Resurrection! This is the most important feast day of the Holy Orthodox Church. It is the holyday of holydays, The Feast of Feasts, the day of victory, triumph, and joy. The customs and traditions of Pascha go back thousands of years, and this is a good time to ask ourselves: What do we know about Easter? How did Easter get its name? The name Easter is a very poor one for this feast, and is not used liturgically by the Orthodox Church. The feast is Resurrection, or Pascha which refers to the Old Testament Passover. The word Easter comes from Eostre or Eastre, the Teutonic goddess of spring who symbolized the awakening and rebirth of nature from the death of winter. What do Eggs Have to do with Easter? To the ancient peoples of the world, eggs symbolized life and fertility. It is no wonder they came to be used on the feast of the resurrection. Just as the egg holds life within it, so the tomb held life (Christ) within its confines; just as the bird breaks through the shell and emerges to a new life, so Christ emerged from the tomb to the new life of resurrection. It is thought Mary Magdalene came to the Roman emperor and greeted him with the words, Christ Is Risen! and presented him with a gift of an egg colored red. Why are Easter Baskets Blessed? One way of expressing joy is feasting. Special foods are prepared, then, for Easter. So many of us fast during the great lent and abstain from meat and rich foods, these are blessed on the day of Resurrection. They are blessed because they are our offering of joy to the Lord, who blesses them and gives them to us for our feasting; we bless them that none may become ill after the fasting season. Why dont we celebrate Easter together? The Orthodox Church doesnt celebrate the Resurrection at the same time as some of the other Christian Churches because of the canons of the First Ecumenical Council, in Nicea, 325. The Orthodox Church adheres to the canon which specifies that the Feast be celebrated after the Jewish Passover. This year we will celebrate the feast of the Resurrection on Sunday April 16th together with all other Christian faiths. WE NEED HELP TYING THE PUSSY WILLOWS FOR DISTRIBUTION ON PALM SUNDAY: April 9th: Our Lords Entry Into Jerusalem. Please see Matushka Ludmila at the candle desk for the time and date this project will be done. WE NEED HELP DYING EGGS FOR DISTRIBUTION ON PASCHA. The ladies of the Parish will be dying eggs on Holy Saturday in the Parish Home. Please see Nadja Schmidt or Matushka Donnalynn to sign up! They will provide you with the time this will be done. WE NEED HELP PREPARING THE TABLES FOR PASCHAL FOOD BLESSING AND THE SELLING OF CANDLES on HOLY SATURDAY at 5 PM. This might be our biggest blessing so far due to the fact that all Christians will be celebrating Easter together this year. Please see Matushka Ludmila at the candle desk to sign up for times needed. WE NEED HELP ON HOLY SATURDAY FOR GRAVE VIGIL. Each year we struggle to get parishioners to guard the grave on Holy Saturday. We are looking for our faithful to sign up on our Grave Vigil list. We ask you to spend two hours out of your day to guard the grave! Please sign up on the List at the Candle desk. PASCHAL GREETINGS: On the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we extend prayerful best wishes for a Blessed Pascha and humbly ask that the Risen Saviour bestow His Life-Giving Peace upon our clergy, altar servers, choir members, Parish Council members, sisterhood, brotherhood, faithful members of our parish, benefactors, our families, friends, and all Orthodox Christians. Christ Is Risen! Indeed He Is Risen! THOMAS SUNDAY: April 23rd: We need help selling candles on Saturday and Sunday April 22nd and April 23rd. We ask you to cover a two hour shift helping sell candles! Please see Matushka Ludmila at the candle desk to sign up. PASCHAL LUNCHEON: Please join us at the parish home after the Divine Liturgy on Pascha, April 16th. We ask you our faithful to bring your families to the Parish home to break the fast and celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection with your fellow parishioners. If you would like to help defray the cost of food on this day please see Matushka Ludmila at the candle desk. Your help is greatly appreciated. PASCHAL FLOWERS: The cost of flowers is increasing every year. Matushka Ludmila each year makes sure our church and grave for vigil are decorated in the proper manner. If you can help out to defray the cost of these flowers please see Matushka Ludmila at the candle desk Please remember your church on Pascha: It is important that we remember our church of Saint Marys on the feast day of the Holy Resurrection. Financially we depend on your generosity to help us meet the financial demands of our church and property! As tithing is a goal of our Orthodox Church in America and our Diocese, please make an extra effort to support our church! Your help in this matter will be greatly appreciated. GREAT NEWS: We are waiting for final approval from the Township of Jackson to finally renovate our wall. We have waited patiently for this project to become a reality and it is near. We are expecting work to begin after Pascha, most likely around April 23rd! Please pray for this to happen! GREETINGS FOR PASCHA!
CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!
(English)
CHRISTOS VOSKRESE! VOISTINNU VOSKRESE!
(Slavonic)
CHRISTOS ANESTI! ALITHOS ANESTE!
(Greek)
FELTAMODT KRISTUS! VALOBAN FELTAMODT!
(Hungarian)
KRISTE AGSDGA! CHESHMARITAD AGSDGA!
(Georgian)
CHRYSTUS ZMARTWYCHWSTAL! PRAWDZIWIE
ZMARTWYCHWSTAL! (Polish)
NO KNEELING IN CHURCH for prayer or for any reason
until the Feast of Pentecost, Sunday, JUNE 4th. NO FASTING during BRIGHT WEEK! THOMAS SUNDAY: April 23rd: Please be reminded that the Divine Liturgy will be served at 8AM on this Sunday!