CATHEDRAL BULLETIN
St. Innocent Russian Orthodox Cathedral
401 Turpin Street, Anchorage, AK 99504
Sunday, April 1, 2018
Divine Services for the Week:
April 1, Palm Sunday9:00 amDivine Liturgy
and6:00 pmBridegroom Matins
April 2, Great & Holy Monday9:00 amPresanctified Liturgy
and6:00 pmBridegroom Matins
April3, Great & Holy Tuesday9:00 amPresanctified Liturgy
and6:00 pmBridegroom Matins
April 4, Great & Holy Wednesday9:00 amPresanctified Liturgy
and6:00 pm Holy Unction
April 5, Great & Holy Thursday9:00 am Vesperal Divine Liturgy
and6:00 pmMatins & Passion Gospels
April 6, Great & Holy Friday9:00 amRoyal Hours
and2:00 pmVespers
and600 pmMatins with Procession
April 7, Holy Saturday & Annunciation9:00 amVesperal Divine Liturgy
and11::30 pmNocturns
April 8, HOLY PASCHAMidnightMatins, Hours, Liturgy
followed by the blessing of Paschal Foods/Baskets
and4:00 pmVespers of PASCHA
April 9, Bright Monday9:00 amPaschal Hours & Divine Lit.
April 10, Bright Tuesday9:00 am Paschal Hours & Divine Lit.
April 12, Bright Thursday6:00 pmAkathist to St. Herman
followed by filling eggs for Children’s Egg Hunt
April 13, Theotokos of the Life-giving Font 9:00 am Paschal Hours & Divine Lit.
April 14, Bright Saturday 6:00 pm Great Vespers
********************************************************************************************
DONATIONS FOR PASCHAL FLOWERS can still be made in the donation basket after the Liturgy. You can also make special requests in honor or memory of loved ones; give the information to the Starosta.
Bring your hard boiled, red-dyed eggs to Church on Holy Saturday, April 7th, for distribution by the priests at the end of the Paschal Liturgy.
The children’s egg hunt will be April 15th, St. Thomas Sunday. Please come and help fill eggs on Thursday, April 12th after the Akathist service to St. Herman.
We will also enjoy the parish Paschal potluck on April 15th. Please bring a food to share; dietary restrictions are off, so please include MEAT and DAIRY!
The Completion of Great Lent
The forty days of Great Lent come to an end on Friday evening, the night before Lazarus Saturday. We then enter into Holy, or Passion, Week, where Christ continues the journey to His voluntary passion. But how is this transition from Great Lent to Holy Week fulfilled in the Church?
We continue with our dietary fasting and intensify our participation in multiple daily services. Divine Liturgy on Lazarus Saturday is the only day of the entire Church year when the resurrectional service of Sunday is celebrated on a day that is not Sunday; it is a Paschal celebration. By raising Lazarus, Christ confirmed the universal resurrection of mankind even before His own suffering and death. We sing the baptismal verse, “As many as have been baptized . . . “ in place of the Thrice-holy Hymn, “Holy God, Holy Mighty . . . .” This day was once one of the few great baptismal days in the Orthodox Church.
At the vigil of Palm Sunday, palms and willow branches are blessed and the faithful carry them throughout the celebration, glorifying Jesus as Savior and King, “Hosanna in the Highest! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
We return to the Church for Liturgy on Palm Sunday, still carrying our branches, and just as the crowd in Jerusalem did, we sing the songs of glory to Our Lord. It was those same voices in the crowd who, only a few short days later, judged Him and cried “Crucify Him!” In the liturgy of the Church, the lives of men continue to be judged as they hail Christ with the “branches of victory” and enter together with Him into the days of His ‘voluntary passion.”
Excerpted from Fr. Thomas Hopko’s book, The Church Year: Volume 2 – Worship
April 23rd to 27th: Clergy retreat in Anchorage for Diocesan Clergy
(no services will be scheduled for these weekdays)
If you need to schedule a service at the Cathedral, call Fr. Jonah at 907.830.0114. Fr. Michael Fredericks can be reached at 907.467.2121for hospital visitations.