April 6, 2025

Fifth Sunday of Great Lent

Commemoration of Mary of Egypt

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.

Hebrews 9:11-14: Brethren, Christ having appeared a High Priest of the good things to come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; neither through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having found eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of bulls and goats and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Mark 10:32-45: At that time, Jesus took His twelve Disciples, and began to tell them what was to happen to Him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the April 06, 2025 Liturgy Variables 2 Fifth Sunday of Lent Gentiles. And they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit upon Him, and kill Him; and after three days He will rise.” And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Him, and said to Him, “Teacher, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire” And Jesus said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And they said to Him, “Grant us to sit, one at Thy right hand and one at Thy left, in Thy glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. But to sit at My right hand or at My left is not Mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to Him and said to them, “You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be servant of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

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. Mary of Egypt: Through thee the divine likeness was securely preserved, O Mother Mary; for thou didst carry the cross and followed Christ. By example and precept thou didst teach us to ignore the body because it is perishable, and to attend to the concerns of the undying soul. Therefore, doth thy soul rejoice with the angels.

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 Theotokos: O protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the Creator most constant: O despise not the suppliant voices of those who have sinned; but be thou quick, O good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee: Hasten to intercession, and speed thou to make supplication, thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honour thee.

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 6 (Fifth Sunday of Lent; Commemoration of Mary of Egypt)

8:50 a.m. – Orthros

9:00 a.m. – Christian Education

10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy (webcast)

Monday, April 7

Father Herman off

Tuesday, April 8

NO Services

Wednesday, April 9

6:30 p.m. – Pre-sanctified Liturgy followed by Soup Supper

Thursday, April 10

NO Services

Friday, April 11

6:30 p.m. – Canon of St. Lazarus

Saturday, April 12 (Lazarus Saturday)

9:00 a.m. – Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy

4:30 p.m. – Choir Practice

6:00 p.m. – Great Vespers

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)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Milnors for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

Eucharist Bread Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

April 6 Milnor Algood/Schelver

April 12 (Sat. a.m.) Henderson Lockhart/Karam/Snell

(Lazarus Saturday)

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 6 Grady Fisher Heb. 9:11-14 290

April 12 (sat. a.m.) Ian Jones Heb. 12:28-13:2 291

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.

Welcome and Many Years! to Justin White who will be baptized in the context of today’s Divine Liturgy and to Meredith White who will be chrismated at the same time.

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!

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.

This year’s Palm Sunday fish meal will be 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.

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.

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.

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 6 Fifth Sunday of Lent: Commemoration of St. Mary of Egypt

April 12 Lazarus Saturday

April 13 Palm Sunday

April 14-19 Holy Week

April 20 PASCHA

Quotable: “Although there are a slew of demons and all is packed with them, they cannot do anything to one who is protected by prayer and fasting.

Fasting is universal temperance, prayer is universal communication with God; the former defends from the outside, whereas the latter from within directs a fiery weapon against the enemies. The demons can sense a faster and man of prayer from a distance, and they run away from him to avoid a painful blow.

Is it feasible to think that where there is no fasting and prayer, there already is a demon? Yes, it is.

The demons lodging in a person, do not always reveal their presence, but lurk there, stealthily teaching their host every evil and turning him away from every good thig; so this person is certain he is doing everything on his own, but meanwhile he is only fulfilling the will of his enemy.

Just commence prayer and fasting and the enemy will immediately depart, then wait on the side for an opportunity to return again. And he truly will return, as soon as prayer and fasting are abandoned.

+ St. Theophan the Recluse, Thoughts for Each Day of the Year: According to the

Daily Church Readings from the Word of God

Worship: Sunday, April 13, 2025 (Palm Sunday)

Scripture: Phil. 4:4-9; John 12:1-18

Epistle Reader: Walt Wood

Prosphora: Algood

Coffee Hour: FISH FRY MEAL

Lasseter/Pacurari/Lavric

Baker/Jimmy Jones

March 30, 2025

Fourth Sunday of Great Lent

Commemoration of John Climacus

Self-denial for self-glory is equally as vain as any endeavor not directed toward divine love and the glory of God. In St. John Climacus, seventh-century hermit and ascetic, we have a model of sacrifice directed to the love of fellow men. St. John knew that emptying himself of the things of this world was the act of renouncing his own efforts and accepting God’s grace and mercy as true sustenance. The season of prayer and fasting is a time of true humility and complete submission to the Father’s will. We proceed to the Great Feast, following a path of reconciliation and contemplation, seeking the adoration of the Son and His sacrifice, and emphasizing leaving the things of this world to attain perfect submission.

Hebrews 6:13-20: Brethren, when God made a promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.” And thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For people indeed swear by what is greater, and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation. So when God, being minded to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of His counsel, He interposed it with an oath, that by two immutable things—in which it is impossible for God to lie—we might have a strong consolation, we, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope that is set before us; a hope, which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and entering into “that which is within the veil,” where Jesus entered as a Forerunner on our behalf, having become a High Priest “forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Mark 9:17-31: At that time, a man came to Jesus, kneeling down and saying unto him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a dumb spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked Thy Disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And Jesus answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to Me.” And they brought the boy to Him; and when the spirit saw Jesus, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has he had this?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if Thou canst do anything, have pity on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse; so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when Jesus had entered the house, His Disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And Jesus said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.” They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And Jesus would not have anyone know it; for He was teaching His Disciples, saying to them, “The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and after He is killed, He will rise on the third day.”

Troparion of the Resurrection: Thou didst shatter death by thy Cross; thou didst open paradise to the thief; thou didst turn the mourning of the ointment-bearing women into joy, and didst bid thine Apostles proclaim warning that thou hast risen, O Christ, granting the world Great Mercy.

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 hundredfold. Accordingly, thou hast become a star for the universe, sparkling with miracles. Therefore, O righteous Father John Climacus, 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.

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, March 30 (Fourth Sunday of Lent; Commemoration of John Climacus)

8:50 a.m. – Orthros

9:00 a.m. – Christian Education

10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy (webcast)

Monday, March 31

Father Herman off

Tuesday, April 1

NO Services

Wednesday, April 2

6:30 p.m. – Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete with the life of St. Mary of Egypt

Thursday, April 3

NO Services

Friday, April 4

6:30 p.m. – Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos

Saturday, April 5

4:30 p.m. – Choir Practice

6:00 p.m. – Great Vespers

Sunday, April 6 (Fifth Sunday of Lent; Commemoration of Mary of Egypt)

8:50 a.m. – Orthros

9:00 a.m. – Christian Education

10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy (webcast)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Lasseters for the Feast of Annunciation this past Monday evening and by the Milnors for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

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.

Eucharist Bread Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

March 30 Milnor Miller/Weatherly

April 6 Baker Algood/Schelver

April 12 (Sat. a.m.) Henderson Lockhart/Karam/Snell

(Lazarus Saturday)

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#

March 30 Katie Miller Heb. 6:13-20 287

April 6 Grady Fisher Heb. 9:11-14 290

April 12 (sat. a.m.) Ian Jones Heb. 12:28-13:2 291

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

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 Justin and Meredith White who will be baptized and chrismated on April 6th within the context of the Divine Liturgy, as well as Clayton Fairchild and KC Barrett who will be chrismated on Great and Holy Saturday. May God grant them Many years!

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.

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

This year’s Palm Sunday fish meal will be 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.

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.

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.

Fasting Discipline for March/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 March/April

March 26 Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel

March 30 4th Sunday of Lent; Commemoration of John Climacus

April 1 Mary of Egypt

April 6 Fifth Sunday of Lent: Commemoration of St. Mary of Egypt

April 12 Lazarus Saturday

April 13 Palm Sunday

April 14-19 Holy Week

April 27 PASCHA

April 28-May 2 Bright Week

Quotable: “The soul that really loves God and Christ, though it may do ten thousand righteousnesses, esteems itself as having wrought nothing, by reason of its insatiable aspiration after God.

Though it should exhaust the body with fastings, with watchings, is attitude towards the virtues is as if it had not yet even begun to labour for them.”

+ St. Macarius the Great

Worship: Sunday, April 6, 2025 (Fifth Sunday of Lent; Commemoration of Mary of Egypt)

Scripture: Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 10:32-45

Epistle Reader: Grady Fisher

Prosphora: Baker

Coffee Hour: Algood/Schelver