The facts of the life of St. Mary of Egypt are vague and clouded by time and separation, but the spirit of her story is a clear call to repentance and devotion.  According to tradition, Mary was from Alexandria, where she was an actress and courtesan, living a life of sin and infamy.  When spiritual intervention forbade her entry to Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, she spent the night in penitent prayer.  The following morning she was able to enter, whereupon she venerated the cross and immediately removed herself to the life of a penitent and solitary in the Palestinian desert.  She remained in isolation for forty-seven years, aided only by monks of the region and God's grace.  Only at her death was she found and given communion by the priest Zosimus.  On this last Sunday of Lent, as we prepare for Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and the Great Feast of the eighth and eternal day, we call to mind this holy woman, her fear of the all-powerful God, her recognition of her sin, her repentance, her humility, her faith, and her unwavering intent to seek righteousness and the courts of her King.

 

Hebrews 9:11-14:  In our reading from Hebrews, we hear the Apostle tell us that when Christ entered the heavenly Holy of Holies through His own blood, He obtained for us eternal redemption for our sins.

 

Mark 10:32-45:  We again hear our Lord prophesy concerning His coming death and resurrection,    but, His disciples do not understand, displaying concern for personal gain as a reward.  The Lord then explains to them that greatness in the kingdom of  God is attained through service to others.

 

Troparion of the Resurrection:  The stone being sealed by the Jews, and thy pure body being guarded by the soldiers, thou didst arise on the third day, O Saviour, granting life to the world.  Wherefore, the heavenly powers acclaimed thee, O Giver of life, crying, Glory to thy Resurrection, O Christ! Glory to thy kingdom! Glory to thy gracious providence, O only Lover of mankind.

 

Troparion of St. Mary of Egypt: In thee, O Mother, was preserved that which is according to God's image, for thou hast taken up the Cross and followed Christ.  By thine actions thou hast taught us to despise the flesh, for it passes away, but to care for the soul, which is a thing immortal; and so thy spirit, holy Mary, rejoices with the angels.

 

Troparion of the Chains of St. Peter: O Holy Apostle, Peter, thou dost preside over the Apostles by the precious chains which thou didst bear.  We venerate them with faith and beseech thee that by thine intercessions we be granted the great mercy.

 

Kontakion for Usual Sundays:  O undisputed intercessor of Christians, O mediatrix, who is unrejected by the Creator, turn not away from the voice of our petitions though we be sinners; come to us in time, who cry to thee in faith, for thou art good.  Hasten to us with intercessions, O Theotokos, who didst ever intercede for those who honor thee.

 

 

 

Sunday, April 5 (Fifth Sunday of Great Lent – St. Mary of Egypt)
 8:50 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School
 10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 5:30 p.m. – Youth Group  

 

Monday, April 6
 Office Closed – Father John's Day Off

 

Tuesday, April 7
 6:00 a.m. – Lenten Daily Orthros
 6:30 p.m. – Choir Practice
  
Wednesday, April 8
 5:00 p.m. – Catechism Class
 6:30 p.m. – Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, followed by Soup Supper

 

Thursday, April 9
 6:00 a.m. – Lenten Daily Orthros
 
Friday, April 10
 6:00 a.m. – Lenten Daily Orthros
 6:30 p.m. – Small Compline with the Canon of St. Lazarus
        
Saturday, April 11   (Lazarus Saturday)
 9:00 a.m. – Orthros/Divine Liturgy
 6:30 p.m. – Great Vespers

 

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

 

 

 

Eucharist Bread: ...was offered today by the Milnors.

 

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
     Eucharist Bread  Coffee Hour
April 5                                              Milnors               Joneses/Stewarts
April 11 (Sat. a.m.) Lazarus Saturday D. Roots              Anastasia/Karen
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 5                       Tom Willingham          Heb. 9:11-14             290
April 11 (Sat. a.m.)     Walt Wood                 Heb. 12:28-13:8        291
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

 

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).

 

wPlease be sure to schedule a time for confession with your priest at least once during the Great Fast.  We should make every effort to not leave this important task until the last minute.

 

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. 

 

 
 * The schedule of daily evening services during the remainder of Lent are as follows:
   Wednesday, April 8th – Presanctified Liturgy followed by Soup Supper and
    brief teaching by Father John – 6:30 p.m.
   Friday, April 10th – Small Compline with Canon of St. Lazarus – 6:30 p.m.

 
 * The schedule of services for Lazarus Saturday and Holy Week are as follows:
   Sat. April 11 Orthros/Divine Liturgy, starting at 9:00a.m.
   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.

 
 * On April 12th 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.  A sign-up sheet is in the Fellowship Hall.

 
 * St. Peter's will be hosting the Parish Life Conference next year.  The dates for the conference will be June 10-14.  This will a wonderful opportunity to showcase our parish.  More information will be available in the future.

 

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.

 

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!!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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 5   Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt (Fifth Sunday of Great Lent)
 April 11  Lazarus Saturday
 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.

 

Quotable: "On Sundays and feast days come to the Church, and falling down with reverence before God, be mindful of all the mercies you may ever have received from Him.  Thank Him for them with all your heart, and as a sign of your thankfulness, promise to live as He commanded you."

    - St. Tikhon of Zakonsk

 

 

 

 Scripture:  Philippians 4:4-9; John 12:1-18
 Celebrant:  Father John
 Homily:  Father Leo
 Deacon:  Deacon Terry, Deacon Richard
 Epistle Reader  Tom Skirtech
 Acolytes:  TBA
 Prosphora:  Fahmys
 Coffee Hour:  Fish Fry (Freundts, Meadows, Joanna)
 Teen Hosts:  N/A (Bridegroom Matins)