St. George Orthodox Church V. Rev. Fr. Joseph M. Abud, Pastor 5191 Lennon Road • Flint, Michigan 48507 Protodeacon Michael Bassett

سبت العازر

Raising of St. Lazarus (after Four Days in the Tomb) April 11, 2020

شعنينة ﻤباﺮﻛة

The Glorious and Triumphant Entrance of our Lord Jesus Christ into () April 12, 2020

His Eminence Archbishop of New York and The Most Reverend Metropolitan of Metropolitan 36 JOSEPH All North America

ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA

April 10, 2020

Beloved Faithful in Christ, Greetings to all of you in the Name of our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ! By the grace of God, we have come to the completion of the forty-day fast. Our ascetical labors this year have been without the consolations of the Lenten services or the gathering of the faithful to receive the Holy Eucharist. We have made these difficult decisions to protect our vulnerable brothers and sisters as well as our health care workers by reducing opportunities for this novel virus to spread unchecked. I know that this has been as immensely difficult for all of you as it has been for me. We all long for that day when we will gather again in our churches to receive the Heavenly Bread and the Cup of Life as the people of God. We hoped that we would be able to return to a normal liturgical life during and Pascha. Unfortunately, after much prayer and deliberation, in coordination with our Mother Church of Antioch and the other Orthodox jurisdictions comprising the Assembly of as well as with the advice of the civil authorities and public health officials, we have determined that the time is not yet here. While we are heartbroken to extend the restrictions of our services to clergy, servers and chanters during this most holy time of the year, we take heart knowing that we are all sharing this burden together. We give thanks to God that we are beginning to hear of hopeful signs in this fight. We even hear of plans for a return to normal life or as they say a new normal. Beloved in Christ, I want us to reflect this Holy Week – in the quiet prayerfulness of our little home churches – on what we should consider normal. So much of what our fallen humanity considers normal was transformed by the Passion and Resurrection of our Savior. How can we continue to strive for power, wealth, or lusts of the flesh when we look on the Cross of our Crucified Master? How can we willingly enslave ourselves to sin when Christ has broken our bonds asunder and raised up our fallen nature by His Resurrection?

“The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (Acts 11: 26)

358 Mountain Road, P.O. Box 5238, Englewood, NJ 07631-5238 (201) 871-1355 T [email protected] (201) 871-7954 F

Let our thirst for a return to normal life not be for a return to what is natural to our fallen human state but for a life full of grace and holiness. Let our new normal include this increased life of prayer in our homes. Let it continue to include a willingness to sacrifice our needs for the needs of our neighbor, a greater sense of responsibility to our wider community, a deepened feeling of gratitude for our many blessings, a heightened concern for the elderly and vulnerable, and an increased respect for our health care workers and first responders. When we are able to return triumphantly to our churches – as the crowds joined Christ triumphantly entering Jerusalem – let our desire for the Holy Eucharist today be a reminder for all our days to never take it for granted. Let our every reception going forward be with greater love for God and our neighbor, forgiveness for all who have offended us, prayerful preparation, genuine repentance, and true thanksgiving. Beloved in Christ, I offer my gratitude to all of you for your cooperation during these trying times. We have heard many times this week that, although there are signs of hope, the time to let up on the social distancing measures has not yet arrived. Likewise, our time of fervent prayer for our deliverance from this pandemic is still vitally necessary. We need all of our homes to be churches during this Holy Week, and we need all your prayers to be offered up continually as sweet-smelling incense. Do not let up, my dear spiritual children! This year we will anticipate the glorious Resurrection on the third day as the disciples did – from within our homes with the doors being shut. Just as the Resurrected Christ came to them in the Upper Room to reveal His victory over sin and death, may He also reveal Himself mystically in all our homes and instill in our hearts the joy of His presence and the firm assurance that He has overcome world. With great love and fervent prayers for all as we bow down and worship the life- giving and saving Passion of our Lord, I remain, Your Father in Christ,

+JOSEPH Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America

“The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (Acts 11: 26)

358 Mountain Road, P.O. Box 5238, Englewood, NJ 07631-5238 (201) 871-1355 T [email protected] (201) 871-7954 F

Mark your Calendars and Plan AHEAD!!!

ALL Services will be live-streamed on our St. George, Flint YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpLWfxMIJK4uQOV41ekE6Wg

THE GREAT AND HOLY WEEK

April

12 Sunday Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem—Palm Sunday – 8:50am Liturgy 10 am Bridegroom Matins for Great and ------6:30 pm

13 Monday Bridegroom Matins for Great and ------6:30 pm

14 Tuesday Bridegroom Matins for Great and ------6:30 pm

15 Wednesday Bridegroom Matins for Great and Holy Thursday ------6:30 pm

16 Thursday Celebration of the Institution of the Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil the Great ------10 am

Holy Friday Matins with Reading of the Twelve Passion ------6:30 pm

17 Friday Royal Hours of Holy Friday ------9 am Vespers of the Descent from the Cross ------3 pm Matins with the Praises at the Tomb ------6:30 pm

18 Saturday Descent into Hades—Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil ------9 am

PASCHA

HE LORIOUS ESURRECTION OF OUR ORD T G R L

Sat. April 18/19 Nocturnes/Paschal Matins/Paschal ------(Covid-19 time) 8 pm

19 Sunday Agape (Baa’ooth) Vespers—Vespers of Love ------11 am

THE NEW (BRIGHT) WEEK

21 Bright Tuesday Paschal Liturgy at St. Nicholas ------9:30 am 22 Bright Wednesday Paschal Liturgy and Feast of St. George at St. George ------6 pm Live Streaming of Divine Services ALL services are served only with clergy, one server, and a few chanters and are not open to the public. Please view our livestream at YouTube (HERE) or Facebook (HERE)! If you have a smart TV, you actually have a web browser and YouTube app built in. All you have to do is start the browser app on it, and put the link in the address bar.

To follow the text for bilingual Palm Sunday Matins see HERE and the bilingual variables for Liturgy are below). When reading this, move your mouse to where a link is at (normally HERE or the link address) push and hold down the control button (CTRL) and click the link. Your web browser will open to the correct web page.

Tone - Festal Festal Matins {Matthew 21:1-11, 15-17} Matins (Red Service Book p.44) Divine Liturgy (Red Service Book p.91) 8:50am 10:00am

In the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, we sing the following special hymns, First Antiphon -- Psalm 116 Verse 1. I will love the Lord because He has heard the voice of my supplication. Refrain: Through the prayers of the , O Savior, save us. Verse 2. Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live. Refrain Verse 3. The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of hell laid hold on me. Refrain Verse 4. I suffered distress and anguish, then I called upon the Name of the Lord. Refrain Glory to the Father…, Now and ever and unto ages of ages. Refrain أحببت أن يسمع الر ّب صوت تض ّرعي، ﻷ ّن أوجاع الموت اكتنفتني، وشدائد الجحيم صادفتني. بشفاعات والدة اﻹله يا مخ ّلص خ ّلصنا. الحز َن والوج َع وجدت واسم الرب دعوت. سأكون حسن اﻻرضاء أمام الرب في بلدة اﻷحياء. المجد لﻶب واﻻبن والروح القدس، اﻵن وك ﱠل أوا ٍن وإلى دهر الدﱠاهري ن. Second Antiphon -- Psalm 116 Verse 1. I kept my faith even when I said, "I am greatly afflicted." Refrain: O Son of God who sat upon the foal, save us who sing to Thee: Alleluia. Verse 2. What shall I render to the Lord for all the things He has given me? Refrain Verse 3 I will receive the cup of salvation and call on the Name of the Lord. Refrain Verse 4. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people. Refrain Glory to the Father... Now and ever... “Only begotten Son...” آمنت لذلك تك ّلمت وأنا اتّضعت جدا. خ ِّلصنا يا ابن ﷲ يا من جلس على جح ٍش بن آتان، إذ نرتل لك هليلويا. بماذا أكافئ الرب عن ك ّل ما أعطاني, كأس الخﻼص أقبل واسم الرب أدعو. أوفي نذوري للرب أمام ك ّل شعبه. المجد لﻶب واﻻبن والروح القدس، اﻵن وك ّل أوا ٍن وإلى دهر الداهرين، أمين. يا كلمة ﷲ اﻻبن الوحيد...

Third Antiphon -- Psalm 118 (Verses) and Troparion of St. Lazarus—Tone 1 Verses: O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. Let the house of Israel, Aaron, and all those who fear the Lord say: ‘For He is good, for His mercy endures forever!’ By raising Lazarus from the dead before Thy passion, Thou didst confirm the universal resurrection, O Christ God. Like the children with the palms of victory, we cry out to Thee, O Vanquisher of death; Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord! أيها المسي ُح اﻹله لما أق ْم َت لعاز َر من بي ِن اﻷموا ِت ق ْب َل آﻻ ِمك. َح ﱠق ْق َت القيامةَ العامة. لذلك ونح ُن كاﻷطفال نحم ُل عﻼ َمةَ الغلب ِة والظفر. صارخي َن إل ْي َك يا غا ِل َب الموت. هوشعنا في اﻷعالي مبار ٌك اﻵتي با ْس ِم الرب.

Entrance Hymn Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord! We have blessed you from the Lord's house. God is the Lord and hath revealed Himself to us. O Son of God, who did sit upon the foal, save us who sing unto Thee: Alleluia. مبار ٌك اﻵتي باس ِم الرب. ﷲ الر ﱡب قد َظه َر لنا. خلصنا يا ابن ﷲ يا من جلس على جحش أتان ، إذ نرتل لك هللويا.

Hymns after the Entrance with the Gospel Troparion of Lazarus—Tone 1 By raising Lazarus from the dead before Thy passion, Thou didst confirm the universal resurrection, O Christ God. Like the children with the palms of victory, we cry out to Thee, O Vanquisher of death; Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord! أيها المسي ُح اﻹله لما أق ْم َت لعاز َر من بي ِن اﻷموا ِت ق ْب َل آﻻ ِمك. َح ﱠق ْق َت القيامةَ العامة. لذلك ونح ُن كاﻷطفال نحم ُل عﻼ َمةَ الغلب ِة والظفر. صارخي َن إل ْي َك يا غا ِل َب الموت. هوشعنا في اﻷعالي مبار ٌك اﻵتي با ْس ِم الرب. Troparion of Palm Sunday—Tone 4 When we were buried with Thee in baptism, O Christ God, we became deserving of the resurrection to immortal life. Wherefore, we praise Thee, crying unto Thee: Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord! أيها المسيح اﻻله ل ّما دفنا معك بالمعموديّة,استحققنا بقيامتك الحياة الخالدة مس ّبحين وصارخين :هوشعنا في اﻷعالي مبارك اﻻتي باسم ال ّرب. Kontakion of Palm Sunday—Tone 6 Sitting on Thy throne in heaven, carried on a foal on earth, O Christ God, accept the praise of and the songs of children who sing: “Blessed is He who comes to recall Adam!” أيها المستوي على الع ْر ِش في السما ِء. َل َقد َر ِك ْب َت َج ْحشاً على اﻷر ِض و َقبِ ْل َت تسابي َح المﻼئك ِة ومدائِ َح اﻷطفا ِل الهاتفين إلي َك أيﱡها المسي ُح اﻹله. مبار ٌك أن َت اﻵتي ِلتُ ِعيدَ آد َم ثانية. Epistle for the Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem مبار ٌك اﻵتي باسم الرب : Blessed is He who comes in the ُ ﱠ name of the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for اعت ِرفوا لل َر ِّب فإنَهُ صا ِل ٌح وإن إلى اﻷب ِد رحمتَه ُ .He is good. His mercy endures for ever * فص ٌل من رسال ِة القدي ِس بول َس الرسو ِل إلى The Reading is from St. Paul’s Letter to the أه ِل فيلبي(Philippians (4:4-9). * (4:4-9 يا اخوةُ افر ُحوا في ال ﱠر ِّب ُك ﱠل حي ٍن وأقو ُل أ ْيضاً Brethren, rejoice in the Lord always; again I will ْ ْ ْ .say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance اف َر ُحوا* وليَظ َه ْر ِحل ُم ُك ْم ِل َجميعِ الناس. فإ ﱠن َ َ ْ ﱠ َ ّ The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about ال ﱠر ﱠب قري ٌب* ﻻ ت ْهت ﱡموا ال َبتة بل في ك ِل شي ٍء anything, but in everything by prayer and ف ْلتَ ُك ْن َط ِلباتِ ُك ْم معلو َم ًة لدى ﷲ بالصﻼةِ supplications with thanksgiving let your requests ْ ْ والتَ َض ﱡرعِ َم َع الشكر* َوليَ ْح َفظ سﻼ ُم ﷲِ الذي ,be made known to God. And the peace of God يفو ُق ُك ﱠل ع ْقل قلوب ُكم وبصا ِئر ُكم في يسو َع which passes all understanding, will keep your َ ٍ َ ْ َ ْ ,hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally المسيح* وبعدُ أيﱡها اﻻخوةُ م ْه َما يَ ُك ْن ِم ْن َح ٍق ,brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable و َم ْه َما يَ ُك ْن ِم ْن َع َفا ٍف و َم ْه َما يَ ْك ْن ِم ْن َع ْد ٍل whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is وم ْهما يَ ُك ْن ِم ْن َطها َرةٍ وم ْهما يَ ُك ْن ِم ْن ِص َف ٍة lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any َ َ َ َ َ ,excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise ُم َح ﱠببَ ٍة و َم ْه َما يَ ُك ْن ِم ْن ُح ْس ِن ِص ِي ٍت إ ْن تَ ُك ْن think about these things. What you have learned فضيلةٌ وإ ْن َي ُك ْن َم ْد ٌح َف ِفي ه ِذ ِه افتَ ِك ُروا* وما and received and heard and seen in me, do; and تَعَ ﱠل ْمت ُ ُموهُ وتَ َس ﱠل ْمتُ ُموهُ و َس ِم ْعتُ ُموهُ ورأْ ْيتُ ُموهُ فِ ﱠي .the peace of God will be with you َفبِهذا ا ْع َملُوا. وإلهُ السﻼ ِم ي ُكو ُن َمعَ ُك ْم . Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia (verse) O sing to the Lord a new song. (verse) All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Gospel for the Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem فص ٌل شري ٌف من بشار ِة القدي ِس يوحنا The Reading of the Holy Gospel according to اﻹنجيلي البشير والتلمي ِذ الطاهر(St. John (12:1-18). (12:1-18 ِ Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to قب َل الفصحِ بست ِة أيا ٍم أتى يسو ُع إلى بي َت عنيا ,Bethany, where Lazarus who had died was حي ُث كا َن َلعا َز ُر الذي ما َت فأَقا َمهُ يسو ُع من whom Jesus had raised from the dead. There they بين اﻷموا ِت* فصنعوا لهُ هنا َك عشا ًء وكانت made him a supper; Martha served, and Lazarus ِ was one of those at table with him. Mary took a مرتا تخ ِد ُم وكا َن َلعا َز ُر أ َحدَ المتﱠ ِكئي َن معهُ* أ ﱠما pound of costly ointment of pure nard and مري ُم فأخذت ِرط َل طي ٍب ناردي َن خال ٍص كثي ِر anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with الثﱠ َم ِن ودَ َهنَ ْت قدَ َم ْي يسو َع و َم َس َح ْت َقدَمي ِه her hair; and the house was filled with the َ ,fragrance of the ointment. But Judas Iscariot ب َشع ِرها* فامتﻸ البي ُت من رائح ِة الطي ِب* فقا َل Simon’s son, one of his disciples [he who was to أ َحدُ تﻼ ِمي ِذ ِه يهوذا بن سمعان اﻻسخريوط ﱡي betray Jesus], said “Why was this ointment not الذي كا َن ُمز ِمعاً أن يُس ِل َمهُ ِل َم َل ْم يُبَ ْع هذا الطي ُب sold for three hundred denarii and given to the بثﻼ ِث مئَة دينار ويع َط للمساكين* وإنما قال poor?” This he said, not because he cared for the ِ ِ ٍ ُ ْ ِ َ poor but because he was a thief, and as he had the هذا ﻻ اهتماماً بالمساكي ِن بل ﻷنﱠهُ كا َن سارقاً .money box he used to take what was put into it وكا َن الصندو ُق ِعندَهُ وكا َن يح ِم ُل ما يُلقى في ِه* Jesus said, “Let her alone, let her keep it for the فقا َل يسو ُع دَعها إ ﱠنما َح ِف َظتْهُ ليو ِم دَفني* فإ ﱠن day of my burial. The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” المساكي َن هم عندَ ُكم في ُك ِّل حي ٍن وأ ﱠما أنا فلس ُت When the great crowd of the Jews learned that ِعندَ ُكم في ُك ِّل ِحي ٍن* و َع ِل َم جم ٌع كثي ٌر ِم َن اليهو ِد he was there, they came, not only on account of ﱠ ْ Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had أن يسو َع هنا َك فجا ُءوا ﻻ ِمن أج ِل يسو َع فقط raised from the dead. So the chief planned بل ل َين ُظ ُر وا أيضاً لعا َز َر الذي أقا َمهُ ِم ْن بي ِن to put Lazarus also to death, because on account اﻷموا ِت* فأتَ َم َر ر َؤسا ُء الكهن ِة أن يقتلوا َلعَا َز َر of him many of the Jews were going away and أيضاً* ﻷ ﱠن كثيري َن ِم َن اليهو ِد كا ُنوا بسبب ِه .believing in Jesus ِ َ َ ِ The next day a great crowd who had come to يَذهبو َن فيؤ ِمنو َن بيسو َع* وفي الغَ ِد ل ﱠما َس ِم َع the feast heard that Jesus was coming to ال َجم ُع الكثي ُر الذي َن جا ُءوا إلى العي ِد بأ ﱠن يسو َع Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees آ ٍت إلى أور َشليم أخذوا ُسعُف ال َن ْخ ِل و َخر ُجوا !and went out to meet him, crying, “Hosanna َ َ َ َ ,Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord للقائِ ِه و ُهم يص ُر ُخو َن قائِلي َن: ُهو َشعنا مبار ٌك the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young ass اﻵتي باس ِم الر ِّب َم ِل ُك إسرائيل* وإ ﱠن يسو َع ,and sat upon it; as it is written, “Fear not َو َجدَ َجحشاً َف َر ِكبَهُ كما هو مكتو ٌب* ﻻ تخافي ,daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming َ ﱠ ُ ً ”!sitting on an ass’s colt يا ابنة ِصهيو َن. ها إن َم ِلك ِك يأتي ِك راكبا على His disciples did not understand this at first; but َجح ٍش اب ِن أتا ٍن* وهذ ِه اﻷشيا ُء لم َيف َه ْمها when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered تﻼميذَهُ أوﻻً ول ِك ْن ل ﱠما ُم ِّجدَ يسو ُع حينئ ٍذ تَذَ ﱠك ُروا that this had been written of him and had been أ ﱠن ه ِذ ِه إ ﱠنما ُك ِتب ْت عنهُ وأ ﱠنهم ع ِم ُلوها لهُ* وكا َن done to him. The crowd that had been with Jesus َ َ َ when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised الجم ُع الذي َن كانُوا َمعَهُ حي َن نادى لعا َز َر ِم ْن him from the dead bore witness. The reason why القب ِر وأقا َمهُ ِم ْن بي ِن اﻷموا ِت َيش َهدُو َن َلهُ* و ِم ْن the crowd went to meet Jesus was that they heard أج ِل هذا استقبَلَهُ ال َجم ُع ﻷنهم س ِمعوا بأ ﱠنهُ قد .he had done this sign َصنَ َع هذ ِه اﻵية.

Holy Bread and Palm Offerings  Khaled, Sally, Ayham, and Majd Abuaita for the health of their family especially Watan on the occasion of her birthday -- May God grant her many years!  The Palms and Holy Bread are offered by Hiam Bathish for the health of her family especially her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and in loving memory of husband Emil, parents Yacoub and Marie Farah, Naif and Julia Bathish, Hani, Edward, and Ceasar.  A Fern Arrangement is offered by George & Jeanette Nassif for the health of the Nassif, Farah, Abdella and Saseen Families and in loving memory of son Paul.  This morning we also pray for the servants of God who have fallen asleep in the Lord: Dorothy Salhaney (+March 16th, aunt of Dr. Michael and Dr. Ron Shaheen and Pam McCann), Fouad Sababa (+March 17th, Beit Sahour, Palestine, father of Ghada Yacoub), Emil Bathish (+March 21st), Phillip Nader (+March 23rd, friend of Elias and Renee Mitri), Lynn Long, (+March 25th, Traverse City, father-in-law of former parishioner Stephanie Joseph Long), Kim Fanous (+March 31st, wife of Elias), Souad Khoury (March 31st, Beit Sahour, Palestine, sister-in-law to Khaled Alkhoury), Hiam Awad (March 31st, Beit Sahour, Palestine, sister of Munir Kokaly), Natashia Sous (+March 31st, Beit Sahour, Palestine, mother of Elias Sous), and David Daoud (+March 31st, Beit Sahour, Palestine, brother of Issa).  Prayers are offered for our parishioners who are ill, recovering, or in need, especially His servants: Metropolitan Paul and Archbishop John who are in captivity, Sahar Abdallah, Asma Abuaita (sister of Janett), Wadia Albaba, Naila Banna, Levi Cooper, Vera Daoud, Alex and Panayiotis Deligorges, Micheline El-Chaer, Vera Farah, Averie Fisher (niece of Sandy Thomas), Mariam Ghanim (Manal’s mother), Elias Gantos, Phyllis Good, Salwa Haddad, Shawna Hale, Donald and JoAnn Hawkins, Daisy Isaac, Imad Isaac (friend of St. George), Nawal and Nimer Iseid, Nakhleh Khoury, Nicola Khoury, George Nassif, Aida Raffoul, Deborah Salim, Eva Saseen (daughter of Nicholas), Nicholas Saseen, Luci Shadeed (sister of JoAnn Hawkins), Elaine Shaheen, Michael Silpoch, Habib Skafi, William Sophiea Jr, Lois Teunion, and Vicki Toma (Fr. Joe’s sister); Elias Fanous and newborn Oliver George (March 20th); Laith, Dina and newborn Ayla Maymoun (March 24th).  We also pray for those who are with child: Renea (Rakan) Bayouk, Andrea Jones (daughter of Nasri and Carol), and Jennifer (Martin) Khoshaba (daughter of Najwa Joubran).

Instead of 'It is truly meet...', we sing the following in Tone 4: God is the Lord and has revealed Himself to us. Celebrate the feast and come with gladness! Let us magnify Christ with palms and branches, singing: Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord! ﷲُ الر ﱡب ظه َر لنا فأقيموا العيدَ وابتهجوا، وهل ﱠم بنا نعظ ِم المسي َح. وب ُسعُ ٍف وأغصا ٍن نهتِ ُف بالتسابيحِ قائلي َن. مبار ٌك اﻵتي باس ِم الر ِّب مخ ِّل ِصنا. Communion Hymn (for Palm Sunday) مبار ٌك اﻵتي باس ِم الرب. هللويا. .Refrain) Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord) (Verse) We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, and hath appeared unto us. (Refrain) (Verse) Ordain a feast with thick boughs, even unto the horns of the altar. (Refrain) (Verse) Thou art my God, and I will confess Thee; Thou art my God, and I will exalt Thee. (R) (Verse) I will give thanks unto Thee, for Thou hast heard me, and Thou art become my salvation. (Refrain) (Verse) O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. (Refrain) Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Instead of “We have seen the True Light...”, we sing the Troparion of Lazarus (see above).

Announcements Tonight begins the Great and Holy Week! Plan ahead to celebrate our Lord and Savior’s Passion (Suffering), Death, and Resurrection by watching as many services as you can! Of special interest for EVERYONE, especially our children:  Liturgy of the Last Supper (Thursday 10am)  Passion Gospels/Procession of the Holy Cross (Thursday 6:30pm)  Burial of Jesus/placing of the Holy Shroud in the Tomb (Friday 3pm)  The Lamentations & Procession of the Tomb (Friday 6:30pm)  Descent into Hades: Victory over Death/the Devil Liturgy (Sat. 10am)  Pascha, the Glorious Resurrection (Saturday 11:30pm)  Vespers of Love/Baa’ooth and Egg Hunt (Sunday 1pm)

Traditional Fasting Rules for the Great and Holy Week 1. During the days of Holy Week The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, wine, and olive oil) is observed on all days, except Palm Sunday when fish, wine, and olive oil are allowed and Holy Thursday morning after Divine Liturgy when wine and olive oil are allowed. 2. Meals are to be less frequent and less filling. 3. On Great and Holy Friday, no meal is eaten after breakfast. On Great and , after the morning Divine Liturgy, a light lunch may be eaten, then a total fast until after Pascha Divine Services on Saturday night/Sunday morning. 4. The traditional fasting rules are for all who are physically able. 5. The full strictness of the fast is lessened for the aged or those in poor health.

OUR STEWARDSHIP, OFFERINGS, AND DONATIONS This is a very difficult time for us and everyone around the world as we deal with COVID-19. Though parishioners are not able to attend church, PLEASE help our parish by continuing to send your offerings to St. George or donating on our website: https://saintgeorgeflint.org/.

PARKING LOT PLEDGES Our goal is $80,000 (we have raised over $40,000 so far including half of the Valentine Gala profits) and we are so thankful for those who have donated and pledged. If you have not already, please pick up a form, fill it out, and send it to the church. Remember our donations to the Parking Lot are separate (above and beyond) our weekly offerings. Again, thank you to our donors! Fr. Joe and Leslee Abud Anonymous Dr. David and May Gantos Dn. Mike and Pam Bassett Ladies Auxiliary Bill and Sue Shaheen St. George Preschool Tony Daoud Richard Shaheen Khader and Lucy Abuaita Ayman and Wafaa Elias Bob and LoisTeunion Anwar and Janet Abueita John and Theresa Farah Laila Abud Betty Froberg

Suffering ~ The role of suffering in the salvation of humankind by Abbot Tryphon, head of All-Merciful Savior Monastery on Vashon Island, Washington Elder Ambrose of Optina Monastery said, “We should not forget that in our age of ‘sophistication’ even little children are spiritually harmed by what they see and hear. As a result, purification is required….You must understand that Paradisal bliss is granted to no one without suffering.” A person walks on the path to salvation not only by his good deeds, but also by his patient suffering of various griefs, illnesses, misfortunes, and failures (Luke 16:19- 31, Mark 8:31-38, Romans 6:3-11, Hebrews 12:1-3, and Galatians 6:14). Jesus Christ gives us the power which is needed for transformation, and prepares us to live with a strength under the most difficult conditions, preparing us for the peace that is eternal, and He comes and stands next to us in our suffering. Without suffering we cannot join ourselves to the cross, and when we do take up our cross in suffering, it is with our Co-Suffering Savior. Sickness and suffering are not given to us by a wrathful and punitive God because we have sinned, but rather allowed by this loving God who co-suffers with us. It is Western juridical

misconceptions concerning sin which has tended to distort a proper recognition of suffering and its connection to sin. During this Covid 19 Pandemic, we are all experiencing separation from our friends and family. Additionally, many are experiencing job loss, compounded by the added financial worry that has come with the loss of income. I, like most priests I know, am also heartbroken that I cannot receive pilgrims to the monastery, many of whom are like family to me. Yet I know in my heart this suffering is for our salvation, not only for myself, but for all those I love and care about. This is a call from the Lord to repentance, and is therefore a gift from the Lord Most High. We now have an opportunity to go inward, where we can deepen our prayer life, and enter into the Silence where God is speaking to each of us. These are indeed difficult times, yet if we look deeply at what is happening, we can also see that they can be the best of times.

Golgotha ~ Collectively ascending Golgotha together by Abbot Tryphon, head of All-Merciful Savior Monastery on Vashon Island, Washington The difficult time all of humanity is experiencing, is painful. However, it is perhaps all the more painful for we Orthodox Christians, because we are being deprived of the Eucharist. Most of the pious believers of the Orthodox world can not participate in the Divine Liturgy, as well as the many other services we traditionally attend during Great and Holy Lent, because civil authorities around the world have imposed drastic limitations on the numbers of people who can assemble together in one place. The pain that most of us are experiencing as we are collectively being distanced from the services, as well as from one another, seems unbearable. Most of the Orthodox world is witnessing the forced closure of our churches to the faithful, an action that has rarely been experienced in the history of the Church. That the Body of Christ has taken on Herself the accountability to NOT commune the faithful, therefore depriving us of the reception of the Holy Mysteries, seems unbearable to most of us. Yet it is during such a time that we must remember that “the Kingdom of God is within us”. Therefore we must turn to our little “home churches,” and use this time of separation from one another as a time to increase our personal struggle. God will hear our collective prayers, even if said at a distance from one another. His Divine Grace sustains us, not only when we worship collectively as the Body of Christ, but even when we are alone in our desert. This time of separation from one another, and even from the corporate worship of the Church, has been permitted by God so that we all collectively ascend Golgotha together as believers who are gazing toward the cross of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Thus, even though we find ourselves closed off to the corporate worship that we are accustomed to, we will all arrive together, even if alone in our own desert, to the much anticipated Christ Our Lord.

Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday Very Rev. Paul Lazor, former Dean of Students at St. Vladimir Orthodox Seminary

isible triumphs are few in victory, we cry out to Thee, 0 being, a unity of soul and body. the earthly life of our Lord Vanquisher of Death: Hosanna Death is destruction; it is the VJesus Christ. He in the highest! Blessed is He that separation of soul and body. The preached a kingdom "not of this comes in the name of the Lord! soul without the body is a ghost, world." At His nativity in the flesh (Troparion sung for Lazarus as one Orthodox theologian puts there was "no room at the inn." Saturday and Palm Sunday) it, and the body without the soul For nearly thirty years, while He is a decaying corpse. "I weep grew "in wisdom and in stature, Lazarus Saturday and I wail, when I think upon and in favor with God and man" In a carefully detailed narrative death, and behold our beauty, (Luke 2:52), He lived in obscurity the Gospel relates how Christ, fashioned after the image of as "the son of Mary." When He six days before His own death, God, lying in the tomb appeared from Nazareth to dishonored, disfigured, bereft of begin His public ministry, one of form." This is a hymn of St John the first to hear of Him asked: of Damascus sung at the "Can anything good come out of Church's burial services. This Nazareth?" (John I :46). In the "mystery" of death is the end He was crucified between inevitable fate of man fallen from two thieves and laid to rest in the God and blinded by his own tomb of another man. prideful pursuits.

Two brief days stand out as With epic simplicity the Gospel sharp exceptions to the above - records that, on coming to the days of clearly observable scene of the horrible end of His triumph. These days are known friend, "Jesus wept" (John in the Church today as Lazarus 11:35). At this moment Lazarus, Saturday and Palm Sunday. the friend of Christ, stands for all Together they form a unified and with particular mindfulness men, and Bethany is the liturgical cycle which serves as of the people "standing by, that mystical center of the world. the passage from the forty days they may believe that thou didst Jesus wept as He saw the "very of Great Lent to Holy Week. send me" (John I I :42), went to good" creation and its king, man, They are the unique and His dead friend Lazarus at "made through Him" (John 1:3) paradoxical days before the Bethany outside of Jerusalem. to be filled with joy, life and light, Lord's Passion. They are days of He was aware of the now a burial ground in which visible, earthly triumph, of approaching death of Lazarus man is sealed up in a tomb resurrectional and messianic joy but deliberately delayed His outside the city, removed from in which Christ Himself is a coming, saying to His disciples the fullness of life for which he deliberate and active participant. at the news of His friend's death: was created, and decomposing At the same time they are days "For your sake I am glad that I in darkness, despair and death. which point beyond themselves was not there, so that you may Again as the Gospel says, the to an ultimate victory and final believe" (John 11:14). people were hesitant to open the kingship which Christ will attain tomb, for "by this time there will not by raising one dead man or When Jesus arrived at Bethany, be an odor, for he has been entering a particular city, but by Lazarus was already dead four dead four days" (John 11:39). His own imminent suffering, days. This fact is repeatedly death and resurrection. emphasized by the Gospel When the stone was removed narrative and the liturgical from the tomb, Jesus prayed to By raising Lazarus from the hymns of the feast. The four-day His Father and then cried with a dead before Thy Passion, Thou burial underscores the horrible loud voice: "Lazarus, come out." didst confirm the universal reality of death. Man, created by The of the feast shows the resurrection, 0 Christ God! Like God in His own image and particular moment when Lazarus the children with the palms of likeness, is a spiritual-material appears at the entrance to the tomb. He is still wrapped in his earthly ministry. The time of grave clothes and his friends, fulfillment was at hand. Christ's Our Pledge who are holding their noses raising of Lazarus points to the The liturgy of the Church is more because of the stench of his destruction of death and the joy than meditation or praise decaying body, must unwrap of resurrection which will be concerning past events. It him. In everything stress is laid accessible to all through His own communicates to us the eternal on the audible, the visible and death and resurrection. His presence and power of the the tangible. Christ presents the entrance into Jerusalem is a events being celebrated and world with this observable fact: fulfillment of the messianic makes us participants in those on the eve of His own suffering prophecies about the king who events. Thus the services of and death He raises a man dead will enter his holy city to Lazarus Saturday and Palm four days! The people were establish a final kingdom. Sunday bring us to our own astonished. Many immediately "Behold, your king is coming to moment of life and death and believed on Jesus and a great entrance into the Kingdom of crowd began to assemble God: a Kingdom not of this around Him as the news of the world, a Kingdom accessible in raising of Lazarus spread. The the Church through repentance regal entry into Jerusalem and baptism. followed. On Palm Sunday, palm and Lazarus Saturday is a unique willow branches are blessed in day: on a Saturday a Matins the Church. We take them in and Divine Liturgy bearing the order to raise them up and greet basic marks of festal, the King and Ruler of our life: resurrectional services, Jesus Christ. We take them in normally proper to Sundays, are order to reaffirm our baptismal celebrated. Even the baptismal pledges. As the One who raised hymn is sung at the Liturgy Lazarus and entered Jerusalem instead of Holy God: "As many to go to His voluntary Passion as have been baptized into stands in our midst, we are Christ, have put on Christ." faced with the same question addressed to us at baptism: "Do Palm Sunday you, humble, and mounted on an you accept Christ?" We give our Palm Sunday is the celebration ass, and on a colt, the foal of an answer by daring to take the of the triumphant entrance of ass" (Zech 9:9). branch and raise it up: "I accept Christ into the royal city of Him as King and God!" Jerusalem. He rode on a colt for Finally, the events of these which He Himself had sent, and triumphant two days are but the Thus, on the eve of Christ's He permitted the people to hail passage to Holy Week: the Passion, in the celebration of the Him publicly as a king. A large "hour" of suffering and death for joyful cycle of the triumphant crowd met Him in a manner which Christ came. Thus the days of Lazarus Saturday and befitting royalty, waving palm triumph in a earthly sense is Palm Sunday, we reunite branches and placing their extremely short-lived. Jesus ourselves to Christ, affirm His garments in His path. They enters openly into the midst of Lordship over the totality of our greeted Him with these words: His enemies, publicly saying and life and express our readiness to "Hosanna! Blessed is he who doing those things which most follow Him to His Kingdom: comes in the name of the Lord, enrage them. The people even the King of Israel!” (John themselves will soon reject Him. ... that I may know him and the 12:13). They misread His brief earthly power of his resurrection, and triumph as a sign of something may share his sufferings, This day together with the else: His emergence as a becoming like him in his death, raising of Lazarus are signs political messiah who will lead that if possible I may attain the pointing beyond themselves to them to the glories of an earthly resurrection from the dead the mighty deeds and events kingdom. (Philippians 3:10-11). which consummate Christ's