Hebrews 6:13-end:  In his letter to the Hebrews, the Apostle reminds us that the promise of God to Abraham was fulfilled when Jesus Christ entered through the veil as a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, and that He is our hope and the anchor of our souls.

 

Mark 9:16-30:  Our Lord casts a demon out of a young boy and in so doing show that faith is essential for actions to bear good fruit.  He then gives a prophecy of His coming death and resurrection.

 

Troparion of the Resurrection:  O compassionate One, thou didst descend from the heights; thou didst submit to the three-day burial, that thou might deliver us from passion.  Thou art our Life and our Resurrection, O Lord, glory to thee.

 

Troparion of St. John of the Ladder:  The barren wilderness thou didst make fertile with the streams of thy tears; and by thy deep sighing thou hast given fruit through thy struggles  a hundred-fold.  Accordingly, thou hast become a star for the universe, sparkling with miracles.  Therefore, O righteous Father John, intercede with Christ God to save our souls.

 

Troparion of the Chains of St. Peter: O Holy Apostle, Peter, thou dost preside over the Apostles by the precious chains which thou didst bear.  We venerate them with faith and beseech thee that by thine intercessions we be granted the great mercy.

Kontakion of the Sundays of Lent:  To thee the champion leader, I thy servant offer thanks for victory, O Theotokos, thou who hast delivered me form terror.  As thou hast power invincible, free me from every danger that I may cry unto thee: Rejoice, O bride without bridegroom.

 

 

Sunday, March 29 (Sunday of St. John Climacus)
 8:50 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School
 10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 6:00 p.m. – Young Adults  

 

Monday, March 30
 Office Closed – Father John’s Day Off

 

Tuesday, March 31
 6:00 a.m. – Lenten Daily Orthros
  
Wednesday, April 1
 5:00 p.m. – Catechism Class
 6:30 p.m. – Small Compline with the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete and the
     Life of St. Mary of Egypt

 

Thursday, April 2
 6:00 a.m. – Lenten Daily Orthros
 
Friday, April 3
 6:00 a.m. – Lenten Daily Orthros
 6:30 p.m. – Small Compline with the Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos
        
Saturday, April 4
 8:00 a.m. – Ladies Prayer Group
 6:30 p.m. – Great Vespers

 

Sunday, April 5 (Fifth Sunday of Great Lent – St. Mary of Egypt)
 8:50 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School
 10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 5:30 p.m. – Youth Group

 

 

 

Eucharist Bread: …was offered today by the Joneses.

 

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
                     Eucharist Bread          Coffee Hour
 March 29             Joneses                   Schelvers
 April 5                 Milnors                     Joneses/Stewarts
 April 11 (Sat. a.m.) D. Roots 
         Lazarus Saturday
 April 12               Fahmys                    Freundts/Meadows/Joanna Meadows
 April 16 (Thurs. a.m.) Meadows            Meadows
         (Great and Holy Thursday)
 April 18 (Sat. a.m.) Bakers                   Milnors
         (Great and Holy Saturday)     (Very Simple)
 April 18 (Sat. night) Hendersons           Woods/Pigotts/Turners
          PASCHA  
 April 26              Joanna Meadows        R. Roots

 

Schedule for Epistle Readers   –  Page numbers refer to the Apostolos (book of the Epistles) located on the front pew.  Please be sure to use this book when you read.
                                Reader                       Reading         Page #
March 29          Kh. Be’Be’Schelver               Heb. 6:13-20             287
April 5              Tom Willingham                    Heb. 9:11-14            290
April 11 (Sat. a.m.) Walt Wood                     Heb. 12:28-13:8         291
April 12             Tom Skirtech                       Philippians 4:4-9       294
April 16 (Thurs. a.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows    I Cor. 11:23-32         295
April 18 (Sat. a.m.) Sh. Charlotte Algood        Rom. 6:3-11             300
April 18 (Sat. night) Warren Strain                 Acts 1:1-8                25
April 26              Mildred Morris                    Acts 5:12-20             32

 

Welcome!   …to Philip Lassiter, who was enrolled as a catechumen on Sunday, March 15th.  May God grant him his mercies as he enters this period of preparation.

 

Congratulations to Ben and Meghan Brock! Dr. Ben will be an intern/resident at the University Medical Center in Jackson, beginning this next academic year!

 

Please remember the following in your prayers: Reader Basil’s family (Dad, Bill; Mom, Cleo; sister Betty; and uncle and aunt, James and Sarah Powell), Karen Cooper (recovering from knee surgery), Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family, Penny and Dean Bruner and their family, Deborah and Paul Finley, Effie Johnson (Kh. Susan Cushman’s mother) and the Cushman family (St. John’s in Memphis)

 

March is Ladies’ Month in our Archdiocese in appreciation of the many things that are done by the ladies of our parishes.  They will be reading the Epistle during the Divine Liturgy during this month.  Also, please allow them to take communion first.

 

Please be sure to schedule a time for confession with your priest at least once during the Great Fast.  We should make every effort to not leave this important task until the last minute.

 

If you are the last to leave the building, please make sure that the heating and cooling unit in the Fellowship Hall is set to the optimum temperature for the building when unoccupied.  If you have overridden the programmed setting, please be sure to restore it to the original setting.  We are trying to keep our utility costs down.  If you do not know how to operate the thermostat, please consult with either Father James or Deacon Richard for instruction. 

 

 
 * The schedule of daily evening services during the remainder of Lent are as follows:
   Wednesday, April 1st – Small Compline with the Canon of  St. Andrew of
    Crete and the Life of St. Mary of Egypt – 6:30 p.m.
   Friday, April 3rd – Small Compline with the Akathist Hymn – 6:30 p.m.
   Wednesday, April 8th – Presanctified Liturgy followed by Soup Supper and
    brief teaching by Father John – 6:30 p.m.
   Friday, April 10th – Small Compline with Canon of St. Lazarus – 6:30 p.m.

 
 * The next meeting for the PLC 2009 Planning Committee will Thursday, April 2nd at 7:00 p.m.

 
 * On April 12th we will have a catfish fry following the Divine Liturgy.  Catfish Haven will be providing the food again this year.  The cost will be $8 for adults and $5 for children.  A sign-up sheet is in the Fellowship Hall.

 
 * Pascha falls on April 19th this year.  Please refer to the April Calendar for the schedule of services for Holy Week. 

 
 * St. Peter’s will be hosting the Parish Life Conference next year.  The dates for the conference will be June 10-14.  This will a wonderful opportunity to showcase our parish.  More information will be available in the future.

 

Registration for the Parish Life Conference has begun!!  Be sure to register to attend the conference.  Registration forms are available on the table in the hallway and online at our website (thanks to Daniel Root!!).  On the website you can also find the schedule of events for the conference.  If you cannot afford to attend all the meals and events, be sure to register for as many as you can, especially the Grand Banquet on Saturday evening.  Come, also, for the services.  The Very Rev. Fr. Michael Dahulich, Dean of St. Tikhon’s Seminary will be the speaker this year.  You will also hear many wonderful homilies by the visiting priests.  The Bible Bowl is lots of fun (as anyone who has ever seen one will tell you) and the Oratorical Contest is a chance to hear the thoughts of some of our young people on spiritual issues.  This conference will be attended by those from our sister parishes throughout the diocese and is an opportunity to showcase our parish.  So make plans now to attend.

 

Those hosting Coffee Hour or feasts MUST be sure to place fresh trash bags in the trash cans when cleaning up afterwards.  If this is not done, items get thrown into the empty trash cans and then dumped as is into the cans outside.  The trash people will NOT pick up loose trash from the cans and have even dumped it out in the past.  This means that Father John has to pick these items up by hand and bag them!  Please help us with this!!

 

Directory Updates have been mailed to each household.  Please correct these if needed (or place a check mark on the form if the information is already correct) and mail or bring them to the church office as soon as possible. We hope to be able to have updated directories available in a few weeks, but this will only be possible if everyone does their part.  Thank you for your assistance in this task.

 

Help needed for PLC 2009 Souvenir Journal!!   The PLC committee is starting to sell ads for the souvenir journal for the Parish Life Conference and we need your help! Our goal is to sell $20,000 of ads by May 1. Please consider talking to your employer about donating for a corporate ad, and if you have any suggestions of businesses to go to or people to talk to, please let Anna Kathryn know.

 

Fasting Discipline for March/April:
March 1st is Forgiveness Sunday (Sunday of Cheese Fare), the last day until Pascha that cheese, dairy and wine (some also include oil) are permitted.  Monday, March 2nd, is Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent when the traditional fasting discipline is observed on all days of the week until Pascha (except Annunciation on March 25th and Palm Sunday on April 12th, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).  Bright Week (April 20-24) is a fast-free period. 

 

   On days when the Holy Eucharist will be received at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, no food or drink should be taken until after the Liturgy.

 

Major Commemorations During March/April
 March 29  Sunday of St. John Climacus (Fourth Sunday of Great Lent)
 April 5   Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt (Fifth Sunday of Great Lent)
 April 11  Lazarus Saturday
 April 12  Palm Sunday
 April 13  Great and Holy Monday
 April 14  Great and Holy Tuesday
 April 15  Great and Holy Wednesday
 April 16  Great and Holy Thursday
 April 17  Great and Holy Friday (Good Friday)
 April 18  Great and Holy Saturday
 April 19  PASCHA
 April 23  Great-martyr George
 April 24  Apostle and Evangelist Mark 
 April 26  Thomas Sunday

 

Please supervise your children to avoid spills, ink stains or marks from their writing and drawing on our new chairs.  We also ask that you not allow them to stand on the kneelers.  Thank you for your help with this.

 

Quotable: “Have no fear then.  Now that the common Saviour of all has died on our behalf, we who believe in Christ no longer die, as men died aforetime, in fulfilment of the threat of the law.  That condemnation has come to an end; and now that, by the grace of the resurrection, corruption has been banished and one away, we are loosed from our mortal bodies in God’s good time for each, so that we may obtain thereby a better resurrection.”

    – St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation

 

 

 

 Scripture:  Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 10:32-45
 Celebrant:  Father John
 Homily:  Father John
 Deacon:  Deacon Terry
 Epistle Reader  Tom Willingham
 Acolytes:  TBA
 Prosphora:  Milnors
 Coffee Hour:  Joneses/Stewarts
 Teen Hosts:  TBA