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AT THIS LINK.

THIS WEEK’S PARISH BULLETINS ENGLISH + РУССКИЙ

SCHEDULE OF DIVINE SERVICES AT STV

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ONE: BIG WEEK AT STV
LOTS of services this week as we big farewell to Pascha and enter into the feast of the Ascenion. Join us for those those services work for your personal schedule! Please see below for details:
LAST DAY OF PASCHA – WEDNESDAY
ASCENSION OF THE LORD – THURSDAY
ST. NICHOLAS OF MYRA – FRIDAY (LITURGY TENTATIVE)
ALL ENGLISH SERVICE – SATURDAY
THIS WEEK’S SMALL PASCHA – SUNDAY

TWO: BUILDING UPDATE
We were on the agenda for tonight’s Lima Township Planning Commission meeting. Then we weren’t. Then we were on again. And then we were off when the final agenda came out this morning. It isn’t clear why – we are trying to find all this out now. The reality of such an undertaking is that there will be spiritual resistence. St. Paul makes it clear – we are in a spiritual war in this life: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) If we think that the Devil is happy that we are bulding a new, bigger church to bring more people to Christ we are frankly deluded. Of course he is against this project. And that is good! We want to do things that the Devil does not like, because that means we are working for the Lord! If we are to accomplish this great undertaking we must humbly accept all that the Lord wills and allows. Getting mad that we are not on the agenda, or that parishioners are tempted by certain aspects of the project, or who is involved in the project, or that the new church will not be the color we personally like, or whatever tempts us in this regard is folly. When we get mad we get on the Devil’s team. Let’s stay on the Lord’s team: pray, be patient, be humble, accept what you cannot change, work as hard as you can on those things you can change. The BIGGEST temptation is to see temptations as something negative. On the contrary, the Venerable Dorotheos points out to us that temptations are GOOD and assure us that we are moving exactly in the right direction. Let us hearken unto his admonition, memorize his instruction (below), and take it completely to heart. If we do that – we’ll get this done! If we don’t – we’ll fight with each other until the project becomes impossible. We’ll find excuses to scuttle the project, motivated by the Devil. The choice is ours. I (Fr. Gregory) vote for St. Dorothos, and I hope you’ll join me:

“If a man is doing something according to God, trial of some kind will come upon him, for trial and temptation either precede or follow all good. Neither is it sure the thing is happening according to God, unless it is proved so by trials and temptations.”+ Venerable Dorotheos of Gaza

THREE: PRAYERS FOR EVERY DAY
We ask a lot of our parish family at STV, and one of those things we challenge you to do is to say several prayers every day. However, although this is a challenge, it is a good one. And some folks report that this responsibility keeps them praying every day. Officially, we ask you to say both these prayers every day:
PRAYER OF ST. GABRIEL OF GEORGIA FOR OUR NEW CHURCH PROJECT
PRAYER TO ST. MARDARIJE OF ANN ARBOR FOR THE SUCCESS OF OUR SCHOOL
But – this is a really good one that we probably all should add. We are growing! Thank God! But with many more people there are many more personalities. And if we are going to stay strong as a family as we grow we need God's help! This prayer is a great way to entreat the Lord to keep our parish family strong:
PRAYER AGAINST DISCORD IN THE CHURCH

FOUR: PREPARING THE PARISH CHURCH FOR PENTECOST
The great feast of Pentecost is May 31. Please join us on Saturday, May 30 for a Memorial Divine Liturgy beginning at 8:00 a.m. Following the Liturgy we will decorate the parish church with boughs, branches, and flowers for the Pentecost vigil. This is a similar activity to our Lazarus Saturday church decoration in preparation for the Palm Sunday vigil. Many good memories are waiting to be had at these sorts of events. Please bring your children! It is especially important for them to participate in these sorts of activities. All are welcome!

FIVE: PROSPHORA BAKER NEEDED
We need another prosphora baker in our parish! We already have a dedicated team, but we need to add one more baker to that team. This is a very blessed obedience - the opportunity to make sure that the Divine Liturgy is served at STV as often as possible. We need lots of prosphora to keep up with our robust schedule of services! You can make a difference! We will train you how to bake the prosphora. Please contact Fr. Gregory if you are interested.