It has come to my attention that at Sunday meals a significant amount of food goes to waste because children are not supervised during meal time, often take too much food, and do not eat what they take from the table. We ask parents to be diligent in overseeing their children in this regard so that we teach our children the virtue of moderation rather than the vice of waste. Please contact me with questions or concerns. -Fr. Gregory

On this day the Holy Church celebrates St. Nina, Equal to the Apostles and Enlightener of Georgia. We congratulate all our Ninas on their name’s days today! How did a young girl become the enlightener of an entire great nation? Please read the life of St. Nina below to learn more.

English:

http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=100191

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life216.htm

"The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishop of the Americas has designated [February 5] as Orthodox Scout Sunday. Through the Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting, the Assembly and its predecessor, SCOBA, have been actively supporting both the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of the USA since the 1960’s."

Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts (and their leaders) are requested to wear their uniforms to service on February 5. Learn more at the web site of the Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting:

http://eocs.org/

We would like to have more photos and videos of services and activities at St. Vladimir’s. Not every service necessarily, but certainly more than we have now. Our photo album is a huge missionary outreach tool for us, and adding more video will be even more helpful. Let us be clear: this is a ministry! Your work in this regard will help others come to the faith. We would like to have one or two more folks taking photos regularly and one or two folks regularly shooting video. If you are interested in helping please contact Fr. Gregory. We are greatly indebted to those who take photos now and we don’t want you to stop! We just want to broaden this aspect of our ministry to our parishioners and to those who are seeking a church home.

We present here a short educational offering for both children and adults. Parents are asked to review the children’s portion with their children. It is very important for us to attend the Divine Services on Sundays and whenever else we are able, but in addition it is our spiritual responsibility to educate ourselves and our families in the faith. It is our hope that this mid-week offering will be an aid in this regard. Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions or suggestions.

For Adults – the life of the Martyr Tatiana whose memory we celebrate today:

English:

http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=100155

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life198.htm

For Children – an activity based on last week's gospel reading for for various ages:

http://www.antiochian.org/sites/antioch ... mt04-a.pdf

Please view the photographs from our annual Nativity Ball at this link:

http://stvladimirchurch.smugmug.com/201 ... 01_LNkL47#!i=1680303033&k=v54V6BZ

Thank you to all who made the ball such a resounding success and thank you those who took photos!

Please join us next Sunday during the coffee hour for our monthly lecture. This month we will delve into the life of St. Peter the Apostle. The lecture will be given by Ken Doll, who took St. Peter as his patron when becoming Orthodox. Additionally, Sunday is a minor feast of St. Peter and given Ken’s liturgical background we are confident that we will learn a bit about the feast as well. The coming Sunday also marks the last Sunday before the beginning of the Lenten Triodian (don’t worry – Lent doesn’t begin until February 27 – but the preparatory Sundays for Lent begin February 5). All are invited!

Thank you to everyone who made this last weekend at St. Vladimir’s so wonderful! We had a very nice Vigil on Saturday evening, a huge turnout for Church School on Sunday morning, a beautiful and very prayerfully-sung service with Fr. Michael and Fr. Anthony joining us (in addition to Deacon Zacharias and me), a church full of parishioners, and a marvelous dinner. Thank you all! Please plan to join us next weekend!!!

Please find an edifying sermon on the feast of Theophany below by the first First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and one of only four hierarchs to receive votes for Patriarch of Russia when the Patriarchate was restored to the Russian Church at the Local Council of 1917, Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky). Metropolitan Anthony was also a prolific and important writer on ecclesiastical and theological themes in pre-Revolutionary Russia and a well-known theological educational leader of the Church during that time.

English:

http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/syn ... itsky.html

Russian:

http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/syn ... itsky.html

"This is the cause of all evils: the ignorance of the Scriptures. We go into battle without arms, and how ought we to come off safe?" -St. John Chrysostom, Homily IX on Colossians.

In order to help increase the general knowledge of scripture in our parish family we present here for your edification the scripture readings for the coming week. At least one Gospel Reading and one Epistle reading are assigned for each day of the year. Hearing or reading only those readings appointed for Sunday merely scratches the surface of the great spiritual wealth that the scriptures provide us. Some of the readings are easily understandable – others are less so. As Orthodox Christians we do not make private interpretation of scripture, but rather consult the fathers of the Church for their explanations to aid us in our understanding. Those wishing to have access to such explanations are asked to contact Fr. Gregory or inquire in the kiosk for further reading in this regard. Bibles may also be acquired in the kiosk.

Monday: James 2:14-26 & Mark 10:46-52
Tuesday: James 3:1-10 & Mark 11:11-23
Wednesday: James 3:11-4:6 & Mark 11:23-26
Thursday: James 4:7-5:9 & Mark 11:27-33
Friday: I Peter 1:1-2,10-12,2:6-10 & Mark 12:1-12
Saturday: I Thessalonians 5:14-23 & Luke 17:3-10

Please find below several very nice articles on how to read the scripture from an Orthodox point of view.

By St. Justin (Popovich):

http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/bible_how.aspx

By Bishop Kalistos (Ware):

http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/ware_howto.aspx

This short article explains to us not just HOW to read the scriptures, but also what our goal should be in reading the scriptures. A short read and well worth it:

http://www.chrysostompress.org/reading_scripture.html

As noted in the article above we need God's help and blessing to read and understand the scriptures correctly. What better way to entreat God's help in this regard than through prayer? Please find the prayer before reading the scriptures here:

http://www.chrysostompress.org/prayer_b ... pture.html

Our weekly bulletin, "Sunday Reading", has been posted at the following link:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/SundayRea ... eading.pdf

Please keep our parishioners, friends, and those who have asked us in our unworthiness to pray for them in your prayers this coming week. Our parish prayer list can be found here:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/SundayRea ... erlist.pdf

Please enjoy this short but edifying article by St. John of Shanghai & San Francisco about Holy Water - very timely given the recent feast of the Theophany!

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/44164.htm

A short but interesting recollection of a night in Pochaev Lavra in 1978 - the night of the Baptism of the Lord. We hope our readers enjoy this edifying article.

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/51070.htm

Due to the predicted timing of today’s snow fall (during the afternoon rush hour) it seems unlikely that parishioners will want to deviate from their drive home to come to St. Vladimir’s as road conditions are likely to be quite poor. Therefore we are canceling the moleben set for this evening at 6:00 p.m. We ask your prayers for all our parishioners named after St. John the Baptist, and especially for our Head Altar Server, Subdeacon John Zroika, who celebrates his name’s day today.

Today the Holy Church celebrates the feast of the Synaxis of St. John the Baptist. As with many of the great feasts, the day following the Theophany is dedicated to one who was a very important part of the feast: in today's case St. John the Forerunner. Please read a short synopsis of the feast below. Congratulations to our Head Altar Server, Subdeacon John Zroika, who celebrates his name's day today!

English:

http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=100109

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life166.htm

Please find below a short reading on today's feast from St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

English:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/en/Days/20120106.htm

Russian:

http://pravoslavie.ru/put/2814.htm

At this link you can find the lives of the saints of the British Isles in Russian. We hope those of our readers who speak Russian find this information useful and edifying!

http://orthodoxengland.org.uk/zsaintsrus.htm

Tomorrow the Holy Church celebrates one of the twelve great feasts: the Lord’s Theophany. Theophany is a Greek word that means “God appears” and is equivalent to the Latin “Epiphany” or the Slavonic “Bogoyavlenie”. We congratulate all our parishioners on this great feast! At St. Vladimir’s we will have Vigil this evening at 6:00 p.m. and Divine Liturgy tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. Please join us as you are able to! Following the Divine Liturgy on the feast we will perform the Great Blessing of Waters. Below please find a sermon on the feast by St. John Chrysostom.

English:

http://oca.org/fs/sermons/discourse-on- ... -of-christ

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life164.htm

We present here a short educational offering for both children and adults. Parents are asked to review the children’s portion with their children. It is very important for us to attend the Divine Services on Sundays and whenever else we are able, but in addition it is our spiritual responsibility to educate ourselves and our families in the faith. It is our hope that this mid-week offering will be an aid in this regard. Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions or suggestions.

For Adults – Nativity Qustions & Answers:

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/50888.htm

For Children – an activity based on last week's gospel reading for various ages:

http://www.antiochian.org/assets/asset_ ... 682aeb.pdf

The feast of the Lord’s Theophany (the Baptism of the Lord) is this Thursday, January 19. At St. Vladimir’s we will mark the feast with Vigil on January 18 at 6:00 p.m. and Divine Liturgy on the feast itself at 8:00 a.m. Following the Divine Liturgy we will perform the annual Great Blessing of Waters. Please bring bottles or other appropriate contains to bring Holy Water home with. Holy Water will remain available at St. Vladimir’s for the next several weeks.

St. Vladimir’s Church School began January 15. Classes will be held every Sunday morning beginning at 9:30 a.m. through May 19 with the exception of April 15. Please do not be late! We have condensed the classes to the greatest extent possible for the convenience of our busy families – we value your time. Please do us the favor of valuing the time of the teachers and other volunteers who make our Church School possible by being on time. The school schedule is:

9:30 a.m. Prayer
9:30 a.m. Law of God
10:00 p.m. Divine Liturgy

All children are urged to participate in the Divine Liturgy to the greatest extent possible by ringing bells, serving in the altar, singing, helping in the kiosk, and most importantly by being present in the church and praying with their parish family, AND ESPECIALLY by partaking of the Holy Mysteries. The Liturgy is not a spectacle or event that we watch, but a prayerful “work of the people” that we participate in through our prayerful involvement. Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions in this regard. To learn more about our Church School please contact the Church School Director, Tatiana Scrochi: 734-680-0948 or tatianacolmenares@gmail.com

Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make our parish Yolka on Sunday, January 15 such a success! The children (and honestly, the adults) had a wonderful time! Pictures from the Yolka (and a video) are already up on our photo album page:

http://stvladimirchurch.smugmug.com/201 ... 03_tpXK7x#!i=1674377625&k=GWMzf9V

Many people took pictures and video at the event. PLEASE SHARE YOUR PHOTOS AND VIDEOS!!! Send them to info@stvladimiraami.org and we will post them with the other pictures linked above.

Each year following the feast of the Theophany (the Lord’s Baptism – January 19) it is a traditional and pious custom to have one’s home blessed by the priest. Homes are blessed at St. Vladimir’s until the beginning of Great Lent. Please consult the usual calendar (sent through the mail and available on our web site) to see the times available for house blessings. Please contact Fr. Gregory to schedule a house blessing or if the times listed do not work for you. If you live far from St. Vladimir’s please consult with those other parishioners of St. Vladimir’s who live near you so that you can all have your homes blessed on the same evening. Congratulations to all with the feast of our Lord’s Baptism!

The latest schedule of services and activities at St. Vladimir's has been posted on our web site and will be distributed via our email and mailing lists to our parishioners in the next few days. Please click the "Related Link" below or see the link at the top of the page entitled "Complete Schedule of Services". To join our mailing list please email info@stvladimiraami.org.

The owner of the Muffler Man on the west side of Ann Arbor is Elias (Lewie) Karageorge – a St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church parishioner. Lewie has very kindly extended the same offer to our parish that he has to his own: if you take your car to his shop for repair and identify yourself as a St. Vladimir Orthodox Church parishioner he will give you a 20% discount on parts and labor AND donate 5% of your total bill to St. Vladimir’s! Here is their web site with address, phone, and email contact information – note please that they offer free pickup and delivery:

http://www.mufflermanannarbor.com

A friendly reminder to all Church School parents and instructors that we begin classes again tomorrow, Sunday January 15, at 9:30 a.m. sharp. Classes will be held each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. at the church this semester. For more information about our church school and how to register your child please visit this link:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/ch ... onform.pdf

During the warm spring and summer months, just as during the cold winter months, we sometimes forget the necessity of dressing appropriately for church services. We include below a helpful guide for appropriate dress in church. Thank you very much for supporting our parish family by conforming to these important standards (which are applicable to all Divine Services – not just Sunday Divine Liturgy)!

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/properattire.pdf

In the winter months we don’t really have to think about things like dresses that do not cover the shoulder or short pants, but in the summer we do. A few practical tips in this regard:

• If you have a dress that does not cover your shoulders that you would like to wear to church that is just fine, but please cover your shoulders with a shawl or light sweater while in church
• Shorts are not appropriate in church. Somehow we struggle with this every spring and summer as a parish family. This is likely because this has not been made clear in the past and we ask the forgiveness of all for not being as clear as we should have been. So, to be as clear as possible: shorts should not be worn in church by anyone of any age at any time.

Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of one of the great fathers of the Holy Church, St. Basil the Great. At St. Vladimir’s we will have Divine Liturgy beginning at 8:00 a.m. We wish a happy name’s day to all our Basils and Vasily’s on their patron saint’s day! Below we present a short synopsis of the life of St. Basil.

English:

http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=100003

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life135.htm

Thank you too to all those that have worked so hard to prepare for tonight’s annual Nativity Ball, which promises to be simply wonderful! Special thanks are due to Yuliya Rodzianko and Darina Molkina who headed up the ball committee and have worked tirelessly to see the planning through despite a huge amount of hard work. Thank you too to all those (far too many to mention) who have helped in so many ways! And to all who are supporting our parish by attending the ball: thank you! We look forward to seeing you all tonight! Watch this space for photos soon to be posted!

Please fine at the links below an instructive teaching on the Nativity of Christ by St. Theophan the Recluse.

English:

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/50827.htm

Russian:

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/put/33451.htm

We continue our presentation of the teachings of the Holy Fathers on the Nativity of our Lord with this piece from St. Leo the Great, Pope of Rome. Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

English:

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/50828.htm

Russian:

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/put/28886.htm

As we continue to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord we present here a Nativity sermon by St. John of Kronstadt for the edification of our readers.

English:

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/43912.htm

Russian:

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/43912.htm

St. Vladimir's warmly welcomes students from the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, and all our local institutions of higher education. Need a ride? Please let us know (info@stvladimiraami.org)! We will be happy to pick you up and bring you to church. Interested in spiritual growth? We have a college age youth group just for that. We realize you might not be here every Sunday. We are good with that! But we do hope you will join us as often as you can! Welcome to St. Vladimir's!

We would like to provide Deacon Zacharias a complete set of vestments as a parish. Each of the vestments costs about $300 or so. At the present time we have all sets purchased or pledged for except for one - a white/gold set. We are seeking support for this set of vestments. Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions. Thank you for your generosity and support of Fr. Zacharias!

You can only make a first impression once. That is why it is so important, and the responsibility of each and every one of us, to warmly welcome visitors to our parish. Is the visitor not acting “appropriately”? Assure them that all will be fine and lovingly help. Is the visitor’s child fussy? Assure them that we welcome children in the church and not to worry. If they ask for a place to go to quiet the child please point out the nursery – do not push them out the door. Does the visitor have questions? Answer them if possible, and if not, refer them to someone who can. A smile and a welcoming word can make the difference in someone’s spiritual life both in this life and the next. Please show love one to another so that people will know that we are Christ’s disciples! We want to be known for our warm hospitality as was Abraham – but we all must work together to make our parish as welcoming as we possibly can!

Please find the Nativity Epistle of His Holiness Patriarch Kyrill below. Congratulations to all with the feast!

English:

http://www.mospat.ru/wp-content/uploads ... 3_engl.pdf

Russian:

http://www.mospat.ru/wp-content/uploads ... /1_rus.pdf

Please find below an instructive discourse on the feast of our Lord's Nativity from St. Gregory Thaumatourgos, Bishop of Neo-Caesarea.

Please note that the feast is not over - it is just beginning! Please see the complete schedule of services at the link at the top of our home page for the full schedule of Nativity services at St. Vladimir's!

English:

http://oca.org/fs/sermons/discourse-on- ... -of-christ

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life3175.htm

On January 3 Mrs. Natalia Alexandrovna Luft reposed in the Lord in Ann Arbor. Mrs. Luft was a parishioner of our parish in past years and her funeral will be at St. Vladimir’s at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, January 9. She was born on Sakhalin Island on March 9, 1933 and later married George Luft in Japan. He survives her. The young couple moved to Ann Arbor in 1965 and had a son, George – he resides in Florida and also survives her. All who can attend the funeral are urged to do so. Those who cannot are asked to remember Natalia in their prayers during these forty days. Her fortieth day is February 11. May the Lord grant her the Heavenly Kingdom!

Link to Muehlig Funeral Home Information:

http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignit ... cale=en-US

Today the Holy Church celebrates the Great Feast of the Nativity of our Lord. We congratulate all our parish familiy and friends with the feast! Below please find information on today's feast. At St. Vladimir's we celebrate the feast with Divine Liturgy this morning beginning at 10:00 a.m. Please plan to join us and to stay after the service for our Sisterhood's annual Christmas meal. All are invited! Merry Christmas to all!

English:

http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=103638

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life3174.htm

Please find the Nativity Epistle of Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, below.

English:

http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/syn ... tle12.html

Russian:

http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/syn ... tle12.html

Today is the day before the Nativity of our Lord. At St. Vladimir's we will celebrate with the Royal Hours beginning at 8:00 a.m. followed by Nativity Vespers and the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. This evening we will celebrate the Vigil for Nativity at 6:00 p.m. Tomorrow's Divine Liturgy for the feast begins at 10:00 a.m.

Today is a strict fast day, with the first meal ideally being eaten after the first star has appeared this evening. Certainly we would want to fast at least until Vespers and the morning Divine Liturgy have concluded - skipping breakfast today as a minimum.

We congratulate all our parish family and friends on the upcoming feast of our Lord's Incarnation!

This letter from Nativity 1870 from St. Ambrose of Optina to his spiritual children is still absolutely applicable to us. We hope our readers find it useful in this last days of preparation for the great feast quickly approaching.

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/50798.htm

Our usual monthly collection for Project Life Novosibersk is set for this coming Sunday, January 8. Those who will not be present and would like to make a donation to this worthy charity which supports mothers in Novosibersk Russia who chose not to abort their children, may contact our Treasurer, Molly Martincheck, or Fr. Gregory. Thank you for your continued support!

The schedule of services for the Nativity of our Lord is posted below. We invite all our parish friends and family to participate in as many of the services as possible and we welcome all to our parish for this Great Feast of the Holy Church!

Wednesday, January 4
Confession 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. (Please make an appointment with Fr. Gregory) – NO AKATHIST

Thursday, January 5
Confession 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. (Please make an appointment with Fr. Gregory)

Friday, January 6
Royal Hours, Vespers, Liturgy of St. Basil the Great: 8:00 a.m.
Confession 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Vigil 6:00 p.m.
Confession during and following Vigil

Satuday, January 7 - THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD
Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.
All are invited to the festal breakfast following the Divine Liturgy!
Vigil 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, January 8 - The Second Day of the Nativity
Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.

Monday, January 9 - The Third Day of the Nativity
Moleben 6:00 p.m.

We would like to remind our readers about the excellent resource that is Ancient Faith Radio. Not only does Ancient Faith Radio provide access to Orthodox music 24 hours per day, but it also has very interesting Orthodox talk programs as well. Please visit their site and share it with your friends and neighbors that might be interested in our faith - it is an excellent resource to allow those seeking to find Orthodoxy!

http://ancientfaith.com/

As many of us are aware, the Lord chose 12 close disciples and taught them continually during His own ministry to continue that ministry after His Ascension. These 12 close disciples were called Apostles, and this year at St. Vladimir’s we will focus on the life, teaching, and example of each of these twelve apostles. There were also seventy other Apostles chosen later, but we will concentrate on just the twelve for now – one during each of the months of this year. We encourage each of our parish family members to delve deeply into the life of the Apostles – the first ministers and preachers of the Gospel after our Lord Jesus Christ. The lives of each of the Apostles will be available the first week of each month of the year according to the following schedule on our home page and in our weekly bulletin, “Sunday Reading”. Monthly discussions will be held at St. Vladimir’s about each of the Apostles, including during our Great Lenten Lecture Series.

January – Apostle Peter

English:
http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=101841
Russian:
http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life6793.htm

February – Apostle Andrew
March – Apostle James (son of Zebedee)
April – Apostle John
May – Apostle Philip
June – Apostle Bartholomew
July – Apostle Thomas
August – Apostle Matthew
September – Apostle James (son of Alphaeus)
October – Apostle Thaddaeus
November – Apostle Simon
December – Apostle Matthias

“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” (Matthew 10:1-20)

“And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” (Acts 1:15-26)

In past years we have written here urging moderation when celebrating the New Year, reminding our readers that the Nativity Lent is not suspended on December 31 or January 1, and even if it was, under no circumstances will the Church bless gluttony and drunkenness. This year, rather than a narrative of our own authorship, we offer the words of St. John of Kronstadt (English) and Metropolitan Anthony (Khraphovitsky) (Russian) in the hopes that their words will provide edifying instruction for our readers in this regard.

English:

http://livingorthodoxfaith.blogspot.com ... hn-of.html

Russian:

http://azbyka.ru/knigi/mitropolit_anton ... -all.shtml

Many of us have come to the faith as adults, and we know how we struggle to inculcate the spirit of the Church in our hearts. With children, however, it is different. They begin, as it were, with a clean slate and are formed by their parents, teachers, and other close ones as they grow. This instruction by St. Theophan is instructive especially for those of us with children and those who plan one day to have children, but also for those who do not have children but who are close to children: teachers, aunts, uncles, etc. May the Lord grant us all to zealously fulfill the ministry of the raising of Christian children!

http://www.stjohndc.org/Russian/fathers ... ecluse.htm

We have updated our photo album both with new pictures from this year, but also by reorganizing past pictures. Please take a look:

http://stvladimirchurch.smugmug.com/

As always, if you have pictures of our parish to share please send to info@stvladimiraami.org

As we have discussed several times in our parish, St. Thophan the Recluse wrote most excellently on the topic of prayer, how one should pray, etc. Although St. Theophan is not as contemporary to us as, for instance, St. John of Shanghai & San Francisco, nonetheless, St. Theophan died at the end of the 19th Century, and thus his writings tend to address issues of the world that we find beset us even today. We hope our readers find this excerpt from St. Theopahn’s writings edifying, and we continue to encourage the reading of St. Theophan’s books as an aid to prayer.

http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/theoph_prayer.aspx

We think that some of our readers may be interested in visiting this web site, which explains icons not only from an Orthodox point of view, but also in such a way that this can be very beneficial to our friends and loved ones who believe that icons are idols or otherwise have a somewhat visceral reaction to the icons in our homes and in our churches. We hope you find this interesting, informative, and edifying.

http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/icon_faq.aspx

Please read the treatise at the link below by New Hieromartyr Hilarion regarding the Incarnation of the Lord and the spiritual consequences for the world, as well as our ideal reaction to this truly incredible event. As we prepare ourselves for the upcoming Nativity of our Lord (that is, His Incarnation) we hope this article will be spiritually helpful for all our readers.

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/50652.htm

We celebrated the feast of St. Herman of Alaska on Sunday, but given that we were also celebrating the Sunday of the Forefathers we didn’t have an opportunity to talk about St. Herman and his spiritually edifying life in any great detail. We hope that the excerpts found at the link below will prove salvatory for all who take the time to read them.

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/38612.htm

Confession and Communion are the two sacraments we most often partake of as Orthodox Christians and thus it behooves us to learn about these, how to prepare for these, and how to best take advantage of the Grace that our Lord freely gives us in these sacraments. At St. Vladimir’s we have created a special web site for this purpose with much information in this regard. Please find the web site listed below and please contact Fr. Gregory with questions!

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/communion ... nion.shtml

At Bishop Peter’s direction we ask each of our parishioners following the Divine Liturgy to listen to the Thanksgiving Prayers after Holy Communion as we come to kiss the cross and receive the blessed bread. Those who have not communed should listen to the prayers and thank God that others did have that opportunity while reflecting on when they themselves could next partake of the Holy Mysteries. Those who communed, of course, should listen very attentively to the prayers and thank God for the great gift which they have received at the Divine Liturgy. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD ANY CONVERSATIONS TAKE PLACE DURING THIS TIME except brief exchanges with the priest at the cross. The Divine Liturgy ends only when the curtain of the altar is closed after all parishioners have venerated the cross. Only after the curtain is closed should candles be blown out or conversations take place. We thank you for your attention to this important aspect of our worship. Questions in this regard should be directed to Fr. Gregory or our Starosta, Karl Meyer.

The St. John Kochurov society promotes and supports major diocesan initiatives:

The Diocesan Pastoral School
Diocesan Youth Ministry
Mission Planting
Support of our Hierarchs

It is our goal that our parish have the most members of the St. John society of any parish in the diocese! Please view the St. John society's pamphlet below, print it out, and make your pledge today!

St. John Kochurov Society Flyer:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/st ... ociety.pdf

To view a smaller version of the flyer in a lower resolution please visit this link:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/st ... -small.pdf

For those use pray in Russian or Church Slavonic you can now use the iPhone or Android app published by Sretensky Monastery in Moscow. The web link announcing this publication is below. The apps are free. We are now waiting and hoping for the same sort of app in English - God willing soon!

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/news/50544.htm

The date of the 2011 Annual Parish Assembly has been set for February 19, 2012. To participate in the meeting via voting or running for parish office one must be a member of the parish. To become a member of our parish please contact one of our membership coordinators: Vasiliy Krivtsov (vasiliy.krivtsov@gmail.com or 734-669-8712) or Dmitry Knysh (dmitriknysh@hotmail.com or 734-358-5996). We cordially invite you to join our parish family! More information on the annual meeting will be posted on our web site and sent via email and post to those who are on our mailing list. If you are not on our email list or mailing list please email info@stvladimiraami.org and we will be happy to add you to either or both of these lists.

Our annual Christmas Pageant (Yolka) has been sent for January 15 at 2:30 p.m. at the Dexter Public Library, 3255 Alpine St., Dexter, MI 48130. Tickets are $10 before December 31 and $15 after December 31. Tickets are available from the St. Vladimir kiosk until January 8. For more information please contact Luba Race at 734-476-9790. Don’t miss this wonderful family event!

Many of our parishioners have expressed an interest in visiting our friend and fellow parishioner Carl Rinne at his retirement home. We can say now that Carl has fully settled into his surroundings he is ready to accept visitors! Those who are interested in visiting are urged to contact Helen Tkach-Gabl (eagletkt@hotmail.com). Helen will explain the best times to visit Carl, give you tips as to how to make the visit most profitable and comfortable, and assure that we all don’t come over at the same time! Please plan to take a few minutes to visit Carl – he will love seeing you!

Of course whenever we come to church we want to behave appropriately. After all, the church is God’s house. We believe this little two-page pamphlet is very helpful in this regard. The pamphlet is in both English and Russian and includes the meaning of the bright lampadas above the Royal Doors at St. Vladimir’s. We suggest that all our parishioners review this pamphlet and we thank you kindly for doing so!

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/pamphlets ... church.pdf

Please see Fr. Gregory with questions.

Tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. the doors open on our annual bake sale and bazaar. This year’s event looks to be the best ever! Please join us and please spread the word! More information can be found at the flyer at the link below. The sale runs until 2:00 p.m.

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/St ... e_Sale.pdf

Gradmothers are generally the most wise of people, and this letter from a Grandmother is certain to help us as we strive to keep proper perspective in our families as we journey through the Nativity Lent.

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/50304.htm

We hope our readers will find this sermon which discusses what are true, eternal riches, edifying.

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/50372.htm

Nativity Ball tickets are available now from our parish Kiosk, or from the volunteers listed below. Please purchase your tickets early to aid in the planning of this annual event. Not only is the ball a lot of fun – it is also an important yearly fundraiser for our parish. For more information on our ball please visit our parish home page. To purchase tickets, please contact: Molly Martinchek (734-624-4296), Elizabeth Joyce (734-429-9024), Darina Molkina (847-476-4777), Yuliya Rodzianko (440-785-6131), or email info@stvladimiraami.org.

We’ve discussed our Diocese of Chicago & Mid-America Pastoral School extensively over the last few years at our parish. Please understand that the school is for those interested in serving the Holy Church as clergymen, BUT ALSO for those interested in learning more about their Orthodox faith - both men and women. You can learn more by visiting the Pastoral School web site – please see Fr. Gregory with questions.:

http://www.orthodoxtheologicalschool.org/

Did you know that some (in fact many) companies offer matching funds for donations made to non-profit organizations such as our parish? To find out more please contact your Human Resources department at you place of employment. Did you know that if you donate your used car to Charity Motors you can direct that the proceeds from the sale of the car go to our own St. Vladimir parish? You can find out more at their web site: http://www.charitymotors.org Please consider these options to support your parish!

St. Vladimir’s participates in the Good Shop program. Many of us buy things on-line all the time at web sites like amazon.com, bestbuy.com, target.com, and others. You can support St. Vladimir’s by purchasing from the very same on-line retailers you usually do, but through the Good Shop portal. It is easy to do! Simply visit this web site:

http://www.goodsearch.com/goodshop.aspx

Then type in “St. Vladimir” and choose our parish from the small list of St. Vladimir parishes listed there. You can distinguish ours by the fact that we are the only one in Dexter, MI (you have to double-click on our parish’s name). Finally, just navigate to the left side of the page and choose the broad category that you wish to shop in. You will shop at the same retail web sites you normally do, but St. Vladimir’s will receive a percentage of your purchase as a donation. You will also find a banner for Good Shop on our home page. Thank you for supporting our parish by purchasing the SAME GOODS YOU USUALLY DO from the SAME WEB SITES YOU USUALLY DO! You can also purchase travel, lodging, and other similar services from Good Shop. All it takes is a few extra clicks to support your parish!

Do you have 10 extra minutes per week? Could you put those ten extra minutes per week together once per month to visit one of our parishioners in the hospital or unable to leave their home? If so – please contact Fr. Gregory! Your 30 to 40 minutes per month could make the difference in someone’s life! Members of our parish family deserve better than to be lonely! Train your children in the pious Christian virtue of caring for those less fortunate – visit our parish family members in the hospital, nursing home, and at home this month! Those who are aware of parish family members who are in hospitals, nursing homes, or who are home-bound should contact Fr. Gregory so that these parishioners may be added to our list of those to be visited and spiritually cared for.

We have recently found things damaged in and around the church – sometimes things that are somewhat expensive – because someone didn’t know how to use these things and subsequently destroyed them. Please, if you don’t know how to use something or how to do something: ask! We VERY MUCH APPRECIATE everyone’s willingness to help, but we ask that if you get into a situation in which you aren’t sure how to run a piece of machinery or use a certain chemical or open a locked area, etc., that you call our Starosta at 734-945-0490 or Fr. Gregory at 734-649-5746. It is our Christian obligation to be good stewards of those things the Lord has given to us. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Please visit the link below to learn more about our annual Nativity Ball. MUCH is new this year! We have a new location, we have a new (lower) price, we have new games, a new raffle, a new caterer, A LOT is new!!! Please join us for what looks to be a simply wonderful evening! More information:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/nativityball.pdf

Tickets will be on sale beginning November 27, but if you just can’t wait please contact one of the volunteers listed on the flyer to reserve yours now!

Please note that a new shed is presently being constructed near the playground. The shed will be to house our lawn mower and other equipment needed for the upkeep of the church grounds. We ask the prayers of all so that our brotherhood might construct the shed quickly and safely. We ask parents to supervise their children carefully so that no injuries occur during this construction period. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

The dates of Parish Council meetings for 2011-12 are the following:

3/28/11
4/17/11
5/15/11
6/19/11
7/17/11
8/21/11
9/18/11
10/16/11
11/20/11
12/18/11
1/22/12
2/19/12

Deviations from this schedule will be posted on our home page.

As a parish we no longer own P.O. Box 2072 in Ann Arbor. Having two separate addresses seemed to be duplicative and so we ask that you direct all future correspondence to the parish physical address:

9900 Jackson Rd.
Dexter, MI 48130

Our Orthodox Christian faith is a great gift given to us by our Lord and Savior Himself. As with any gift we should be grateful for this one, but realize also that it is our responsibility not just to be grateful in the abstract, but to delve into our faith, to lean about our faith, to know our faith – not as an abstraction, but because it is helpful for our salvation to understand the gift that the Lord has given us. To learn more about your faith please visit the special web page we have created on our site for this express purpose. The address is found below. Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions regarding this or any spiritual topic.

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/orthodoxinfo.shtml

Have you met people that you think might be interested in joining our parish family? How about families in your neighborhood? How about Russian families you meet at the store or at your child’s school? An easy way to do a very good thing is to invite those that you feel would be interested to join us, and to OFFER THEM A RIDE. There are still many people in our area that don’t know we exist. If they know and they choose not to join us that is perfectly fine, but if they don’t know - then we as a parish family have not done our job. Ask nicely, kindly, with love, but if you know of someone that might be interested do ask. Questions? Please see Fr. Gregory.

The first Sunday of every month at 6:00 p.m. there will be a gathering of the college age and young adult parishioners of our parish at Fr. Gregory's home in Saline. Who is a young adult you ask? Only you can make that decision, but if you determine yourself to be in that age group (college age and above only please) then please do plan to join us November 6! We ask only that you RSVP (email Fr. Gregory) so we know how much food to prepare. This will be a dinner meeting so you are asked to arrive hungry. Those who WISH (this is 100% optional) to bring a dish to pass are welcome to do so. Fr. Gregory and his family look forward to seeing you at their place on November 6 and the first Sunday of every month!

The building team continues its work on the new church design. Soon we hope to be able to share a new site plan with the parish. In the mean time many people have asked that we publish the design renderings in digital format, which we are doing here. Please find the renderings at the link below. Questions and comments may be directed to the head of our building project, Nathan Longan. We ask your prayers that the Lord continue to guide us in this effort!

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/stewardsh ... -13-11.pdf

The economy in Michigan is poor. Many people have lost their jobs. If you have gotten to the point that you cannot afford to come to St. Vladimir’s due to the travel costs involved PLEASE contact Fr. Gregory (ogrisha@stvladimiraami.org or 734-649-5746). We have limited resources, so this program is only for those in truly difficult circumstances. However, if you cannot afford to come to church we will make every effort to help you. We can only help if you ask – so please do! We WANT to help! St. Vladimir parishioners that would like to help with this program by making donations are asked to contact our Starosta, Karl Meyer (starosta@stvladimiraami.org).

Please be courteous to your fellow worshipers and be sure to turn off your cell phone when entering the church, or at the very lease turn the ringer to the vibrate function. Thank you for you attention to this important matter!

Each of us has a patron saint, and thus a name’s day. On our name’s days we we honor our heavenly protector, that is, the saint for whom we are named. This we do by going to the parish church and partaking of the Mysteries of Confession and Communion, or if there is no service in our parish on that particular day, arranging for a Moleben to be served for our saint in the church on that day and Confessing and Communing on the nearest day possible to our namesday. It is also a pious tradition to invite our friends to our homes on our namesdays for a reception in honor of the saint for which we are named, to sing the saint's troparion, and to read the life of the saint. It is also very important to have an icon of our patron saint in our home icon corner. Some who read this may not know in honor of which saint they are named. For instance, there are at least 23 different saints with the name "John" on the Orthodox calendar. This is nothing to be ashamed of, but it is VERY important to learn about your heavenly patron, to make that saint a focus of daily prayer, and to keep that saint's commemoration (your namesday) in a pious manner. If you are not sure for whom you are named, and your parents also are not sure (this should be part of the baptismal record at the parish where you were baptized), please see Fr. Gregory for help in determining this important information!

We all desire to attend the Divine Services more often, but the question arises as to how to practically do that. As a rule most of us attended Sunday Divine Liturgy regularly. This leaves us looking, sometimes with trepidation, at the Vigil service. Let us not fear! Vigil is spiritually edifying and educational! Still, the Vigil is not short, and be assured that we value your time!

Vigil takes about two and a half to three hours. We must say first that this is time well spent for a Christian, as Vigil teaches us much about the feast or saint being commemorated the next day and is an important part of preparation for partaking of the Holy Mysteries. Vigil services have about 50% variable content while Divine Liturgy has about 10% variable content. Divine Liturgy is clearly the most important of the Divine Services from a theological point of view, but from an educational point of view you will learn much by attending the Vigil service. Further, for adults Vigil is the preferred time to go to Confession (rather than Sunday mornings).

Still, the service is long and we recognize that. All should be aware that confessions are heard before every Vigil. Also, please note that about half way through the Vigil the Gospel is read and the faithful are anointed with holy oil. This is a very logical time for those who cannot stay for the entire Vigil to take their leave (that is, after having been anointed). This is not the ideal (that is, we are not URGING you to leave early), but is completely acceptable.

Please consider making the Vigil part of your spiritual struggle this year. By establishing this as a pious family practice we hope that more and more of our parish family members will join us for Vigil throughout the year for their education and salvation!

Would you like to help your parish save a bit of money and help the environment by cutting down on paper used at the same time? If so please contact Fr. Gregory (ogrisha@stvladimiraami.org) and let him know that you would like to receive parish mailings by email only.

Please help us to compile a list of businesses owned by St. Vladimir’s parishioners! We would like to do this so that when we need goods and services we can support the members of our parish family. For instance, if you need something sewn or mended why would you (as a St. Vadlimirian) go anywhere else but to Elena Kashchenko’s shop? But there are MANY more of us who own businesses or provide services. Please contact Fr. Gregory or Karl Meyer with your information so that we can support you as a member of our parish family!

Please be aware of the many children who are playing outside at our parish at this time of year. Of course, we urge parents to have the children inside for the Divine Services, but we also realize that the services are long and children sometimes need a break. Drivers are driving into the driveway and towards the church ENTIRELY TOO FAST. Someone is going to get seriously hurt or killed if we do not begin to slow down. PLEASE, for the sake our children be careful! We appreciate the zeal to get to the Divine Services on time, but we would rather have you a minute or two late and everyone safe, then on time and a tragedy. Last spring we installed a speed bump on the driveway as an aid to our parishioners in this regard and the speed bump will soon be back now that the snow plowing season has (hopefully!) passed. Thank you for your attention to this matter.