We are pleased to announce our Marriage and Family Retreat this year will take place the weekend of October 24-25. We are also pleased to announce that with the blessing of Bishop Peter, Archpriest David Moser will lead this retreat. Fr. David has been a priest and a family counselor for many years and his insights from both his spiritual and secular work will benefit all our St. Vladimir's families.

To register for what promises to be a really wonderful weekend, please visit this link:

http://goo.gl/forms/HRBSniiu2Y

This event promises to enrich your knowledge about Russian cultural traditions, both theoretically and practically. Anastasia Klimzo, a folklorist from Russia, will present some basic background information and teach hands-on (feet-on, actually) dances and songs which are preserved in the Russian villages from generations past. This event is in Russian language. If interested to come and have translation, please let us know ahead of time by emailing info@stvladimiraami.org.

Suggested donation of $20 will benefit Davydovo camp for mentally disabled kids and teens! Every penny helps! http://davydovo-hram.ru/autisty-v-derevne-1508

WHEN: Sunday, October 4th, 3:00 – 6:00 pm

WHERE: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church hall, 3109 Scio Church Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48103

Sign up here:

http://goo.gl/forms/ri61eocaGH

Don’t miss our special guest Anastasia Klimzo from Davydovo, Russia at Vechyorka – the folk style traditional evening for Youth (12 and older) and young at heart with Russian folk dances and games! Come learn your culture and bring something Lenten to share at the picnic. Invite your friends of any ethnic origin! Fun is guaranteed!

Donations are welcome to benefit Davydovo camp for mentally disabled kids and teens! Every penny helps! http://davydovo-hram.ru/autisty-v-derevne-1508

Sign up here:

http://goo.gl/forms/z2REAoryI6

WHEN: Friday, October 2nd, 5:30 pm

WHERE: Lillie Park soccer fields, 4365 Platt Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48108 South Entrance

Today marks the feast of the Venerable Fathers Sergius & Herman of Valaam. This is the feast day of our parish in Houghton, MI and we wish Hieromonk Alexander and the parishioners there all the best with the feast. This is especially true this year since the parish has experienced a great milestone today. The parish paid off their mortgage earlier this year. This morning Bishop Peter performed the Great Consecration of the parish church in Houghton. This is a very rare event - perhaps once in a lifetime for most people. Pictures and additional coverage will be on the Diocesan web site soon. Please read the lives of these favorites of God at the links below.

English:

http://oca.org/saints/lives/2015/09/11/ ... -wonderwor

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life1411.htm

Church School begins this year on Saturday, September 26. Click on the link below to see why you should register your child immediately:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vspDTcLQvOo

To register, please visit this Google doc:

http://goo.gl/forms/BVWIlgDJ9y

Please note that September 27 is always a Lenten day – no matter which day of the week this date fall on. This is the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross and because of the penitential nature of the Cross itself this day is always a fasting day. Since we are not used to Sundays as fasting days outside of major fasting periods it is easy to forget this one. We hope this little note will keep that from happening in your and your family's case. Please join us at St. Vladimir's for this great feast of the Church on Saturday evening for the special Cross Vigil and Sunday morning for Divine Liturgy. More about this great feast can be found that the links below.

English:

http://oca.org/saints/lives/2015/09/14/ ... ving-cross

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life1529.htm

We have been focused on our festival for the the early part of this month and thus meeting with the youth groups was not really realistic. SO – if we would like to get September meetings in we need to do them all three on Sunday, September 27! It will be a busy but fun day! To register please choose the appropriate youth group sign up below. See you Sunday!

9-12 Year Old Youth Group:

https://docs.google.com/a/stvladimiraami.org/forms/d/15A5dhUFPOcVljjn9n_p5LSwlnyzG0mL5fH0L5JdG1oI/viewform?c=0&w=1

Teen Youth Group:

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

College Age/Young Adult Group:

https://docs.google.com/a/stvladimiraami.org/forms/d/1Su7v3t1lilSSSx7ETzWTcANcBy8bDYrzMNU1WzOCrC0/viewform?c=0&w=1

Please pick up the road signs for our festival that you have placed during the last few weeks. We would like to save these for next year if possible, and in any case, we want to be good neighbors and not leave what our local communities will see as “garbage” all over the region. Please bring signs you recover to St. Vladimir's this Sunday. Thank you!

Today the Holy Church celebrates the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God. This first feast of the year begins the New Testament history of our salvation, even during the late period of the Old Testament. Confused? Don't be! Read the links below to learn more about the feast and remove all confusion! Congratulations to our parish family and friends with this first Great Feast of the Church Year!

English:

http://oca.org/saints/lives/2015/09/08/ ... nd-ever-vi

Russian:

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life1479.htm

This year's festival was really incredible! The planning, the execution, and the remarkably hard work by so many of our parishioners was absolutely inspiring! So many people joined us and were introduced to the Orthodox Faith and our parish! The Church Tours were absolutely packed! And frankly - so was everything else. Thank you to all who worked so hard to make this year's festival such a resounding success! Pics and videos are on Facebook, vKontakte, Twitter, and our You Tube Channel - and more are still to come! Thank you again - this was a wonderful, incredible, great festival - and it was all because of your hard work and the Lord's merciful blessing!