March 10, Dear Reverend Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Glory to Jesus Christ!

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1 Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA Consistory Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry Natalie Kapeluck Nixon Director PO Box 869 Carnegie, PA March 10, 2016 Dear Reverend Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Glory to Jesus Christ! The Great Lent Giveaway(GLG) is designed to give our youth the opportunity to do good works for others during Great Lent. In addition to doing good works, they learn more about their faith and devote additional time to learning, prayer and fasting during this season of preparation for Pascha. The GLG is a joint project with the Jr. Ukrainian Orthodox League. With the blessing of our Hierarchs, the GLG of 2016 will benefit the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This year we are asking that all youth of our church support this effort by helping to raise funds for and awareness through the Great Lent Giveaway about the work of St Jude. Our financial goal is to raise $1,500 for this program. You will find in this packet a suggested outline for conducting the GLG. We encourage you to construct a program using the full program materials, as well as your own ideas, to make the GLG more than just a fundraising effort. A program that is carried out throughout Great Lent will help the youth of your parish to more fully understand the importance and beauty of almsgiving during fasting periods. The full program is designed for the target ages of However, it may easily be reworked for younger ages. There also additional resources available on-line for all ages groups. The GLG program may be used any time throughout the year, not just during Great Lent. Please modify it for your needs. In an effort to reduce consumption of resources and live as better caretakers of our Lord s creation, the full program is available is available online. You may download the organizational session at The organizational session includes: Great Lent Giveaway How To and Opening Discussion: What is the St. Jude Hospital and Who is St. Jude, and Fundraising Ideas. Posters are also available for download. This year we have a unique feature where individuals may donate directly to the GLG through the GLG crowd sourcing page at ST. Jude Hospital on-line - Please send us with any questions at uocyouth@aol.com or by phone at In Christ s Love, Natalie Kapeluck Nixon Director Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it Proverbs

2 GREAT LENT GIVEAWAY Miracle of Healing Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA Jr. Ukrainian Orthodox League of the USA 2016 Benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Objective: To instill in our youth the true meaning of Great Lent by: 1. Providing youth and their families fighting cancer through financial aid to St. Jude 2. Learning more about their faith 3. Discovering how healing of body and soul is a regular miracle of life 4. Devoting more time to prayer GLG Project: Collecting funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and deepen our faith during Great Lent. Steps for initiating and sustaining the Great Lent Giveaway throughout Great Lent this program may be divided into several sessions or one retreat: 1. Each Wednesday of Great Lent, a new session of the GLG programming curriculum will be provided for download at or uocyouth@aol.com 2. At your first gathering/meeting discuss the Great Lent Giveaway. See the attached outline for your first discussion. At this gathering you will want to decide how you will raise your funds. 3. Have the youth present their ideas for collection of the items. Take time to discuss all of the proposals. Ask them to decide, based upon the presented plans, on a game plan as to how you will accomplish your goals. Establish with the participants a weekly time to gather (once or more) and to utilize the provided curriculum to learn more about St. Jude Hospital, Miraculous Healing : In scripture and today, Ways we Heal: prayer, fasting, holy water, and Healing the world: through service and prayer. 4. and to discuss progress with the collection. 5. Collect and forward the donations to the Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry or the National Jr. UOL Financial Secretary. For questions contact the GLG Coordinator or OYM Office. Great Lent Giveaway Office of Youth Ministry PO Box 869 Carnegie, PA uocyouth@aol.com Jr. Ukrainian Orthodox League Orest Mahlay GLG Coordinator orest.mahlay@gmail.com Contact for Address There is a new way to submit donations or to have individuals donate. Direct on-line donations may be made at This is a special account for the GLG with the St. Jude Hospital Fundraising. 6. Wrap up the project and have a celebration event with the youth on St. Thomas Sunday you may continue collecting funds until July 20, 2015 or bring them to the Ukrainian Orthodox League Convention in Allentown, PA July 27-30, Funds MUST be submitted no later than July 27 th.

3 GLG 2016 Miracle of Healing Outline for Initial Discussion Needed Items: White Board or a notebook for you to keep notes on discussion St. Jude Factsheet St. Jude GLG Fundraising Ideas Suggested Youtube videos listed below Calendar 1. Begin your gathering in Prayer. Being that Great Lent has begun you could choose to have your first discussion following one of the weekday services. If choosing the weekend, perhaps plan to cook a lenten meal together. Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, faint-heartedness, lust of power and idle talk. But rather, grant unto me thy servant, the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love. Yes Lord and King, grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother for blessed are you to the ages of ages. Amen. 2. Take a moment to discuss the purpose of the Great Lent Giveaway as outlined in the How To. Ask the participants, What is Great Lent preparing us for? Pascha The Church in its wisdom always provides us with tools in our journey to Christ to help us along the way. Many tools are given to us during Great Lent on our journey to Pascha can you name them? Increased Prayer, Additional Divine Services, Fasting, Almsgiving/Christian Love and Charity. At this point watch the episode of Be the Bee. Ask the group what their thoughts are concerning what they watched. How is this relevant to the Great Lent Giveaway? 3. Proceed with the following, Now that we have a jumping off point as to why we participate in the Great Lent Giveaway, let s learn about the who will be benefitting from our work St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. If possible, watch the suggested videos about St. Jude provided on Youtube. Type St. Jude Children's Research Hospital into the search line and choose the St. Jude Channel. Watch: Little Warriors, Big Fight No Family Pays St. Jude for Anything Meet St. Jude Patients Mar Browder and Tyler 4. Once you watch the videos, review the St. Jude Fact Sheet with the participants. If you are unable to view the videos, begin with reviewing the Fact Sheet. 5. Lead the group in a discussion concerning the work of St. Jude. Some possible discussion questions: Did you know about St. Jude before today? Do you know any child or youth who has battled cancer?

4 Do you know anyone who has battled cancer? What are your thoughts about the work of St. Jude Hospital? 6. After some discussion, move on to the next area. "How many of you know who Saint Jude is? Well, let's take some time to learn about him and why Mr Thomas chose him as the patron saint for his hospital" Once the reading for St. Jude is completed ask the participants why they think St. Jude may have been chosen as the patron saint for the hospital. After a few guesses you may relay the following. "St. Jude is know in the Roman Catholic church as the patron saint of lost causes. Mr Thomas the founder of St. Jude hospital was a devout Catholic. When he was a struggling actor, he prayed to St. Jude to intercede on his behalf to have some success and if that were to happen he would dedicate a shrine in honor of St. Jude. St. Jude Hospital became that shrine. Have you ever felt that something was a lost cause? How can the actions and faith of Mr. Thomas inspire us in our lives? Allow time for discussion. 7. Now how can we follow the lead of Danny Thomas? Let s discuss how we are going to participate in the GLG this year! Wrap up the discussion by moving into the final points of the GLG How To. 8. Complete the session in prayer. Perhaps the meeting could be held prior to a lenten service and the youth could pray together in this way. GLG Miracle of Healing Initial Discussion Page 2

5 Apostle St. Jude - Brother of the Lord From the Orthodox Church in America Website The Holy Apostle Jude, one of the twelve apostles of Christ, is descended from King David and Solomon, and was the son of Righteous Joseph the Betrothed (Sunday after the Nativity of the Lord) by his first wife. The Holy Apostle John the Theologian writes in his Gospel,... neither did his brethren believe in Him (John. 7:5). St Theophylact, Archbishop of Bulgaria, explains this passage. He says that at the beginning of the Lord Jesus Christ s earthly ministry, Joseph s sons, Jude among them, did not believe in His divine nature. Tradition says that when St Joseph returned from Egypt, he began to divide his possessions among his sons. He wanted to allot a share to Christ the Savior, born miraculously and incorruptibly from the All-Pure Virgin Mary. The brothers were opposed to this because Jesus was born of another mother. Only James, later called The Brother of God, offered to share his portion with Him. Icon of St. Jude with permission of Archangel Icons Jude came to believe in Christ the Savior as the awaited Messiah, and he followed Him and was chosen as one of the twelve Apostles. Mindful of his sin, the Apostle Jude considered himself unworthy to be called the Lord s brother, and in his Epistle he calls himself merely the brother of James. The Holy Apostle Jude also had other names: the Evangelist Matthew terms him Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddeus (Mt. 10:3). The Holy Evangelist Mark also calls him Thaddeus (Mark 3:18), and in the Acts of the Holy Apostles he is called Barsabas (Acts 15: 22). This was customary at that time. After the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, St Jude traveled about preaching the Gospel. He propagated the faith in Christ at first in Judea, Galilee, Samaria and Idumaia, and later in the lands of Arabia, Syria and Mesopotamia. Finally, he went to the city of Edessa. Here he finished the work that was not completed by his predecessor, St Thaddeus, Apostle of the Seventy (August 21). There is a tradition that St Jude went to Persia, where he wrote his catholic Epistle in Greek. In the Epistle much profound truth was expressed in a few words. GLG Miracle of Healing Initial Discussion Page 3

6 St Jude s Epistle speaks about the Holy Trinity, about the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, about the good and bad angels, and about the dread Last Judgment. The Apostle urges believers to guard themselves against fleshly impurity, to be diligent in prayer, faith and love, to convert the lost to the path of salvation, and to guard themselves from the teachings of heretics. He also says that it is not enough just to be converted to Christianity, but faith must be demonstrated by good works. He cites the rebellious angels and men punished by God (verse 6) to support this. The Holy Apostle Jude died as a martyr around the year 80 near Mt. Ararat in Armenia, where he was crucified and pierced by arrows. GLG Miracle of Healing Initial Discussion Page 4