Concerning prayer in church, know that it is higher than prayers at home, for it is raised by a whole group of people, among which many are most pure prayers, offered to God from humble hearts, which He accepts as fragrant incense. Along with these our prayers are also accepted, even though they are feeble and worthless.

Venerable Macarius of Optina
Living without Hypocrisy

"This is the cause of all evils: the ignorance of the Scriptures. We go into battle without arms, and how ought we to come off safe?" -St. John Chrysostom, Homily IX on Colossians.

In order to help increase the general knowledge of scripture in our parish family we present here for your edification the scripture readings for the coming week. At least one Gospel Reading and one Epistle reading are assigned for each day of the year (although during Great Lent the readings are from the Old Testament). Hearing or reading only those readings appointed for Sunday merely scratches the surface of the great spiritual wealth that the scriptures provide us. Some of the readings are easily understandable – others are less so. As Orthodox Christians we do not make private interpretation of scripture, but rather consult the fathers of the Church for their explanations to aid us in our understanding. Those wishing to have access to such explanations are asked to contact Fr. Gregory or inquire in the kiosk for further reading in this regard. Bibles may also be acquired in the kiosk.

Monday: Hebrews 8:7-13 & Mark 10:46-52
Tuesday: Hebrews 9:8-10,15-23 & Mark 11:11-23
Wednesday: Hebrews 10:1-18 & Mark 11:23-26
Thursday: Hebrews 10:35-11:17 & Mark 11:27-33
Friday: Colossians 2:8-12 & Luke 2:20-22,40-52
Saturday: I Timothy 3:14-4:5 & Matthew 3:1-11

Please find below several very nice articles on how to read the scripture from an Orthodox point of view.

By St. Justin (Popovich):

http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/bible_how.aspx

By Bishop Kalistos (Ware):

http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/ware_howto.aspx

Please join us for a live broadcast of today's Divine Liturgy beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the following link:

ST. VLADIMIR AUDIO LIVE STREAM
VIDEO LIVE STREAM
Please remember - the stream only broadcasts live services. If you would like to listen to previously recorded and edited services please visit our sound blog:

SOUND OF THE PARISH BLOG
If you would like to view past services please visit our YouTube page:

ST. VLADIMIR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Our parish Sunday publications are available now at the link below. Find our Prayer List, "Good News", and "Sunday Reading", plus other parish publications!
PARISH PUBLICATIONS

Confession and Communion are the two sacraments we most often partake of as Orthodox Christians and thus it behooves us to learn about these, how to prepare for these, and how to best take advantage of the Grace that our Lord freely gives us in these sacraments. At St. Vladimir’s we have created a special web site for this purpose with much information in this regard. Please find the web site listed below and please contact Fr. Gregory with questions!

CONFESSION AND COMMUNION AT ST. VLADIMIR'S
PRAYERS BEFORE COMMUNION - PARISH PRAYER KIT

Please join us for a live broadcast of tonight's Vigil beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the following links:

ST. VLADIMIR AUDIO LIVE STREAM
VIDEO LIVE STREAM
Please remember - the stream only broadcasts live services. If you would like to listen to previously recorded and edited services please visit our sound blog:
SOUND OF THE PARISH BLOG
If you would like to view past services please visit our YouTube page:

ST. VLADIMIR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Friends,

As everyone knows who is living in these crazy pandemic days everything is upside down. This is true of our priests too. Maybe that was true before the pandemic as well… :)

Fr. Colin has cold symptoms and tested positive.

Fr. Gregory has cold symptoms and tested negative. Maybe that is not a huge surprise since Liza had the same last week: cold symptoms but negative Covid test.

The schedule for the weekend is as posted, that is, Vigil at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. Out of an abundance of caution I will wear a mask, since I’m not really enthused about making people sick with the non-Covid very unpleasant cold I have. Fr. Colin will pray for us sinners at home and care for his family, who also have cold-like symptoms.

One schedule caveat: I will rest tonight and hope to knock down some of my symptoms in preparation for Liturgy tomorrow. So if you would like to confess (which you should only do if you have not confessed since January 1, or if you can produce a copy of a police report showing why you need to confess again) please make an appointment here now:

SCHEDULE A CONFESSION FOR SUNDAY MORNING
Thank you to everyone for your prayers! Please continue those for both Fr. Colin and me.

In Christ,

Fr. Gregory

By joining St. Vladimir's you show your visible support of the parish which nourishes you and your family spiritually. We all hope the parish will be there when we need it (for marriages, funerals, baptisms, etc.). By joining the parish we support it both spiritually and financially and ensure it is there for us in our time of need, whether that be every day or a few times per year.

To renew your membership or to become a new member, please contact one of our membership coordinators (both speak English & Russian fluently): Dmitry Knysh (dmitriknysh@hotmail.com or 734-358-5996), or Konstantin Poplavsky (kepoplavsky@yahoo.com or 419-344-2071). We cordially invite you to join our parish family!

We ask everyone to fill out this Member Stewardship Information Form and hand it to a Membership Coordinator with your membership dues for the year:

MEMBER STEWARDSHIP INFORMATION FORM
LEARN MORE ABOUT MEMBERSHIP AT ST. VLADIMIR'S

All are welcome at St. Vladimir's! Please join us this Sunday! More information can be found at this link, and we encourage you to share this with family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers!

DIVINE SERVICES FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2022
As of August 20, 2021 we recommend (but do not mandate) masking for indoor activities at St. Vladimir’s. Join us!

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Both our priests are presently experiencing cold symptoms. Out of an abundance of caution we will cancel the Liturgy on Saturday, January 8. Both priests will attempt to acquire and take rapid Covid tests in preparation for Saturday Vigil and Sunday Divine Liturgy. We will share the results of the tests with you here. If you are in possession of one of these hard to find tests and would be willing to allow us to use this for our priests please contact Fr. Gregory via email: ogrisha@stvladimiraami.org or cell: 734-649-5746. Thank you in advance for your support. Please spread the word about the canceled Liturgy on Saturday, January 8 to all those you know, or who you suspect, were planning to participate in the Liturgy.