Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I greet you with the wondrous and joyful words of this Paschal season – CHRIST IS RISEN! These bright days are filled with so much light and so much hope… having walked with our Lord through the 40 days of Great Lent and being with Him this past week as He endured His voluntary sufferings and death – now we sing out ‘Christ is Risen!’ with great joy.

Many, many thanks to all who helped contribute to our celebration of Christ’s Resurrection! To all who helped with decorations, meals, processions, cleaning, reading, singing, gardening, etc. – THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU! And a special thanks to Fr Andrew and to Matushka Carmen for once again opening their house to all of us on the day of Pascha. The food and the fellowship were fantastic!

This is Bright Week… on these days we substitute the ‘Paschal Hours’ for our usual Morning and Evening Prayers. The Paschal Hours are as follows:

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The Paschal Hours

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us.  Amen.

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life. (Thrice)

Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only Sinless One. We worship Thy Cross, O Christ, and Thy holy Resurrection we hymn and glorify; for Thou art our God, and we know none other beside Thee, we call upon Thy name. O come, all ye faithful, let us worship Christ's holy Resurrection, for behold, through the Cross joy hath come to all the world. Ever blessing the Lord, we hymn His Resurrection; for, having endured crucifixion, He hath destroyed death by death. (Thrice)

The Hypakoe, Eighth Tone, once:

Forestalling the dawn, the women came with Mary, and found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre, and heard from the angel: Why seek ye among the dead, as though He were mortal, Him Who liveth in everlasting light? Behold the grave-clothes. Go quickly and proclaim to the world that the Lord is risen and hath slain death. For He is the Son of God Who saveth mankind.

Kontakion, Eighth Tone, once:

Though Thou didst descend into the grave, O Immortal One, yet didst Thou destroy the power of hades. And didst arise as victor, O Christ God, calling to the myrrh-bearing women: Rejoice! and giving peace unto Thine apostles: Thou Who dost grant resurrection to the fallen.

Troparia, Eighth Tone, once:

In the grave bodily, but in hades with Thy soul as God; in Paradise with the thief, and on the throne with the Father and the Spirit wast Thou Who fillest all things, O Christ the Inexpressible.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

How life-giving, how much more beautiful than Paradise, and truly more resplendent than any royal palace was Thy tomb shown to be, O Christ, the source of our resurrection.

Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O sanctified and divine tabernacle of the Most High, rejoice! For through thee, O Theotokos, joy is given to them that cry: Blessed art thou among women, O all-spotless Lady.

Lord, have mercy. (Forty times)

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word, the very Theotokos, thee do we magnify.

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and on those in the tombs bestowing life. (Thrice)

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Lord, have mercy. (Thrice)

O Lord, bless

Thou that didst rise from the dead, O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, for the sake of the prayers of Thy most pure Mother, of our holy and God-bearing fathers, and all the saints, have mercy on us and save us, for Thou art good and the Lover of mankind.  Amen.

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We do not have any weekday services schedule for this week… next service will be the Vigil at 4pm on Saturday. Liturgy will be at 9am on Sunday as usual.

There are no classes scheduled for this week.

May God bless you all and grant you a beautiful Bright Week!

Fr Martin