"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you"

James 4:8                                         

Dear Parishioners,

The deepest, most intense and meaningful time of the year for Orthodox Christians is upon us. Normally we would be physically together in our church building worshipping and experiencing with our Lord the events of His passion.  Because of the Coronavirus pandemic most of us are compelled to stay at home so we are trying our best to pray and follow these services through social media. This is not the ideal situation but watching these services at least gives us a sense of togetherness.  For those of us who are with young children this might not be enough because we want our children to understand and experience the depth of our services through activities and supplementary videos.  Two excellent resources have come to my attention that might help you to keep your children interested and engaged in the services.  HOLY WEEK FROM HOME was compiled under the guidance of Bishop Gregory of Nyssa, a young dynamic bishop under the Ecumenical Patriarch who serves the Carpatho-Russians in the U.S.  This document has various ideas for activities for each of the days of Holy Week.  The second document is a fantastic collection of ideas and links to videos describing activities and explanations for each of the days of Holy Week.  Both children and adults will enjoy the material included in this document because, all of us, myself included, have so much more we can learn about this incredibly rich and meaningful time of the year.....and during the wondrous days of Holy Week we need to allow that child within us to  emerge again!  

Please take a look at these, I'm sure you will find something useful either for your children or for yourselves!

God bless you all as we embark on this holy journey with our Lord to His Resurrection!

Sincerely in the Lord,

Fr. Philip