Please note that Daylight Savings Time ends this Sunday morning very early. There is great danger here that if you do not change your clocks when you go to bed on Saturday night that you could end up coming to church an hour earlier than planned and of course no one wants that! :) Of course we are joking - we are happy to have people come early to church and quite frankly: many of us should probably be coming a bit earlier than we do at this point. So, if you feel that this is the case for you, perhaps it is best if you forget you ever saw this announcement. :) We look forward to seeing you soon at St. Vladimir's (some earlier than others)!

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_20th_pentecost.html

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

http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default ... 10-6-b.pdf

Each year we provide an alternative for our families that do not wish to participate in the pagan inspired Halloween festivities. This year the alternative will be quite straight forward since Halloween falls on a Saturday. It is the expectation of the Holy Church that all her children will, as a rule, be present at the Divine Services on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year our alternative will be just that: we invite everyone to be present at the Vigil on Saturday night beginning at 6:00 p.m. (and for school age kids Church School which begins at 5:00 p.m.) with the sincere hope that by participating in this beautiful service it will “stick” and become a part of your family's weekly schedule.

Is it easy to come to Vigil every Saturday? Of course not! Nothing worth doing is easy – especially in the spiritual life. But if we keep this service a secret then how would you ever know that it is an expectation that you be present? And how would you know that attending the evening services before partaking of Holy Communion is one of the most important ways that you prepare to partake Holy Communion? Those with young children are asked this Saturday – and every Saturday – to stay at the Vigil until the veneration of the Holy Gospel and the anointment with Holy Oil early in Matins (until about 7:30 p.m. or so). Please note: if you have a set bedtime for your children that would cause you to leave before that please be aware that it is much more important for you to stay at Vigil until at least this point in the service than it is for the children to be put into bed at a set time. Staying up a little late on Saturday to serve and glorify God sends a great message to the kids about what is more important and what is less important in life. Each parent has to make the best decision for their children, but it is good to challenge ourselves spiritually if we hope to allow ourselves to grow spiritually. And it is good to show children that the spiritual life comes before personal comfort.

See you Saturday for our Halloween alternative!

Thank you to all who made this year's Marriage and Family Retreat so successful over the weekend! Many, many people worked hard to see that our families had an opportunity to meet, hear outstanding lectures by Fr. David Moser, and have many of their questions answered. For those who were unable to attend, or even for those who were, we have posted the audio files of the lectures on our Sound of the Parish blog. You can find them at the link below – we know you will find them edifying!

http://soundoftheparish.blogspot.com/20 ... -2015.html

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

We have lots of ORPR camper veterans in our parish. We'd like to try to get all our camp veterans together to reminisce, reconnect, and perhaps raise a little money for ORPR camp. More information can be found at the link below:

http://goo.gl/forms/5hO5xtwGfW

Please plan to join us for an informal – but fun – evening!

Please find the full schedule of lectures and other activities for this weekend at this link:

http://stvladimiraami.org/flyers/marria ... efinal.pdf

You haven't registered yet you say? Do not despair – register now at this link:

http://goo.gl/forms/HRBSniiu2Y

But don't wait! The lectures begin on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. THIS Saturday. Just a few hours from now.

Not sure you want to participate in a retreat? Do not despair – let's just call it a series of lectures and meals. :)

Your marriage doesn't need any work you say? Your family is perfect? That is possible – but not probable. Fr. Gregory states that "being a priest and hearing confessions for more than 20 years I can tell you that there is no such thing as the perfect marriage or the perfect family. Every marriage and family needs work, struggle, work, and more work – and prayer – lots of prayer." How to do this? How to raise children, maintain sanity, and attain salvation? Register for the retreat now – you will learn a lot towards answering that question!

This evening at 6:00 p.m. we will serve Vespers and Matins for Apostle Phillip, and tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy. This is our all-English cycle for October. Please join us as your schedule allows and please invite friends, loved ones, neighbors, strangers, and everyone else that you can possibly think of that would like to experience the Church's theology in action – the Divine Services – fully in English. All are welcome!

The Synaxis of the Optina Elders is celebrated each year on October 10/23. At St. Vlaidmir's we will have services this evening at 6:00 p.m. and tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. Please join us as your personal schedule allows. We congratulate all our parishioners with the feast, and especially those who are celebrating their name's days!

This is your LAST CHANCE to register for our marriage retreat which will take place the weekend of October 24-25. 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.

Don't think you need this retreat? THINK AGAIN – you do! Join us to strengthen your marriage, to prepare for marriage, and to actively and proactively solve marital issues we ALL have!

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

http://goo.gl/forms/HRBSniiu2Y