READINGS FOR TUESDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF GREAT LENT

Please find important and helpful on-line resources for Great Lent at the links below.

English ~ Russian

It is good for us to increase our spiritual reading and prayer during Great Lent. It is especially good to take a small break from work if possible, to pray, reflect, and remind ourselves that even as we live in the world we do not want to be consumed by the world. Each day of the first week we will post a link at noon as a spiritual break from the waves of the world - and to remind ourselves that we are working in an especially focused way now to draw nearer to our Lord.

READINGS FOR MONDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF GREAT LENT

We congratulate all our parish family on the beginning of the Holy and Great Lent! This is a special time of year for all of us when we put away the cares of this world to the greatest extent possible and in a much more focused way examine our consciences, forgive each other, and seek forgiveness from our merciful Lord. Yesterday the Holy Church commemorated the casting out of Adam from Paradise. In today's Divine Services the first scripture reading is the beginning of Genesis – today is a new beginning for us all. May God grant us all a spiritually fruitful lent as we prepare ourselves for the feast of feasts – the Glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Please find here the prayer of St. Ephraim. This prayer is said at every weekday Divine Service of Great Lent and it is common practice to include this prayer in our daily home prayers as well:

PRAYER OF ST. EPHRAIM

"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 (although during Great Lent the readings are from the Old Testament). 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: Isaiah 1:1-20, Genesis 1:1-13, Proverbs 1:1-20
Tuesday: Isaiah 1:19-2:3, Genesis 1:14-23, Proverbs 1:20-33
Wednesday: Isaiah 2:3-11, Genesis 1:24-2:3, Proverbs 2:1-22
Thursday: Isaiah 2:11-21, Genesis 2:4-19, Proverbs 3:1-18
Friday: Isaiah 3:1-14, Genesis 2:20-3:20, Proverbs 3:19-34
Saturday: Hebrews 1:1-12 & Mark 2:23-3:5

Понедельник: Исаии 1:1-20, Бытия 1:1-13, Причти 1:1-20
Вторник: Исаии 1:19-2:3, Бытия 1:14-23, Причти 1:20-33
Среда: Исаии 2:3-11, Бытия 1:24-2:3, Причти 2:1-22
Четверг: Исаии 2:11-21, Бытия 2:4-19, Причти 3:1-18
Пятница: Исаии 3:1-14, Бытия 2:20-3:20, Причти 3:19-34
Суббота: Евр. 1:1-12 & от Марка 2:23-3:5

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

By St. Justin (Popovich)

By Bishop Kalistos (Ware)

Please join us for a live broadcast of today's Divine Liturgy beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the following link:

ST. VLADIMIR AUDIO LIVE STREAM
Please remember - the stream only broadcasts live services. If you would like to listen to previously recorded and edited services please visit our sound blog:

SOUND OF THE PARISH BLOG

Our parish Sunday publications are available now at the link below. Find our Prayer List, "Good News", and "Sunday Reading", plus other parish publications!
PARISH PUBLICATIONS

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!

CONFESSION AND COMMUNION AT ST. VLADIMIR'S
PRAYERS BEFORE COMMUNION - PARISH PRAYER KIT

Please join us for a live broadcast of tonight's Vigil beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the following links:

ST. VLADIMIR AUDIO LIVE STREAM
Please remember - the stream only broadcasts live services. If you would like to listen to previously recorded and edited services please visit our sound blog:

SOUND OF THE PARISH BLOG

It is understood and expected that each member of our parish would have at least one duty that they participate in IN ADDITION to attending the Divine Services. This ranges from baking prosphora, to picking sticks in the cemetery, to shoveling snow, and more! If we all do our little part we will equitably care for the parish the Lord has entrusted to us, and we will not kill off those who do these things if no one else does. It is wise for us to preserve the leadership of our parish, but it is also moral for each parish member to do their part. So please pitch in, and if you have not chosen your duty yet please contact our parish Secretary, Marina Edwards. If she doesn’t hear from you she will reach out to you soon. You can email her at info@stvladimiraami.org or see her in church. Thank you diligently following through on this program. More involvement in the parish promotes persistence in being part of the parish family – and it keeps a few people from doing everything. With God’s help we will make our metaphor of “family” even more real in our parish by working together for God’s glory in this way!