Please plan to come to Confession for Pascha early! All those who confess beginning on Friday, April 22 do not have to confess afterwards again in order to go to Communion on Pascha itself or for the entire Bright Week. Everyone should be planning to go to Communion on Pascha, as this is the Feast of Feasts, the most important spiritual day of the Orthodox year. Please see Fr. Gregory with questions, and PLEASE come early to Confession!

You say you haven't made it to EVERY Divine Service of Great Lent and every Great Lenten Lecture!? Do not be disturbed! Neither has anyone else to be honest. And that is OK! We do not expect every person to attend every Divine Service or every lecture or every anything. Rather, we try to have many services and activities so that everyone can attend at least some of the services and activities. But those you have missed you can find on our Sound of the Parish blog. This makes a wonderful Great Lenten background for your office during the work day too. The link is here:

http://soundoftheparish.blogspot.com

Please take a moment to sign up for email updates on the right side of the browser window of the blog. That way each time we post a new sound file you will be alerted via email. Those who follow us on Twitter will also receive a notification of each posted file. Please join us on "Sound of the Parish"!

Fr. Gregory is sick - therefore there will be no Liturgy this evening. Please forgive and please spread the word!

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 explanation of the Sunday gospel reading from Blessed Theophylact:

http://chrysostompress.org/c_fifth_lent.html

For Children – an activity based on last Sunday's Gospel reading for various ages:

http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default ... 4-17-a.pdf

Now is the time to plan to send your children to an Orthodox Summer camp! We remind you NOW, so that as you plan your child's summer, you will be sure to include this important aspect of forming an Orthodox consciousness in your child's life. Last year we had a nice turnout of young people from our parish participate in both the Valdimirovo and Ruskoka camps. And honestly these are really the two best camps out there – Fr. Gregory recommends them both highly! Vladimirovo is the our diocesan camp. Ruskoka is the Canadian diocese's camp. You can learn more about these camps at the links below. PARENTS: please take some time NOW and review this information! Once registration opens these camps will fill up quickly and you don't want to miss your change to register your child.

Vladimirovo:

http://www.orprcamp.org/

Ruskoka:

http://www.ruskoka.com/

There are three other Orthodox camps that you may want to consider and which may be more convenient for your family: St. Seraphim's Camp, NORR, and ORUR. These are the other three camps associated with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in the eastern half of North America. More information below:

St. Seraphim's Camp:

http://www.stseraphimcamp.com/

NORR:

http://www.campnorr.org/

ORUR:

http://www.orur.org/Main_E.html

Please contact Fr. Gregory or Karl Meyer with questions. Our parish STRONGLY supports Orthodox Camps – please join us in that support!

There is no day like Pascha: it is the feast of feast and the day of days. It is the most important feast and the most important day of the year. What a great day to invite a friend to join us at St. Vladimir's! Please take a moment now and invite a friend – or two – or five – or more to the Paschal service. Pascha is May 1 so do not wait! Join us beginning at 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 30 and stay with us right through our Paschal meal early Sunday morning after all the beautiful Divine Services. Do not hide the Pearl of Great Price – invite a friend to join us this year for the Lord's Glorious Resurrection at St. Vladimir's!

We are seeking readers to read the Acts of the Apostles in as many languages as possible again this year. Since this tradition has grown in popularity in recent years this year we will again begin the reading of the Acts of the Apostles at 9:00 p.m. on Holy Saturday, April 30. This reading sends a very important and stark message: Christianity is the faith for all peoples. Thus, we try to read the Acts before the tomb of Christ in as many languages as we can. Last year we read in 14 languages. Let's break that record this year! Contact our Head Reader, Ken Doll, to sign up for your slot to read in the language of your choice.

Please join us for our all English monthly cycle of services this Friday at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. This Saturday is Lazarus Saturday and according to our parish tradition we will prepare the palms and pussy willows for the Satrday evening vigil after Liturgy. All Church School students are very strongly urged to attend the Lazarus Saturday services, confess if age appropriate, and partake of the Holy Mysteries. Church School on this Saturday will be held after Liturgy rather than before Vigil. Please plan to join us!

Please find the schedule of services at St. Vladimir's for Holy Week and Bright Week 2016 at this link:

http://stvladimiraami.org/flyers/paschaschedule16.pdf

Please join us for as many of these beautiful, meaningful, and important services as your personal schedule allows!

Please contact Fr. Gregory, Nathan, any of our Parish Council members, or our Head Brother or Head Sister. WE WANT TO HELP! And we offer these free options to help you stay connected with St. Vladimir's - even if it is hard for you to get to church on your own:

+Home Visits
+Rides to Church
+Home Computer help to allow you to listen to the Divine Services live every Saturday night and Sunday morning
+Subscription to "Sunday Reading" via post
+Subscription to "Good News" via post
+Subscription to each weekend's Divine Services on CD

If you know someone who has trouble getting to church, but that person is unlikely to see this announcement, please reach out and share this information with him or her.