NATIVITY OF THE HOLY VIRGIN RUSSIAN

ORTHODOX CHURCH
JACKSON, NEW JERSEY

APRIL 2017 NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER SPONSOR:
MRS. DOROTHY SKRIPAK

CHRIST IS RISEN!
INDEED HE IS RISEN!

SUNDAY; APRIL 16th: Come celebrate the Day of

Resurrection! This is the most important feast day of the Holy
Orthodox Church. It is the holyday of holydays, The Feast of
Feasts, the day of victory, triumph, and joy. The customs and
traditions of Pascha go back thousands of years, and this is a
good time to ask ourselves: What do we know about Easter?
How did Easter get its name? The name Easter is a very
poor one for this feast, and is not used liturgically by the
Orthodox Church. The feast is Resurrection, or Pascha
which refers to the Old Testament Passover. The word Easter
comes from Eostre or Eastre, the Teutonic goddess of spring
who symbolized the awakening and rebirth of nature from the
death of winter.
What do Eggs Have to do with Easter? To the ancient peoples
of the world, eggs symbolized life and fertility. It is no wonder
they came to be used on the feast of the resurrection. Just as
the egg holds life within it, so the tomb held life (Christ) within
its confines; just as the bird breaks through the shell and
emerges to a new life, so Christ emerged from the tomb to the
new life of resurrection. It is thought Mary Magdalene came to
the Roman emperor and greeted him with the words, Christ
Is Risen! and presented him with a gift of an egg colored red.
Why are Easter Baskets Blessed? One way of expressing joy is
feasting. Special foods are prepared, then, for Easter. So many
of us fast during the great lent and abstain from meat and rich
foods, these are blessed on the day of Resurrection. They are
blessed because they are our offering of joy to the Lord, who
blesses them and gives them to us for our feasting; we bless
them that none may become ill after the fasting season.
Why dont we celebrate Easter together? The Orthodox
Church doesnt celebrate the Resurrection at the same time as
some of the other Christian Churches because of the canons of
the First Ecumenical Council, in Nicea, 325. The Orthodox
Church adheres to the canon which specifies that the Feast be
celebrated after the Jewish Passover. This year we will
celebrate the feast of the Resurrection on Sunday April 16th
together with all other Christian faiths.
WE NEED HELP TYING THE PUSSY WILLOWS FOR
DISTRIBUTION ON PALM SUNDAY: April 9th: Our Lords
Entry Into Jerusalem. Please see Matushka Ludmila at the
candle desk for the time and date this project will be done.
WE NEED HELP DYING EGGS FOR DISTRIBUTION ON
PASCHA. The ladies of the Parish will be dying eggs on Holy
Saturday in the Parish Home. Please see Nadja Schmidt or
Matushka Donnalynn to sign up! They will provide you with
the time this will be done.
WE NEED HELP PREPARING THE TABLES FOR
PASCHAL FOOD BLESSING AND THE SELLING OF
CANDLES on HOLY SATURDAY at 5 PM. This might be our
biggest blessing so far due to the fact that all Christians will be
celebrating Easter together this year. Please see Matushka
Ludmila at the candle desk to sign up for times needed.
WE NEED HELP ON HOLY SATURDAY FOR GRAVE
VIGIL. Each year we struggle to get parishioners to guard the
grave on Holy Saturday. We are looking for our faithful to
sign up on our Grave Vigil list. We ask you to spend two hours
out of your day to guard the grave! Please sign up on the List
at the Candle desk.
PASCHAL GREETINGS: On the Glorious Feast of the
Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we extend prayerful
best wishes for a Blessed Pascha and humbly ask that the
Risen Saviour bestow His Life-Giving Peace upon our clergy,
altar servers, choir members, Parish Council members,
sisterhood, brotherhood, faithful members of our parish,
benefactors, our families, friends, and all Orthodox Christians.
Christ Is Risen! Indeed He Is Risen!
THOMAS SUNDAY: April 23rd: We need help selling candles
on Saturday and Sunday April 22nd and April 23rd. We ask you
to cover a two hour shift helping sell candles! Please see
Matushka Ludmila at the candle desk to sign up.
PASCHAL LUNCHEON: Please join us at the parish home
after the Divine Liturgy on Pascha, April 16th. We ask you our
faithful to bring your families to the Parish home to break the
fast and celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection with your
fellow parishioners. If you would like to help defray the cost of
food on this day please see Matushka Ludmila at the candle
desk. Your help is greatly appreciated.
PASCHAL FLOWERS: The cost of flowers is increasing every
year. Matushka Ludmila each year makes sure our church and
grave for vigil are decorated in the proper manner. If you can
help out to defray the cost of these flowers please see Matushka
Ludmila at the candle desk
Please remember your church on Pascha: It is important that
we remember our church of Saint Marys on the feast day of
the Holy Resurrection. Financially we depend on your
generosity to help us meet the financial demands of our church
and property! As tithing is a goal of our Orthodox Church in
America and our Diocese, please make an extra effort to
support our church! Your help in this matter will be greatly
appreciated.
GREAT NEWS: We are waiting for final approval from the
Township of Jackson to finally renovate our wall. We have
waited patiently for this project to become a reality and it is
near. We are expecting work to begin after Pascha, most likely
around April 23rd! Please pray for this to happen!
 GREETINGS FOR PASCHA!

CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!

(English)

CHRISTOS VOSKRESE! VOISTINNU VOSKRESE!

(Slavonic)

CHRISTOS ANESTI! ALITHOS ANESTE!

(Greek)

FELTAMODT KRISTUS! VALOBAN FELTAMODT!

(Hungarian)

KRISTE AGSDGA! CHESHMARITAD AGSDGA!

(Georgian)

CHRYSTUS ZMARTWYCHWSTAL! PRAWDZIWIE

ZMARTWYCHWSTAL!
(Polish)

NO KNEELING IN CHURCH for prayer or for any reason

until the Feast of Pentecost, Sunday, JUNE 4th.
NO FASTING during BRIGHT WEEK!
THOMAS SUNDAY: April 23rd: Please be reminded that the
Divine Liturgy will be served at 8AM on this Sunday!