This offering is provided as part of an ongoing effort to help us to grow together spiritually as a parish family. Fr. Gregory strongly urges everyone to take a few minutes and partake of this weekly spiritual reading. Parents are urged to work with their children on the children’s piece. Feedback is welcome!

For Adults – A Short Article on the New Martyrs of the Turkish Yoke:

http://www.roca.org/OA/23/23h.htm

For Children – On the Gospel of Matthew 6:22-33:

http://www.antiochian.org/sites/antioch ... n%2028.pdf

In preparation for some exterior construction at the church (between the two parking lots) various utility companies have been flagging their buried cables on the church property. Please leave the colored flags as you find them when you are next at St. Vladimir's. Parents – please supervise your children closely so that they do not move the flags. The pending construction is designed to alleviate the flooding that has taken place at the church over the last month. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!

Divine Services for our patronal feast day, the commemoration of the Holy Great Prince and Equal to the Apostles Vladimir, will be according to the following schedule:

Monday, July 27 – Vigil 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, July 28 – Lesser Blessing of Water 8:00 a.m. & Divine Liturgy 9:00 a.m.

Clergy visiting are asked to bring red vestments.

Congratulations to our entire parish family on this Great Feast of our parish! All are invited to share this special day with us!

Beginning with the Vigil for the feast of St. John the Baptist on July 6 evening services and activities at St. Vladimir’s will be scheduled at 6:00 p.m. rather than 7:00 p.m. as a rule. Please make note of this change!

Please read an interesting article at the link below regarding the discovery of an ancient Orthodox Church in Connecticut. The archeological evidence seems to suggest that this church was built by monks from Northern Africa in the Fifth Century. The article appears in “Ancient American” Issue #54:

http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/general/con ... church.pdf

Please see our photo album for pictures of the blessing of the Mystical Supper icon located above the Royal Doors of our altar:

http://stvladimirchurch.myphotoalbum.co ... e=album218

Thank you very kindly to those who anonymously donated the icon to our parish! May God reward you for your generosity!

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

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

Please remember in your daily prayers this week our ill, traveling, and unemployed parishioners and friends found on this list.

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

To have persons added or removed from this list please contact Fr. Gregory.

Thank you to all those who have worked so hard to improve the drainage at St. Vladimir's regarding the recent flooding issues we have had. Some peole have been there nearly every day working hard for our entire parish family and we thank them especially! Due to the floods the floor in the main part of the church has been removed down to the concrete. This will not impact the service schedule, but we want everyone to know this so they aren't surprised when coming to church. Once the flooding issues have been completely eliminated a new floor will be installed.

The official web site of the Diocese of Chicago & Mid-America has posted coverage of Bishop Peter's recent visit to St. Vladimir's. To read the article and view the pictures posted please visit this page:

http://www.chicagodiocese.org/news_090619_1.html

Our parish family is seeking volunteers to participate in two very important efforts in our parish life: Youth Activities & Christian Education. Of course, these two efforts overlap to some extent, but the goal is to find at least two dedicated volunteers to work in each area closely with Fr. Gregory to improve and expand both our Youth Ministry and our Educational offerings to both children and adults. These volunteers would not replace our outstanding Youth Coordinators or Church School Staff, but rather work to support the efforts of the Youth Group and the Church School, as well as broaden our activities and offerings in these areas. The time commitment would be less than 5 hours per month (likely much less). Please contact Fr. Gregory directly if you are interested!

At the June 22 meeting of the Parish Council the following mission statement for our parish was adopted:

The mission of St. Vladimir Orthodox Church is to gather Orthodox Christians of all nationalities and backgrounds, as well as all those desiring to embrace the Orthodox Christian Faith, as a parish family for mutual spiritual support and the salvation of our souls. We strive to emulate in our lives, and especially in our parish family, the relationship between the persons of the Holy Trinity as the highest and most profound example of love.

Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions or comments about the mission statement. By their very nature mission statements are living documents and input from the parish family is welcome.

Please be sure to congratulate our hard-working Brotherhood with their feast day! July 4 marks the feast of St. John of Shanghai & San Francisco. All Brothers are called to prepare themselves for Confession Holy Communion on this important day! This is a great opportunity for us to thank our Brothers for all their hard work for our parish.

The Lenten period preceding the feast of Sts. Peter & Paul is provided to prepare us for this important feast day on our Orthodox Church calendar. Most years this feast falls during the week and many people are not able to attend Divine Liturgy due to work obligations. However, this year the feast falls on a Sunday (July 12). Thus, this year Fr. Gregory is urging all St. Vladimir’s parishioners that are able to do so to prepare themselves to partake of the Holy Mysteries on the feast of the Holy Apostles. In order to aid the many people who we hope will want to confess before the feast there will be confession from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 11. This will only be useful, however, if people come early to confession. If everyone arrives at 5:30 p.m. the hour and a half previous will have been wasted. PLEASE COME TO CONFESSION EARLY and plan to stay for Vigil, which begins at 6:00 p.m. In order to make the time during confession most useful we will read the prayer rule before Holy Communion together, thus making it unnecessary to read it at home privately. For more information on Confession and Holy Communion at St. Vladimir’s please see our special web page dedicated to this important topic:

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

The Apostles fast begins from the day after the Sunday of All Saints (this year June 15) to the feast of Sts. Peter & Paul (July 12). During this Lenten period we abstain from meat and dairy products as always, but often with the provision of fish being allowed. The goal of the fast, however, is as it always is, to abstain from our sins. May God grant this to all of us!

Interesting material (in Russian) on the Apostles Fast (including recipes):

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/put/30753.htm