St. Vladimir Parish Family members who would like to donate flowers for the feast of Pentecost are asked to stop in the kiosk or contact Yelena Mullin (email info@stvladimiraami.org) to make your donation. Please be sure to provide the names of your loved ones both living and departed to be commemorated at the services Pentecost when you make your donation. Thank you kindly for your generosity!

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. However, 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!

Please join us for the final Paschal services of the year at St. Vladimir’s. On Tuesday, June 7 we will serve Paschal Vespers and Matins beginning at 6:00 p.m. And on Wednesday, June 8 we will serve the Paschal Divine Liturgy at 8:00 a.m. The next evening we are already celebrating the vigil for Ascension and our Paschal celebration will have ended. Don’t miss this last chance to prayerfully participate in the special Paschal Divine Services!

Fr. Gregory is available to bring Holy Communion to the sick, bless homes and apartments (or dorm rooms), or to provide spiritual support to any and all of our parish family whenever there is a need. Please do not hesitate to contact him! Too often those in need suffer in silence because they do not want to “bother” the priest. Fr. Gregory is here to serve our parish family – just as Christ came to minister so too is this the calling of the parish priest. You can reach Fr. Gregory by phone or SMS at 734-649-5746 or via email at ogrisha@stvladimiraami.org. Rest assured – he looks forward to hearing from you any time – whether you have a specific need or even if you just need to talk – please contact him!

Today in America we celebrate Memorial Day. This civil holiday was first called Decoration Day and was connected with the decoration of the graves of Civil War soldiers and others who died in that most destructive of American wars. In 1971 this unofficial holiday became law in the United States. Today is the third day of a three-day weekend in America. Such weekends are always welcome. But let us not forget WHY we have this holiday – remembrance of our veterans and decoration of their graves. We ask each of our parish family today to take a minute and reflect on the sacrifice of others that allows us to live the life we live today. Many died in hope of a better future – and for them we are that future. Let us pray for them – that the Lord will have mercy on them – and let us live righteous lives in service to others, remembering the example of those who came before us and their honorable sacrifice on our behalf. May the Lord grant them a place in His Heavenly Kingdom!

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

http://www.stvladimiraami.org:8000/liturgy.ogg.m3u

If you have any trouble with the live stream please visit this link:

http://soundoftheparish.blogspot.com/p/ ... dimir.html

If the information at that link does not help please email info@stvladimiraami.org and we will assist you as soon as possible (but after the Divine Service).

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:

http://soundoftheparish.blogspot.com/

With Bishop Peter's blessing, this year summer courses will again be offered in the Pastoral School of the Diocese of Chicago & Mid-America. The following courses will be offered this year – dates for the courses are June 20 – August 6, 2016 (Liturgics is slightly longer in duration):

Liturgics
Church Slavonic
Byzantine History
Parish Management and Operations
Thesis Writing Workshop
Homiletics – NEW
New Testament Greek – NEW
New Testament Latin – NEW

All Pastoral School summer courses are available to the general public without the need for a formal application to our complete Diploma program. To register please visit the following link:

http://www.orthodoxtheologicalschool.or ... iew/summer

To learn more about the summer courses and all the offerings of the Pastoral School please visit this link:

http://www.orthodoxtheologicalschool.or ... scriptions

For more information or with questions please contact the Dean of the Pastoral School, Archpriest Gregory Joyce (fr.gregory.joyce@orthodoxtheologicalschool.org).

In place of the hymn "It is Truly Meet..." we sing a hymn from the 9th ode of the Paschal Canon from Pascha until Ascension. This is a hymn that we all should memorize. To help with that memorization we include it at the link below. Christ is Risen!

http://stvladimiraami.org/flyers/shines ... usalem.pdf

Our next Children's Liturgy is set for Saturday, June 18. This is the Soul Saturday immediately before Pentecost. We held a Children's Liturgy on this particular Saturday last year and it worked out quite nicely. We are looking forward to this year's effort being equally successful. Parents should sign up for their children to fill the various duties surrounding the Divine Liturgy at this link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/137Tvs8DyJyoluZ-2N0lrWu06RjLDLITO4aGzU92FSQg/edit?usp=sharing

Please have a look at our Blogtushka offering:

http://blogtushka.blogspot.com/

There admittedly wasn't a lot of action there for a while, but we have ended the hibernation and hope to post regularly there. If you have topics that you would like covered please comment on that there, or by emailing Fr. Gregory. And please pray that we find the time and the strength to keep posting there regularly!