Christ is risen!

Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven. Mark 10:4
Sunday, April 20, 2014 Volume 2, Issue 16

Christ is risen!
Today is the biggest day of the year! Today is the
reason that we are all Christians. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, rose from the dead!
We have been getting ready for this day all through Lent, for a whole month and a half. But isnt it funny to go to the grocery store the day after Easter (Pascha)? The storekeepers are working hard, taking away the Easter candy and chocolate bunnies, the cards and the egg dye. They put them on sale for 75% off! Easter is over, they say. Now well move on to the next holiday. But Easter is not over for us Orthodox Christians! We feast this whole week! We have 40 more days to sing Christ is risen! Then, we still celebrate. We celebrate Easter every Sunday, when we come to church to receive Holy Communion. Lets not forget about Easter now! Our Lord did the most wonderful thing for us. He opened up heaven for us. He loves us so much that He wants us to be with Him in heaven. Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

DS R O W D E L B M A SCR
Unscramble each of the clue words. Take the letters that appear in boxes and unscramble them for the final message.
Answers: Spring, Zoe, Life, Pascha, Leo, Mary. Final Message: Christ is risen!

THE LIFE-GIVING SPRING

A FEAST OF MARY, THE THEOTOKOS
Do you have a friend named Zoe?
Her name means life in Greek, and every year on the Friday after Easter, we celebrate her nameday. On this day, we celebrate the feast of the Life-Giving Spring. The icon is kind of strange. In the icon, you see Mary, the Theotokos, in a fountain, with water flowing out of it!
Once, more than 1,500 years ago, Emperor Leo (but before he became emperor) tried The icon of the LifeLife-Giving Spring to help a blind man find water. Leo heard a voice telling him where to go. He found a spring, flowing with water. He put some of the water on the blind man and the man suddenly could see. Later, Emperor Leo built a big church over the spring, and he dedicated it to the Theotokos, the Mother of our Lord. Lots of sick people came to the spring and came back all better. We remember this special church, because we know that Mary, the Theotokos, always gives life to us. It was Mary who became the mother of God! And today, on Easter, He gave life to us, too!
We celebrate the feast of the Life-giving Spring on Friday, April 25th.

Whats in an icon?
Do you see the icon of the Resurrection? Do you know who Christ is pulling up? Its Adam and Eve!