Our February podcast, the Vladcast, is up on our You Tube Channel. Click the link below to view it now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1rH-jN5dic

"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: II Peter 1:20-2:9 & Mark 13:9-13
Tuesday: II Peter 2:9-22 & Mark 13:14-23
Wednesday: II Peter 3:1-18 & Mark 13:24-31
Thursday: I John 1:8-2:6 & Mark 13:31-14:2
Friday: I John 2:7-17 & Mark 14:3-9
Saturday: II Timothy 3:1-9 & Luke 20:45-21:4

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

This short article explains to us not just HOW to read the scriptures, but also what our goal should be in reading the scriptures. A short read and well worth it:

http://www.chrysostompress.org/reading_scripture.html

As noted in the article above we need God's help and blessing to read and understand the scriptures correctly. What better way to entreat God's help in this regard than through prayer? Please find the prayer before reading the scriptures here:

http://www.chrysostompress.org/prayer_b ... pture.html

Our weekly bulletin, "Sunday Reading", has been posted at the following link:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/SundayRea ... eading.pdf

We are intending to hold services as scheduled this morning. We encourage all to follow our Inclement Weather Policy found below.

"In case of inclement weather St. Vladimir’s parishioners are urged to use caution and their best judgment when deciding whether to travel to the parish church for Divine Services. If the priest is able to reach the church the Divine Services will be conducted, but if parishioners perceive the driving conditions to be dangerous they should not feel compelled to travel to church."

Please keep our parishioners, friends, and those who have asked us in our unworthiness to pray for them in your prayers this coming week. Our parish prayer list can be found here:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/SundayRea ... erlist.pdf

PLEASE NOTE! We have removed those from the list that we believe no longer should be present there. If you requested that someone be included in this list please review it carefully to make sure we have not removed someone erroneously. If we have, please contact Fr. Gregory to have your loved one again added to the list.

Each year following the feast of the Theophany (the Lord’s Baptism – January 19) it is a traditional and pious custom to have one’s home blessed by the priest. Homes are blessed at St. Vladimir’s through the fifth week of Great Lent. Please fill in your name below on a date and time that work for you at this link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IgC8lReVY-IbIsRNeR7zHNOvPXrfAiNonG7WOO3_r7E/edit?usp=sharing

Please contact Fr. Gregory, or Fr. Michael to schedule a house blessing or if the times listed do not work for you. If you live far from St. Vladimir’s please consult with those other parishioners of St. Vladimir’s who live near you so that you can all have your homes blessed on the same evening. Congratulations to all with the feast of our Lord’s Baptism!

We need help serving breakfast to families at the family homeless shelter, Alpha House, on Sunday February 8. If you can help please contact Addie Lanterman in church or via email at infor@stvladimiraami.org. This is a wonderful opportunity to live our faith in a very real way – by serving others (just as Jesus Christ came to minister according to this own words). Please join us!

We have discussed the idea of a spiritual book club at St. Vladimir's for some time and Great Lent seems the right time to get started! Are you interested? We need to know! :) The topic for Great Lent is the book of the Apocalypse. This book is the most widely misunderstood and the least widely read of any of the books of the Bible. We will use this book as the basis of our discussions:

http://www.amazon.com/Apocalypse-Saint- ... 1936270404

BUT WAIT! Don't buy it yet. We need to know who will participate first. Because if we have more than about 100 people we are going to have to plan this in great detail. So first, email info@stvladimiraami.org and let us know that you are interested. DEADLINE: 2/15/15. At that point we can make solid plans for weekly meetings (likely we will meet on Wednesday evenings after the Presanctified Liturgy) to discuss the book. Feedback to Fr. Gregory please. This is the first time we are trying this, but we would like to do it well so that we can establish this as a tradition in our parish that all find engaging and spiritually edifying.

We will hold our annual Ice Cream Ice Skate on Sunday, February 22. The exact time will be determined by the open skating schedule that will come out in a few days. So - plan on joining us on February 22 but watch this space for details soon to come. Don't miss this fun last taste of ice cream before Pascha and a nice skate to loosen up your legs after Forgiveness Vespers! A youth activity to which all that are young at heart are welcome!

The date of the annual parish meeting has been set for Sunday, February 15, immediately following the Divine Liturgy. This is also Meatfare Sunday and we will have our annual Blini dinner that day as well. We combined these two activities last year and both were very successful! We assume many people came for the annual meeting and stayed for blini. But perhaps it was the reverse? In any case, it worked well and we will do it again. Please find all the information contined in the annual meeting mailing (which you will soon receive if you have not yet) at this link:

http://stvladimiraami.org/flyers/annualmeeting2015.pdf