The Lord shows us that we ought not to answer those who ask a question with malicious intent (cf. Mt. 21:23-27). For He Himself did not reply to those Jews who questioned Him with cunning, although He was not at a loss for an answer.

+ St. Theophylact (Explanation of the Gospel of St. Matthew)

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, MAY 16, 2021
Due to the pandemic we have guidelines that must be followed. Please find those here:

HELP US KEEP THE PARISH OPEN DURING THE PANDEMIC
Services in the barn (mostly Sunday Liturgies) do not require sign up. All other services (which are held inside the church building) do - including Saturday evening Vigil and the Sunday 8:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy. Sign up here:
DIVINE SERVICES WEEK OF MAY 10, 2021

Fr. Gregory, Elizabeth, Misha, Masha, and Natasha invite everyone to join us for our Pascha party on Sunday, May 30, 2021 at our house in Saline. The rain date is Monday, May 31 2021. Why do we need a rain date? Because we will hold the party outside! We’ll have a bon fire, lots of non-Lenten food, drinks, and hopefully a lot of fun! Don’t know where we live? Please send a note to info@stvladimiraami.org now (not on May 30 when you leave your house!) and we’ll share details with you. Everyone is welcome! Come celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord with our whole parish family in the best pandemic style!

God willing the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God will visit our St. Vladimir parish on Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16. As is our parish tradition, we hope to keep the church open all night from Saturday to Sunday to allow people to venerate the icon from around our region. This provides a wonderful opportunity for our parish family members to spend time with the icon in the church in a quiet, prayerful atmosphere. But in order to provide this service to our parish family, friends, and neighbors we need volunteers to be with the icon at all times. The sign up for this duty can be found here:

KURSK ICON OVERNIGHT DUTY

We present here a short educational offering for both children and adults on the upcoming Sunday's principle Gospel reading so that all can better prepare for the Divine Services. Parents are asked to review the children’s portion with their children. It is very important for us to attend the Divine Services on Sundays and whenever else we are able, but in addition it is our spiritual responsibility to educate ourselves and our families in the faith. It is our hope that this mid-week offering will be an aid in this regard. Please contact Fr. Gregory with questions or suggestions.

For Adults: from the writings of Blessed Theophylact

For Youth: from the Antiochian Archdiocese (various age groups)

Please join us for our annual parish meeting on May 3/16, 2021. God willing, the Kursk Icon will be present for the annual meeting. That is a first for our parish, and likely will never happen again. We need to see that as a blessing, and perhaps even a message. The Lord has blessed us greatly during the pandemic. The Parish Council is very interested in finding the silver lining of the cloud that is the pandemic. To find out what that means (and it means something very significant for our parish) join us at the meeting!

Learn More (Official Notification of the Meeting)
Join St. Vladimir’s

Our parish practice is to serve one cycle of Divine Services per month (Friday Evening Services and Saturday Divine Liturgy) completely in English. This is a missionary effort designed to allow those who are interested in Orthodox Christianity to more easily access the beauty of the Divine Services – the “theology in action” of the Holy Church. ALL ARE WELCOME at these services! Please invite friends and loved ones! Let us work together to no longer allow Orthodox Christianity to be the best kept secret in the spiritual life of North America! Please join us! Evening Services begin at 6:00 p.m. this Friday with Divine Liturgy at 8:00 a.m. this Saturday.

FULL ALL ENGLISH SCHEDULE 2021

As is our usual practice we planned to visit the graves of our friends and loved ones on Thomas Sunday (May 9) to greet them with the Resurrection of the Lord. But the weather was terrible. So we will visit on Radonitsa (May 11). First we will serve Liturgy that day at 8:00 a.m. We will then go to the graves in our parish cemetery. We should arrive at Forest Hill Cemetery about 10:30 a.m. For the graves of those we cannot visit on Radonitsa (May 11) please contact Fr. Gregory to arrange a visit.

Since the enemy watches you constantly, waiting for an opportunity to sow evil in you, be doubly watchful over yourself, lest you fall in the nets spread for you. As soon as he shows you some fault in your neighbor, hasten to repel this thought, lest it take root in you and grow. Cast it out, so that no trace is left in you, and replace it by the thought of the good qualities you know your neighbor to possess, or of those people generally should have. If you still feel the impulse to pass judgment, add to this the truth that you are given no authority for this and that the moment you assume this authority you thereby make yourself worthy of judgment and condemnation, not before powerless men, but before God, the all-powerful Judge of all. This reversal of thoughts is the strongest means, not only for repelling accidental critical thoughts, but also for completely freeing yourself of this vice.

+ St. Theophan the Recluse (Unseen Warfare)

"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: Acts 3:19-26 & John 2:1-11
Tuesday: Acts 4:1-10 & John 3:16-21
Wednesday: Acts 4:13-22 & John 5:17-24
Thursday: Acts 4:23-31 & John 5:24-30
Friday: Acts 5:1-11 & John 5:30-6:2
Saturday: Acts 5:21-33 & John 6:14-27

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