Greetings in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  I pray that as you read this month’s bulletin all is well in your home and that the love of our Lord is growing in your heart.

The month of January saw the arrival of a new year, the celebration of the Great Holy Day of Epiphany, the oath of office of our 2012 Parish Council, an Oli Mazi complete fish dinner sponsored by the Daughters, a baptism, a volunteer effort to feed the hungry of L.A. by our Young Adults and more.  Traditionally with the blessing of the waters at Epiphany we also have our home, business and vehicles blessed.  Please contact the church office if you would like to have your home / business blessed.

Many of you have heard me say that the Church has a rhythm for us to follow and if we follow it then this rhythm will help to deepen our love for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The rhythm of the church is now slowly preparing us for Great Lent, which begins on Monday, February 27, 2012. 

“Long before the actual beginning of Lent, the Church announces its approach and invites us to enter into the period of pre-lent preparation. A characteristic of the Orthodox liturgical tradition is that every major feast or season such as Pascha, Christmas, Lent, etc is announced and prepared in advance.  Why announce and prepare in advance?  It is because of the deep psychological insight by the Church into human nature.  Knowing our lack of concentration, and the everyday distractions of our life, the Church knows it is difficult for us to break habits, to change from one mental or spiritual state to another.  Thus, long before the actual effort of Lent is to begin, the Church calls our attention to its seriousness and invites us to ponder on its significance.  Before we can participate in Lent we are given its meaning.  Thus, the preparation for Great Lent includes the five consecutive Sundays preceding Lent, each one of them through its particular Gospel lesson is dedicated to some aspect of the meaning of Lent, which is repentance and being one with Jesus Christ.” (Great Lent, Fr. Alexander Schmemann)

The Church starts us toward Great Lent with various Sunday Gospel readings, the first being the Gospel reading about Zacchaeus.  Then soon thereafter the church reads another Sunday Gospel reading about the Publican and the Pharisee.  This Sunday also marks the beginning of the Triodion period and is followed by a week of no fasting. The Triodion is the Orthodox liturgical book that contains the variable hymns for Divine Liturgy and other services and will be used by the Church until Holy Pascha. The third preparation Sunday is the Prodigal Son, and a return to the Wednesday, Friday fast.  The fourth Gospel is the parable of the Last Judgment.  This Sunday is also called Meatfare because it marks the abstinence of meat from our diet until Pascha.  The fifth and final Gospel reading before Great Lent is found in St. Matthew where Jesus exhorts His followers to forgive one another, also known as Forgiveness Sunday.   The Vespers Service of Forgiveness provides us an opportunity to seek forgiveness and to forgive and will be offered at Prophet Elias immediately following our Apokreatiko luncheon on Sunday, February 26, 2012.  Starting the next day called Clean Monday the fast is expanded as we now will not only abstain from meats but fish & dairy products as well.  This strict fast with rare exception is followed until Pascha.

Why take up a page to share this with you?  It is my prayer that with more understanding of how our Church calendar helps establish a rhythm in our life, the more willing we will be to actually follow it.  By following the Church calendar, especially now as Great Lent approaches, we enhance our opportunity to grow closer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and strive toward our salvation.  The calendar of the Church, the fast of Great Lent, Lenten services and Holy Week services are tools that indeed can help us spiritually grow.

I look forward to sojourning through Great Lent and seeing you at the various services as we head toward the greatest day of all days; the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

In Christ’s love,

Fr.John

Prophet Elias Church Life

Baptisms

On January 21, 2012

George Demetrios the son of Demetrios & Angie Alexou was baptized.

PROSPHORO SCHEDULE