Did you know that we have a You Tube Channel where we post videos regularly. There is a lot there and always something new! Please check it out and SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL:

www.youtube.com/StVladimirChurch

This year, with the blessing of His Grace Bishop Peter, we will celebrate the beautiful Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts throughout Great Lent on Wednesday evenings. Matins begins at 3:00 p.m. Liturgy will begin at approximately 6:30 p.m. Following each of these services our St. Xenia Sisterhood will organize a light Lenten dinner. Please contact our Head Sister, Ksenia Nikulshina (headsister@stvladimiraami.org or see her in church) if you would like to help with the dinner. We have excellent Lenten recipes to share if you’d like to try something new! Please join us for these remarkably beautiful and meaningful Lenten evening services and for mid-week fellowship with your parish family at the meal afterwards!

Wednesday, April 1

The Liturgical Fast for those communing begins after breakfast for the 6:30 p.m. services. In other words, you may eat breakfast, but eat or drink nothing further after that. Parents should use their best judgment regarding their children, as always. Those who confessed on the weekend prior to the Wednesday Presanctified need not confess again on/before Wednesday.

PLEASE NOTE! There are MANY other Presanctified Liturgies throughout Great Lent that begin with Matins at 8:00 a.m. and Liturgy about 11:30 a.m. - mostly on Fridays. Please consult the schedule of services on our web site for more details.

His Grace Bishop Peter of Cleveland will lead the sacrament of Unction at St. Vladimir's on Tuesday, March 31 at 6:00 p.m. Unction is a sacrament of the Holy Church and thus although we welcome all to be present at the beautiful Divine Service, only Orthodox Christians who have recently been to confession (within the last three weeks before the Unction service) may be anointed. The ideal situation would be to confess and partake of the Mystery of Holy Communion on Sunday, March 29 and then partake of Unction on March 31. Please see Fr. Gregory or Fr. Michael with questions and please plan to prepare yourself and to partake of this Holy Mystery as an aid to spiritual (and bodily) healing at St. Vladimir's on March 31. Following the Unction service will be a light Lenten meal. All are welcome!

More about the Mystery of Unction:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/flyers/my ... nction.pdf

Please note that Great Lent began this year on February 23. During Great Lent we abstain from meat and dairy products including fish (although fish is allowed on Palm Sunday – April 5). Let us recall that fasting is a tool given to us by God to aid us spiritually. For some it is easy to fast, for others it is difficult. However, what is most important is that we make a sincere effort to follow the fast. Why? Simply because the fast helps us to see our sins by helping us to focus spiritually. Eating “light” foods, or perhaps rather, abstaining from “heavy” foods such as meats and cheeses, allows us to be less focused on our stomachs and more focused on our souls, and of course, in this season when we undergo our journey to the Resurrection of our Lord we dearly wish to improve ourselves spiritually that we might meet the risen Christ better than we were when we began Great Lent. St. John Chrysostom writes that we abstain from meats that we might abstain from our sins. This nicely sums up the reason the Holy Church, as a loving mother, gives us the gift of fasting. Pascha is April 12 – may God grant us all a spiritually profitable Great Lent!

Yes - you read that right! Great Lent ends on Friday, April 3 when Holy Week begins. Thus, this Sunday is the last of the Great Lenten Sundays. What does that mean? First - consider how quickly Lent has passed. There is just a short time left. Use this time wisely! Secondly - come to Church this Saturday evening and Sunday night! We commemorate St. Mary of Egypt this last Sunday of Great Lent. She was a great sinner, but she also repented greatly and was forgiven. We too can repent as she did - but the first step must be taken in God's Church. All are welcome - please join us!

Our video ministry is weaker than it needs to be. We need help! Can you take videos? Do you LIKE to take videos? You can help introduce others to St. Vladimir's and the Orthodox Church by helping us take videos of Divine Services, sermons, lectures, and other parish activities. Please help! See Fr. Gregory for more information!

Bishop Peter will lead the sacrament of General Unction at St. Vladimir's on Tuesday, March 31 at 6:00 p.m. Unction is a sacrament of the Holy Church and thus although we welcome all to be present at the beautiful Divine Service, only Orthodox Christians who have recently been to confession (within the last three weeks before the Unction service) may be anointed. The ideal situation would be to confess and partake of the Mystery of Holy Communion on Sunday, March 29 and then partake of Unction on March 31. Please see me or Fr. Michael with questions and please plan to prepare yourself and to partake of this Holy Mystery as an aid to spiritual (and bodily) healing. Following the Unction service will be a light Lenten meal. All are welcome!

Tonight and tomorrow morning we celebrate the special feast of the Laudation of the Mother of God. This is also known as "Akathist Saturday". This evening's special Matins service is interspersed with the full Akathist to the Mother of God. Tomorrow's Divine Liturgy contains special hymns to the Mother of God. This is a feast at which monastics are often tonsured as the Mother of God is seen as a prototype of monasticism by the Holy Church. Please join us for this beautiful feast - the Laudation of our greatest intercessor before her Son on our behalf!

If you missed last night's Matins service, which included the full reading of the penitential canon of St. Andrew of Crete AND the full life of St. Mary of Egypt you will want to hear it soon - probably right now! To do that go to our Sound of the Parish Blog at the link below. You can fine the service there. Great Lenten Hours begin tonight at 5:00 p.m. with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at 6:30 p.m. After the Liturgy will be a Lenten meal and a meeting of our Great Lenten Book Club. Please join us as your schedule allows!

http://soundoftheparish.blogspot.com/

As part of pre-Paschal Church School activities we invite parish children 7 years and older to participate in the lessons and workshops on traditional art of pisanki egg decorations.

Every Thursday starting next week, March 26th, bring your child to the house of one of our parish elders and founders Natalia Vasilyevna Dale. The workshop will begin at 4 pm and finish at 5:30 pm.

The age restriction is due to the nature of the art requiring much patience and concentration for lengthy periods of time. Besides learning how to use wax in their painting of the eggs, children will learn the meaning behind various ornamental symbols, be able to share artistic ideas, generally socialize with each other while working, visit with Mrs. Dale and see her beautiful home, learn a little about the history of our parish, and much more! This workshop will run for a few weeks (except for the Holy Thursday on April 9th) even into the post-Pascha period, as long as there is an interest amongst the artists.

Please make sure to call Andrea Lasichak (734-433-1615) or email (alas40@aol.com) to let her know you are bringing your child, so she will have enough supplies for all participants!