OUR JOURNEY TO PASCHA INFORMATION
March 24 we begin with our Lenten practice of celebrating the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great on the Sundays of Great Lent in place of the regular Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.
Also as we prepare to enter this Pascha season you can use a wonderful resource on the Archdiocese website. Click on each day of the Triodion, Great Lent, Holy Week, or Pentekostarion to see a detailed explaination of the day and on many occasions it's respective icon. Go to https://www.goarch.org/lent. See the bulletin insert for a screenshot of the website.
Another great site our parishiners can use is a series of videos called Pilgrimage to Pascha. Total time for the 8 videos is about 45 minutes. Video titles include: Pilgimage to Pascha, Repentence, Family Prayer, Lenten Services, Fasting from Food, Fasting from Vices, Almsgiving, and The Light of Christ. The videos were created by Greek Orthodox Church Archdiocese Center for Family Care. Videos can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWopa4I5g3xCxfPh5dvQvsP8BIC4LuWn-
We offer a reminder that we will have our three Lenten Soul Saturday services on March 16, 23 and 30. Please make sure the names of your departed family members and friends are handed in to Father Paisius so that we can pray for them all at these special Memorial Services. Please provide your names to Father Paisius before services begin.
As we begin the Great Fast and Great Lent, let us engage faithfully into the Lenten disciplines of fasting, holy confession, prayer, doing good for others and good spiritual reading. Let us fast from meat and dairy but also let us fasting from anger and jealousy and wrong words and actions. For more specific questions about how to engage ourselves with fasting and the other Lenten spiritual practices, please talk with Father Paisius.
During Great Lent we have special Lenten services such as the Salutations to the Holy Theotokos, the Liturgy of Pre Sanctified Gifts on Wednesday and Friday and the Liturgy of Saint Basil on Lenten Sundays. Let us all participate in these beautiful Lenten services and through this grow in our lives spiritually.
We also are asked to prepare ourselves spiritually through the Sacrament of Holy Repentance or Holy Confession . Let us all avail ourselves of the spiritual necessity during our coming time of Great Lent.
During Great Lent another way in which we help others is through participating in the ministry of the Orthodox Christian Ministry Center or OCMC. We can all help with this through their Lenten Coin Box ministry: we collect our loose change throughout Lent and offer it as an offering to God through supporting the mission efforts of OCMC. We have available today in the Narthex these Coin Boxes for everyone, please help us support the growth of our Faith in this way!
Sunday, March 24 we celebrate the Sunday of Orthodoxy with the Procession of Holy Icons. Please remember to bring your icons from home to properly celebrate this Holy Day.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
As we have begun Great Lent we announce that we will once again have our Parish Holy Pascha Card and we encourage everyone to participate once again in this beautiful part of our Parish Community Life. Please talk with Chrysanthe Beach for more information on how to participate.
We once again ask for everyone to participate in donations for the flowers that will decorate our Kouvukion for Holy Pascha. Please use your offering envelopes and mark them for Easter Flowers and indicate if the donation is honor of the living or in memory of the departed. Please talk with Eleni Vganges for more information about this.
This year for Holy Pascha we will also be decorating our Church for Holy Pascha with Lilies and other flowering plants. Help us with this effort to beautify our Church as we celebrate our Lord's Holy Resurrection. For more information about donations for this wonderful decoration of the Church please talk with Cassidy and Crystal Anderson.
Our parish welcomes Father Ambrose to our community. We pray that you and your family will find your time here with us to be spiritually inspiring for both you and us. Father Ambrose Perry is assigned to his new posting with the US Navy in Pascagoula Mississippi. Father Ambrose is an Orthodox Priest and Navy Chaplain and he and his family will be part of our Parish Community here at Holy Trinity while they are living here.
On March 24 everyone is invited to join together with His Grace Bishop Sebastian and the Clergy and faithful at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Mobile Alabama at 5:30 pm for Great Vespers for the Feast of the Annunciation of the Holy Theotokos. Come and celebrate with our Orthodox brothers and sisters in Mobile as they celebrate their Parish Patronal Feast Day!
On Saturday, March 30, the Metropolis Western District GOYA Lenten Retreat will be held at Saints Markella and Demetrius in Mary Esther (Fort Walton Beach) Florida. Please see the event flyer on our Parish Bulletin Board for further information about this exciting Retreat.
HAPPY GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY, March 25
Ζήτω η 25η Μαρτίου!
Greek Independence Day, or the Celebration of Greek Revolution, is celebrated in Greece, Cyprus, and the Greek diasporaannually on March 25. This public holiday honors the Greek Revolution of 1821, and the Feast of the Annunciation.
The Feast of Annunciation is a religious holiday that celebrates the archangel Gabriel appearing to the maiden Mary to inform her that she was pregnant with the divine child. However, the major celebrations center around the independence of the Greek people, after being colonized by the Ottoman Empire for over 400 years.
Greece came under Ottoman rule in the 15th century, in the decades before and after the fall of Constantinople. In 1814, a secret organization called Filiki Eteria (Society of Friends) was founded with the aim of liberating Greece. The Greek War of Independence lasted for eleven years from 1821 and 1832. After nine long years of war, Greece was finally recognized as an independent state under the London Protocol of February 1830. In 1832, the final borders of the new state were established.
BIRTHDAYS
Today we offer our best wishes and congratulations to Panagiotis Loukatos and Helena Williams as they celebrate their birthday on March 27. May the Lord our God bless His servants Panagiotis and Helena. May He grant to them many more blessed and happy years!
If we missed your anniversary or birthday it means we don't have you information listed on our roster. Please let us know so we can make the updates.
MEMORIAL
We wish to announce that next Sunday, March 31 at the end of Divine Liturgy, we will offer the 40th Day Memorial Service for the newly departed servant of Evangelos Hagicostas. May the Lord our God grant a blessed repose to His newly departed servant, Evangelos, and may his memory be eternal!
PRAYERS FOR THE SICK AND RECOVERING
Pray for Saidi Maalouf, Niki Arnold, Karen Henderson, Tristan Freeman, Photine Hagicostas, and Demetri Vlahos as they recover from their illnesses. May the Lord our God quickly heal His servants. Get well soon.
Please let Father Paisius know of any parishioner who is sick so we may pray for them.
ORTHODOX STEWARDSHIP
Orthodox Christian Stewardship is a way of life, which acknowledges accountability, reverence, and responsibility before God. A primary goal of Stewardship is to promote spiritual growth and strengthen faith. Becoming a Steward begins when we believe in God, to whom we give our love, loyalty and trust and act on those beliefs. As Stewards, we affirm that every aspect of our lives comes as a gift from Him. Stewardship calls on the faithful to cheerfully offer back to God a portion of the gifts with which they have been blessed. See bulletin insert for 2024 Stewardship Pledge Form.