Author: St. Andrew's

The lenten spring has come – the light of repentance! O brothers, let us cleanse ourselves from all evil, crying out to the Giver of Light: Glory to Thee, O Lover of man.

Let us begin the fast with joy!
Let us prepare ourselves for spiritual effort!
Let us purify our souls and cleanse our flesh.
Let us abstain from passion as we abstain from food,
Let us rejoice in the spirit and persevere with love,
That we may all see the Holy Passion of Christ, Our God
And rejoice in spirit at the Holy Pascha!

Included below is the 2024 archpastoral message of His Eminence, Archbishop Michael, on this, the beginning of Great Lent:

On January 19 – the feast of the Theophany of Christ according to the Julian calendar – our devoted brother in Christ, Reader Moses (Timothy) Traver, was blessed to begin his life as a novice at the monastery of the Holy Cross in Wayne, West Virginia. He will now labor there for a period of years before, if God wills it, being tonsured into the first rank of the monastic life, that of the ‘riassophore’.

Reader Moses was an integral part of our community, and he will be sorely missed. At the same time, we are reassured that: from within our parish family, God is working to call up monastic vocations; that Reader Moses is now fulfilling the plan God has set for him; and that he will now be praying constantly for us and for the whole world.

Prior to his departure, he spoke with Fr. John about his time in our parish community. This interview is included below.

We greet you with great joy on the feast of Holy Theophany, the feast of Christ’s baptism, and the revelation of his divinity, as encapsulated in the troparion for the feast: “When You, O Lord were baptized in the Jordan / The worship of the Trinity was made manifest / For the voice of the Father bore witness to You / And called You His beloved Son. / And the Spirit, in the form of a dove, / Confirmed the truthfulness of His word. / O Christ, our God, You have revealed Yourself / And have enlightened the world, glory to You!”

Prepare, O Bethlehem, for Eden has been opened to all! Adorn yourself, O Ephratha, for the tree of life blossoms forth from the Virgin in the cave! Her womb is a spiritual paradise planted with the Divine Fruit: If we eat of it, we shall live forever and not die like Adam. Christ comes to restore the image which He made in the beginning!