Pascha (Passover)
The Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Pascha
Holy Week comes to an end at sunset of Great and Holy Saturday, as the Church prepares to celebrate her most ancient and preeminent festival, Pascha, the feast of feasts. The time of preparation will give way to a time of fulfillment. The glorious and resplendent light emanating from the empty Tomb will dispel the darkness. Christ, risen from the dead, cracks the fortress of death and takes “captivity captive” (Psalm 67:19). All the limitations of our createdness are torn asunder. Death is swallowed up in victory and life is liberated. “For as by a man came death, by a man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (I Corinthians 15:21-22). Pascha is the dawn of the new and unending day. The Resurrection constitutes the most radical and decisive deliverance of humankind.
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The Resurrection has not yet abolished the reality of death. But it has revealed its powerlessness (Hebrews 2:14-15). We continue to die as a result of the Fall. Our bodies decay and fall away. “God allows death to exist but turns it against corruption and its cause, sin, and sets a boundary both to corruption and sin.” Thus, physical death does not destroy our life of communion with God. Rather, we move from death to life – from this fallen world to God’s reign.
Read more about Pascha on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese website.
Printing Services from Your Computer
Some of the services we use can be found on the internet. This page lists all the services that you can print out and use. Most of the services we use not found in books will be taken from here.
Agape Service Pascha Dinner (Sunday April 16, 2017)
On Pascha Sunday we will come together again after the Pascha service to celebrate Agape Vespers (Sunday, April 16, 2017), a very short service followed by a community wide Pascha dinner. This will be good!
Journey Through Holy Week Brochure
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has produced a beautiful 12-page booklet that explains the significance of each day of Holy Week.
This is a great primer to prepare yourself for this most important week of the year.
Download and print “Journey to Pascha: A Daily Guide to Holy Week.”
Calendar At A Glance
Holy Week Schedule
- April 9 (Sunday) Palm Sunday / Brunch in Social Hall following
- April 10 (Monday) Bridegroom Service 6:30pm
- April 11 (Tuesday) Bridegroom Service 6:30pm
- April 12 (Wednesday) Holy Unction 6:30pm
- April 13 (Thursday)
- Liturgy of the Last Supper 9:30am
- Reading of the Twelve Gospels 6:30pm
- April 14 (Friday)
- Royal Hours 9am / Decoration of Tomb of Christ following
- Taking Christ Down from the Cross 3:00pm
- Lamentations 6:30pm
- April 15 (Saturday)
- First Resurrection Service 9:30am
- Great and Holy Pascha 10:00pm
- April 16 Agape Vespers (Sunday) 1:00pm / Paschal Celebration in Social Hall following
Full Lenten schedule available on the website.
Wisdom From The Elders
Kissing with the lips corresponds to kissing with the soul; and when we kissholy things [icons, relics, the chalice], we ought to kiss them with the souland heart as well as the lips.
St. John of Kronstadt
If you are constantly angry and complaining, it is indicative of a proud soul. Humble yourself, reproach yourself, and the Lord is powerful to give you comfort and a helping hand.
St. Anatoly of Optina
We must repent for our imperfections, for our state of being. Here it is important to make a distinction between repentance and contrition. Repentance refers more to a specific fault that we have committed, while contrition is a permanent state. Contrition needs to be the default state of our souls.
Elder Sergei of Vanves
How can we overcome the sinfulness that is already firmly established within us? We must use force.
St. John of Karpathos
the Lord is longsuffering. he only cuts short a man’s life when He sees either that he is prepared to pass into eternity or that there is no hope for his correction.
St. Ambrose of Optina
Remember in Your Prayers
Carol Ann
Matthew
Gerhard
Valerie
Nancy
Chrysostom
Tim
Ron
Ivy-Jean
Pat
Christina
Baby Samuel
Victoria
Jennie
Mary
Baby Kyriake
Maximos
Marian
Photini
Nicholas
Brad William
Ryan
Sarah
Robert Jarvis
Petronia (Wife of Phil Pappas)
Anna Marie Smith Baker
Iris Kuring (Bettina Zifiris' mother)
Constantine Houpis
Ron Chromulak
Beverly Chromulak
Katerina
Dianne
Loucine Kassis
Mary Kassis
Baby Maximus
Annette Star
Christine
Maria
Claire Livaditis
Eva Chandilles
Baby Dani
Scott Nedoff
Anthony Mourgis
John Hansen
Constandina James
James Hord
Bob Smith
Tom and Jean, parents of Patty and Jerry.
How should we pray for the sick? Remember them daily. Say their names (first names are sufficient) and ask God to bestow mercy and grace on them.
Add or remove names and print this list for easy reference during your prayer time on the St. Peter website.
Sunday Readings
Epistle
This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad therein!
O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; His mercy endureth forever.
The Reading from the Acts of the Apostles. (1:1-8)
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom He had chosen. To them He presented Himself alive after His passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God.
And while staying with them He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, “You heard from Me; for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”
Gospel
The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. John. (1:1-17)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world knew Him not. He came to His own home, and His own people received Him not. But to all who received Him, who believed in His Name, He gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. (John bore witness to Him, and cried, “This was He of Whom I said, ‘He Who comes after me ranks before me, for He was before me.’”) And from His fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.