Christ is risen!

“Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Mark 10:4

Sunday, April 20, 2014 Volume 2, Issue 16

Christ is risen!Christ is risen!Christ is risen!Christ is risen!

Today is the biggest day

of the year! Today is the

reason that we are all Chris-

tians. Our Lord, Jesus Christ,

rose from the dead!

We have been getting ready for

this day all through Lent, for a

whole month and a half. But is-

n’t it funny to go to the grocery

store the day after Easter

(Pascha)? The storekeepers are

working hard, taking away the Easter candy and chocolate bunnies, the

cards and the egg dye. They put them on sale for 75% off! Easter is over,

they say. Now we’ll move on to the next holiday.

But Easter is not over for us Orthodox Christians! We feast this whole

week! We have 40 more days to sing “Christ is risen!” Then, we still cele-

brate. We celebrate Easter every Sunday, when we come to church to re-

ceive Holy Communion.

Let’s not forget about Easter now! Our Lord did the most wonderful thing

for us. He opened up heaven for us. He loves us so much that He wants us

to be with Him in heaven. Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

What’s in an icon?

SCRAMBLED WORDSSCRAMBLED WORDSSCRAMBLED WORDSSCRAMBLED WORDS

Do you see the icon of the Res-

urrection?

Do you know who Christ is pull-

ing up? It’s Adam and Eve!

Unscramble

each of the clue

words.

Take the letters

that appear in

boxes and

unscramble

them for the fi-

nal message. Answers: Spring, Zoe, Life, Pascha, Leo, Mary. Final Message: Christ is risen!

THE LIFE-GIVING SPRING A FEAST OF MARY, THE THEOTOKOS

Do you have a friend named Zoe?

Her name means “life” in Greek, and

every year on the Friday after Easter, we

celebrate her nameday.

On this day, we celebrate the feast of the

“Life-Giving Spring.” The icon is kind of

strange. In the icon, you see Mary, the

Theotokos, in a fountain, with water

flowing out of it!

Once, more than 1,500 years ago, Emperor

Leo (but before he became emperor) tried

to help a blind man find water. Leo heard a

voice telling him where to go. He found a spring, flowing with water. He

put some of the water on the blind man and the man suddenly could

see.

Later, Emperor Leo built a big church over the spring, and he dedicated

it to the Theotokos, the Mother of our Lord. Lots of sick people came to

the spring and came back all better.

We remember this special church, because we know that Mary, the The-

otokos, always gives life to us. It was Mary who became the mother of

God! And today, on Easter, He gave life to us, too!

We celebrate the feast of the Life-giving Spring on Friday, April 25th.

The icon of the LifeThe icon of the LifeThe icon of the LifeThe icon of the Life----Giving SpringGiving SpringGiving SpringGiving Spring