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This year, the Great Feast of Pentecost, when the Church celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit, also coincided with Father's Day. After the Festal Liturgy and Vespers with kneeling prayers, we sang "Many Years!" to all fathers, grandfathers, godfathers, and uncles. Sunday School bought presents for all the men of our parish - barbecue sauce! (This will be one of the greatest grilling seasons ever.) Also, Maryann celebrated her birthday and two of our Sunday School students, who missed end of school year celebration last week, received their presents. Glory to God for all things! Blessed and joyful Pentecost season to all!     Christ is risen! On Sunday, May 12, we celebrated the Feast of Holy Myrrh-bearing Women, Mother's Day, and birthdays of Nadezhda and Slavica. Sunday School children made a wonderful present for all the ladies of the parish - begonia plants! Father Aleksey spoke with children about the courage, faith, and love of the holy myrrh-bearers and how our mothers share the same qualities. At the end of the Liturgy we took a group photo of our women. In short, we had another wonderfully busy day here. Glory to God for all things!           Midnight ProcessionPaschal Divine Liturgy                            Proclaiming the Gospel to all the nations in different languages
In Spanish Egg hunt on Pascha   Bright Monday (2nd day of Pascha) procession after the Divine Liturgy    Liturgy and the Procession                 Sunday School class      Churching & first communion, and birthday celebrants   On Saturday our kids gathered to learn about 40 martyrs of Sebaste and make traditional skylarks in their honor. You can learn more about the holy martyrs and the tradition of making skylarks here.                 On Sunday, March 17, the First Sunday of Great Lent, we celebrated the Triumph of Orthodoxy - restoration of the veneration of the icons. At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, our children, carrying icons, processed around the church in imitation of the procession the faithful did back in 787 in Constantinople, when proper teaching and understanding of the icons was restored. After the procession, Father Aleksey spoke with the kids about the significance of today's feast. Blessed Sunday to all! С Праздником!          On Sunday, Jan. 13, after the fellowship and coffee hour, our kids went out to spread Christmas joy to a few of our parishioners who are no longer able to make it to church. A huge thank you goes out to Justine LaMonaca for organizing and leading our carolers along with our choir director Andrew Miketzuk. Afterwards, the kids went to Dunkin Donuts for some after-caroling treats. Christ is born!      Glorify Him!                   Caroling at the end of the Liturgy. Led by our great choir director - Andrew Miketzuk. We had a full day on Sunday, Dec. 16 - Divine Liturgy with the Fields family from St Vladimir's Seminary, whom our parish sponsored for FOCA's Saint Nicholas Project. Father Herman Fields concelebrated at the Liturgy. At the end of the Liturgy, Father Aleksey talked with kids about the meaning behind the symbolic creatures of the Evangelists - the man, bull, lion, and eagle. After the Liturgy, our children gave a Yolka performance, and Saint Nicholas himself visited us with gifts for the kids. Bigs thanks to Sunday School moms for organizing and preparing for the day. Moms, you rock! Also, thank you to the Fett family who are in charge of St Nicholas Project for our parish. The gifts, hospitality, and love that we show to the seminarian families every year really make this Christmas season that much more joyous. It was a joyous day indeed!  On Saturday, Dec. 8, our children decorated their gingerbread houses and practiced their Yolka performance for next Sunday.                     Sunday school kids assembled shoe boxes filled with gifts for the children in need.    Source: MosPatUSA.com Photo credit: Reader George Konyev - Media Office of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA                        Kids preparing some decorations for the Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday:         Sundays' dinner and fellowship after the Divine Liturgy:               The Annual Picnic has come and gone. Pictures for your viewing pleasure. Thank you to everyone who participated in preparation and celebration of the picnic. PS: if you took pictures at the picnic, please send them our way to post here. We prepared hard:         And we partied hard (some partied harder than others 😉 ):                   Sponsors and donors:  On September 9, the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrated the Divine Liturgy, at the conclusion of which we prayed for all of our students and teachers. Since we never stop learning in life, all of us are students, and parents, among other duties they have, are also teachers. Therefore, this blessing was for everyone present. May our Lord Jesus Christ always guide us toward attaining that wisdom that profits our souls! Pictures from the Feast of Transfiguration this past Sunday. “On the Feast of the Transfiguration we offer the first fruits to God that they may be blessed, and so that those who offer them and partake of them may attain joy and forgiveness. Just as these fruits grow and ripen under the rays of the summer sun, so may the spiritual fruits of faith and love increase and mature in us by the light of God’s grace.” [Fr Vassilios Papavassiliou, Meditations for the Twelve Great Feasts] Also on this day our choir director, Andrew Miketzuk, Ludmila Pogrebinsky, and Marie Stefanelli celebrated their birthday. Joyous Feast to all! Happy birthday and many years! Also, Barbara Preciado celebrated her birthday this past week. Many years! On Sunday, May 20, we held a nice Sunday School graduation ceremony. At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Father Aleksey delivered a kids sermon based on the icon of Christ - the Good Shepherd. Afterwards, we said thanksgiving prayer for the fun and successful school year, and kids received certificates with prayer cubes. Thanksgiving prayer: |
