FIVE LINES FOR EVERY ST. VLADIMIRIAN TO READ TO PREPARE FOR THIS WEEKEND!

Friends,

We have been talking throughout the summer a out how to shorten the announcements at the end of the Sunday Liturgy. I’ve sought your feedback, and have received some. I am thankful for that. I’ve thought about this a lot too. And at Liturgy on Monday I think I figured it out. We will have essentially NO announcements on Sundays. What does that mean?

We regularly send out information via email, post on FaceBook, Twitter, Telegram, our web site. We post flyers in church. The fact of the matter is – you have ample opportunity to learn what is happening at STV. It is not clear to me that having 10-15 minutes of announcements on Sunday really adds value. So I’d like to give you back the gift of time.

That being said, there are a few really important things that sometimes we need to talk about on Sundays. So how will we deal with those? How do you get the word out to the parish in such situations? You send me an email by 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays to get your announcement into this handout that we will prepare every Sunday and have available at the kissing of the Cross. We’ll publish this on Sundays on our web site too, in case you can’t get to church:

THE SUNDAY FIVE

I’ll still invite folks to stay for lunch, etc., but my remarks will be super short. There will not be a request for folks to make announcements in church – everyone who needs to do that can send me an email by 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. Occasionally there will be a real emergency that needs to be addressed. Of course that will be allowed IF IT IS REALLY AN EMERGENCY. However, a lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency for the rest of us. :) You’ll need to ask me about your emergency BEFORE we get to the end of the Liturgy though. I can’t make that decision on the fly with the Cross in my hand.

Thank you for your understanding. I ask your continued understanding as we transition to this new system. Surely there will be some hiccups. Surely there will be an announcement that someone feels is an emergency, but I don’t. :) I will ask your forgiveness in advance for that. This will take a bit of planning on our part too (to meet the Thursday deadline). But we have to get this fixed, and this is the best way I can figure out to make it work. And there is not better time than the present to get this done.

In Christ,

Fr. Gregory

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Please find the September schedule of services posted at the following link:
OCTOBER STV SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
PLEASE NOTE:

OCTOBER 5: Church School Begins
OCTOBER 6: Youth Groups Begin
OCTOBER 14: Protection of the Theotokos
OCTOBER 26: All-English Cycle
OCTOBER 31: Halloween Alternative

FIVE LINES FOR EVERY ST. VLADIMIRIAN TO READ FOR THIS WEEK!

We need podvigs [spiritual struggles] for the formation of our inner man, for the mortification of the passions nesting inside, to development ourselves to that "measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13), when we become capable of accepting and bearing the Kingdom of God in our hearts. God is always with us, at the door of our heart, as it says: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock" (Rev. 3:20); but is the heart always able to receive Him? We are shown by books and examples that podvigs are an auxiliary force for our perfection, to purify our hearts by them, so as to be able to receive the Kingdom of God, that is, Christ Himself within it.

St. John of Kronstadt
From the book: Conversations of Archpriest John of Kronstadt with Abbess Taisia, Sretensky Monastery, 2022

"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: Galatians 2:11-16 & Luke 3:19-22
Tuesday: Galatians 2:21-3:7 & Luke 3:23-4:1
Wednesday: Galatians 3:15-22 & Luke 4:1-15
Thursday: Galatians 3:23-4:5 & Luke 4:16-22
Friday: Galatians 4:8-21 & Luke 4:22-30
Saturday: I Corinthians 4:17-5:5 & Luke 4:31-36

Понедельник: Гал. 2:11-16 и от Луки 3:19-22
Вторник: Гал. 2:21-3:7 и от Луки 3:23-4:1
Среда: Гал. 3:15-22 и от Луки 4:1-15
Четверг: Гал. 3:23-4:5 и от Луки 4:16-22
Пятница: Гал. 4:8-21 и от Луки 4:22-30
Суббота: I Кор. 4:17-5:5 и от Луки 4:31-36

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)

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Today's Liturgy is live now at 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 ENGLISH + РУССКИЙ