As we advance further into the night, I express my gratitude to those stewards, young and older, who are keeping vigil with our Lord who went to His voluntary Passion for us. If you would like to pray the Psalms with our stewards, follow the link below, https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=488388445642898&ref=search (you need not be a member of Facebook to view the live broadcast)
Holy Thursday All Night Vigil
Reverend Fathers, Stewards, and Friends of St. Anna Parish,
“Today is hung upon a tree, He Who did hang the earth upon the waters. A wreath of thorns crowns Him, Who is the King of Angels; A false purple is put around Him, Who encircled heaven in clouds. A slapping was received by Him, Who freed Adam in Jordan. The Bridegroom of the Church was fixed with nails; the Son of the Virgin was pierced by a lance. We worship Your Passion, O Christ; Show to us also Your Glorious Resurrection.”
This hymn will be chanted as the Cross of our Lord is processed around the Church following the fifth Gospel lesson this evening. The readings, the hymns, the melodic tones, and even the feel of the Church are extremely somber; our Lord is delivered up unto death…out of love for His Creation.
As has been our tradition since our time in the office suite on N. Sunrise, we will keep vigil from the close of services through the start of Royal Hours on Holy Friday. Currently, we have individuals signed up to read throughout the night, except for between 5-6 and 8-9. If you would like to be added to our readers, please let me know ASAP. Even if you’re not scheduled to read, I would encourage you to come to the Church at any point tonight to pray in the Church as the Psalms are prayed.
Great & Holy Week of the Church
Saint Anna Food Festival Announcement
SAINT ANNA FOOD FESTIVAL TO-GO 2021
As the parish of St. Anna, we are blessed to be able to celebrate more than one feast day and it is our hope to be able to share our Orthodox faith with our greater community again by serving them delicious Greek food, wine and pastries; food which they have come to enjoy and appreciate greatly during our many festivals held here on site years past.
With that being said:
We are happy to announce that Saint Anna’s Greek Orthodox Church will be hosting a food festival this year!
Due to both the Covid pandemic and our new church build, this year's food festival will be very different from any festival that we have had in the recent past. We are planning to hold four, “Food To-Go Festivals”; one to celebrate each of our church’s feast days with delicious Greek dinners, pastries and wines. All dinners will be available for pre-order/prepay from our Saint Anna food festival website at: festival.saintanna.org.
Please mark your calendars, as you don’t want to miss out on any of these opportunities to participate!
Our Food To-Go Festival dates are:
PARISH CELEBRATION MAY, 15, 2021 12:00-5:00 PM
We will kick off our series with a celebration for our St. Anna parish family only! We will have barbecue Greek chicken or a vegetarian dinner to choose from, along with baklava for dessert. A bottle of Greek wine or additional baklava may be added to your order for an additional cost to suit your tastes. All food items must be pre ordered/prepaid, by going to our festival website at: festival.saintanna.org.
Order early (before May 7th), as there are a limited number of meals being offered during this first hosting (250 to be exact) and once they are gone, they are gone
FEAST OF SAINT ANNA JULY 24-25, 2021 12:00-5:00 PM
This two day celebration of our patron Saint Anna will be open to our parish and the greater Roseville community and we will be offering the same menu as our celebration festival for our parish in May. All orders will be preorder/prepay. We hope to learn from our first Food To-Go experience and serve approximately 800 guests.
FEAST OF STS. JOACHIM AND ANNA SEPTEMBER 11-12, 2021 12:00-5:00 PM
This two day celebration will honor Saints. Joachim and Anna and will be open to our parish and the greater Roseville community with a menu of a pistachio and a vegetarian dinner with desert and Greek wine option. Again, all orders will be preorder/prepay. We hope to serve approximately 800 guests.
FEAST OF THE CONCEPTION OF THE THEOTOKOS DECEMBER 11-12, 2021
12:00- 5:00 PM
This two day celebration will honor our beloved Mother of the Theotokos and will offer vegetarian dinners (in honor of the Christmas fast) to our parish and greater Roseville community. We hope to serve 800 guests with preorder/prepay dinners with dessert options.
HOW CAN YOU BE INVOLVED?
FIRST— Please place your order at our festival Food To-Go website: festival.saintanna.org. You can order your meals for yourself and/ or consider sponsoring a meal for an essential worker too if you would like to.
If you are not able to come to the food to go, you might also consider donating to help defray our costs, as a way to contribute to our festival’s success!
SECOND- As we plan all of our feast days, we ask that you consider signing up to physically help with the event as well. We will need volunteers to cook, to serve, as well as the all important jobs of set up and clean up!
Please keep in mind that this isn’t just a Food To-Go event. It is yet another opportunity for us to come together in our faith, through food and philotimo, so that we might share who we are as an Orthodox Christian parish with the community that we live in and are called to serve.
For additional information, please contact us att:
Christy Moustris moustris@comcast.net
Stephane Tziavaras stephanetziavaras@gmail.com
Yours in Christ,
Christy & Stephane, Co-Chairs
Greek Food To-Go 2021
Visit of Metropolitan Taraios, Director of the PAOI
Building Update (1 April)
Our Contractor has set up the trailer on our property to oversee the project, which begins, God-willing next week!
Emil has the signed loan documents in hand!
Three of our Parish Council Officers - Emil, Larry, and Hannah - secured our loan with FiveStar Bank!
We remain so thankful for the dedicated leaders of our Building Committee and our Parish Council who have together brought us to this point. We also remain grateful to those who have so generously funded our project thus far. May our Lord continue to inspire all of us in our stewardship and sacrificial giving unto His glory and honoring our holy matron, Saint Anna.
Live look at the construction progress:
A Missionary Mindset: How International Missions Benefit the Local Parish
SCIENCE AND FAITH: HOW EACH HELPS THE OTHER
SCIENCE AND FAITH: HOW EACH HELPS THE OTHER
While some might see science and faith as being in conflict or about different things, this virtual seminar explores how both, science and faith can lead us to awe and wonder at the Lord of all creation. Led by Dr. Jeffrey Schloss, (PhD in Ecology) we will learn together how God is revealed in two books, scripture and creation. Dr. Doug Diekema (MD, Professor of Pediatrics & Bioethics) will then help us understand the emerging science behind the COVID-19 virus and the vaccines that have been developed to combat it.
Services of Great Lent & Holy Week
Great & Holy Lent
During the Service of Forgiveness, we prayed:
“Thy grace has shone forth, Oh Lord, it has shone forth and given light to our souls. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the season of repentance. Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, that having sailed across the great sea of the fast, we may reach the Third-day Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of our souls.”
The Great Lenten Season as well as the Great and Holy Week of Orthodox Christian Church are truly blessings to each of us. It is assuredly a “great sea” on which to navigate, but the heavenly rewards are great! Our disciplines of prayer, fasting, almsgiving and study prepare us for His Kingdom by rousing our souls to action, bettering our families, the Church, and our world that is too often shrouded in darkness.
Making more time for personal prayer in our hectic lives can be trying. Attending services in person will also be a re-adjustment for some. Pace yourselves and acclimate accordingly to both, finding joy in your increased personal prayer and comfort in attending services at the Parish. Our service schedule is attached and also found on our website (we will continue to broadcast all of our services on Facebook). Some helpful prayers are found below for inclusion in your devotions.
Fast with joy! The Lord made it clear to us that we’re not to be dismal but find joy when we recenter ourselves in Him through abstaining from certain foods, sights, sounds and activities. In actually, we’re really not giving anything up, rather we are taking-on the mantle of disciplined discipleship that is preparing us to celebrate the Holy and Life-giving Resurrection of our Lord!
This season – the pandemic – has caused financial turmoil and uncertainty for many. Thanks be to God, we continue to sustain our Parish through stewardship and we’re about to begin the construction of our Sanctuary. As I encourage you to continue supporting both our ministries and our building program, Lent is NOT a stewardship drive nor a capital campaign, rather it’s the Season during which we discern ways to support our brothers and sisters in need, both inside and outside the Parish.
· Support the work of Philoptochos, including feeding families in need.
· Donate to IOCC.
· Offer a gift to the Diocese of Mount Kenya.
· Donate on behalf of one of our stewards who has or will shave his head in support of childhood cancer research (Isaiah Mathew, Calvin Benson, Bill Alexiou, Fr. Seraphim Ivey, and me).
If you are unable to give financially, then offer your prayers for each of these philanthropies. If you’re struggling with your finances, then please let us know as we may be able to provide some assistance from our Benevolent Fund.
During this Great Lent, find time to study. Thanks be to God, we offer two weekly Bible Studies, one in the morning and the other at lunch time. A third Scripture Study is hosted every other week in the evening. Our Study of the Orthodox Faith meets each week in the evenings. Our Parish Study on “Making God Real in the Orthodox Christian Home” takes place every other Saturday evening. And at this point, all of the classes are online, so it’s just a matter of joining us on zoom! Links to our studies are sent out throughout the week.
In closing, I pray that this Lenten season is truly blessed for you, our Parish and the greater community. If Fr. Seraphim, Dn. Joseph or I can be of assistance to you or your family as we navigate “this sea”, please do not hesitate to contact us through the Office. If I have offended you or fallen short in my ministry, then I ask your forgiveness and your prayers. And, as we prayed last evening at the close of services, “May God forgive us all.”
A blessed Great and Holy Lent,
+fr. Christopher
