My Easter Letter

At each important church season, I publish a "pastoral letter" of reflection to the people of our church. You can read my Paschal (Easter) message here.

I hope that it is of help to you all. I send my sincere paschal greetings for a blessed and joyful holiday time.

Let's remember that Pascha does not just last one day, but throughout the whole week, called "Bright Week," and in a lesser degree, for the 40 days until the feast of the Ascension. So enjoy this time of liberation and new beginnings.

Christ is Risen! Khrystos Voskres! Cristo ha Resucitado! Al Maseeh Qam!

UAOC AMERICA NEWS

Our website, uaoc.org has published some news surrounding the celebration of Orthodox Easter (Pascha). You may go to the news section, to see what's been posted.

Passion Week & Pascha Schedule

Greetings to all!

I know that I have not posted much on this blog lately. Having been in Great Lent and now, Passion Week, things have been pretty hectic.

If anyone is interested in my schedule for the holiday services, please see the following link:

PASSION WEEK & PASCHA SCHEDULE


My prayers are with all of you, our parishioners, friends, family and loved ones, as we celebrate the saving week of the Lord's Passion.

I look forward to posting more here in this blog, following the Paschal holydays.

Here are a few pictures from our services for the Sunday of Flowers (Palm Sunday). I hope you enjoy them.

Best Regards,

+Vladyka Mykhayil

E-Cards for Passion Week and the Easter Holidays

UAOC.ORG continues to provide great quality electronic greeting cards for Pascha and all holy day and religious occasions.

Don't forget to send your family and friends a holiday message with a Ukrainian and Orthodox theme. Select your category on the left side. Click here to send now . . .

Let us draw near with faith and love . . .

"Let us draw near with faith and love, that we may become partakers of life everlasting."

Last week, we discussed some of the initially noticeable liturgical characteristics of the season of Great Lent. Now, we will continue with reflections on the features of the second portion of the Lenten period.

As the time of Lent passes, so too, the intensity of the services. Already, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts has drawn our attention each Wednesday and Friday. With its tranquil and somber chants and texts, the service creates an atmosphere of reflection and quiet contemplation, conducive to the mood of Great Lent.

The Eucharistic portion of the Presanctified Liturgy contains prayers which beckon us to unity with the Lord, who is continually coming into the world around us. The quotation above is from the second part of the Cherubikon. The first part speaks of the "mystical sacrifice," Christ's Body & Blood, which the celebrant is about to bring to the altar for the communion of the faithful. After the silent procession with the consecrated gifts reaches to royal doors, the people, all on bended knees, conclude the hymn. It is only with "faith and with love that we may become partakers of everlasting life."

As we partake of the life-giving sacrament of Christ's presence, the communion hymn reminds us what a good thing it is to be in the presence of the living God. For those who have been fasting for three weeks now, the words become very real indeed. God-with-us and living in our midst is a good thing, which satisfies all human need and hunger: "Taste and see how good the Lord is. Alleluia."

After the third Lenten Sunday, the church calls us to accelerate our participation in worship. This Sunday itself is dedicated to the "Veneration of the Holy Cross" and is intended to give encouragement to the praying and fasting community, with the knowledge that Lent has run half its course and that the "sacred and solemn week of the Passion of Christ" will soon be upon us.

Following the fourth Sunday, during the fifth week, the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, with many prostrations (profound bows on the floor), is sung during Thursday matins. It reminds us of the need to pay attention to the purpose of Lent: to better conform ourselves to the image of Christ through sincere repentance. A prostration is made after each troparion of the canon, during the verse, "Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me."

The Presanctified Liturgy is celebrated that evening, so that the people may be spiritually refreshed by the Eucharist, after the strenuous multitude of prostrations. On the following Saturday, the Akafist Hymn to the Theotokos is sung, as we ask Mary to accompany us, as she did her son, Jesus, on the journey to Jerusalem. The origin of the use of the Akafist to Mary at this time is probably closely related to the proximity of the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25/April 7), the biblical event to which the service is primarily dedicated.

Soon, the 40 days of fasting will conclude with the sixth Friday and the following Saturday of Lazarus, which directly precede the Feast of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday).

We observe the third Sunday of Lent and begin the fourth week knowing that time will pass quickly from this point forward. For us, we are nearing the Holy City and the solemn Passion Week is close at hand.

+Vladyka Mykhayil

New UAOC-America New Items

I would like to bring your attention to several news items recently posted at our website, uaoc.org.

Please follow this link uaoc.org/news to see the latest news and pictures.

About the Liturgical Life of Lent

In the Byzantine-Orthodox tradition, the season of Great Lent takes on an entirely unique characteristic. I thought it would be a good idea to explore some of the changes, terms and themes we find. I’ll try to touch on a few points each week.

Some important things to note are (1) the reading from scripture is done in order (lectio continua) with the following texts (a) On Saturdays & Sundays at the liturgy, the Gospel of Mark and the Letter to the Hebrews are read; (b) At daily Vespers (including days with the Presanctified Liturgy), readings are from the Hebrew Scripture (OT), books of Genesis & Proverbs; daily at the Sixth Hour, there is a reading from Isaiah. A special “prokeimenon” or psalm verse always introduces the readings. During Passion Week, the readings at vespers are from Exodus and Job.

(2) Each day has its own liturgical texts (tropars, stichera, prokeimena, verses, etc) which are taken from a book called the “Lenten Triodion” which literally means “Book of the Three Odes,” (referring to how the canon of Matins is sung daily). So, when you see “from the triodion” next to a certain text, it means that it is taken from this special Lenten book.

(3) Celebration of the Divine Liturgy (Eucharist) is forbidden on the weekdays of Lent. However, to strengthen the faithful in fasting, good deeds and prayer, holy communion is distributed on Wednesday & Friday evenings at a special version of Vespers in which the sacrament has been consecrated on the previous Sunday and reserved in the tabernacle (Presanctified Liturgy).