St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Christian Church Great Lent and Pascha 2007
Psalm 50, Have Mercy on me, O God according to Old Church Slavonic
Fasting Guidelines for Orthodox Christians during Great Lent General Rules for Fasting As a general rule, no meat, poultry, fish, or other animal byproducts, dairy products (foods containing milk or eggs), fish, olive oil, or wine (or other alcohol) should be consumed. The quantity of food that we consume should also be greatly reduced throughout the entire period of Great Lent and Holy Week. The consumption of shellfish (shrimp, clams, oysters, etc.) is generally allowed on all fast days, along with fruit, vegetables, nuts, etc. Honey is also allowed. Exceptions to the General Rules On certain days of Great Lent, an exception is provided for wine and olive oil, which may be consumed in moderation. These days are noted in parish calendars, parish bulletin, and in this Lenten Supplement. Fish is permitted along with wine and olive oil on only two days during Great Lent: The Feast of the Holy Annunciation (March 25th) and on Palm Sunday (April 1st). On Lazarus Saturday (March 31st), caviar is permitted in addition to wine and olive oil. Holy and Great Friday (Good Friday) is a day of Strict Fasting, on which little or no food should be consumed, consistent with the demands of one s personal health. Individual Considerations Decisions regarding fasting have significant implications for oneʹs spiritual and physical well being, and should never be made without guidance from oneʹs own spiritual father; such decisions should also be made in consultation with a physician whenever health issues (such as pregnancy) may be present.
Forgiveness (Cheese-fare) Sunday: The Expulsion of Adam from the Paradise of Bliss Sunday, February 18 9:15 am Hours 9:30 am Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, followed by Vespers of Forgiveness and Ceremony of Mutual Forgiveness Everyone should be present to ask forgiveness of one another before beginning the Great Fast! Thy grace has shown forth, O Lord, The grace which illumines our soul. This is the acceptable time! This is the time of repentance! Let us lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, That passing through the fast as through a great sea We may reach the resurrection of the third day Of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of our souls. From the Apostikha of Vespers of Forgiveness Sunday
First week of Great Lent Monday, February 19 Saturday, February 24 Monday, February 19 7:00 pm Great Compline with the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete Tuesday, February 20 7:00 pm Great Compline with the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete Wednesday, February 21 7:00 pm Great Compline with the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete Thursday, February 22 7:00 pm Great Compline with the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete Friday, February 23 5:45 pm Ninth Hour and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts Those wishing to receive communion should fast after the noon meal. There will be a simple meal of soup and bread following the Liturgy. Saturday, February 24 Wine and Oil are permitted. 7:00 pm Great Vespers
First Sunday of Great Lent: The Sunday of Orthodoxy Sunday, February 25 Wine and oil are permitted 9:15 am Hours 9:30 am Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, followed by the Procession with Holy Icons Coffee Hour, followed by Choir Rehearsal 5:00 pm Pan Orthodox Vespers at St. Demetrios Orthodox Church, 2100 Boyer Avenue, Seattle The grace of truth has shone out, the things once foreshadowed now are revealed in perfection. See, the Church is decked with the embodied image of Christ, as with beauty not of this world, fulfilling the tent of witness, holding fast the Orthodox faith. For if we cling to the icon of him whom we worship, we shall not go astray. May those who do not so believe be covered with shame. For the image of him who became human is our glory: we venerate it, but do not worship it as God. Kissing it, we who believe cry out: O God, save your people, and bless your heritage. From Saturday Vespers for the Sunday of Orthodoxy
Second week of Great Lent Monday, February 26 Saturday, March 3 Monday, February 26 7:00 pm Great Vespers Tuesday, February 27 St. Raphael Wednesday, February 28 5:45 pm Ninth Hour and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts Those wishing to receive communion should fast after the noon meal. There will be a simple meal of soup and bread following the Liturgy. Thursday, March 1 7:00 pm Paraclesis Friday, March 2 Saturday, March 3 Memorial Saturday. Wine and Oil are permitted. 9:00 am Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom 7:00 pm Great Vespers
Second Sunday of Great Lent: Saint Gregory Palamas Sunday, March 4 Wine, and Oil are permitted. 9:15 am Hours 9:30 am Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great Coffee Hour, followed by Choir Rehearsal 5:00 pm Pan Orthodox Vespers at Holy Apostles Church 19421 Ashworth Avenue, North Shoreline, WA (Just North of Seattle) St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica (+ca. 1360), commemorated on November 14 and the Second Sunday of Great Lent, was a pious Monk of Mt. Athos, and later was elected to the See of Thessalonica as its Bishop. He is noted for his defense of the contemplative style of hesychasm (inner silence), teaching concerning the uncreated Light of Tabor and the Divine Energies of God, through which man can have true communion with God. From These Truths we Hold, St. Tikhon s Press
Third week of Great Lent Monday, March 5 Saturday, March 10 Tuesday, March 6 7:00 pm Class, Port Angeles Wednesday, March 7 5:45 pm Ninth Hour and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts Those wishing to receive communion should fast after the noon meal. There will be a simple meal of soup and bread following the Liturgy. Thursday, March 8 7:00 pm Class, Port Townsend Friday, March 9 Saturday, March 10 Wine and Oil are permitted 7:00 pm Great Vespers Please remember to set clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night before retiring. Daylight savings time goes into effect at 2:00 am on Sunday, March 11.
Third Sunday of Great Lent: Veneration of the Holy Cross Sunday, March 11 Wine and oil are permitted 9:15 am Hours 9:30 am Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great Coffee Hour, followed by Choir Rehearsal 5:00 pm Pan Orthodox Vespers at St. Paul Orthodox Church, 21236 Poplar Way, Brier, WA No longer does the flaming sword guard the gate of Eden, For a marvelous quenching is come upon it, Even the Tree of the Cross. The sting has been taken from death, And the victory from Hades. And, Thou, O my Savior, hast appeared unto those in Hades saying: Enter again into Paradise. Kontakion of the Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross
Fourth week of Great Lent Monday, March 12 Saturday, March 17 Tuesday, March 13 Wednesday, March 14 5:45 pm Ninth Hour and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts Those wishing to receive communion should fast after the noon meal. There will be a simple meal of soup and bread following the Liturgy. Thursday, March 15 7:00 pm Paraclesis Friday, March 16 Saturday, March 17 Wine and Oil are permitted 10:00 am 3:00 pm: Choir rehearsal (with lunch provided) 7:00 pm Great Vespers
Fourth Sunday of Great Lent: Saint John Climacus ( St. John of the Ladder ) Sunday, March 18 Saint Nicholas of Zhica Wine and Oil are permitted 9:15 am Hours 9:30 am Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great Coffee Hour, followed by Choir Rehearsal 5:00 pm Pan Orthodox Vespers at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church, 8710 28 th Avenue East, Tacoma Repentance is the renewal of baptism. Repentance is a contract with God for a second life. A penitent is a buyer of humility. Repentance is constant distrust of bodily comfort... Repentance is the daughter of hope and the renunciation of despair... Repentance is reconciliation with the Lord by the practice of good deeds contrary to the sins. Repentance is purification of conscience. Repentance is the voluntary endurance of all afflictions... Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. And assuredly the angel who guards you will honor your patience, While a wound is still fresh and warm it is easy to heal, but old, neglected and festering ones are hard to cure, and require for their care much treatment, cutting, plastering and cauterization. Many from long neglect become incurable. But with God all things are possible... From the Ladder of Divine Ascent - On Repentance
Fifth week of Great Lent Monday, March 19 Saturday, March 24 Tuesday, March 20 Wednesday, March 21 Wine and Oil are permitted 6:00 pm Matins with the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete Reading of the life of St. Mary of Egypt Thursday, March 22 Wine and Oil are permitted 7:00 pm Paraclesis Friday, March 23 Wine and Oil are permitted and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts 7:00 pm Akathist Hymn Saturday, March 24 Wine and Oil are permitted 6:00 pm Vigil of the Holy Annunciation
Fifth Sunday of Great Lent: Annunciation of the Most Holy Lady Theotokos Saint Mary of Egypt Sunday, March 25 Fish, Wine, and Oil are permitted. 9:15 am Hours 9:30 am Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great Coffee Hour, followed by Choir Rehearsal 5:00 pm Pan Orthodox Vespers at St. Katherine the Great Martyr Mission, 106 5 th Aveune, Kirkland Today marks the crowning of our salvation And the revelation of the mystery before all ages. For the Son of God becomes the son of the Virgin, and Gabriel proclaims the grace. Wherefore, we also cry out with him, Hail, O full of grace, the Lord is with you. Apolytikion of the Feast of the Holy Annunciation
Sixth week of Great Lent Monday, March 26 Saturday, March 31 Monday, March 26 Leavetaking of the Annunciation Wine and Oil are permitted Tuesday, March 27 Wednesday, March 28 5:45 pm Ninth Hour and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts Those wishing to receive communion should fast after the noon meal. There will be a simple meal of soup and bread following the Liturgy. Thursday, March 29 Friday, March 30 Saturday, March 31 Lazarus Saturday St. Innocent Wine, Oil, and Caviar are permitted 8:00 am Matins, followed by the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom A pancake breakfast will follow the Divine Liturgy 12:00 noon until 4:00 pm: Church clean up 6:00 pm Vigil of Palm Sunday and Blessing of Palms
The Entrance of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) Sunday, April 1 Fish, Wine, and Oil are permitted. 9:15 am Hours 9:30 am Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom Coffee Hour, followed by Choir Rehearsal O Lord our God, Who sits upon the Cherubim, You have reaffirmed Your power by sending Your Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to save the world through His cross, burial and resurrection. When He came into Jerusalem to suffer His voluntary passion, the people that sat in darkness and in the shadow of death took boughs of trees and branches of palms as signs of victory, thus foretelling His Resurrection. Do You, Yourself, O Master, keep and preserve us who, in imitation of them, carry palms and branches in our hands. As we join the crowds and the children who sang Hosanna to You, may we, with hymns and spiritual songs, attain the life-giving resurrection of the third day. Prayer at the Blessing of the Branches
Great and Holy Week and PASCHA Monday, April 2 Saturday, April 7 Monday, April 2 Holy and Great Monday 7:00 pm Bridegroom Matins and Holy Confessions Tuesday, April 3 Holy and Great Tuesday 7:00 am Bridegroom Matins and Holy Confessions 5:45 pm Ninth Hour and Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts Those wishing to receive communion should fast after the noon meal. There will be a simple meal of soup and bread following the Liturgy. Wednesday, April 4 Holy and Great Wednesday 10:00 am Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts 6:00 pm Matins, followed by the Service of Holy Unction Thursday, April 5 Holy and Great Thursday Wine and Oil are permitted 10:00 am Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great 6:00 pm Matins with Twelve Passion Gospels Friday, April 6 Holy and Great Friday Strict Fast 8:00 am Royal Hours 3:00 pm Vespers with bringing out of the Epitaphion (Burial Shroud) A very light Lenten meal will follow the service 6:00 pm Matins of Holy Saturday with Divine Praises and Procession of the Burial Shroud Continued on next page...
Great and Holy Week and PASCHA (continued) Saturday, April 7 Holy and Great Saturday St. Tikhon Wine is permitted 10:00 am Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great Jeremiah and Beverly Davis will be received into the Church by Holy Chrismation 9:00 pm Reading of the Acts of the Holy Apostles 10:30 pm Paschal Nocturns, followed by: FESTAL MATINS OF PASCHA AND THE DIVINE LITURGY OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM Agape Feast following the Divine Liturgy Sunday, April 8 The Pascha of the Lord Jesus Christ! 1:00 pm Agape Vespers of Pascha, followed by Paschal Feast and BBQ pot luck with Easter egg hunt and music. All are welcome!
Bright Week Christ is Risen! Monday, April 9 Sunday, April 15 NO FASTING ALL WEEK Monday, April 9 Bright Monday 7:00 pm Paschal Vespers Tuesday, April 10 Bright Tuesday 10:00 am Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom We will celebrate the Liturgy with the Faithful of St. Elizabeth the Great Martyr Mission in Poulsbo Wednesday, April 11 Bright Wednesday 5:30 pm Paschal Vespers Thursday, April 12 Bright Thursday 7:00 pm Paschal Vespers Friday, April 13 Bright Friday 5:30 pm Paschal Vespers Saturday, April 14 Bright Saturday 7:00 pm Great Vespers Sunday, April 15 Saint Thomas Sunday 9:15 am Hours 9:30 am Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Christian Church Orthodox Church In America, Diocese Of The West 1407 30th Street, Port Townsend, WA 98368 (360) 385-0585 www.orthodoxporttownsend.com