April 2, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

May God bless you!

During these 40 days, we labor with God’s help to keep the Great and Holy Fast. But in two short weeks, we reach the holiest time of the year—the commemoration of the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem, His Passion on the Cross, and glorious Resurrection. The following are the most important services. From my heart, I urge you to attend them all! This requires effort, but in return you will experience the deep, spiritual joy of Pascha.

Let us be crucified and buried with Christ, that we may also rise with Him unto life.(St. Gregory Nazianzus, 330-390 AD)

Ask your boss at work to give you time off on the days listed on the next page. Tell him it is your religious duty to attend these services. Every Orthodox person should come to confession (see below) and receive Holy Communion. Invite your friends—Orthodox or not—to come with you to these beautiful services that are at the center of our holy faith and tradition. This is a good way to witness to those around us concerning the truth and holiness of the Orthodox Church.

ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM ORTHODOX CHURCH

LENT 2009

ConfessionFr. Christopher will be able to hear

confession at the following times:

at the Vigil for Palm Sunday,

Saturday, April 11, after Liturgy on

Palm Sunday; during the evening

services Holy Monday thru Holy

Wednesday; Holy Friday after

each service. Please plan on

coming during one of these times.

He will not be able to hear

confession on Holy Thursday

evening or Holy Saturday.

Please see the next page for a calendar of all the Paschal services. May the Lord grant you a blessed and holy Pascha.

With love in Christ,Rev. Fr. Christopher Stade

* Delicious kulichi (traditional Russian pascha sweet bread, made by our parishioners) are available for sale after the services of Palm Sunday and Holy Week. Small, medium and large cost $3, $5, and $10 each. Beautifully decorated Paschal eggs sold in a basket of 5 each will also be on sale for $3.00 from Holy Thursday. Kulichi and baskets will be blessed after the Paschal Midnight Service. For those who cannot attend the midnight service, baskets will be blessed at 2 pm Great Saturday afternoon, April 18, and at the dinner, April 19.

Holy Week CalendarThese are only the most important services. See the April calendar for the full schedule.

April 6 Annunciation 6 pm Vigil April 7 Annunciation 10 am Liturgy April 11 Lazarus Saturday 6 pm Vigil, with blessing of branches April 12 Palm Sunday 10 am Liturgy for the Entrance into Jerusalem April 16 Great Thursday 6 pm Matins with the 12 Passion Gospels

April 17 Great Friday 3 pm Vespers bringing out the Burial Shroud-Plaschanitsa 6 pm Matins: Lamentations and Procession with Burial Shroud

April 18 Great Saturday 10 am Vesperal and Liturgy 11: 15 PM MIDNIGHT OFFICE 12 PM PASCHA LITURGY April 19 PASCHA 1:30 pm Dinner in church hall—all are invited

3:00 pm Paschal Vespers

Pascha Flowers

This year for Pascha we will be doing

something a little different. In our efforts to

reduce costs and to encourage everyone's

participation in decorating the church for the

Paschal service we are asking everyone to

bring flowers to the church, along with a vase,

to decorate for the Liturgy. You may bring

your flowers beginning Thursday. The

flowers can be collected in the Trapeza hall

until time to place them in the sanctuary.

Bring flowers from your garden or buy them

if you like. This may be the beginning of a

wonderful new tradition for our parish!

Cleaning for Pascha

On Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week (April 13

and 14) we will be cleaning the church for Pascha.

We must clean the inside of the church, as well as

the gardens immediately surrounding the church.

This can be done much more easily if there are

many people to help. Even if you can come only for

an hour, your help is much appreciated! Let’s make

our church shiningly beautiful for Pascha, the most

blessed celebration of the church year. A sign-up

list will be posted on the bulletin board, along with

a list of areas that need cleaning. Thank you in

advance for your help

Church news and notes . . . Recent Births

Congratulations to Maria Gauze and

her husband, David, on the birth of

their baby, Daniel, born March 9,

2009.

Congratulations to Jeff and Alexia

Slauson on the birth of their new son,

Michael, born March 22, 2009.

Baptismal FontThe church is in great need of a larger and newer baptismal

font. At the present time, our font is too small for baptizing

infants, especially if they are more than a couple of months

old, and even more importantly, the interior surface is

deteriorating. Besides baptisms, the font is used for the

blessing of water throughout the year. The cost for a

replacement will be approximately $4,000.

In addition to taking special donations for the purchase of

the font, we will be doing the following to raise the needed

funds:

Rummage Sales - Volunteers are needed for the upcoming

rummage sale, scheduled for April 25th. People are needed

for setting up the sale items, selling and cleanup. Bring

your items to the church and place them down in the

basement. Times for the sale will be posted closer to the

scheduled day. This is a great way to finish up your spring

cleaning and contribute to the church. A second sale will be

held later in the summer.

Van Sale - The church has available a 1990 Ford Arrowstar

Extended Cab van which we would like to sell for $800.

This van needs about $400 dollars worth of work done on

it, but is in otherwise great condition. Contact the church

office if you are interested.

Tea Sale - A beautiful selection of organic teas have been

generously donated to church. These teas are on sale in the

trapeza hall. Proceeds from the sale will go toward the

font.

Trapeza Supplies

The church is trying to be more

environmentally conscientious, and we

are currently buying a heavier weight

paper cup to use for hot beverages but

these cost much more than the

styrofoam cups. Please consider

donating to the Trapeza fund for these

cups or perhaps if you belong to one of

the various discount warehouses you

could purchase a box of these cups to

donate to the church. Thank you.

Property Projects

There are two projects that we need to work on soon. The first project is building a new shed for storing the mowing equipment. The old shed is ready to collapse and we should pull it down for safety reasons. We can build a new shed on posts slightly above ground using standard framing, siding and roofing techniques. We are thinking about putting it where the red shed sits currently.The second project involves filling the cracks in the asphalt lane and parking lot, then coating the surfaces with a blacktop sealer. We hope to begin this work when the weather warms up.

Anyone who would like to help with these projects can contact Mark Wiebenga at 3 1 4 - 6 1 0 - 8 8 5 8 , o r b y e m a i l a t marcabenga@aol.com

Property Yard WorkIt will be time soon to begin doing yard work around the

Parish property. We will be putting a signup sheet on the

bulletin board in church. We hope that those who wish to

help with cutting grass, edge trimming, or general cleanup

will put their names on the sheet. We will provide basic

training to anyone who wishes to use the Exmark Lazer Z

mower. The rest of the equipment is easy to use and should

be familiar to most people.

ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

3774 Gravois Road

House Springs, MO 63051

Return Service Requested

Our Church Needs Financial Help

You have all been so very generous in your giving over the years, and during the financial troubles of our current economic situation in this country we are asking you to give, yet again. In this country we do not receive any government assistance for our parish. The stimulus package, issued by the United States government, will not help our community of believers. St. John Chrysostom Church depends solely upon your generosity to continue our mission to proclaim the truth of the Orthodox faith in Christ to the city in which we live. Providing a priest and deacon for the rituals of our faith, those anchors in our lives which give our lives meaning and purpose; the Liturgies, moliebens, pannychidas, Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals, prayers and blessings, all require financial support. Our beautiful church and church property need upkeep and maintenance to keep it safe and beautiful. This all requires your continued giving, whether weekly or monthly. Your contributions are the only way for our parish to survive, expand, and provide for those truly in need of our help. Please continue your generous giving, and if there is some way you might be able to increase your contribution, please know how very much your gifts are appreciated and needed.