St. Innocent Orthodox Church Z Founded in 1967 Z Patriarchal Parishes Z 23300 W. Chicago _ Redford, MI 48239 _ 313-538-1142 _ Fax: 313-538-8126 Church Website: www.stinnocentchurch.com _ E-Mail: [email protected] St. Innocent Monastic Community: 9452 Hazelton, Redford, MI 48239 _ 313-535-9080 PASTOR: Rt. Rev. Mitered Archpriest ROMAN STAR Dean, Central States Deanery, Patriarchal Parishes APRIL 12, 2015 Cell Phone: 313-319-05 ASSISTANT PRIEST: Rev. DANEIL SHIRAK _ 313-295-3073 DEACON: Rev. Dn. Michael Comerford EPISTLE: Acts of the Apostles 1:1-8 (#1) ATTACHED: Sister Ioanna GOSPEL: St. John 1:1-17 (#1) CHOIR DIRECTOR: Elizabeth Star Hatfield TONE: None READERS: Robert Joseph Latsko & George Hanoian

Z HOLY PASCHA Z THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD CHRIST Z

_ 11:30pm—NOCTURNS _ 12:00 Midnight—, RESURRECTION MATINS _ & of St. ; Blessing of Baskets & Agape Meal _ _ 11am (Sunday)—PASCHAL AGAPE , with Gospel read in different languages _

COMMEMORATED TODAY: THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. [Beginning of the ]. St. Basil the Confessor, Bishop of Parium (8th c.). Hieromartyr Zeno, Bishop of Verona (ca. 260). Ven. Isaac the Syrian, Abbot of Spoleto (550). Monk Martyrs Menas, David, and John, of Palestine (7th c.). The Venerable Anthusa of Constantinople (801). Ven. Athanasia, Abbess, of Aegina (860).

FOR THE REPOSE OF: Estelle & Joseph Star; Ellen Starinshak; Anna & John Witkowski; Michael Sr.& Margaret Rusko; Mary, Andrew, Daniel, Michael & Lottie Yakuber; Ross & Margaret Falsetti; Helen, John & Carole Andrayko; Peter & Theresa Harvilla; Marc Dade; Betty Martell; Frances & Todd Smoly; Peter Glover; Irene Adams; Ethel Elizabeth & Wayne Joshua deVyver; David Horka; Michael Rusko, Anna Lichagina, Yelena & Zinaïda Korniyevskaya, Joseph Nossal, Michelle Tucker, Rose Mary & Dean Hough, Infant Jasper Eliot (Il’ya) Blum, Frederico (Rico) Cain (newly departed, 3/26; shot); Mother Theodora-Amphilochia (Sister Christina) (newly departed, 3/31; cancer) ALSO FOR: Matushka Melanya Sviridov (newly-departed, March 16th) Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko (newly-departed, March 18th) Alexandra Bazil, whose anniversary of her repose is Bright Friday, April 17th Š MAY GOD GRANT THEM ! Š FOR THE HEALTH OF: Archimandrite Roman (Braga) (cancer); Archimandrite Il’ya (Barna); Igumen Seraphim; Priest Daneil, Matushka Debra & Corrina Shirak; Deacon Michael, Matushka Mary Ellen & Julius Comerford; Matushka Mary Donahue; Reader Robert Latsko , Reader George & Betty Hanoian, Jordan Manier, Rose Nossal, Mary Glover, Nancy Cupp, Deborah Dade, Vasiliki Stamoulis, Gerald Martell, Jaime Truskowski, Azbehat, Donald Yakuber, Carl deVyver, Jo Anne Nicholas, Joan Rusko, Daria, Alice Ladhu (cancer); Helen Hall (cancer),Michael Benton, Julia Korniyevskaya & her newborn child, Daria (2/6/15); Abigail Genig & her unborn child ALSO FOR: Clare Genig, who celebrates her birthday on Bright Saturday, April 18th Š MAY GOD GRANT THEM MANY YEARS! Š

SCHEDULE FOR THE COMING WEEK (NO FASTING THIS WEEK) TODAY, Sunday 4/12 11am PASCHA: AGAPE VESPERS, with reading of the Gospel in different languages; Agape fellowship Saturday 4/18 10am Bright Saturday Hierarchal Paschal Divine Liturgy & Procession, in New Jersey 4pm BRIGHT SATURDAY: NO VESPERS TODAY Sunday 4/19 St. Thomas Sunday (2nd Sunday of Pascha) 9:15am Hours & Akathist for the Resurrection 10am DIVINE LITURGY, followed by Coffee Hour 1pm GRAVE BLESSINGS (after Coffee Hour, about 1:00pm) Tuesday 4/21 “Joy-Day” (“Radonitsa”) (bringing the Joy of the Resurrection to the departed at their graves)

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN! Z ÕÐÈÑÒÎÑ ÂÎÑÊÐÅÑÅ! ÂÎÈÑÒÈÍÓ ÂÎÑÊÐÅÑÅ! KHRISTOS ANESTI! ALITHOS ANESTI! Z HRISTOS A ÎNVIAT! ADEVÃRAT A ÎNVIAT! FR. ROMAN’S 2015 PASCHAL MESSAGE

My dear brothers and sisters,

CHRIST IS RISEN! KHRISTOS ANESTI! KHRISTOS VOSKRESE! HRISTOS A INVIAT! KRISHTI U NGJALL! EL MESSIEH KAHM!

On this great feast of the Resurrection of Christ, our lips and our ears are full of the Name of Jesus Christ, the Resurrected Lord, and a radiant joy rises in our hearts as we call out:

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!

The Resurrected Lord wants and desires the day of His Resurrection to be a day of joy for us. The Myrrh-Bearing Women and the disciples rejoiced when Christ appeared to them.

At the Paschal Liturgy we sing:”

The angel cried to the Lady, full of grace: Rejoice, O pure Virgin. Again I say, Rejoice. Your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb...

Dear brothers and sisters, we are all called to fulfill our mission here on earth. But in order to do so, we are called to proclaim, as we sang during the Paschal Procession at the beginning of Matins:

Thy Resurrection, O Christ our Savior, the angels in heaven sing; enable us on earth to glorify Thee in purity of heart.”

Let us all strive to emulate Psalm 51:10: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

And then let us remember: This is the day of Resurrection! Let us be illumined by the feast! Let us embrace each other! Let us call “Brothers” even those who hate us, and forgive all by the Resurrection, and so let us cry:

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life. (From the Paschal Verses, “Let God arise.”)

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!

And let us be worthy, here on earth, to glorify the Risen Christ our Lord and Savior.

Father Roman THE PASCHAL SERVICE By Fr. Paul Lazor

Enjoy ye all the feast of faith; receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness. (Sermon of St. John Chrysostom, read at Paschal Matins)

The Christ from the dead is the center of the Christian faith. St. Paul says that if Christ is not raised from the dead, then our preaching and faith are in vain (1 Cor. 15:14). Indeed, without the Resurrection there would be no Christian preaching or faith. The disciples of Christ would have remained the broken and hopeless band which the Gospel of John describes as being in hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They went nowhere and preached nothing until they met the Risen Christ, the doors being shut (John 20: 19). Then they touched the wounds of the nails and the spear; they ate and drank with Him. The Resurrection became the basis of everything they said and did (Acts 2-4): ". . . for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Luke 24:39).

The Resurrection reveals Jesus of Nazareth as not only the expected Messiah of Israel, but as the King and Lord of a new Jerusalem: a new heaven and a new earth. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . the holy city, new Jerusalem. And I heard a great voice from the throne saying "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. . . He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away (Rev. 21:1-4).

In His death and resurrection, Christ defeats the last enemy, death, and thereby fulfills the mandate of His Father to subject all things under His feet (1 Cor. 15:24-26).

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing (Rev. 5: 12) THE FEAST OF FEASTS

The Christian faith is celebrated in the liturgy of the Church. True celebration is always a living participation. It is not a mere attendance at services. It is communion in the power of the event being celebrated. It is God's free gift of joy given to spiritual men as a reward for their self-denial. It is the fulfillment of spiritual and physical effort and preparation. The Resurrection of Christ, being the center of the Christian faith, is the basis of the Church's liturgical life and the true model for all celebration.

This is the chosen and holy day, first of sabbaths, king and lord of days, the feast of feasts, holy day of holy days. On this day we bless Christ forevermore (Irmos 8, Paschal Canon).

PREPARATION

Twelve weeks of preparation precede the "feast of feasts." A long journey which includes five pre-lenten Sundays, six weeks of Great and finally is made. The journey moves from the self-willed exile of the prodigal son to the grace-filled entrance into the new Jerusalem, coming down as a bride beautifully adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2) Repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and study are the means by which this long journey is made. Focusing on the veneration of the Cross at its mid-point, the lenten voyage itself reveals that the joy of the Resurrection is achieved only through the Cross. "Through the cross joy has come into all the world," we sing in one Paschal hymn. And in the , we repeat again and again that Christ has trampled down death — by death! St. Paul writes that the name of Jesus is exalted above every name because He first emptied Himself, taking on the lowly form of a servant and being obedient even to death on the Cross (Phil. 2:5-11). The road to the celebration of the Resurrection is the self-emptying Crucifixion of Lent. Pascha is the Passover from death to life. Yesterday I was buried with Thee, O Christ. Today I arise with Thee in Thy Resurrection. Yesterday I was crucified with Thee: Glorify me with Thee, 0 Savior, in Thy kingdom (Ode 3, Paschal Canon).

THE PROCESSION

All the texts for the divine services of the night of Pascha are contained in this booklet. These services commence near midnight of . At the Ninth Ode of the Canon of Nocturns, the initial service of the booklet, the priest, already vested in his brightest robes, removes the Holy Shroud from the tomb and carries it to the altar table, where it remains until the leave-taking of Pascha. The faithful stand in darkness. Then, one by one, they light their candles from the candle held by the priest and form a great procession out of the church. Choir, servers, priest and people, led by the bearers of the cross, banners, and Gospel-book, circle the church. The bells are rung incessantly and the angelic hymn of the Resurrection is chanted.

The procession comes to a stop before the principle doors of the church. Before the closed doors the priest and the people sing the Troparion of Pascha, "Christ is risen from the dead. . .", many times. Even before entering the church the priest and people exchange the : "Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!" This segment of the Paschal services is extremely important. It preserves in the experience of the Church the primitive accounts of the Resurrection of Christ as recorded in the Gospels. The angel rolled away the stone from the tomb not to let a biologically revived but physically entrapped Christ walk out, but to reveal that "He is not here; for He has risen, as He said" (Matt. 28:6).

In the Paschal Canon we sing: Thou didst arise, O Christ, and yet the tomb remained sealed, as at Thy birth the Virgin's womb remained unharmed; and Thou has opened for us the gates of paradise (Ode 6).

Finally, the procession of light and song in the darkness of night, and the thunderous proclamation that, indeed, Christ is risen, fulfill the words of the Evangelist John: "The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).

The doors are opened and the faithful re-enter. The church is bathed in light and adorned with flowers. It is the heavenly bride and the symbol of the empty tomb: Bearing life and more fruitful than paradise, Brighter than any royal chamber: Thy tomb, O Christ, is the fountain of our Resurrection (Paschal Hours). MATINS Matins commences immediately. The risen Christ is glorified in the singing of the beautiful Canon of St. John of Damascus. The Paschal greeting is repeatedly exchanged. Near the end of Matins the Paschal verses are sung. They relate the entire narrative of the Lord's Resurrection. They conclude with the words calling us to actualize among each other the forgiveness freely given to all by God: This is the day of Resurrection. Let us be illumined by the feast. Let us embrace each other. Let us call "brothers" even those who hate us And forgive all by the Resurrection. . . '

The Sermon of St. John Chrysostom is then read by the celebrant. The sermon was originally composed as a baptismal instruction. It is retained by the Church in the Paschal services because everything about the night of Pascha recalls the Sacrament of Baptism: the language and general terminology of the liturgical texts, the specific hymns, the vestment color, the use of candles and the great procession itself. Now the sermon invites us to a great re-affirmation of our baptism: to union with Christ in the receiving of Holy Communion.

If any man is devout and loves God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. . . the table is fully laden; feast you all sumptuously. the calf is fatted, let no one go hungry away. . .

THE DIVINE LITURGY

The sermon announces the imminent beginning of the Divine Liturgy. The altar table is fully laden with the divine food: the Body and Blood of the risen and glorified Christ. No one is to go away hungry. The service books are very specific in saying that only he who partakes of the Body and Blood of Christ eats the true Pascha. The Divine Liturgy, therefore, normally follows immediately after Paschal Matins. Foods from which the faithful have been called to abstain during the lenten journey are blessed and eaten only after the Divine Liturgy.

THE DAY WITHOUT EVENING

Pascha is the inauguration of a new age. It reveals the mystery of the eighth day. It is our taste, in this age, of the new and unending day of the Kingdom of God. Something of this new and unending day is conveyed to us in the length of the Paschal services, in the repetition of the Paschal order for all the services of , and in the special Paschal features retained in the services for the forty days until Ascension. Forty days are, as it were, treated as one day. Together they comprise the symbol of the new time in which the Church lives and toward which she ever draws the faithful, from one degree of glory to another.

O Christ, great and most holy Pascha. O Wisdom, Word and Power of God, grant that we may more perfectly partake of Thee in the never-ending day of Thy kingdom (Ninth Ode, Paschal Canon). By Fr. Paul Lazor, St. Vladimir’s Seminary, NY, 1977 CANDLES FOR LAST SUNDAY, 5 APRIL CHURCH VIGIL LAMPS: Royal Doors Lamp:In Memory of Husband Joe; Son Kenneth; parents Michael & Margaret Rusko & John & Martha Nossal, by Rose Nossal Altar Candles: In Memory of Nicholas and Susan Yakuber, by son, Donald Yakuber Iconostasis Lamps: In Memory of Irene Adams, by daughter, Eileen Adams Candles on the Solea: In Memory of Pete & Theresa Harvilla, Norman & Monica Holst, & Ricky Ellis, by Jason & Debra Truskowski Nave Reliquary- Lamps: (1) In Memory of Ross & Margaret Falsetti, by daughters, Margie Martell & Rose Ann Everhardt Nave Reliquary-Icon Lamps: (2) In Memory of Edwin Rusko, by the Nossal Family Table of Oblation Lamp: In Memory of parents, Helen & John Andrayko, Sr. & sister, Carole Andrayko, by John Andrayko, Jr.

IN MEMORY OF (MEMORY ETERNAL!) Joseph & Estelle Star, by son Father Roman and family Paul & Alexandra Yupco, Basil & Ellen Starinshak, by grandson, Father Roman and family John & Anna Witkowski, by daughter, Matushka Rose Marie and family Samuel & Mary Kupec, by granddaughter, Matushka Rose Marie and family Parents, Helen & John Andrayko and sister, Carole Andrayko, by John Andrayko My husband, Joe; my sisters, Margaret & Ross Falsetti, Anna & Mike Elaschat, Theresa & Pete Harvilla, Irene, & brothers, Michael, John & Edwin Rusko; niece, Rose Mary & Dean Hough; Joe’s brothers, Raymond & Walter Nossal, & sisters, Theresa, Florence & Helen Nossal, by Rose Nossal ++ + Pete & Theresa Harvilla, by Mary Ann Harvilla & Kay Truskowski, by Mary Ann Harvilla & Kay T. Parents, Ethel Elizabeth & Wayne Joshua deVyver; David Horka; Nina I; Marion P; Fr. Photius; SchemaNun Benedicta, by Sister Ioanna Newly departed: Mat. Melanya Sviridov (3/16), Fr. Thomas Hopko (3/18), Frederico Cain (3/26), SchemaNun Theodora-Amphilochia, by Sister Ioanna + + + Child Lana Wilson, Betty Stelmaszek, Shirley Troyer, by Becky J. & Levi Josephina Wess, Nana Maria, Lev Chernukina, Grandparents Maria, Anna, Ivan, Pavel, by the Wess Family Ross & Marge Falsetti, by Jerry & Margie Martell + + + My husband, Michael Rusko, by Joan Rusko FOR THE HEALTH OF: (MANY YEARS!) Elizabeth & Lawrence, Caitlin & Zachary, by parents & grandparents, Father Roman & Matushka Rose Marie Gregory & Tamiko Star, by parents, Father Roman & Matushka Rose Marie Children & Grandchildren; Monk Fr. Tikhon (Dade);by Rose Nossal Father Roman & Matushka & family; Sister Ioanna; John Andrayko; Nancy; Mary G; Jo Anne N; Grandson Joey (in the Navy Reserves) & all people in the Armed Forces; & all the people of St. Innocent Church, by Rose Nossal My Mom, Jaime Truskowski, by Kay Truskowski + + + Family & Friends, by Mary Ann Harvilla & Kay T. Brother, Greg & Donna, nephew, Gregory & Liz & nephew, Alex, by Mary Ann Harvilla & Kay Truskowski Archimandrites Roman, Nafanail & Gregory; Igumen Seraphim; Fr. Roman & Mat. Rose Marie; Fr. Lawrence & fam; Fr. Daneil & fam; Dcn. Michael & fam; Mat. Mary D; Carl; Fr. Tikhon; Sdn Andrew; Rdr Robert; Robert M; David Samuel & Sky; Jo Anne & Nick; Martha; Athanasius; John A; Lena N; Jillian J; Ed & Tiffany; Vasiliki; Rose; Emil; Azbehat; Yulia & new-born baby, by Sister Ioanna Jay Nossal, by Rose Nossal + + + John Andrayko (May God watch over him), by Rose Nossal + + + Rose Nossal, by John Andrayko Joan Jurczyszyn, Leia & Mike Wilson, Andrea Faust, Liz Tomechevsky, Meggins & Andy Olson, by Becky Jurczyszyn & Levi The Wess Family: Jason & Marianna, Amilia & Liliana + + +The Chernukina Family: Galina & Oleg + + + Nancy Cupp & family

PROSPHORA FOR TODAY IS OFFERED BY: Deborah Hartz In Memory of: Parents, Paul & Bernadette Hartz; grandparents, Irene & Edward Hartz, and Agnes & August Nied; Philip & Hilda; Caroline, Infants Barbara & Mark; All members of the Zwitcher & Nied families; Archpriest Thomas Hopko; SchemaNun Mother Theodora-Amphilochia; and for the Health of: Fr. Roman (Braga); Fr. Roman & Mat. Rose Marie & family; Fr. Michael Matsko & family; Mother Gabriella & the Sisterhood of HDM; Christopher, Lawrence & their families, Elaine; Sherri. PROSPHORA SCHEDULE FOR 2015: April: Deborah Hartz; May: Vasiliki Stamoulis; June: John Andrayko; July: Matushka Rose Marie; August: Sister Ioanna; September: Deborah Hartz; October: John Andrayko; November: Sister Ioanna; December: Nicholas Family. Thank you to Prosfora donors for 2015.

PASCHA FLOWERS & BOWS — Thank you to all those who donated for Pascha flowers and bows. And thank you to Mary Ann for her work. LARGE GLASS CANDLES WITH ICON OF CHRIST AVAILABLE IN CHURCH HALL —for home use or to give as gifts: $5 BAPTISM SCHEDULED FOR SUNDAY, APRIL 26th AT 9AM. We are most pleased to announce the joyous news that Julia and Aleksey Kornieyevskiy’s new baby, Daria, will be Baptized and Chrismated on Sunday, April 26th (Myrrh-Bearing Women Sunday), at 9am, prior to the regular 10am Divine Liturgy. This is 2 weeks after Pascha. Baby Daria joins big sister Katerina and brother Nikolai. WE WELCOME A NEW FAMILY: We most heartily welcome the GENIG FAMILY who has joined St. Innocent Parish. The family includes: Subdeacon (Dr.) Joshua Genig, his wife Abigail, and their 3 daughters: Emma (who is 8), Claire (whose 5th birthday is on Bright Saturday), and Rose (Marie) (who is 3). A fourth child is expected to be born this summer. We are pleased to welcome them to our St. Innocent family.