Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Upcoming Events. Христосъ воскресе! Воистину воскресе! The Death & Resurrection of Christ

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1 The Death & Resurrection of Christ - St. Gregory the Theologion Yesterday I was crucified with Him; today I am glorified with Him. Yesterday I died with Him; today I am made alive with Him. Yesterday I was buried with Him; today I am raised up with Him. Let us offer to Him Who suffered and rose again for us ourselves, the possession most precious to God and most proper. Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us. Let us become Divine for His sake, since for us He became Man. He assumed the worse that He might give us the better. He became poor that by His poverty we might become rich. He accepted the form of a servant that we might win back our freedom. He came down that we might be lifted up. He was tempted that through Him we might conquer. He was dishonored that He might glorify us. He died that He might save us. He ascended that He might draw to Himself us, who were thrown down through the fall of sin. Let us give all, offer all, to Him who gave Himself a Ransom and Reconciliation for us. We needed an incarnate God, a God put to death, that we might live. We were put to death together with Him that we might be cleansed. We rose again with Him because we were put to death with Him. We were glorified with Him because we rose again with Him. A few drops of Blood recreate the whole of creation! Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Upcoming Events May 14, 2016 Annual Pilgrimage, Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery June 9, 2016 Ascension June 19, 2016 Pentecost & Blessing of Graves June 29, 2016 Patronal Feast Day of Ss Peter & Paul Христосъ воскресе! Воистину воскресе!

2 Epistle: Acts 1:1-8 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which, He said, you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Gospel: John 1:1-17 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Other features of the icon: Christ s garment is raised up behind him, reflecting his downward motion into Hades to free the bonds of the captives there. At the bottom is usually a skeleton figure representing Satan or Death, for as we sing throughout Pascha, trampling down death by [His] death. The blue shape around Christ is called the Mandorla, from the Italian word for almond, after which it is shaped. It represents the uncreated, eternal light of Christ. God is often portrayed as light, light beyond brilliant, as in the light of the burning bush of Moses, or the light at Transfiguration which overwhelmed Peter, James and John on Mt. Tabor. The Light of Christ penetrated the darkness of Hades. It is also the light experienced when one is pure of heart and mind, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Note that the light emanates from a dark center, for God is ineffable, beyond comprehension; to know and experience God is to be subsumed by His Presence.

3 The Icon of the Harrowing of Hell There is no icon of the actual resurrection. That is because the moment of resurrection is a mystery. It took place in a closed, sealed tomb. It was seen by no one and cannot be depicted. What we venerate instead is the aftermath of the resurrection: the grave clothes, the angels, the meeting with Jesus, and especially Christ s descent into Hades. SS. PETER & PAUL ORTHODOX CHURCH Sometimes called The Descent into Hades or Anastasis, the Greek word for Resurrection, this icon is also called The Harrowing of Hell after the English word harrow, an implement used to roughly plough a field, churning it up. The events depicted in this icon are from 1 Peter 3:18-19, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits, and Hebrews 2:14, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil. The power of the devil and death have been destroyed through the life-giving death of our Savior. In the icon Jesus is shown standing on the shattered gates of hell. In hell you see the instruments of prison, keys and torture. Below Him on either side can be seen Adam and Eve kneeling. He is in the process of raising them up, for His victory over death is even back in time to the first man and woman and forward to His second coming well all will be raised to stand judgement. He pulls them by the wrist and not their hand as they are powerless to do more than reach out, their release due entirely to Christ s power. To His right and left are figures from the Old Testament, the old covenant on the left, David and Solomon who were his ancestors in the flesh, and John the Baptist, the Forerunner of Christ in life and death; and on the right, Moses and the prophets, and Abel as the murdered young shepherd boy. They look on in amazement as that which they foretold has come to pass. Hades has not been destroyed, but its power to eternally bind has been broken. A Parish of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) 305 Main Rd., East Herkimer, NY Diocesan Administrator V. Rev. Alexey Karlgut (607) Rev. Deacon Demetrios Richards (315) Council President Mr. John Ciko (315) Website: - (Currently under renovation) SERVICES May 1, 2016 May 8, 2016 Sunday, May 1, 2016 Blessing of Baskets & Agape Meal 2:30 AM Sunday, May 1, 2016 Agape Vespers 1:00 PM Sunday, May 8, 2016 Divine Liturgy, Coffee Hour 9:30 AM PASCHA DINNER We will not be hosting a Pascha Dinner this year. Note that next Sunday, May 8, 2016 is Mother s Day Please remember all the mothers in our parish and in your family, both living and reposed, and include them in your prayers. And take them out to eat after church!

4 This is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! We have persevered through the trials of Great Lent, the Great Fast is complete, and we have been rewarded for our struggle. But can we hold on to what we have attained, to what is good? Too much of our life and culture is fleeting a moment in time, then on to the next shiny thing. AGAPE MEAL: Come downstairs and socialize with your brothers and sisters in Christ. There is no coffee hour today, but you are invited to join us for an Agape Meal in the church undercroft following Paschal Divine Liturgy. We will be blessing Pascha Baskets at that time and joining in fellowship as we break the fast! May 8, 2016 May 15, 2016 May 22, 2016 HOUSE BLESSINGS Barb Daley & Cindy Sue Sobolowski OPEN We need a volunteer! Mary Jane & Mitch Chlus If you would like your house blessed please let Dn. Demetrios know, and every attempt will be made for a priest to come visit you, dependent on the availability of clergy. If you know of a home-bound or shut-in parishioner who would like a priest to come, Confess and Commune them, let Dn. Demetrios know and he will work with visiting priests to find a mutually viable time to visit. Hopefully, by the Grace of God, your spiritual endeavors of the past weeks have brought peace and calm to your soul. The Church does not want you to lose that treasure. This afternoon we will hold the service of Agape Vespers where we will continue the celebration of Pascha, hear of Our Risen Lord s appearance to the disciples, and mark the beginning of the proclamation of Christ s Glorious Resurrection to the world. Bright Week, which begins tomorrow, Monday, is not just a period of no fasting. It is a time to recognize the renewal of creation. Traditionally, the Royal Doors are left open representative of the open tomb and the rent veil of the Jewish Temple for the whole week. One continuous day of celebration! We should strive to maintain this spirit of joy and peace through and beyond today, beyond the 40 days until we celebrate the feast of Christ s Ascension, and 10 days later the Feast of Pentecost. With attention and watchfulness we can preserve a portion of this, a kind of leavening if you will, until next winter when we begin again the Great Fast. CEMETERY CLEAN UP MAY 2016 Either Saturday May 14 th or 21 st will be clean-up day, weather permitting. We want to have it looking good for Memorial Weekend. Call John Ciko, (315) if you can help. We will announce a firm date after Pascha. BLESSING OF GRAVES As is our parish tradition, we will bless graves at our cemetery on Pentecost. Please join us for a light brunch following Divine Liturgy, after which we will proceed down Route 5 to our Parish Cemetery for this service. FRONT ENTRANCE FLOWERS Flowers on the church entrance were donated by Barbara and Larry Daley in memory of Helen, Michael, Steven and Shelby Sobolowski

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