Tomorrow the Holy Church celebrates the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. At St. Vladimir's we will mark this feast with Vespers & Matins this evening at 6:00 p.m. and Divine Liturgy tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. Please join us as your schedule allows! Below please find additional information about the life of the First Called Apostle, St. Andrew.

English:

http://oca.org/saints/lives/2014/11/30/ ... rst-called

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life3252.htm

Please join us for a prosphora baking workshop on December 27 beginning at 9:00 a.m. The workshop will be held at the home of Panagioti and Patricia Apostolou. RSVP ASAP – space is limited. WE NEED PROSPHORA BAKERS! This is a very spiritually rewarding undertaking. You will be preparing the very bread that becomes of Body of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a great honor! To learn more or to reserve your place please contact Fr. Gregory.

Our Teen Youth Group meets this Sunday from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at Fr. Gregory's home in Saline. Final plans for the St. Herman's conference are the main agenda item, but we will also have an open discussion about ANY question the young people would like to discuss. That means that the teens need to COME READY WITH QUESTIONS! Please plan to join us! RSVP ASAP to we can prepare the appropriate amount of lenten sweets. See you Sunday!

The Diocesan St. Herman Youth Retreat is set for December 26-29 in Cincinnati, OH. As usual, we will rent several vans this year to transport our young people from throughout the Michigan Deanery to the Retreat. PLEASE – PLEASE – PLEASE contact Fr. Gregory soon (PLEASE!) and let him know that you are going. We need to know: do we rent one van, two, six? The only way to know that is to know that you are coming!

And NOW (right now – not later – right this very minute) is the time to register for the retreat! How would you do that you ask? Please visit the link below. And then let Fr. Gregory know you are coming if you haven't already! Please join us – this is a real highlight of the year for the young people and so worth supporting. Questions? Please ask Fr. Gregory!

Register here (and NOW – don't wait!):

http://www.stgeorgeroc.org/stherman

Our December Parish Council meeting has been moved from December 21 to December 20. The Parish Council will have a three-hour retreat this day. As always, meetings are open to all members of St. Vladimir's. This meeting will be held off site so if you'd like to join us please email Fr. Gregory or Nathan and you will be sent the address. As always, we ask your prayers for our Parish Council as we work for the good of the parish family!

The Diocesan St. Herman Youth Retreat is set for December 26-29 in Cincinnati, OH. As usual, we will rent several vans this year to transport our young people from throughout the Michigan Deanery to the Retreat. PLEASE – PLEASE – PLEASE contact Fr. Gregory soon (PLEASE!) and let him know that you are going. We need to know: do we rent one van, two, six? The only way to know that is to know that you are coming!

And NOW (right now – not later – right this very minute) is the time to register for the retreat! How would you do that you ask? Please visit the link below. And then let Fr. Gregory know you are coming if you haven't already! Please join us – this is a real highlight of the year for the young people and so worth supporting. Questions? Please ask Fr. Gregory!

Register here (and NOW – don't wait!):

http://www.stgeorgeroc.org/stherman

Thank you to all who participated in the Saline Holiday Parade on Saturday! We have some great pictures on our Face Book page already and these will soon be on our parish photo album as well. We intend to participate in this parade next year too on the first Saturday of December. We will also likely participate in a parade in August of 2015. Please watch this space for more information and please join us if you can as we bring the message to the world that we are here and they are welcome!

With Bishop Peter's blessing we will hold our first Church School pilgrimage this year December 12-14. We invite all our Church School students, parents, and teachers to participate in this spiritually important growth opportunity! Pilgrimage is a venerable tradition of the Orthodox Church – visiting and supporting monasteries helps the monks and nuns do their important work: praying for the entire world. Such a pilgrimage with our Church School also helps the young people to see that monasticism is a real option in life – something that they can either engage in or at the very least support. The health of the Church has always been measured by the health of the monasteries. Participating in pilgrimages helps to strengthen these crucially important spiritual institutions. Our pilgrimage will be to Holy Dormition Convent in Rives Junction, MI. This is a beautiful monastery with many divine services, scenic views, and a very nice guest house. We have reserved the entire guest house – 24 beds. We have many more students, parents, and teachers than this, so PLEASE reserve your space right away by contacting our Church School Coordinator, Lilia Vershynin!

UPDATE: We have started a waiting list since we have filled the guest house. We are working with the sisters in Rives Junction to prepare a program for our pilgrims who will be there overnight as well as those who can only visit during the day. Even though the overnight slots are filled we urge all that want to participate to sign up with Lilia so that we can let the nuns know how many day and overnight pilgrims we will have. Please join us!

UPDATE II: We have had such a huge response to this pilgrimage that we are going to break the group into two. This will allow everyone to have the opportunity to stay overnight at the monastery. More information will soon be forthcoming. Thank you all for your understanding and for the great response!

Our long-time parishioner Bill Wolff reposed in the Lord yesterday, on the feast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple, December 4, 2014, about 10:00 a.m. There will not be a funeral at this time. Unfortunately this decision is not within our control. But, certainly Bill will be thankful for our prayers, and we encourage our parish family to prayerfully remember Bill – especially during these 40 days. The 40th day is Monday, January 12, 2015. Tomorrow following the Divine Liturgy (at which Bill will be commemorated among the newly-reposed) we will hold a pannykhida. The Divine Liturgy begins at 8:00 a.m. Additional prayerful commemorations of Bill will be held as well – more details in that regard will be shared as soon as possible.

Visitation will be held at the Manns-Ferguson Funeral Home at 17000 Middle Belt Rd, Livonia, MI 48154 according to the following schedule:

Sunday, December 7: 12:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Monday, December 8: 2:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Please remember our newly-departed brother, Reader Basil, in your prayers! May his memory be eternal!

The feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple - one of the 12 Great Feasts of the Church - falls each year on November 21/December 4 - this Thursday. At St. Vladimir's we will make this feast with Vigil on Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m. and Divine Liturgy on Thursday morning at 8:00 a.m. Please join us as your personal schedule allows! Below please find further information about this feast. Congratulations to all St. Vladimir's family and friends with the feast!

English:

http://oca.org/saints/lives/2014/11/21/ ... the-temple

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life2575.htm