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On this Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, we begin the services of the Lenten Triodion, and we sing,
Open to me the doors of repentance, O Life Giver,
for my spirit rises early to pray towards Thy Holy Temple.
bearing the temple of my body all defiled
but in Thy compassion
purify me by the loving-kindness of Thy mercy.
Lead me on the paths of salvation O Mother of God
For I have profaned my soul with shameful sins
and have wasted my life in laziness
but by your intercessions
deliver me from all impurity.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy,
and according to the mutitude of Thy compassions, blot out my transgressions.
When I think of the many evil things I have done,
wretch that I am,
I tremble at the fearful day of judgement.
But trusting in Thy loving kindness,
Like David I cry to Thee:
Have mercy on me, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to Thy great mercy.
Through parables leading all mankind to amendment of life, Christ raises up the Publican from his abasement and humbles the Pharisee in his pride.
We see the exalted honour that comes through humility, and the grievous fall that comes through pride; let us, then, emulate the good actions of the Publican and hate the evil sin of the Pharisee.
Every good deed is made of no effect through foolish pride, while every evil is cleansed by humility. In faith let us embrace humility and utterly abhor the ways of vainglory.
The crafty enemy lies in wait for the righteous and despoils them through vainglory, while he binds sinners fast in the noose of despair. But let us emulate the Publican and hasten to escape from both these evils.
The Lenten Triodion
Simeon, take up the Creator of all in thine arms! Elder, take up Christ to Whom the Virgin Maiden gave birth without seed for the joy of mankind!
Let us assemble, O people, and let us hymn the only Benefactor, the Giver of the law, the Creator and God of the Law before Whom the ranks of Angels tremble, for the salvation of our souls!
Master, now let Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word, for I have beheld Thee, O Christ, the pre-eternal Light of revelation for the Gentiles and for Israel Who hast bound me in the bonds of the flesh.
Sergey shared some photos of the Prayers at the Property in Kernersville where our new church will be built!
We celebrated the Outdoor Blessing of the Waters.
We celebrated Theophany and the Great Blessing of the Waters.
We had the joy of the chrismations of Tristan, Emily, Zach, and Rebecca at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy, on the Eve of Nativity.
We celebrated Holy Nativity!
We celebrated our Parish Picnic together in Triad Park in Kernersville, and it was a joy to gather together and relax and enjoy hamburgers and hot dogs and a lovely meal.
We had the joy of celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony of Keith and Tambrey Owens on Sunday, August 28. May the Lord grant them many years of health and happiness!
Michael, Theodora and Olga were chrismated!
We have photographs of our celebration of Holy Pentecost!
Our yard sale was a great success, thanks to hard-working volunteers!
We have many photographs from our celebration of Pascha!
We now also have photographs of the services and the procession on Palm Sunday.
We have a photograph of the children with palm branches on Palm Sunday.
We celebrated the Sunday of Orthodoxy with a procession with icons!
We celebrated Theophany, and the Great Blessing of the Waters, and then on the Sunday after Theophany, the Outdoor Blessing of the Waters!
On the Sunday before Theophany, Michael, Sheila, and Jenelle were received and blessed as Catechumens!
On Sunday after Holy Nativity, there was a Typika service with communion.
St. Nicholas visited Holy Cross! And we celebrated those who were most recently baptized and chrismated, and catechumens and inquirers.
Jaxon was baptized!
We have aerial video of the curbs and gutters being poured!
We have video clips of the ongoing construction work on our building site!
More Progress on our Building Site!
Progress Continues on our Building Site!
We have a new colored architectural elevation of our new church from the front!
We have a new colored architectural elevation of our new church!
We have photos from Week 3 of the work preparing the ground for building our new church!
We have some video of the construction work preparing the ground for building our new church!
Construction continues on our Kernersville property, and we have more new photos from the second week of work!
On the feast of Saint Innocent of Alaska, Father Christopher was elevated to the rank of Archpriest for his faithful years of service.
A few weeks after our Groundbreaking Service, the work on the site of our new church in Kernersville began, preparing the site for construction!
Archbishop Alexander presided over our Groundbreaking Service celebrating the beginning of the construction process for our new church!
We have photographs of the baptisms and chrismations on the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos!
We have photographs of the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost!
We have photographs of the Easter Egg Hunt held after the Paschal Agape Vespers!
We celebrated Holy Pascha in our new home!
Palm Sunday was a glorious celebration!
We have some photos from the Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross!
Prayers at the Property have continued throughout the pandemic. Sergey took photographs on a lovely Spring day!
St. Nicholas visited Holy Cross!
We have photos of Anthony and Nikolai's Baptisms!
We have photos of Leo's Baptism!
We have photos of John's Chrismation!
We have photos of Elijah's baptism!
Despite the "Stay at Home" order, the Joy of Pascha was shared by the Faithful through a streaming service of the Paschal Hours and the Divine Liturgy of Pascha!
The Vesperal Liturgy of Holy Saturday was streamed to the Faithful.
The service in which the crucified Body of Christ is carried to the Tomb was streamed to the Faithful.
The Bridegroom Matins of Holy Wednesday was streamed to the faithful on the Evening of Holy Tuesday. The video is available.
The Divine Liturgy of Palm Sunday was streamed to the faithful.
A video now is available of Father's Homily on the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos.
A video now is available of Father's Homily on the Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross.
We are streaming services live for the faithful at home, and for all the world. We have a few screen captures from the Divine Liturgy on the Sunday of the Veneration of the Holy Cross.
We have some some photos fof the procession on the Sunday of Orthodoxy.
We have some some photos from the Sunday of Forgiveness.
We have some some photos of Jonah's baptism.
We have some video and photos from the Outdoor Blessing of the Waters on the Sunday after Theophany.
We have a few photos from the Great Blessing of the Waters on Theophany
For more, please see our Parish News, Photos and Videos page.
Before all other deeds, remember about this great deed: that your children, innocent and pure children, take into their pure hearts the Law of God, the commandments of Christ, at least from the small amount of instruction that they can receive from you.
You have not yet forgotten the Law of God, so teach, teach your children, and then your family will become your house church. And the light of Christ from this house church will spread invisibly for you beyond the boundaries of your family.
The Light of Christ, His Divine Truth, will invisibly flow into the hearts and minds of all those who have dealings with you. It could be that the influence of your house church will go beyond its boundaries.
Then the eternal blessing of our Lord and God Jesus Christ, His Beginningless Father, and the All-Holy Spirit will be upon you. Article
The more we forgive, the more courage we gather within our heart which in turn makes it easier to forgive the next time, and the time after that, and seventy-times seven that follow. When we begin living according to a life in Christ, our world changes, we perceive those around us differently. We begin to see them as Christ sees them. Most importantly, we recognize the grace of Christ operative in our lives. We can then echo the words of Saint Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phillippians 4:13) and that includes forgiving everyone, even those who have wronged us greviously. Article
