Palm Sunday begins the observance of the eight days that encapsulate all of time and eternity as relates to man.  The days begin with the proclamation on earth of the entry of the Messiah into Jerusalem and end with the Eternal King rising in incomprehensible victory to establish the heavenly Jerusalem and His eternal reign.  On Palm Sunday, we begin the days of the full exhibition of the awful corruption sin has spread in mankind and the measureless love that heals and deifies our humanity.  Today we thrill at the picture of Christ and the praises of the people, the object of adoration yet the perfection of humility.  The imagery of the scene is beyond description:  the King amidst His people, the palm and olive branches symbolizing His victory, His anointing, His peace; the cloaks and garments cast before Him symbolizing our complete submission to His will; the cries of adoration, of "Hosanna," the coming of the Lord.  Yet, on this day we are also near enough to feel acutely the dread of His passion, the desolation of the trial and Golgotha.  This day also begins the week of the Eighth Day, the entry to eternity.  As we observe Palm Sunday, we observe all history and the fulfillment of all history.

 

Philippians 4:4-9:  The Apostle Paul encourages us in the reading from his letter to the Philippians;  we are to rejoice in the Lord and to let our concerns and desires be made known to God in prayer and supplication.  By doing so, he tells us that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds.

 

John 12:1-18:  In anticipation of her Lord's passion, Mary anoints Jesus' feet with costly ointment, foreshadowing His coming death.  Jesus then enters Jerusalem shortly before Passover in fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy.
Troparion of Lazarus:  O Christ God, when thou didst raise Lazarus from the dead before thy Passion, thou didst confirm the universal resurrection.  Wherefore, we, like babes, carry the insignia of triumph and victory, and cry to thee, O Vanquisher of death, Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord.

 

Troparion of Palm Sunday:  O Christ God, when we were buried with thee in Baptism, we became deserving of thy Resurrection  to immortal life.  Wherefore, we praise thee, crying, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord.

 

Kontakion of Palm Sunday: Seated upon Thy throne in heaven, and a foal on earth, O Christ our God, Thou didst receive the praise of the angels and the hymns of the children: Blessed is He that cometh to recall Adam.

 

 

 

Sunday, April 12 (Palm Sunday)
 8:50 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School
 10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy, followed by Palm Sunday Meal (Fish Fry)
 6:30 p.m. – Bridegroom Matins  

 

Monday, April 13 (Great and Holy Monday)
 Office Closed – Father John's Day Off
 6:30 p.m. – Bridegroom Matins

 

Tuesday, April 14 (Great and Holy Tuesday)
 6:30 p.m. – Bridegroom Matins
  
Wednesday, April 15 (Great and Holy Wednesday)
 5:00 p.m. – Catechism Class
 6:30 p.m. – Service of Holy Unction

 

Thursday, April 16 (Great and Holy Thursday)
 6:00 a.m. – Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil
 6:30 p.m. – Reading of the 12 Passion Gospels
 
Friday, April 17 (Great and Holy Friday)
 6:00 a.m. – Royal Hours
   ...followed by the Preparation of the Bier
 3:00 p.m. – Vesper Service (Taking Down from the Cross)
 6:30 p.m. – Lamentations Service
        
Saturday, April 18 (Great and Holy Saturday)
 9:00 a.m. – Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil
 10:30 p.m. – Rush Matins and the Divine Liturgy of Pascha, followed by Paschal Feast

 

Sunday, April 19 (Great and Holy Pascha)
 3:00 p.m. – Agape Vespers at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church

 

 

 

Eucharist Bread: ...was offered today by the Fahmys and yesterday by the Daniel Roots for Lazarus Saturday.

 

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
                                 Eucharist Bread          Coffee Hour
April 12 Palm Sunday     Fahmys                 Freundt/Meadows/Joanna
April 16 (Thurs. a.m.)      Meadows               Meadows
April 18 (Sat. a.m.)         Bakers                  Meadows
April 18 (Sat. night) PASCHA Hendersons    Wood/Pigott/Turner
April 26                         Joanna Meadows    R. Roots

 

Schedule for Epistle Readers   –  Page numbers refer to the Apostolos (book of the Epistles) located on the front pew.  Please be sure to use this book when you read.
                                    Reader                       Reading             Page #
April 12                    Tom Skirtech                 Philippians 4:4-9         294
April 16 (Thurs. a.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows     I Cor. 11:23-32            295
April 18 (Sat. a.m.)   Sh. Charlotte Algood       Rom. 6:3-11               300
April 18 (Sat. night)   Warren Strain                Acts 1:1-8                   25
April 26                   Mildred Morris                 Acts 5:12-20               32

 

Ben Brock will be chrismated at the Vesperal Liturgy next Saturday morning.  His sponsor will be Ken Jones.  Please keep them in your prayers. A light reception will be held in his honor following the liturgy.

 

Congratulations to Max Baker! ...who has been accepted into Job Corps, and is now in training in Crystal Springs.

 

 * For the Paschal feast Saturday night, the church will be providing ham & turkey for sandwiches, dessert, and drinks. Please bring a basket of "side items" that your own family will enjoy. 
 * Holy Resurrection has requested that we bring deserts as our contribution towards the Agape Feast. They are also asking for monetary donations to help with their food costs. Please contact Christina Katool by e-mail or at 601-594-4885 and let her know if you are planning on bringing a dessert.
 * If you have a child or children that want to go Easter Egg hunting at Holy Resurrection, they will need to bring a basket and a dozen filled plastic eggs. 
 * Bright Week... We will have an Ice Cream Social on Saturday, April 25th at 5:00 pm, followed by Vespers. We will have sandwiches and ice cream.

 

There will be no services at St. Peter's on May 2-3 (for this weekend only) since all the clergy will be at Jordan Henderson's wedding in Florida.  You are encouraged to attend one of the other Orthodox churches in the area.

 

Please remember the following in your prayers: Reader Basil's family (Dad, Bill; Mom, Cleo; sister Betty; and uncle and aunt, James and Sarah Powell), Karen Cooper (recovering from knee surgery), Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family, Penny and Dean Bruner and their family, Deborah and Paul Finley, Effie Johnson (Kh. Susan Cushman's mother) and the Cushman family (St. John's in Memphis) Jared and Stacy Autrey and their daughter Olivia Kate who has been in the hospital at Vanderbilt Medical Center (St. Ignatius in Franklin).

 

 * The schedule of services for Holy Week are as follows:
   Sun.-Tues. Apr. 12-14 Bridegroom Matins at 6:30 p.m.
   Wed. April 15 Service of Holy Unction at 6:30 p.m.
   Thurs. April 16 Vesperal Liturgy (Holy Thursday) at 6:00 a.m.
   Thurs. April 16 Twelve Passion Gospels at 6:30 p.m.
   Fri. April 17 Royal Hours at 6:00 a.m.
   Fri. April 17 Taking down from the Cross at 3:00 p.m
   Fri. April 17 Lamentations Service at 6:30 p.m.
   Sat. April 18 Vesperal Liturgy (Holy Saturday) at 9:00 a.m.
   Sat. April 18 Paschal Service at 10:30 p.m.
   Sun. April 19 Agape Vespers at Holy Resurrection at 3:00 p.m.

 * The next meeting for the PLC 2009 Planning Committee will Thursday, April 23rd at 7:00 p.m.

 * TODAY we will have a catfish fry following the Divine Liturgy.  Catfish Haven will be providing the food again this year.  The cost will be $8 for adults and $5 for children.

 * Parish Life Conference at the Hilton, June 10-14!! (See below)

 

Registration for the Parish Life Conference has begun!!  Be sure to register to attend the conference.  Registration forms are available on the table in the hallway and online at our website (thanks to Daniel Root!!).  On the website you can also find the schedule of events for the conference.  If you cannot afford to attend all the meals and events, be sure to register for as many as you can, especially the Grand Banquet on Saturday evening.  Come, also, for the services.  The Very Rev. Fr. Michael Dahulich, Dean of St. Tikhon's Seminary will be the speaker this year.  You will also hear many wonderful homilies by the visiting priests.  The Bible Bowl is lots of fun (as anyone who has ever seen one will tell you) and the Oratorical Contest is a chance to hear the thoughts of some of our young people on spiritual issues.  This conference will be attended by those from our sister parishes throughout the diocese and is an opportunity to showcase our parish.  So make plans now to attend.

 

Help needed for PLC 2009 Souvenir Journal!!   The PLC committee is starting to sell ads for the souvenir journal for the Parish Life Conference and we need your help! Our goal is to sell $20,000 of ads by May 1. Please consider talking to your employer about donating for a corporate ad, and if you have any suggestions of businesses to go to or people to talk to, please let Anna Kathryn know.

 

Directory Updates have been mailed to each household.  Please correct these if needed (or place a check mark on the form if the information is already correct) and mail or bring them to the church office as soon as possible. We hope to be able to have updated directories available in a few weeks, but this will only be possible if everyone does their part.  Thank you for your assistance in this task.

 

Fasting Discipline for April:
During Great Lent the traditional fasting discipline is observed on all days of the week until Pascha (except Palm Sunday on April 12th, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).  On days when the Holy Eucharist will be received at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, no food or drink should be taken until after the Liturgy.  There is no fasting during Bright Week following Pascha.  Starting on April 27th traditional fasting will resume on Wednesdays and Fridays.

 

Major Commemorations During April
 April 12  Palm Sunday
 April 13  Great and Holy Monday
 April 14  Great and Holy Tuesday
 April 15  Great and Holy Wednesday
 April 16  Great and Holy Thursday
 April 17  Great and Holy Friday (Good Friday)
 April 18  Great and Holy Saturday
 April 19  PASCHA
 April 23  Great-martyr George
 April 24  Apostle and Evangelist Mark 
 April 26  Thomas Sunday

 

The Ladies of St. John Orthodox Church in Memphis are hosting a bridal shower for Sally Elliott on Sunday, May 17th from 4-6 p.m.  All of our ladies are invited.

 

The Christmas Village (a pregnancy intervention ministry located in Canton) is hosting a fund-raising mother-daughter tea on Sunday afternoon, April 26th.  This worthwhile organization ministers to women who are unwed or have difficulties, but do not want to have an abortion.  Many of our ladies have helped staff their bakery at Christmastime.  Informa-tion about the tea  is posted on the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall.

 

Please supervise your children to avoid spills, ink stains or marks from their writing and drawing on our new chairs.  We also ask that you not allow them to stand on the kneelers.  Thank you for your help with this.

 

Those hosting Coffee Hour or feasts MUST be sure to place fresh trash bags in the trash cans when cleaning up afterwards.  If this is not done, items get thrown into the empty trash cans and then dumped as is into the cans outside.  The trash people will NOT pick up loose trash from the cans and have even dumped it out in the past.  This means that Father John has to pick these items up by hand and bag them!  Please help us with this!!

 

If you are the last to leave the building, please make sure that the heating and cooling unit in the Fellowship Hall is set to the optimum temperature for the building when unoccupied.  If you have overridden the programmed setting, please be sure to restore it to the original setting.  We are trying to keep our utility costs down.  If you do not know how to operate the thermostat, please consult with either Father James or Deacon Richard for instruction. 

 

Quotable: "Whenever the Holy Spirit is present, He makes men of gold out of men of clay."

    - St. John Chrysostom

 

 

 (Beginning at 10:30 p.m. Saturday Evening)
 Scripture:  Acts 1:1-8; John 1:1-17
 Celebrant:  Father John
 Homily:  Father John
 Deacon:  Deacon Terry, Deacon Richard
 Epistle Reader  Warren Strain
 Acolytes:  TBA
 Prosphora:  Hendersons
 Coffee Hour:  Paschal Feast (Woods/Pigotts/Turners)
 Teen Hosts:  N/A (Agape Vespers)