"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: Matthew 21:18-43, Ezekiel 1:1-20, Exodus 1:1-20, Job 1:1-12, Matthew 24:3-35
Tuesday: Matthew 22:15-23:39, Ezekiel 1:21-2:1, Exodus 2:5-10, Job 1:13-22, Matthew 24:36-26:2
Wednesday: John 12:17-50, Ezekiel 2:3-3:3, Exodus 2:11-22, Job 2:1-10, Matthew 26:6-16
Thursday: Luke 22-1-39, Matthew 26:1-20, John 13:3-17, Matthew 26:21-39, Luke 22:43-45, Matthew 26:40-27:2
Friday: Please attend the Divine Services – the list of readings is too long to publish here
Saturday: Romans 6:3-11 & Matthew 28:1-20

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

Please find this week's issue of "The Good News" at the link below. This bulletin/handout contains the Troparia and Kontakia that will be sung by the choir at today's Divine Liturgy as well as the readings from the Epistle and Gospel readings of the day - all in both English and Russian. This little bulletin is distributed to visitors and others who may find it useful by our parish Greeters on duty today at St. Vladimir's. We cordially invite you to join us at St. Vladimir's for Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m. - or any Sunday soon. You are always welcome at St. Vladimir's!

This Sunday's "The Good News":

http://stvladimiraami.org/pamphlets/goodnews.pdf

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.

Please join us at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 8 for our annual outdoor spring cleanup! It is time to get our property ready for Pascha, plant flowers, and do much more! All are welcome - don't miss the fun!

Those who confess beginning on Friday, April 7 and any time during Holy Week may partake of Divine Communion during any of the Holy Week & Bright Week Divine Liturgies if they have read their pre-Communion rule. Please plan to come to Confession early in the week so that your Confession will not be rushed due to long lines of others waiting for Confession. ONCE YOU HAVE CONFESSED YOU SHOULD NOT CONFESS AGAIN UNLESS YOU FALL INTO A VERY SERIOUS SIN. There are MANY who need to confess this week - literally hundreds. Please be merciful to your priests and only confess one time unless there is a very serious need to confess a second time.

Please join us for the great feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos tonight at 6:00 p.m. for Vigil and tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. for the Divine Liturgy. All are welcome!

Please join us for our monthly cycle of All English Divine Services Friday, April 7 and Saturday April 8. More information at the link below - all are welcome!

http://stvladimiraami.org/flyers/englis ... le2017.pdf

Please join us for the major services of Holy Week on our Live Stream. Please like us on Facebook to be notified of each of the services that we will be streaming live. Visit our Facebook page now:

https://www.facebook.com/StVladimirOrthodoxChurch/

You can plan your listening by visiting our Holy Week schedule here:

http://stvladimiraami.org/flyers/paschaschedule17.pdf

Please join us in person if you can. And if you can’t – please join us on the live stream. We strongly recommend that you listen to the live stream in a quiet place, ideally having lit the lamp in your icon corner and turned down the lights a bit. Please worship with us!

Live Stream:

http://www.stvladimiraami.org:8000/liturgy.mp3

Services in preparation for tonight's Presanctified Liturgy will begin at 5:00 p.m. rather than 3:00 p.m. Please make a note of this and share with those you known or suspect were planning to come earlier than 5:00 p.m. tonight.