St. Vladimir's is about to become a construction site. Excavation work on our new driveway, parking lots, and pole barn will begin any day now and there will be lots of heavy equipment and construction materials in our fields. Construction materials and heavy equipment are HUGE temptations for the little ones. They would love to climb on it, play in it, and generally do all sorts of unsafe things. That is not their fault - they are children! But the adults - PARENTS ESPECIALLY - but all adults in the parish need to keep an eye on the kids and make sure they stay away from these potentially dangerous things. Please have a talk with your kids before you next come to St. Vladimir's and make it clear that they are to stay away. But adults - whether it is your child or not - please step in if a child is in a dangerous place. Thank you all for seeing to it that phase one of our project is positive and safe for all!

Our sister parish of St. Seraphim of Sarov in Lansing, MI celebrates their feast day on August 1. On that day Fr. Paul Waters will lead the Divine Services. We congratulate them on their feast day! More information here:

http://www.stseraphimmichigan.org

Our sister parish of All Saints in Gibralter, MI will also hold Divine Liturgy that day. This community is young and growing and very dynamic! We are helping them as we can, and we ask your prayers for their continued growth. More information here:

http://www.allsaintsorthodoxchurch.org/

Please join either of these liturgies to support these growing communities!

Registration is open for the Walk of Life procession over the Labor Day Weekend! Please visit the link below for more information and register now!

http://goo.gl/forms/QHpB75DC6T

Thank you to all who worked so hard to make the 1000th anniversary of the Holy Great Prince Vladimir such a huge success this week! The choir sang marvellously, the event was extraordinarily well coordinated, the food was incredible, and everything just came together perfectly! This was a real triumph of Orthodoxy for our parish. Thank you all for all you do for our parish!

We present here a short educational offering for both children and adults. 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: the explanation of last Sunday's Gospel reading by Blessed Theophylact:

http://chrysostompress.org/c_8th_pentecost.html

For Children – an activity based on last Sunday's Gospel reading for various ages:

http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default ... 7-26-b.pdf

At Bishop Peter’s direction we ask each of our parishioners following the Divine Liturgy to listen to the Thanksgiving Prayers after Holy Communion as we come to kiss the cross and receive the blessed bread. Those who have not communed should listen to the prayers and thank God that others did have that opportunity while reflecting on when they themselves could next partake of the Holy Mysteries. Those who communed, of course, should listen very attentively to the prayers and thank God for the great gift which they have received at the Divine Liturgy. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD ANY CONVERSATIONS TAKE PLACE DURING THIS TIME except brief exchanges with the priest at the cross. The Divine Liturgy ends only when the curtain of the altar is closed after all parishioners have venerated the cross. Only after the curtain is closed should candles be blown out or conversations take place. We thank you for your attention to this important aspect of our worship. Questions in this regard should be directed to Fr. Gregory or our Starosta, Nathan Longan.

Thank you to all who attended the extraordinary parish meeting yesterday and participated in the discussions and the voting! It was good to have a parish discussion about phase I of our building project and how best to proceed.

The results of the meeting are:

1. Jack (Alexey) Mitchell was elected to the Parish Council

2. The parish voted unanimously to authorize a loan to cover the extra expense associated with phase I that essentially is associated with the extended acceleration/deceleration lane mandated by the Washtenaw County Road Commission

We ask the prayers of our parish family for Jack in his service on the Parish Council and for the success of phase I of our building project!

Please join us for the “Second Pascha” of our parish – our patronal feast of St. Vladimir – tonight at 5:00 p.m. for Vigil and tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. for the Meeting of Metropolitan Jonah and the Hierachal Divine Liturgy. Following the Divine Liturgy on Tuesday there will be a festival meal and likewise – all are invited! Invite friends and loved ones, drive the elderly and infirm, get here however you can! All are welcome at St. Vladimir's!

"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: I Corinthians 11:21-12:6 & Matthew 18:1-11
Tuesday: I Corinthians 12:12-26 & Matthew 18:18-22,19:1-2,13-15
Wednesday:I Corinthians 13:4-14:5 & Matthew 20:1-16
Thursday: I Corinthians 14:6-19 & Matthew 20:17-28
Friday: I Corinthians 14:26-40 & Matthew 21:12-14,17-20
Saturday: Romans 14:6-9 & Matthew 15:32-39

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