April 13, 2025

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday begins the observance of the eight days that encapsulate all of time and eternity as relates to man. The days begin with the proclamation on earth of the entry of the Messiah into Jerusalem and end with the Eternal King rising in incomprehensible victory to establish the heavenly Jerusalem and His eternal reign. On Palm Sunday, we begin the days of the full exhibition of the awful corruption sin has spread in mankind and the measureless love that heals and deifies our humanity. Today we thrill at the picture of Christ and the praises of the people, the object of adoration yet the perfection of humility. The imagery of the scene is beyond description: the King amidst His people, the palm and olive branches symbolizing His victory, His anointing, His peace; the cloaks and garments cast before Him symbolizing our complete submission to His will; the cries of adoration, of “Hosanna,” the coming of the Lord. Yet, on this day we are also near enough to feel acutely the dread of His passion, the desolation of the trial and Golgotha. This day also begins the week of the Eighth Day, the entry to eternity. As we observe Palm Sunday, we observe all history and the fulfillment of all history.

Philippians 4:4-9: Brethren, rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice! Let your forbearance be known to all people. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things. The things which you both learned and received, and heard and saw in me, these things do; and the God of peace will be with you.

John 12:1-18: Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus who had died was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at table with Him. Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. But Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, one of His Disciples (he who was to betray Jesus), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not because he cared for the poor but because he was a thief, and as he had the moneybox he used to take what was put into it. Jesus said, “Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of My burial. The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have Me.” When the great crowd of the Jews learned that He was there, they came, not only on account of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus also to death, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, “Hosanna! Blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of the Lord, the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it; as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on an ass’s colt!” His Disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that this had been written of Him and had been done to Him. The crowd that had been with Jesus when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet Jesus was that they heard He had done this sign.

Troparion of Lazarus Saturday: In confirming the common Resurrection, O Christ God, Thou didst raise up Lazarus from the dead before Thy Passion. Wherefore, we also, like the children, bearing the symbols of victory, cry to Thee, the Vanquisher of death: Hosanna in the highest; blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord

Troparion of Palm Sunday: As by baptism we were buried with Thee, O Christ our God, so by Thy Resurrection we were deemed worthy of immortal life; and praising Thee, we cry: Hosanna in the highest; blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord.

Kontakion of Palm Sunday: Being borne upon a throne in Heaven, and upon a colt on the earth, O Christ God, Thou didst accept the praise of the angels and the laudation of the children as they cried to Thee: Blessed art Thou Who comest to recall Adam.

CALENDAR

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE: All services listed on the calendar will be available through streaming and webcast. (Instructions can be found on the parish website.)

Sunday, April 13 (Palm Sunday)

8:50 a.m. – Orthros

9:00 a.m. – Christian Education

10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy (webcast)

12:00 p.m. – Fish Fry Meal, catered by Sal and Phil’s

6:30 p.m. – Bridegroom Matins (webcast)

Monday, April 14

6:30 p.m. – Bridegroom Matins

Tuesday, April 15

6:30 p.m. – Bridegroom Matins

Wednesday, April 16

6:30 p.m. – Holy Unction

Thursday, April 17

7:00 a.m. – Vesperal Liturgy of St Basil the Great

6:30 p.m. – Twelve passion Gospels

Friday, April 18

7:00 a.m. – Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil the Great

3:00 p.m. – Great Vespers – Taking Down from the cross

6:30 p.m. – Lamentations

Saturday, April 19

9:00 a.m. – Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil the Great

10:30 p.m. – Pascha Service – Midnight Office, Matins

Sunday, April 20 (Pascha)

4:00 p.m. – Agape Vespers

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Eucharist Bread …was offered on behalf of the Hendersons for the Feast of Lazarus Saturday yesterday morning and by the Algoods for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

Eucharist Bread Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

April 13 Algood Lasseter/Pacurari/Lavric

(Palm Sunday) Baker/Jimmy Jones

April 17 (Thurs. a.m.) Schelver Meadows

(Great & Holy Thursday)

April 19 (Sat. a.m.) Jones Pigott/Ian Jones

(Great & Holy Saturday)

April 19 (Sat. p.m.) Meadows Ellis/Zouboukos/Waites

(PASCHA) D. Root/Meadows

Miller/Weatherly

April 27 Davis Ken Jones/Stewart

Schedule for Epistle Readers – Page numbers refer to the Apostolos (book of the Epistles) located on the Chanters’ stand at the front of the nave. Please be sure to use this book when you read.

Reader Reading Page#

April 13 Walt Wood Phil. 4:4-9 294

April 17 (Thurs. a.m.) Reader Basil Baker I Cor. 11:23-32 295

April 19 (Sat. a.m.) Reader Chad Miller Rom. 6:3-11 300

April 19 (sat. p.m.) Brandon Strain Acts 1:1-8 25

April 27 Ian Jones Acts 5:12-20 32

Also, please remember that we still need your tithes and offerings which may be placed in the tray that is passed during the Divine Liturgy, in the tithe box at the back of the nave or be mailed to: St. Peter Orthodox Church, P.O. Box 2084, Madison, MS 39130-2084.

Please remember the following in your prayers: Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Lamia Dabit and her family; Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon’s sister); Jay and Joanna Davis; Fr. Leo and Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver and their family; Marilyn (Kyriake) Snell; Jack and Jill Weatherly; Dn. Terry Algood and their family; Reader Basil and Brenda Baker and their family; Fr. Joseph Bittle; Rick Carlton; Very Rev. Fr. Nicholas and Kh. Jan Speier; Lee Greene; Fr. John and Kh. Janet Henderson and their family; Galina Singletary; Emily and Cole Parker.

Please keep in your humble prayers Clayton Fairchild and KC Barrett who will be chrismated on Great and Holy Saturday. May God grant them Many years!

Today we will have the Palm Sunday fish meal catered by Sal and Phil’s, as has been done in the past. The cost for those 12 years and older will be $10.00 and $6 for those under 12 years of age.

Calendar Items:

* The men of the parish meet for lunch at 11:00 a.m. on the first Thursday of the month.

* The Ladies meet at the church at 10:00 a.m. on the second Saturday of the month to pray the Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children on behalf of our children.

* The Ladies meet for lunch at 1:00 p.m. on the last Tuesday of the month.

* The schedule for the services of Holy Week are as follows:

Sunday, April 13 – Bridegroom Matins, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Monday, April 14 – Bridegroom Matins, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 15 – Bridegroom Matins, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 16 – Holy Unction Service, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 17 – Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, beginning at 7:00 a.m.

– Reading of the Twelve Passion Gospels, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Friday, April 18 – Royal Hours of Pascha, beginning at 7:00 a.m.

– Taking down from the Cross, beginning at 3:00 p.m.

– Lamentations Service, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 19 – Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

– PASCHA Service, beginning at 10:30 p.m.

Sunday, April 20 – Agape Vespers at St. Peter’s, beginning at 4:00 p.m.

* This year’s remaining date for serving at Stewpot Ministries is Saturday, September 27th.

Every year during this time of the Liturgical year, the Archdiocese has an outreach campaign for Food for Hungry People. If you would like to make a monetary donation to this campaign please mark your donation as Food for Hungry People. We will collect these donations until after Bright Week (the deadline for donations will be April 27th). The church will then write one check and send it to the appropriate location. Please consider making a donation toward this blessed cause. If you would like more information on this outreach please see Father Herman.

We are continuing the process of updating our Church directory. On the bureau in the foyer there are information sheets to be filled out by each family and individual. We are asking EVERYONE to please fill out one of these information sheets and get it back to Fr. Herman or Kh. Sharon. (Please be sure to PRINT as neatly as you can.) Thank you for your timely cooperation with this.

We will be hosting the Agape Vespers on Pascha this year with our sister churches in the area. Paschal Vespers will begin at 4:00 p.m. that afternoon.

Registration for the 2025 DOMSE Parish Life Conference has opened and was emailed out to the parish. If you did not receive this email and would like to attend, please see Father Herman for registration information. This year’s conference will be hosted by St. George Parish in Jacksonville, June 11-14th.

Pasha Baskets – As has been our custom at Pascha for several years now, we will again do Pascha Baskets for our feast after the Divine Liturgy. Traditionally the basket itself is a large wicker basket with a handle for each family or individual. If you do not already have a large wicker basket these can be found at most thrift stores for decent prices, at any home decor store, Amazon, or Whole Foods (sometimes). Traditionally, the contents of the basket are covered by a cloth cover; a Google search for Pascha basket covers will bring up many options. The cover reminds us of Christ’s burial shroud. You can also make your own if you would like. A cover is not required though.

In traditional Orthodox cultures Pascha baskets consist of traditional foods that were abstained from during Lent. These consist of Paska, Kulich, Tsoureki, dyed eggs, Paska cheese, sausage, bacon, ham, butter (often in the shape of a Lamb or cross), salt, wine, etc. Although these particular items in the basket have a long standing tradition, they are in no way required! Each family or individual will put together a Pascha basket that is unique and special. It is common that you will include items that you have been abstaining from during the fast, and items you are most looking forward to breaking the fast with after Pascha! So what you put in your Pascha basket is up to you! One of the most profound things about our tradition is the Church takes ordinary food, blesses it, and it is used as an aid in making us holy. So enjoy curating the perfect Pascha basket for you and your family!

When you arrive at the Church for service Saturday night, you will bring your Pascha basket to the Solea (front) and lay it on the floor around the icon of Christ and the Theotokos on the stands. Please be mindful to not place any baskets directly in the center so that the clergy can make the entrances as needed. The baskets will be blessed at the Divine Liturgy. Once the Liturgy has ended you may come forward, take a red egg from Fr. Herman, pick up your basket and proceed to the fellowship hall for the feast. Since the blessing of the baskets has taken place, there is no need to have a further blessing upon the food, so you are free to begin eating once entering the fellowship hall. If you have any questions please see Fr. Herman.

Fasting Discipline for April

The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on all days of the week until Pascha. (except for Palm Sunday on April 13th, when fish, wine, and oil are permitted) There will be no fasting of any kind during Bright Week, April 28 thru May 3.

Major Commemorations for April

April 13 Palm Sunday

April 14-19 Holy Week

April 20 PASCHA

April 21-25 Bright Week

April 27 Thomas Sunday; Anti-Pascha

Registration for the Archdiocese National Convention has also opened. It is being hosted by St. George Parish in Cicero, IL (just outside of Chicago) July 20-27th. If you are interested in attending, please see Father Herman and he will get you the registration information and link.

Quotable: “Having accomplished the forty days for the benefit of our souls, we pray to Thee, O Lover of Man, that we may see the holy week of Thy passion, that in it we may glorify Thy greatness and Thine unspeakable plan of salvation for our sake”

Vespers Hymn

Worship: Sunday, April 20, 2025 (Pascha)

Scripture: Acts 1:1-8; John 1:1-17

Epistle Reader: Brandon Strain

Prosphora: Meadows

Coffee Hour: Ellis / Zouboukos / Waites / D. Root /

Meadows / Miller / Weatherly