Please join us Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. and Thursday at 8:00 a.m. for the dual commemoration of Great Martyr Barbara & Venerable John of Damascus! If you cannot come to Vigil or Liturgy please try to join us on one of our live streams.

FIND ST. VLADIMIR LIVE STREAMS
All are welcome! The services will be inside the church, so we ask that you sign up. This allows us to understand the number of people that will attend since we have limited, physically distanced spaces inside the temple. The link to the sign up sheet can be found on our parish home page. If you have any trouble finding that please email: info@stvladimriaami.org.

Thank you to all who stayed for the presentation by our school Board of Directors on Sunday, December 13, after Liturgy! Your feedback was SUPER helpful! We will be making some changes and additions to our presentation, and we will continue to look for ways to drive tuition down. We will also work with other existing Orthodox schools to figure out how they set tuition: for 50% enrollment, 75%, 100%? This is where we are struggling. Your prayers in this regard will be very helpful, as will your ongoing feedback. Please reach out to us anytime with ideas – we value your thoughts: a2oca@stvladimiraami.org.

I was working in the Diocesan Office last week. I found out earlier today that at that time Archbishop Peter and I were exposed to someone who later tested positive for Covid-19. The exposure and the positive test were several days apart, so there is not a guarantee that the disease was spread, but the state of the science calls for a 10-day quarantine for those exposed in this situation. If there are no symptoms during this time it is assumed that there was no exposure. I am experiencing no symptoms as of now and I ask the prayers of all St. Vladimirians in this regard - especially for Archbishop Peter. Before I found out about the potential positive exposure I served at St. Vladimir’s Friday evening, Saturday morning, Saturday evening, and Sunday morning. I was masked during the services and the air handling equipment was on continuously in the church during that time. At least for part of the Liturgy on Sunday in the winter worship space, until someone turned them off, the fans were being used as well. Therefore, there is little risk that, even if I am positive, I spread the disease at St. Vladimir’s. Nonetheless, especially those who served in the altar should watch carefully for symptoms of the disease and take appropriate actions in case of the onset of symptoms. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this causes for anyone! Unfortunately there is no way for me to fulfill my diocesan duties 100% remotely, but I will continue to take all the precautions I can when I have to travel to Chicago. I will keep you updated on my health as the week goes on. For now the Service Schedule remains the same, with visiting priests scheduled to serve in my place. If that changes we will let everyone know right away.

Fr. Gregory

. . . let us hold fast to love of him, hating and rightly turning away from the devil. For as our benefactor is loved and cherished in proportion to his benefactions, so the wicked one should be hated and rejected for his ways in equal proportion. For he is the destroyer of our life. In the words of the Master, he is a murderer from the beginning [John 8:44]. He is the one who has divided our race into ten thousand opinions, wounding it with many darts of sin and seeking to swallow down the inhabited world. If we do not hate him, there will be no escaping the punishment that will be meted out to us, because we joined to our foe and murderer. But, my brothers, let us fly from him! Let us fly most certainly. What is flight? The avoidance of wicked actions and thoughts, and also affinity with God, the assumption of good works.

+ St. Theodore the Studite

Our Sister in Christ Lydia Hirscht passed away on Sunday, November 29 at her daughter’s home in Florida. The funeral will be at the Holy Ascension parish in Albion, MI on Friday, December 11 at 12:00 p.m. Although only those that have been at St. Vladimir's for some time will remember Lydia, we know that they remember her fondly. And we ask the prayers of all our parishioners for the repose of her soul, even if you did not know her. May the Lord grant her His Kingdom!

December 12. This is a date to put on your calendars. Why? We have been given a HUGE privilege in that the Lord saw fit to allow St. Mardarije (Uskokovic) to repose in Ann Arbor. That is right - we have our own Ann Arbor saint! How many Orthodox Christians all over the world would LOVE to have their own saint! A saint that reposed in their city! And our response to this incredible gift that the the Lord gave us is: YAWN. Nothing. No response. No interest. Really? Have we become that cold to spiritual life that we look at the gift that the Lord gave us and our response is to be simply dead? Where are the newborn boys in our parish named Mardarije? Where are the molebens being served to OUR SAINT? Where is the personal veneration of the big and lovely icon we have in our parish church? Perhaps our issues stem from not knowing the life of this favorite of God.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE

He who fears God will pay careful attention to his soul and will free himself from communion with evil.

+ St. Thalassios the Libyan

Divine Services, Lectures, Ask the Priest, Vladcast, More! All on our YouTube channel. Check it out and subscribe today!

ST. VLADIMIR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Each first Sunday of the month we will have Parish Council members ready to help you during the parish meal. Help you by answering questions you may have about why you should support your parish. Help you by answering questions about how you can support your parish. Help you by assisting you in setting up a recurring donation to support St. Vladimir’s if you would like to do so. No one will attack you. :) But if you would like help, or you have questions, we are setting aside this time specifically for this purpose.

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TREASURER’S CORNER

Everyone should own a prayer book. We strongly recommend the Jordanville edition, and we have this in our parish kiosk in English and Russian. However, sometimes we don't have a prayer book handy, or sometimes we need practical tools in our "prayer kit". We have added the St. Pachomius rule in Russian. Please check out all the resources on this page!

VISIT OUR PARISH PRAYER KIT PAGE TO LEARN MORE