HIS GRACE, BISHOP PAUL will be visiting our parish on the weekend of March 27 -29. During his visit, Nicholas W will be ordained a sub-deacon.

CONGRATULATIONS TO JONATHAN AND MARY on the birth of Harlin John Burton, Friday at 7 pm.

AS WE NEGOTIATE the major disruptions to our ordinary routines caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we aim to abide by the directives and guidelines offered by our hierarchs. The latest of these have been emailed to all on our email list, and are posted on our bulletin board downstairs.

BISHOP PAUL will hold a teleconference with the District Deans tomorrow to discuss what further precautions might be taken in the parishes of the Midwest Diocese. Stay tuned! In the meantime, a coronavirus resource page has been added to the diocesan website (domoca.org), which contains reflections, resources and pertinent updates on the coronavirus.

ON THE SUNDAYS of Great Lent, we serve the Liturgy of St Basil (fl. mid fourth cent.), bishop of Caesarea. He was an older contemporary of St John Chrysostom (Patriarch of Constantinople), whose Liturgy we serve most other Sundays. This doesn’t mean that St Basil or St John created the Liturgies bearing their names. It means that they adapted the ancient Divine Liturgy received from the apostles (and ultimately from the LORD Himself (1 Cor 11.23f), who gave it to Moses on Mt Sinai (Ex 24.9) before He gave it to His disciples) for the churches of their particular dioceses. The Liturgy of St Basil is the same as St John except for a few prayers and the anaphora, where the prayers develop the same theme at greater length.

MEMORIAL DIVINE LITURGY is served next Saturday at 9 am.

The CATECHUMENATE AND INQUIRERS CLASS takes a break next Saturday, March 21, then resumes with two more classes (classes 7 & 8) on Saturday, Mar 28 and Apr 4. This will take us to Lazarus Saturday on Apr 11, when we’ll receive those who are ready at the Divine Liturgy that morning.

‘TWAS OUR JOY to enroll new catechumens into the catechumenate last evening before Vigil. At the Divine Liturgy on Lazarus Saturday morning, we look forward to receiving three into the Church through baptism, and three, maybe four, through Chrismation.

WE HOST THE FOCUS Community Meal this evening. Thank you to Miriam for organizing this and to all those helping.

PLEASE BE SURE to view the nice display downstairs of the 50^th Anniversary of the Autocephaly of the OCA (April 10, 1970). New items will be added to the display regularly. A Deanery celebration of that Jubilee will be held at St Mary’s Cathedral on the evening and morning of Fri-Sat, May 8-9.

MEOCCA LENTEN SUNDAY VESPERS begin at 4 pm.

Today: St George GOC Cancelled

March 22: St George AOC Cancelled

March 29: St Elizabeth OCA

Apr 5: St Mary’s GOC

Apr 12: Bridegroom Matins at St Herman’s

The MEOCCA Lenten Vespers at St George GOC this afternoon is cancelled. The Lenten Vespers scheduled for next Sunday afternoon at St George AOC is cancelled.

LAZARUS SATURDAY AND PALM SUNDAY, Saturday-Sunday, Apr 11-12. This weekend is the transition from Great Lent to Holy Week. On Lazarus Saturday, following the Divine Liturgy and a pancake breakfast that morning, everyone who is anyone comes together to give our church a thorough spring cleaning! On Palm Sunday afternoon, we host the MEOCCA Bridegroom Matins, and we put together a fish dinner for all our guests. Look for the sign-up sheets asking for volunteers to help out with prep, serving and clean-up!

ST HERMAN’S BOOK CLUB meets next on Saturday, Mar 28, from 9 – 11 am.

Conclusion to the

Statement of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America on the Corona Virus issued on March 13, 2020

[The full statement is posted on the bulletin board downstairs]

We seek in these measures to follow the principles enumerated by His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Mesogeia of the Church of Greece who said, “All measures that undermine faith and hope in God, anything that doubts the efficacy of Holy Communion and the mysteries is to be rejected. Anything that honors the community of the faithful and our fellow man is an expression of love for them and for God.” In the midst of our Lenten journey to Pascha, beloved children in the Lord, we are given an opportunity, paradoxically, to honor and serve our neighbor as we struggle with this virus. May our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, enable us to bear the struggle that is set before us, granting us the wisdom and discernment to know what is well-pleasing to him, and the strength to accomplish it.