St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, McKinney, Texas
Electronic Newsletter
April 5 / 17
Palm Sunday
Announcements
Prayer Requests
Schedule of Divine Services in the Coming week
Fasting in the Coming week
Links related to the coming week
Today the grace of the Holy Spirit hath gathered us together, and we all take up thy Cross and say: Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Announcements
After the Divine Liturgy and meal on Saturday (about 11:00), we will be gathering to clean the church in preparation for Pascha. Please join us!
Passion week is here! We will have services every day from April 15 through April 24, as we accompany our Lord on His march to Calvary and give Him thanks for all that He has done for our salvation. The schedule of services can be found below. For those who cannot attend all of the Holy Week services, priority should be given first to the Vesperal Divine Liturgy on Holy Saturday, then to the Matins service on Holy Friday evening, the Service of the Passion on Holy Thursday evening and the Vesperal Divine Liturgy on Holy Thursday morning.
Remember that on Pascha, the Divine Liturgy takes place immediately after the Festal Matins service, in the early morning. There will be no service at 10AM on Sunday, April 24th, and our festal trapeza will be after the Vespers service at 3PM, with with lots of good food and no rice and beans in sight!
Our new facility brings with it many new maintenance and upkeep tasks. Matushka Marina and Reader David Hawthorne need volunteers to help get all the work done.If you can give a few hours of our time to help care for God's house, please contact Matushka Marina, Reader David or Deacon Nicholas and we'll tell you how you can help.
We have a list of things our parish needs. If you or somebody you know wish to supply one of these items, please contact us.
Prayer Requests
For the Health and Salvation.
- Kateryna (Kayla) Bayda. (employment)
- David and Elizabeth Ash.
- Priests Jean and Grégoire and all the faithful and suffering of Haiti.
- The suffering people of East Japan.
- Metropolitan Hilarion (recent knee surgery)
- Archbishop Kyrill (on leave of absence because of health problems)
For a more complete listing, please see our parish prayer list. Anyone can make requests.
Schedule of Divine Services in the Coming week
Saturday 4/16. Lazarus Saturday Wine, Oil and Caviar allowed
- 9AM Divine Liturgy
- 11AM General Church Clean-up
- 3:30PM Parish Council Meeting
- 4PM Confession
- 5PM Vigil
Sunday 4/17 PALM SUNDAY Fish, Wine and Oil allowed
- 10AM Divine Liturgy followed by Procession with Palms
- 12:45PM Church School for Adults and Children
- 6PM 1st Bridegroom Matins
Monday 4/18 HOLY MONDAY
- 7:30PM 2nd Bridegroom Matins
Tuesday 4/19 HOLY TUESDAY
- 7:30PM 3rd Bridegroom Matins
Wednesday 4/20 HOLY WEDNESDAY
- 8AM Lenten Hours
- 9AM Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
- 7:00PM Matins for Holy Thursday
Thursday 4/22 Great and Holy Thursday. Wine and Oil allowed
- 8:20AM Hours
- 9AM Vesperal Divine Liturgy for the Institution of the Eucharist.
- 7PM The Service of our Lord's Passion
Friday 4/21 Great and Holy Friday.
Those who have the strength should fast from all food until after Vespers on this day.
- 10AM Royal Hours of the Lord's Passion
- 3PM Vespers — Taking down of the Lord from the Cross
- 6PM Matins — Burial Service w/ Lamentations
Saturday 4/22. Great and Holy Saturday. Wine (no oil) allowed
- 10:20 Hours
- 11AM Vesperal Divine Liturgy — First Proclamation of the Resurrection
- 10PM Reading of the Acts of the Apostles
- 11:15PM Nocturns
Sunday 4/23. PASCHA.
- 12AM Matins of the Resurrection.
- ~1:30AM Divine Liturgy
- ~3AM Blessing and sharing of baskets
- 3PM Agape Vespers Service
- 4PM Festal Trapeza (Luncheon)
Fasting in the Coming week
- Holy Week is a week of Strict Fasting
- Fish is allowed on Palm Sunday
- On Holy Friday, those with the strength fast until after Vespers
- On Holy Saturday, wine (but not oil) is allowed
- On Pascha, there is no fasting for 50 days.
LINKS
LAZARUS SATURDAY
- Thoughts on Lazarus Saturday – the resurrection of Lazarus, the four days dead, of Bethany Also in WORD format
- Lazarus Saturday – the resurrection is NOW (mp3)
- Questions about Lazarus Saturday
- Kontakion On the Raising of Lazarus by St. Romanos the Melodist
- Prayer on the Saturday of the Righteous Lazarus
PALM SUNDAY
- Palm Sunday – These Things They Did Not Understand At First John 12:1-18 (mp3 format) 2008
- The inner meaning of Palm Sunday. Philippians 4:4-9 John 12:1-18 mp3 audio
You can watch this sermon on the following video platforms: YouTube, Yahoo, MySpace, Metacafe, DailyMotion, Blip.tv and Veoh
SYNOPSIS:The events of Palm Sunday are momentous, but they cannot be understood without understanding the words of the Apostle Paul and contrasting them to the actions of the people who received Jesus joyfully and with shouts of praise as he rode into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of an ass. - Palm Sunday – Why did we read this Epistle? Principles of scriptural exegesis. – Philippians 4:4-9 mp3 audio.
- Prayer on Palm Sunday
Prayer on Palm Sunday. O Lord our God, Who didst accept and give ear to the weeping of the holy Myrrh-bearing Women, Martha and Mary, in Bethany, and, …
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: