly participates in the Mystery of Holy Eucharist, should also participate in the Mystery of Repentance, making their 
