On the weekend of Palm Sunday, April 27-28, Archbishop Michael made his annual Archpastoral visit to Holy Apostles Parish in Lansing, NY. At Saturday evening Vespers, Vladyka shared a moving sermon on confession by St. Innocent of Alaska and Moscow, and palms and pussy willows were blessed.

On Sunday, Vladyka was greeted with flowers, using this occasion to encourage the young girls to blossom into helpers for the church. He was then welcomed with bread and salt by Senior Warden Paula Tarallo. In addition to parish clergy Fr. Joel Brady and Deacon Ivan Bazarov, Vladyka was assisted by Deacon Stephan Karlgut and a full complement of altar servers. In his sermon, Vladyka reflected on our Savior’s humility and encouraged us to focus on traveling with him to the Cross and Resurrection. At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, all processed around the outside of the church with palms and willow branches. We then shared a festive meal and fellowship with our beloved Vladyka.

This article also appeared on our diocesan website.

Our full schedule of Holy Week services can be found on the Monthly Calendar page. Here is a brief explanation of the services. It should be noted in general that, during Holy Week, everything is done “in anticipation” as we hurry toward the Resurrection. This means that, for most of the week we are doing Vespers in the morning, and the following day’s Matins in the evening.

Bridegroom Matins are served the first three evenings of Holy Week. Each day has a slightly different theme, but all emphasize the need for spiritual preparation and vigilance as we go to meet the crucified and risen Christ.

The Presanctified Liturgy has been served throughout Lent; on Wednesday morning we celebrate this service a final time, before we begin to focus exclusively on the events of the Passion.

Matins on Wednesday evening commemorates Christ’s Mystical Supper with his disciples, focusing especially on his washing of their feet.

Vesperal Liturgy on Thursday continues the commemoration of the Mystical Supper, but focusing more on the institution of the Eucharist.

The Passion Gospels Service, the Matins served on Thursday evening, remembers the Passion of Christ in 12 Gospel readings, with hymns reflecting mystery of Christ’s mercy in the face of humanity’s rejection.

The Royal Hours is a quiet service, with hymns and readings from the Old and New Testaments encouraging us to reflect on the theme of Christ’s Passion.

Vespers of Holy Friday, or the Burial, commemorates Joseph and Nicodemus laying Christ in the tomb, and already at this service we begin to see glimmers of the light of the Resurrection.

Lamentations, the Matins served Friday night, celebrates Christ keeping the Sabbath in the tomb bodily, but spiritually conquering Hades and setting free the dead.

The Vesperal Liturgy on Holy Saturday begins, in a quiet and subdued way, the celebration of the Resurrection that will be held with full exuberance that night. It includes many readings from the Old Testament that show the prophetic prefigurements of the Resurrection. Holy Saturday is traditionally a time for receiving converts into the Church, and this year we’ll receive two people before the Vesperal Liturgy begins.

The Paschal Vigil begins with a quiet service in which the burial-shroud is taken from the tomb to the Altar. Then all go in procession around the church with lit candles, after which the full joy of the feast breaks forth in the jubilant Matins and Divine Liturgy.

In our final days of preparation for Great Lent, we were blessed to receive an icon of St. Païsios the Athonite, who reposed in 1994 and is one of the most widely-beloved modern Saints. We're grateful to our iconographer Helena for her ongoing support of our mission, and we're blessed to have this great saint's intercessions visibly represented for us as we enter this season of spiritual struggle.

On February 2, when we commemorate the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple (see Luke 2:22-40), there's a practice of blessing candles. (This gives the feast its traditional English name of Candlemas.) Below are a selection of the prayers for this blessing:

O Almighty, Pre-eternal God, Who, on this day, didst lay Thine Only-begotten Son in the arms of the Holy Simeon in Thy holy Temple, we call upon Thy deep compassion: do Thou bless and sanctify these candles which we, Thy servants, receive and desire to carry for the majesty of Thy Name, and be pleased to light them with the light of Thy heavenly blessing, that we who are offering them unto Thee, our Lord God, meetly enflamed with Thy sweetest love, through a holy fire, may be counted worthy also to stand in the holy Temple of Thy glory. For Thou art our God, and unto Thee do we send up glory: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ, the True Light that enlighteneth every man that comes into the world: Do Thou pour out Thy blessing upon these candles, and sanctify them with the light of Thy grace. And pleased, O Merciful One, that as these lights, kindled with visible fire, drive away the darkness of night, so may our hearts, kindled with invisible fire, and illumined with the brightness of the Holy Spirit, banish the blindness of every sin, that, by the cleansing of our spiritual eyes, we may be able to see that which is well-pleasing unto Thee and necessary for our salvation; and that having triumphed over the dark forces of this world, we may be counted worthy to attain to the everlasting Light. For Thou art our Savior, and unto Thee do we send up glory, together with Thy Father Who is without beginning, and Thy Most-holy, Good, and Lifegiving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

(From the Great Book of Needs, Vol. 2, published by St. Tikhon's Press.)

We once again held our Theophany lake blessing with St. Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church of Ithaca. It was a blessed opportunity to bear joint witness to Christ's sanctification of the waters and of the whole world through his baptism.

As we have a few years in the past, we began 2024 with a night vigil. One of the people who attended wrote the following reflection:

Some of us took part in a New Year's vigil at our church on New Year's Eve.

As this photo records, just at midnight we came to the beginning of the Anaphora, where the priest says "Let us lift up our hearts!"

It was a beautiful way to see in another year.

I'd like to turn this into a New Year's resolution: Let us lift up our hearts!

I was struck in a new way by an exhortation that comes a few moments earlier in the Divine Liturgy: "Let us attend, so that we may offer the holy oblation in peace."

Peace requires attention! So, by all means, in the coming year, Let us attend.